LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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THE 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA 



M 



Of 



REPRESENTATIVE MEN 



OK 



E HO J) E ISLAND. 



>^ 7a " 



PROVIDENCE: 

NATIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING CO. 

1881. 



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P R E P A C P. 



. In the preparation of this Cjxlopedia, the publishers iiavc endeavored to make it a valuable 
book c^ reference, and in order to accomplish this object, have spared neither pains nor expense 
to secure completeness and accuracy. The work contains over nine liundred biographies, which, 
with few exceptions, were prepared especially for it, and are com]josed of materials c^^athered 
from the most authentic sources of information. 

Although Rhode Island is a small state territorially, she, ne\-erthelcss, has a record as 
brilliant and interesting as any state in the Union, and as her history extends o\cx a period of 
nearly two and a half centuries, the greater part of this \olume is necessarily de\oted to sketches 
of the lives of men of past generations. 

The biographies ha\'e been arranged chronologically, except so far as it became necessary 
to interrupt this order for the jiurpose of properl_\- distributing the steel-plate portraits with 
which the work is embellished, and inserting sketches recei\'cd too late for publication in their 
proper place. The fact that the biographies of niimy prominent men who are now upon the 
stage of action are not to be found in this Cyclopedia, and that steel-plate portraits do not accom- 
pany the sketches of se\-eral well-known men represented herein, ma)- occasion some comment: 
but it is due to the publishers to st.ite that they ha\e used their best endeavors to supply this 
omission. 

Wc desire to express our obligations to those wh<-)se literar\- aid and influence ha\c facili- 
tated the success of the work, among whom ;ire Rew J. C. Stockbridge, D.D., Rev. Frederic 
Denison, Reuben A. CiuiKl. LL.D., lion. John R. Bartlett, George C. Mason, Esq., and Rev. S. 
W. Coggcshall, IJ.I)., h'jm all of whum we have received numerous biogr.iphies of rare historic 
interest. Revs. J. P. Root, .S. T. Livermore, O. O. Wright, J. M. Brewster, and M. Goodrich, 
Messrs. Frank A. Waterman and 1'. A. Ga\-, and others, lia\-e also furnished many sketches, and 
greatly contributed to the success of the publication. 

The eye of the critic will undoubtedly disco\-er imjierfections in this volume; yet we trust 
that the work possesses sufficient merit to coinmentl it to public favor, and that it will prove a 
substantial contribution to biographical literature. 

National Biographical Publishing Company. 

J. \\. CHEEVER, Treasurer. 

L. E. ROGERS, Editor. 
Providenye, R. I., September i, iSSi. 



CONTENTS. 



Abboi, I'lel 246 

AbU)l, T rrvcit 52^ 

A<.kley. Willi.im N 56S 

Adams, _I<.hn A 380 

Adams, ><cth .. 290 

Addemdn, Jushiia M 565 

Adiam , Samuel 149 

Akermaii. Charles 3S4 

AIe.x;iiidtr Ituiiati Chief) 26 

Aldrich. Nels.jii W 566 

Allen, J;.fnes.,.. 491 

Allen, I'hihp 218 

AIIlh, Kriibcn 259 

Alkn, Wheai-'H 185 

Allen, Willtain H 200 

Allen, Z.icbiiriah 25^1 

Allsiun, Washington 211 

Almy Fnmily 71 

Anic, (Jtorge H 585 

Anie^i, S.iinuel, 342 

Ames, \\'illiam ^■j:^ 

Ames, \S'illiam t" 313 

Angell. l.dwin (i 5^8 

Angel 1, L.tiics U 517 

Angcll, J'lnatli.iii S 326 

Aniccll.^i.seph K. 251 

Aitcell. I b >mas ig 

AnKtM. WiUiamC 374 

Aiuliunv. Henry li 39^ 

Anlbnny. He/, kiah 2ij 

Anihiiriv, I-'.wis \V 49;^ 

Arnold 'Albert N 391 

Arni'ld Aiitliiiny li j^f, 

Arnold, iK-ncdiit «..,. 43 

Arnuld. j..b ., 498 

Am'. Id, i,cmncl H rig 

Arni'ld, M-.v\ry P 294 

Arnold, Oliver i j ^ 

Arnold, ninev 46^ 

Arnold. Richard J... 265 

Arnold. Salmon A 279 

Arnold. Samnel (i 450 

Arnold, Setb 327 

Arnold, \\< Ironic 130 

Atucll, Samuel V 258 

Ajlswonh. Kli 353 

A>lsrtorili Hiram R 528 

A>rault, Haniel 102 , 

PabLock. Daniel 164 ! 

Hal.o.tk. Kdwiii 446 

Babcock, Henrv 113 

Babcock. Horace 446 

Habcoek. ].>shii.i .. 113 

Babcntk, Rowse 181 ' 

Babc'-'t-k. Kowse 320 

Kabc'uk. Meplien ju 

Habo- k, Wdham R 3Q5 

liaker. lohn H 33? 

Halch loin. R 346 

Hall. N'iUioh,^ I07 : 

BalKui. Ariel 334 

Ballou, (k-orpe C 280 

Ballon I^uimer W ■jgq 

Balluii.Oiis L) IsS' 

Ballon, Sutliv.in 506 

Bardeii. John H .. 423 ! 

Baniaby. Abner J 547 

Barnab). Jen-tbrnnl B.. 526 

BarnefielrT, '1 h.mias P 576' 

Barney. C Henry 574 ' 

Barrt.>ws, I omfuri E 531 , 

Barruwb, Ira 321 ' 

Barstow. Amos C 309 



Earltetl, Hrniy A 559 

Barilelt. J.hn R 296 

Barilelt, J 'bn R 575 

Barton William 142 

Bales. Nabuiii 387 

Be.tne. Kbtn J 527 

Betkwilb. 'I'rnman loi 

Bchrend-. A- J, F 57S 

Bclden, Stanton 347 

Benedict, I>avid 96 

Benedict. Stephen 165 

Henncii, Messadore T 415 

Berkeley, (ieivce So 

Bernon. fiabricT 62 

BiLkneli, Jot-hua 169 

liicknell. I b^mas W 543 

Ilillini;>-, Alpbens 91 

Bdliii^;s. Klhclbert R 246 

Bishop, Nathan... 195 

Bixby Moi,c». H 5U3 

Bla<:kston«r. William, 45 

Blain, J.>bn 259 

Blahc.J.imes M 352 

I'.lakeslee. Francis I' 584 

Blandinij, U'dliam B 497 

Bliss, (icorge N ss6 

Bliss, Kufus 316 

Blodyelt, C' nstamirie 170 

Blndgcit. William W 479 

Bus worth. Alfred 383 

Biswoiih, Sm-th jijrp ' 

Bourn, Aiipusnis () 541 

Bourn, (re Tge *) 3114 

Bourne, Bctij^min "i 58 

B'lWen Heurj- 217 

H.wcn. lai-vz 12,1 

B.wen. "Pardon , v. 

B .wen. luV,y 1) ,47 

Bowen, \\ iiiani i^.' 

B.wcn. Wii!..-ini I", 217 

Boweii, WiMi.tm H •^s.a 

Bowler. M'-.caif ;,> 

Boyden. .1 hn 3^^ 

Bradfurd. William. ii,^ 

Bradley, C'farles S 51'; 

Brayt'.n, Cfi.trles iSl' 

Brayt.m tie Tge A 3^0 

Braytcn. JoM.iiban 344 

Braytun, W :diani 1> 407 

Brciitijn. William 43 

Brewer, I>.ir;us R 441 

Brewster. J iiathan MlI) 546 

Bridgh.ini. Samuel W 183 

Hrinlcv . Francis 209 

Brook;. Charles T 392 

Bruwn.ChaJ 41 

Brown. Henry 1> 403 

Brv.wn, James 42 

BroM-n. James 42 

Brown. James S 319 

Brown. J, hn 41 

Brown, John 51 

Brown, John Carter 227 

Brown, [oseph 50 I 

Brown. Joseph F 565, 

Brown. Joseph R 368 ' 

Brown. Marriiaduke 83 

Brown, Mo^cs 53 

Brown, N.it'.anicl W 379 

Brown, Nitholas 50 

Brown, Ni<h.i|.-is 49 

Brown. Nicholas 227 

Brown, Qbadiah 180 

Brown. S.irni:c! C 436 



Brown, Sylvanu^ 173 

Brown, \\tlcome() 478 

Krownell. '1 homas C. 179 

Bni-klin, James C -^iiq 

Budlong, lames A 4«;7 

Biidlnng. '!..hn C s67 

Biiffum, 1 homas B 386 

Bull, H-nry 63 

Bull, Henry 87 

Biillen, (.reorge 537 

Bullock, Jr.nathan R 397 

Bull.ick, Nathanaei 177 

Bullock. Otis 304 

Bullock, William P 337 

Burdtck, I'.hn 1J4 

Burdnk, William A 469 

Burgee, Tristam 183 

Burges. Walters 35,1 

Burgess, 1 homas 186 

Burgess, Thomas M 352 

Burlingame. Maxey W 31^ 

Burnside. Ambrose E 466 

BurriU. James 193 

Burr_.ugfi, Robert S 474 

Burrows, Joseph 122 

liuiler. Cynis 166 

I'utler, .Samuel W 419 

By lit Id, Nathaniel 69 

Cady, Isaac F 435 

L'aldwetl. Samuel L 444 

Callendcr, John 101 

Callendcr. Walter 5^6 

Calvert, Ceorge H 3I:: 

(.'ampbell. Arehibald in 

Campbell, iJaniel (1. 408 



Campbell, Huratio N 408 

Campbell, Jacob.. . ib4 

Campbell, James M 40S 

Campbeli. John P 408 

Cam-nchtt - IndianChief) 28 

Canimiciis (Indian Chief) 27 

Capron, (ieirgc. ^24 

Carmichaei. (ieorge 560' 

Carpenter Karl 253 

Carpenter, Francis W jv-. 

Carpenter, Thomas F.... 265 

Carr, Caleb ,' 66 

Carr, (reorg« W 546, 

Carr. Sir Roljert 73 

Carringtun. Edward 81 , 

Carter, John 210 I 

Casev, Sil.is 277 

Caswell, Ak\is 66 I 

Caswell, Philip 498 

C-hacc. Benjamin G 388 

C'hace, Ceorgc 1 351 | 

Chace, Harvey 267 

Chace, Samuel B 203 

Chace. Thom.is W 552 

Chadsev, Alfred B 408 

Champlin. Christopher 107 

Chanuing. WdMam 131 

Channing. William E 203 

Chapin, J jshua B 404 

Chapin, Josiah 222 

Chapman. Charles H 569 

Chapman. Rhodes B 348 

Che. kley, John 84 

Cheever, Uaniel... 323 

Cheney. Martin 338 

Child Shub.-»cl 188 

Chuulcs lohn O 274 

Bcni, 



Church. 



njamin 30 



Church, Samuel W 31? 

Claflin, (ieorge 1 464 

Clark, Thoma.s M 291 

Clarke, Klisha C 563 

Clarke, John 22 

Clarke, John H 199 

Clarke. Joshua 102 

Clarke, W'ahcr 47 

Clarke, William A 31S 

Clap, Nathaniel 73 

Clapp. Sjlvanus ^o^ 

Coddington, Wdliam 21 

Coggcshall, Freeborn 5S0 

Coggesh.dl, John 31 

Cuggeshall. John 32 

C'>gt'c-s[iall, Joshua 33 

t-'oggeshall, Samuel W 370 

Colby. John 199 

Cole. John 115 

Collins, (Ieorge L 444 

Collins, Heniy 83 

Collins, John loo 

Collins, John ijo 

Comer. John 109 

Congdon. fiilbert 37J 

Conydon, Henry R 441 

Cook. James S 3^3 

Cook, Lyman A 283 

Cook, W'illi-, 28s 

Cooke, (ieorge L 45^ 

Cooke. James W 2^4 

Cooke, Juhn i^-S 

Coi>ke, Joseph J 390 

Cc'okc, Nitboias 91; 

CiK'ke, Warren q^^ 

Coun, Ahram 164 

Coon, Daniel 240 

Corliss, Georee H 400 

Cowell. Benjamin 201 

Cozzens. William C 373 

Crane, Silas A 28^ 

L'ranston, Henry ^' 107 

Cransi 'n, J..hn 48 

Cranston, John 49 

t.."ranston, John ]>.. 241 

C' ran s ton Samuel , 48 

Critcker. Nathan B 153 

Currcy, Samuel 339 

C"urris, Joseph B 553 

Cushnian, A polios 204 

Cushman, Henry 1 586 

Cushman. Robert 454 

Cutler, Charles R 452 

Daboli. William V 367 

Danforth. Waller R 221 

Daniels, Horace 237 

Darlinn. John A 176 

Da«is. James 459 

Davib, James M 443 

Davis, Lucius I) 484 

Davis, Perry m 

Davis. Peter 88 

Day, George T 46S 

Dean, Sidney 436 

DeBlois, Stephen 114 

Deuham, Daniel C 264 

Denibon, Frederic 442 

Dennis, Charles R 506 

Dennis. James 304 

De Wolf. James 151 

l>eWolf. William..... 210 

Dexter. Ebenezer K 191 

Dexter. Gregory 39 



co.\TE\rs. 



k- 



Dexicr, N'Ath.uiu I (; 
L'eKifi , ^.^nu1• 1 K 
Diman. Hyroi: 

Dim. .mi: hi.,... iv M . 
Dix .11. N.iil..,ii } ... 

I'ix.n. N.illu.i. I 

L'ix'.ii. N-iitKin K 

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557 

52:. 

.85 



, Thomas U 328 



Do 

l-lorranrc. Ji-lin 

Doyle, 1 Jmniits A 512 

Druwne, Hrt ry U 245 

l>r(iwiic, SfLrniii 161 

])r..wiie, \\ il 



244 



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Granger. J.Tmt.^ X 5.;;. 

Gittfnc, ..\lbcin 2;.^ 

Grt-cner. Albert V 5^? 

[irecnc, Albert G 2g^ 

(..rcrnc, Alien 429 

1 tiieenc. lienjamin 53; 

Grerne. Beniiini.l. F 316 

i tir.--ei.e. Christopher 24 

I (.irccnc, Edward A 471 

I (ireenc, Franklin 200 

Greene. Gei.rKe S 292 

Greene, Ge.-rge W 366 

I Greene. Nalh.iii..el 15 

I iireene, K.'.v 210 

Greene, KicliardU' 242 

t.ireeiie, ?>ani.iel ^ 3^.5 

Greene. Sun. i, 11 271 

fircelie. 1 in. .[I.\ 1(19 

■ Greene. W. II, .,11 8i 

Greene, \V illnni K.f 

l.reei..^ Wii:.,.... =61 

i.ree... tmh J.iniesC 51.- 

Gre. r. 1 ...Md H .17.1 

(IriMi..!,! Alev.inr'cr V ij'. 

(In.svei., r \\ illi..m 3 .r 

In.d.l, k.ii'..-.. A 4t.i 

Giirney. Pre^te.I. S78 

Hail (ie.-.rge 117 

Hade. Leu ... 26; 

H..li. Eduaid 1'. H4 

Hall, W.lh.n, W M.-. 

Halle., <k .,f \V :<4.. 

H.,ndy. Char!.:- H =4:. 

Haik.ie>s. Allien 464 

Ham. E.l»ard :.-8 

Harri-. H.sha 257 

Ha.IisGe. ,:;e t'7., 

Harris Wili. .m 'f 

Ha.l^!i..ri.,ls.i... 3'7 

H.iriMell j.,1;,. 1: 4,1 

H.,ll,av...N Ge. r^eW if,.. 

Hay.-., U.. ,;.■..:. 477 

H..v«aid, l,....e. \\ 37! 

H..\«.ir,l. \\ ,,:i.,rn s 558 

H../.,r.l, l'..;l,i..nii,i i;6 

lla/.ird. Ge. .-e 267 

Ha;..rd. Jetl.e\ 2"i 

Ha/ar.l l.liii G sii 

H.i/atd K.uL.n.j 1 if-,-. 

Hazard. P, n,.,- K j^c 

Hea.lv.>.,, I .,1, ,■ ,,^ 

He.ii.-.; I ,-..!, Il :■- 

Hen.lli, ken I I, rn.,~ ] , ,, 

Hen-h...^. ]..,,. .J 4.,; 

Htii-h. V. |,.|.. 1'. k .j's 

Herresh -HI ..:„.\ :,,c, 

H.dd.l. He. .11 A 4... 

Hnl.leii |.,n,-; L . ,. -,1 , 

Hittiiis 'i.. II. i-,_s \\ , ... 4-s 

Hill, II. .....s.l .. .. ;',^ 

U.S. A. Ill MM- ■>- 

Hi. 1... .ek. I 1 - ,4, 

ILI.Ieii K.,i,.!,;i . ... ;,, 

H ,n,ni.,„ |-.;-ek:, I ~. , 

H ln,e~,G, .li; I; l;; 

H..!nn- I l|.,„.|.,l, - ; 

H... Milan limes f: 

H..i,yn,.,n ■|a>iu n<. 

H.-pkins, Ad.l'-.n S sSi 

ILipkliis Aiiei,-i.,» :,42 

Hopkins, lJ.,>,d ijj 

H.l.kii.s. Esek ,,j 

H..l,kil.s, H..r.,l., L 447 

}Ii.],kins l,ini.-s N 447 

H..l.klil-,Var,l n 4 ,, 

H'.pkins, K,,|,m: 74 

l|,,l.k,ns. S..m.,il 1.4 

M..pk...s, Mt|.|„ I, t^ 

H.ipki.is. Sl.phen M 5ie 

H.pkii,.. \\,ll,.,n. 1! ;..,. 

H.'ppiti. lien,. ,n.. 11 14^1 

H'.pp.n. Henj.inin ib<> 

Moppin. I, ..uul.ild =i,9 

H-Ppin. 1.. -K , ,. 44^ 

H.pp.n.l.nies.M 44, 

H ppii., Ih, MiasF 4,;, 

H ppiii u ,ii,.i,„ w . ..,; 

H,,».,.d. AlLcii G e,.; 

Hoxiard, 1. 1 ,...'. 

H..wai.f. I rr.i U . . 4,.-. 



H..« ard. Ge..rge A 364 

Howard. Henry 4P7 

H.»e. l..hn 20<. 

H..«tll', liavi.l 14., 

Holland. Henjamin B 201 

Holland, J.. hn 148 

H.yl. David \V 53S 

Humphrey.^ I,ewis H 52S 

Hunter. \Villiani „ 122 

Hunter, William . 182 

Huichinson. William 23 

Indian Chiels 25 

Ive- M-.ses l>. 22^ 

Ives. Robert H ... 220 

Ives. R..herl H 5,;8 

Ives. 1 h..nias P 1^9 

Ives. Th..inas I* 5^7 

fa. ksnn. Charles 1 iii 

ja.ks .n. Henry 271 

Jacks. .11. Ki.liard 171 

.lacks. ,n. Waller .\1 .tbo 

lames, Samuel -le^ 

■U'-.ckts llaiii.l l..t 

jei.ekes.J.seph ..7 

I'-nckes. 1 l,..m..s .\ 414 

leiiks I,.hn W , V 41S 

"lenks. William A 330 

"le\i. It. Charles C 3gS 

lills ,n, f rau.:ell,.G 572 

JilU.,n. dlhs A -.i:? 

J..!iiis., 11. Oliver 321 

J.jnes. William 155 

Keep. Frederu k E 5'.4 

Keiifirk k- I. .In. 4.4 

Kelidrick b.s.i.l, H ;.-o 

Keriell. 1. [«..,..] H cr , 

Kinj;. IGm.I iS; 

Kii.t, l.e ..(;e I., ;4 - 

Klu^. Samuel 1 e4 

Kii.t- Samuel W 21,, 

Kirit'shiiry John ]6 ■ 

Kinslev . Sl.ep..r.! I -^4.. 

Knigl.l. Ia.il..n.ii. 1'. 4. ^ 

Klli_-hl. ,Neliel..i..ll K 21. 

Ki.ithl. Ki, h.,r.l 1,-; 

Kinsht. K,.!.e.t 4^7 

Knii-lit. Si.plieii A e..4 

Kn -.. ks, 1-. »..rd 1' '31-. 

Ki..uks, l.inus li ?^i 

Ki.. ules. J, .hi, I' ,;i 

Kn .v.les. j,.se-pli y,; 

Lan],hear. 1 h. m..- E i.,, 

I.apl...lii. Eei.edi. t 3.1 

L.,p'-i,-ni. i;.:ii|..niin N 4' .■ 

I., r,,ii. llaio.:! I 4;,^ 

1 .-...en. . .\:l.. r. ( ,-... 

I ,,iielice W ,1.-..,,. 1; y-j 

I .iut,,n. He r\ .\ ;- . 

be ...'. ll.,n,ei; \:.: 

I ,^1,1... 1. K .Pert in 

1.1, •. 1,1, J, .1.11 1 41- 

Lipp:It C hri-I .J. her ts 

Lippitt. Hcnrv 4 ., 

l.illklieM, All'ied H 511 

1 mkfieid. Dan, el G j. 7 

L .eke, Ge..ri;e I S41 

l„>.k%>.. ..I, Ann.s I) 4.., 

l,..ek«., -d. M..ses U ,,,„ 

1 pel- .■\..r..ll 1 1 s 

I iiil.er, Henry H /e^ 

1 \ m.iii. Ii.iiiiel -j..ii 

I-ini..... Daniel W 582 

l,\ni.iii. Heiirv LI 24.-J 

l-vi.l.n. J..s,.;s 57 

1 .\ 11, Meirick 3yy 

.M.ilb.ne. Ed«ard G i86 

Mall, .ne, Francis 1119 

Malktl. Edward J 2t)r. 

M.iliihcster, Cy nis H.,., 32s 

.M..i,clus,,,, E.Kcin II ir, 

.^Eiiicheslcr, Henry N 42, 

Mann Ih .masH,: 577 

M, 1111. ,111; James 44 

M. nil. ,11, lererniah 17.^ 

.Maiil.ii. j..seph k 47: 

M.ireham, Henry 145 



Marry, Frederick I 574 

M. .r\.. II Curtis E 571 

M.ison, F.arl E 297 

M.ison, George C 4^2 

Mason. Israel B Si^ 

Mas..n. Jamci B i8i 

M.,s,.n, Robert It 534 

M.issa-soit (Indian Chief) 25 

Mathewson. Elisha 211 

M.ittes..n, Charles 513 

Mauran. Joseph 263 

Mauney Peter. 86 

M a \cy. Jonathan 162 

M.ivsuii, Charle-s 386 

M..vs(.n. J.ihn 74 

.M..\s,.n, John 74 

Maxsoli, J..seph 7.; 

M. A islan. lohii =4-. 

M.l ,,l.e M' ;.,.. 

M. Keii/ie. J.inie- A 57s 

.M'-sp.irr.tn. James K4 

Mea.Ier. |..lin 2S.. 

Messtr As., ifl; 

M.|. alf, E.Uin 48,. 

M,.,m.,n,.mi I Indian Chief I.... 27 

Mile-, J .h,l 7,. 

.Miller. LewisL 271 

Milk-r, Nallian 140 

Millei, W.lliam J ., 430 

.Miner. Bradley 2'-si 

.Miner. Francis W ^23 

M.nl.irn, Wiil.ani ii8 

M.ies (.harks -.57 

M..-i-,lli..|iias 44.. 

M..nr..c, Abel C - 442 

.M..iii..e. J.,hii A 5:1 

.1 ,r..s..n. William V 5V. 

.M «iv. Daniel .. 117 

M .c-c, I lisl,., c -sr,; 

M u.v, William A 50.-, 

.M ,ciy ^\■|lll.,n, G K 35-> 

.M, 11 i.iy, James 543 

N.cc...ml. Henry S 4f.i 

N--uetl. '1 im..lliv 4S4 

Ni. h..|s,.n. William l 5= . 

Nil kcrs.-ti, Ansel E> 54; 

Nil.-s S.imiiel 17 

.Mii,';;ret 1 Indian Chief 1 28 

.Niiiii:ret. 'ill. -mas (Indi.in 

Chiel. 2g 

(li.lfieid John 240 

I 111 ey.Stepllei. 14'2 

< llii. y, I holll.ls ... -....r 

l-i.kll'.rd.Setli i „ 

I'-.ioe Gcr^c I ^c, 

I'.-ik. |..scph gj 

r.ir- ,.-, k l...lk- W 47; 

I'"-"- J- sH ; , 

E.irs .ns I shtr ; 

l',.i.cii, W ,)l,.,iii 17. 

r.iiltii. William s. ;.„. 

I'.Mie Al.i.,:,.,in ,,,- 

1 cice. Diilie I 2;.; 

I', ,,r. .■ E. heard sTj 

L. .k Allen U i.,'y 

l-ck.lraB 3;, 

I'ei k. \\ lili.im E, 4Uj 

I'eckb.im. I-'enn.r H 4 if. 

I'enitlet.'ii, lames M 4^^ 

reiidlel..|i.\\ illi.,inC .;., 

Berry. .Amos 3S1 

Berry. John (i... 41.- 

IV-rrc . .M.itlliew C 2^4 

Berry Oliver H 7- 

Berry. Oliver H ^04 

Beriy, William S ., 533 

Beters, Aril. .Id 34S 

Bhelon. Beiijaniin 539 

Bhettepl.iee, James S 393 

Bhilip. Kint; 1 Indian Chief }... 2r> 

Bliillips. M..vc-ry 4V 

Bl,,ll,ps. Betel 12r 

I'lolbps. S.inuiel Ise. 

Blull.ps, 'I h..m.is 2S4 

Bhillips. \\illi.,m 292 

Biree, U'llli.im A 4SS 

Biiiiian. John 146 

Bitman. J.ihn 2i8 



";--^""^I^Tv:;, 



"^X-. 



C0N7EA'TS. 



■■UJWfc-. •„.{» vi^kukaii!^ 



Place. WiHiam H- m8 

purler, Emery H 579 

Pi'ticr, A-sa 309 

Putter, DexterB 566 

Poller, tI^^h.^ R 156 

Potter, Elisha R 378 

Potter Family iig 

Potter, 1sa.ic M 532 

Pratt, Frederick A '05 

Quinby, Hosea. 317 

Randall. George M 361 

Randall, Samuel 197 

Rand.ill, Stephen 165 

Raiid.ill. Stephen 16; 

Raiid.tiph, Richard K. 214 

.Randolph. Warren... 486 

Rankin, f rancis ii 583 

R.i>', Simon 69 

Read, Kli^ha T 327 

Read. James H 322 

Rcevc!), David W 571 

Redwood, Abraham 7; 

Reynolds, John J 38^ 

Rhoades, Benjamin H 369 

Rhodes, Christopher iqo 

Rhodes. EIi*^ha H 573 

Rhodes. Robert 570 

Rice, Filz James 367 

Richardson. Erastus 555 

Ripley, Jrimeb M 54; 

Ri.bbins. Ai^her 209 

RoI»inMm. EzekicI G , 272 

Robinson. Matthew 105 

Rodman, Isaac P 475 

Rodman. James H 375 

Rodman, Robert 425 

Roi;ers, Henry A 294 

Rogers, Horatio 549 

Ru^er'i, Koberi 146 

Roj;ers \\'i!liam S 219 

R.M.i, Henry T 523 

Ro'^s, Arthur A 239 

Rilft;. Henry W 531 

Russell, Charles H 251 

Rns^cll. Jonathan 193 

Russell. 1 horn as. 144 

S:nidf..r.i, John 4,. 

S.iiairi.rd, I'elcp '.... 54 

Si*nds. lames 63 

S.i>Ics, 'Albert 1 4&, 

Saytfs, Clark 281 

Sayles, Frederic C 476 

Sa\les. Welcome B -.;S6 

Savlr^. Witlard ig, 

S.i\Ies. William F 472 

Se.d'ur>, 1 rederick N 474 

Stubury. Samuel i?h 

Scai;ravc, George A 4yj 

Sc;.rs. B.irnas 6) 

Sefj.ir. J botnas W 364 

Senlrr. I>aac 14- 

Sbaw, James 33 

Sha«. James "324 

Shearman. Sylvester G 141 

Sheffield, juhn G 415 

Sheffield, William P 43, 



Shcpard, T"liwni.is 243 

' Shcpard, 'l*honia> P 415 

Sherbiime, Henry 150 

I StTerm.in, Philip 44 

' Sherm.in, Robert 422 

; Sherman, Thoma- W 387 

Simmons, Janii'v F 248 

Slade, Cieorge H 564 

j Slaiei, John 40 

I Slater, Samviel 34 

j Slater. William S 414 

Slocum, John S , . 485 

! Slociim, Stephen P 429 

Smibcri, John 82 

Smith, Alfred 357 

Smith, Amos D 311 

' Smith. Charles S 502 

Sniith. Francis .. 375 , 

Smith, Georv;L- H 489 

Smith. James \' ■^^9 

Smiih John i; 

Smith, John 34 

Smith, Lcwi^ B 396 

' Smith. Orlando 469 

Smith, Richard 42 

Snow, Kdwiii M 455 

' Snow, Gtorge W 431 

Snow, Josrph 104 

■ Snow. \\'illiam C 247 

Soiithwick, Is.-iac H 363 

Southw ick, James McK 519 

Soiiihwick, S<il..m..n. 125 

. Spaldinp, Am-js F 46, 

j Spencer, Christopher 216 

! Spencer, Williain ,^ 42(j 

Spemer. William B jiVj 

Spi' er. Gcorqe I' 3.-.6 

Spink. NithoL-is N „ 362 

' Sp loiier, Henry J si^-a 

Spr.ifiiic Saniiic! '^., 410 

' Spra>;ue. William 189 

Spraj^ue. Wilh.im 2^1 

Spr.T;:ne, Willi.ini. ^^2 

; St:in.Td. RnUis J 233 

StaiU'-ii. Jovci.li i'r7 

Staples, Carlton A 5C0 

St.-tplc^, William R 2R3 

Stearns, Henry ,-\ ^q\ 

Stednian. Uaiiiel M. C 356 

Slrere, Al.iiivon ;. ^6? 

Stecrc, Henrv [ ^16 

Stcere. WilliAhi' H. I' 4: 7 

Snk-s, F.7ia _ .. JI-* 

Still man. ^iintheu jy. . 

Stiness, John H 5^r^ 

Stockltridi^e. John t 417 

Stockwell. 'Ili..ma> B 5?... 

Stone. Waterman 5$!; 

Smart. (Jill>erl C ?<j 

Swain, Leonard 4 = k 

Swan, I,>nian L... y.-^ 

Taber, Constant 2C7 

'labor- Stephen H 4,)i; 

Taft, Georce 2^8 

Talbot. Micah J 4"r8 

Talbol. Silas Qu 

Taylor. William V 2i3 

Tefft, Ihumas A 407 

Thayer, Simeon i?-^ 



I Thomas, Alien M 339 

I Thomas. Eugene E 566 

I Thompson. Charles 136 

Thompson. Ihomas D 422 

Throop, Amos 125 

Thurston. Alfred H 527 

Thurston. Benjamin B 303 

Thurston, Gardiner.. 123 

Thurston, leremiah 17s 

Thurston, lohn 1> 578 

Thurston, William T 328 

Tilley Benjamin J 460 

Tillinghast. Allen 264 

Tilliiiphast, Ch.Trles F 263 

Tillinghast. John 382 

Tillinghasi, Joseph L 236 

'I illir,ph..st* "Pardon 207 

Tillincb.tst )'ard..n E 547 

Tillin;;hrt-.t, '1 boni.is . 2 -,f. 

Tillinj^hast W.irren M 581 

Tillon. I-rcd.iic W 56, 

1 inkbam. William 461 

*1 obey. Samuel B 330 

Topha-Ti- John ii-1 

Touro, I>A-ic ity 

Tourtelb't. .Abraum 70 

"I'onriellot. Lobbcus C 3^5 

Townscnd. ChriM'-phcr 34=; 

Trevett. John 147 

Troup. John E 5^5 

Turner. Henr^' E 402 

Turner. Peter 13^ 

Tnrner. I bomas G 2(n, 

T timer. William ]yfc 

I'pdikc. C .\ 94 

UpdiVe, Daniel 9.- 

I'pdikc. Dainei 93 

t'pdike, I^'d-'wick 92 

Vpdike Wilkins.. 93 

L'sher. John 10.. 

I'tter, George B 4-57 ' 

Vandyke, Henry J 5S4 

Van J^lyck. NichoLs 515 

Van Zandt. Charles C jlfi 

N'arnuni. James M i-^^ 

\'aughan. >>ria H 427 

Verin. Joshua i3 

Vcriioii, Th.mias 2(ir 

Vernon. William lofi 

Viidl. Nel-on 404 

Vi.dl, Woiiam 3^8 

\ igner-n. Norbent F .. iii 

Vint"n, Atexaiuler H 274 

Vinton. Francis ;-jj 

\"int()n. Ji hn R 205 

\'ose, James (i 517 

Walts, Samuel H. 3<:S 

W.mton, Edward 77 

W.intoii. ( lideuu., 7.J 

W.-mivn. Inhn. 70 

Want'-'n. I'seph 7.1 

Wan(-n \\illiam 7S 

Ward. Richard E.- 
Ward, Sam\iel 93 

Ward Samuel 93 

\\'aring. Edmund T 195 

Warren, (iouvernenr K 507 



Waierhouse Benjamin „ 137 

Waterman, Henry 385 

Waterman. John 213 

; Waterman, John O ai8 

i Waterman. John R 315 

I Waterman, Resolved 221 

I Waterman, Richard- so 

j Waterman, Rufvis 426 

Waterman. Stephen 491 

Waisun, Daniel 307 

[ Watson. William R 282 

j U'ayland. Francis 54 

; Webb, Daniel 196 

Webb, Ih-mas H 302 

I Webb, Th'.ni.is S 178 

' Weeden. John E 346 

; Weeden. Stephen R . 360 

Welch, Stillman 143 

\S*est, Benjamin. 102 

' West, Samuel 317 

I Wcsicoit. .Amasa S 416 

Westcott. Josibh 216 

Whale. Theophiltis 46 

Whealoii, Frank ... 5^5 

Wheat'-n, Henry 202 

, Wheali.»n, James L 477 

Whealoii, I,evi it-H 

Whedoii. lAunel A 481 

Wheeler, Bennett H 23^ 

, Wheeler, Jonathan M ^3i< 

U'hipple, Abraham 11; 

Whipple, Charles H ^t. 

V^'bipple. Jeremiah 53S 

Whipple John 216 

White, Chailes J 546 

White, Fenncr R 501 

White. Joscj'h 235 

White. Zebuloii L 57<> 

Whitman, Almond C 331 

Whitman Christopher A 250 

\Vhiitcn>orc. l)a\id K 437 

Wickes. Francis and John iS 

Wiggin, Chase 3S3 

\\ ilt'our. Isaac 167 

Wilbur, ['hn.... 194 

Wilbur. John 5S7 

\\'ilbur. Oliver C 248 

Wilbur, William H 413 

\\"ilct.x. Asa i:;;: 

\\ ilcox, Dutee 534 

Wilcox. Isaiah 121 

\\ itkinson, Isaac 184 

Wilkinson, Jephtha A 60 

Wilkinson, Jeremiah 38 

Wiikins<in. l„^wrence 36 

Wilkinson, OzicI 3S 

M'ilkinson, Samuel 37 

Wilkinson. William 174 

Wilictt, Francis 67 

Willctt. Ihonias 46 

\\ dlianis, Daniel 2,6 

Willi.inis, Jtremiah 220 

Witliams. Roger 9 

Willi.inis. 'ih"nia- rg:: 

Wiibams, Willi..m i:'7 

\\ ilson, James it,.- 

Wood, /..seph iSi 

\\'oodbury. Augustus 486 

Woods. Alva 264 

Wright. James M 341 



L-,: 



THE 



BIOGEAPHIGAL CYCLOPEDIA 



O F 



RHODE ISLAND. 



^^^^ILLIAMS, Roger, founder of Rhode Island, and 
sIoIk the great apostle of civil and religions freedom, 
■eSj^ was born of Welsh parentage, in the year 1599. 
3) C This is the date given by all his biographers with 

X the exception of the Rev. Dr. Elton, who is of the 

opinion that he was born in 1606. This latter date, how- 
ever, hardly agrees with various expressions used by Wil- 
liams himself. In a letter dated July 21, 1679, he states 
that he was then *' near to fourscore years of age." He 
could not with strict propriety have made use of such an 
expression, had he been but seventy-three. Again, in a 
letter to John Winthrop written in 1632, he states that he 
had been " persecuted in and out of" his " father's house 
these twenty years." Adopting the generally received date 
of his birth, he had been persecuted since the age of thir- 
teen. He could hardly have been •* persecuted " for his 
religious convictions at the early age of six. Concerning 
the place of his birth history is silent. In the publications 
of the Harleian Society for 1SS74, under the heading I'isi- 
tcilion of the County of Cornwall, 1620, we read tliat 
" Roger, second son of William Williams, gentleman, was 
baptized 24th July, 1600, in the Parish Church of (.Iwinear." 
The Rev. N. T. Rodd, Vicar of Gwinear, in a letter to the 
late J. Wingate Thornton, of Boston, dated Cornwall, April 
12, 1877, says, " I have .searched the oldest parish regis- 
ter, which dates back to 1 560, and have found the name of 
Roger Williams exactly as described " in the foregoing 
record. The date and place of his birth may be considered 
therefore as fairly established. No allusion to the parents 
of Williams has thus far been found in any of his writ- 
ings; a single fact only respecting his early years has been 
placed on record. In the last of his published works, 
George Fox dig^d out of his Burrowcs, he says : " From 



my childhood, now about threescore years, the Father of 
lights and mercies touched my soul with a love to himself, 
to his only begotten the true Lord Jesus, and to his holy 
Scriptures." It is evident from this passage, taken in con- 
nection with others, that his father was a " gentleman " in 
good circumstances, that he was brought up in the worship 
of the Established Church, having been baptized in his 
infancy, and that in his early boyhood he had been taught 
to love and reverence the inspired word, and the lilessed 
Redeemer therein revealed. From the place of his child- 
hood and youth we trace him to London, where his re- 
markable skill as a reporter gained him the favorable notice 
of Sir Edward Coke, the fir^t lawyer of his age. He, 
according to the statement of his daughter, Mrs. Sadleir, 
sent him to Sutton's Hospital, a magnificent school of 
learning, now called the Charter House. It was a propi- 
tious circumstance that made the author of the " Bill of 
Rights," and the Defender of the Commons, a benefactor 
of the youth destined to become the advocate of free prin- 
ciples in the New World. Upon the completion of his pre- 
paratory .studies young Williams was admitted to Cambridge 
University, where Coke himself was educated, and where 
Puritan and liberal sentiments have always found a more 
congenial home than at Oxford. He was matriculated a 
pensioner of Pembroke College, July 7, 1625, and in Jan- 
uary, 1627, took the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The evi- 
dence of this, as stated by Arnold, in his history of Rhode 
Island, may be seen in the original records, which the 
writer has recently been permitted to examine through the 
kindness of Mr. Bradshaw, Librarian of the University. 
Mr. Williams now commenced the study of the law, under 
the guidance of his illustrious patron. The providence of 
I God may here be seen, in thus leading his mind to an 



BIOCR.irinCAL CYCI. OPE DLL 



aciiu:iinlaiice witli tlmse priiKijiIr-., wliicli wcie to iie ^o 
UM.-rul to liiin in fiiliHL' life, .l^ the li-i;i-l.itor of an infant 
(•■)l(iny. Ill-' si)(in, Imwcxcr, rL-limiuisliciI tlli^ |iuiNuil an.l 
cntcrcil ii|Hin llic ^tn^ly of tliinlotjy ; a xtndy which to a 
luMit and niinil like liis, |)osvcs-,e'l Mi|iL-rior attractions, 
lie \va> admittcil to onlcrs in the EstaMi^hcl ( 'hurcli, ami 
assumed, it is siiid. the cluiiL;e of a parisli, prohal'ly in llie 
diocese of tile excellent l>isho|j Williams, who, it is well 
known, winked at the iS'onconfoiinists, and spoke with 
keenness ni;ainst some of the ceremonies innu;_;urated l>y 
KiiiL; James and liis ad\i-.ei's. It was diirin.; tliis [ieric)d 
tliat tlic yonni; cleiijyman liecamc acciuainlcd w ith many 
of tlie leailing eniij^rants to Anieiica, including hi^ famous 
ril)|)onvnt in after years, John (."otlon. He ajiiiears, even 
then, to ha\e heeii very decided in his o]ii>o^ition to the 
liturgy, the ceremonies, and the hierarchy of the church, 
as expounded and eitforced hv Laiul, to escape from whose 
tyranny he I'lnally lied to the new country. He embarked at 
r.ristol, in the ship Lvoii, and at'ter a teinpe--tuous passage 
of nearly ten w eek^, arri\ ed at !'.< i>toii, w iih his w ife Mary, 
to whom he ll.ul been but lecellll}' in.lrried. on the 5th of 
i-'ebruai\. I (". ^ i , " He was tlun," sa\s the historian IJan- 
croft, •■ lull little more than thirty years of age; but his 
mind had already matured a doctrine which secures liim 
an immortality of fame, as its a|i]>lication has given religious 
]>cace to the .\nierican world. He was a Turitan, and a 
lugitive iVom Kngli^h prrseciilion ; but his wrongs jiad not 
clouded his accurate understanding; in the cajiacious 
recesses ol Ills mind he had revolved the nature of intoler- 
ance, and he, and he alone, had arrived at the great princi- 
ple which is its sole etleclual remedy. He announced his 
disco\'cry under the simple yiropiosition of the sanctity of 
conscience. The ci\il magistrate should restrain crime, 
but never ci.iitod opinion; should punish guilt, but never 
violate the freedom of the soul." The arri\al of this 
"goilly minister" is duly recorded by Winthrop, and in a 
few weeks he was cordially invited to settle in Boston as a 
teacher. This flattering invitation he declined, because, 
as he afterwards wrote to (/utton. he " durst nut offici.ite to 
an unseparated peo]i|e." So impure did he regard the 
Kstablishcd ('hureh, that he wonM not join with a congre- 
gation, which, although driven into the wilderness by its 
persecuting spirit, refused to regard its hierarchy ami 
worldly ceremonies as jjortions of the abominations of Anti- 
christ. He, therefore, accepted an invitatimi to Salem, 
and shinlly entercil upon his duties as leachcr. in pl.ue 
ol the learned and c.itholic lligginson. who was in fee- 
ble lie.dth. The cluutli with which he thus became con- 
nected was the oldest in the Massachusetts colony, having 
been org.ini/ed on ihe iHli of August, 1629, •• on prin- 
ciples," says L'phani, its historian, "of perfect and entire 
inde])entlence of every other ecclesiastical bo.ly." It was, 
fortius reason, eminently congenial to Williams's indepcn- 
denl and fearless iialuie. .\t once ihe civil anllmrity inter- 
fered to prevent his seuh-melit, on ihe piinciple afteruards 



established, that " if any church, one or more, shall gniw 
schismatical, rending itself from the communion of other 
churches, or shall walk incorrigibly and obstinatel)' in any 
corrupt way of their own, contrary to the rule of the word ; 
in such case, the magistrate is to put forth his coercive 
power, as the matter shall rei|uiie." The cluirch at Salem, 
notw ithstanding, maintained its independence, and on the 
IJth of Ajiril, Ibjl, received Mr. Williams as its minister. 
1 lis settlement, liowever, was of short continuance. l-)isre- 
garding the w ishes and advice of the magistrates in calling 
him, the chuieli liad incurred their disapprobation, and 
raised a storm of persecution, so that, for the sake of peace, 
he w ith<lreH before the close of summer, and sought a resi- 
lIciicc .It ri}nioiith. be}'ond thejurisdicticui of Massachusetts 
Bay. Here, says Clovernor Bratlford, he was corilially re- 
ceived and freely entertained, exercising his gifts and being 
admitted into the church. He laluired in the ministry of 
the word faithfully, both among the w hites and among the 
Indians, w hoiii he \dsitcd in their wigwams, and with whose 
chiefs, Massasoit and t_'anonicus, he became intimately 
ac'|uainted. In the autumn of 1633, he returiicil to Salem. 
Already the princijiles of freedom wliich he everywhere 
Itroclaimed had made liim an oiiject of jealousy even 
among the liberal-minded Pilgrims of tlie Mayilov\'er. On 
rc'iuestiiig his dismissal from tlie church, we ilnd tlie Elder, 
Mr. Brewster, perstiatling his peojile to relin'|uish com- 
munion w ith him, lest he shrjuld " run the same course of 
rigid separation and .Anabaptislry \\ Iiich Mr. [ohn .Sniitli, 
the Se-Baptist at .Vnisterdam, ha'l done." Mr. Williams 
resumeil his ministerial iluties in Salem as an assistant to 
Mr. Skelton, whose declining health unfitted liim for his 
work. Lpion the death of Mr. Skelton, in .-Vugust. 1034, 
he was regularly ordained as his successor, notw ithstanding 
the opposition of the magistrates. He was highly popular 
as a preacher, and the people became strongly attached to 

him and to his ministry. Among his hearers were not a few 
1 
of the members ol the church at I'lymouth, who, after in- 

etlectual attempts to detain him there, had transferred their 
resilience to Salem. The original Iramework of the house 
in w hich he preached is still preserved, as an object of in- 
terest to the historian and the antiiiuaiy. Whoever visits 
Plummer Hall will lind in the rear of that institution, re- 
stored as far as possible to its primitive condition, the i|uaint 
structure which, two and one-half centuries ago, resounded 
with his eloquence. From this period of Mr. Williams's 
' hn.il settlement may be dated the beginning of the contro- 
1 veisy w ith the clergy and court of Massachusetts, whiclt at 
length terminated in his banishment from the colony. " He 
was laithfully and resolutely protected," says Upliani, in 
his historical discourse, " by the people of .Salem, through 
years of persecution from without ; and it was only by the 
j persevering and comliined efforts of all the other towns 
and churches that his separation and banishment were 

hnally elfected."' " Thev adhered to him long 

anil faithlullv, and sheltered him from all assaults. And 



BIO GRA PHICA L C ] 'CL OPED/A. 



when at last he was sentenced by tlie General Court to 
banishment from the colony, on account of his principles, 
we cannot but admire the fidelity of that friendship which 
prompted many of the members of his congregation to ac- 
company him in his exile, and partake of his fortunes, 
when an outcast upon the earth." Of the true causes 
which led to this final result, Governor Winthrop, of all 
the early writers, has given the fairest and most reliable 
account. " In April, 1635," he writes, "the Court sum- 
moned Williams to appear at Boston. The occasion was, 
that he had taught publicly that a magistrate ought not to 
tender an oath to an unregenerate man ; for that we thereby 
have communion with a wicked man in the worship of God, 
and cause him to take the name of God in vain. He was 
heard before all the ministers and very clearly confuted." 
Mr. Williams, in alluding to his final trial, has given a ilif- 
ferent version respecting the force of the arguments which 
he presented. In his Mr. Col/on's Letter Examined and 
Answered, \\t says: '* After my public trial and answers 
at the General Court, one of the most eminent magistrates, 
whose name and speech may be by others remembered, 
stooil up and spoke. 'Mr. Williams' said he, 'holds 
forth these four particulars : I'irst, that we have not our 
land by patent from the king, but that the natives are the 
true owners of it, and that we ought to repent of such a re- 
ceiving of it by patent ; secondly, that it is not lawful to 
call a wicked person to ssvear, or to pray, as being actions 
of God's worship ; thirdly, that it is not lawful to hear any 
of the ministers of the parish assemblies in England ; 
fourthly, that the civil magistrate's power extends only to 
the bodies, and goods, and outward state of man, etc' I 
acknowledge the particulars were rightly summed up, and 
I also hope that, as I then maintained the rocky strength 
of them to my own and other consciences' satisfaction, so, 
through the Lord's assistance, I shall be ready, for the same 
grounds, not only to be bound and banished, but to die also 
in New England, as for most holy truths of God in Christ 
Jesus." The controversy now became more and more vio- 
lent. In July he was again summoned to Court. His "opin- 
ions were adjudged by all, magistrates and ministers, t(.) be 
erroneous and very dangerous," and after long debate, " time 
was given to him, and the church at Salem, to consider of 
these things till the next General Court, and then either to 
give satisfaction to the Court, or else to expect the sentence." 
" The interval," says Professor Gammell, " we may readily 
imagine, was a period of no common excitement among 
the churches and towns of Mas.sachusetts Ilay. The con- 
test was one that could not fail to awaken the deepest 
interest among men entertaining views of government and 
religion like those prevalent among the early Puritans. 
On one side was arrayed the whole power of the civil 
government, supported by the united voice of the clergy 
and by the general sentiment of the peojde ; on the other 
was a single individual, a minister of the Gospel, of dis- 
tinguished talents and blameless life, who yet had ventured 



to assert the freedom of conscience, and to deny the juris- 
diction of any human authority in controlling its dictates 
or decisions. The purity of the churches and the cause of 
sound doctrine were thought to be in peril, and all waited 
with eager expectation to know the issue of this first 
schism that had sprung up among the Pilgrim bands of 
New England." The issue was at hand. The people of 
Salem had preferred to the Court a claim for a tract of 
land lying on Marblehead Neck, which claim had been 
refused as a punishment for their adhesion to Mr. Williams. 
This he denounced as an act of flagrant injustice, and he 
further urged his church to renounce all communion \\\\.\\ 
the other churches. Tlie next (ieneral Court was held in 
October, 1635, when he was again summoned for the last 
time, "all the ministers in the Bay being desired to be 
present." " Mr. Hooker," says Winthrop, " was chosen 
to dispute with him, but could not reduce him from any 
of his errors. So the next morning the Court sentenced 
him to depart out of our jurisdiction within six weeks, all 
the ministers, save one, approving the sentence." The act 
of banishment, as it stands upon the Colonial Records, is 
in these words : " Whereas, Mr. Roger Williams, one of 
the ehiers of the Church of Salem, hath broached and 
divulged new and dangerous opinions against the authority 
of magistrates ; as also writ letters of defamation, both of 
the magistrates and churches here, and that before any 
conviction, and yet maintaineth the same without any re- 
traction ; it is, therefore, ordered that the said Mr. Williams 
shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks now 
next ensuing, which, if he neglect to perform, it shall be 
lawful for the governor and two of the magistrates to send 
him to some place out of this jurisdiction, not to return 
any more without license from the Court." Thi^ remark- 
able sentence, as the late Professor Dinian has clearly 
shown, was passed on October 8, and not on November 3, 
as has generally been stated. On the final passing of this 
act " the wdiole town of Salem," says Neal, was in an up- 
roar, and many people were led to listen to the teachings 
of Williams, and to embrace his views and opinions. This 
information led the Court to resolve to send him to 
England, and a small sloop was sent to Salem, with a dun- 
mission to Captain Underbill to apprehend him. When, 
however, the officers came to his house, they found that he 
had been gone three days. It was in the miildlo of 
January, 1636, the coldest month of a New England win- 
ter, that the illustrious exile left his home and loved ones 
to escape the warrant for his arrest. The late Hon. Job 
Durfee, in his Whalcheer, has, with a poet's license, 
graphically descrilied some of the scenes relating to this 
historic event. The account of the journey of Mr. 
Williams through the wilderness, and of his subsequent 
settlement, first at Seekonk, and afterwards at Providence, 
he has given in his own words, in a letter to his friend. 
Major Mason, of Connecticut. From this it may be in- 
ferred that he made his journey from Salem by sea, coast- 



BIOGKAnilCAL C\ CLOPEPIA. 



iiiL; from pliicc to pl.u'c iluiiiiL; the " fourteen weeks" tli.it 
he " was siireU' /.''i w</."" ■• not Kiio\\iii_:; \\li:\t bread or I'eil 
dill mean." and holdinj^ intereonr^e w illi the nati\e trihe-^, 
ulinse Umguage and friendshiji lie had already acquired. 
'I'hiN is not the view that has been generally entertained. 
Init the various expressions which he himself u-^es certainly 
admit of such a construction. " Mr. Winthrop," he says, 
*' privately wrote me to ^Ici'y njv coitr^c to the Xarragansett 
Piay." " I itt-crcil my d'ursf from Salem." Again: "It 
|ileased the Must High to direct my stei's i:i/fl this bay." 
A paragraph in Lott^'it' s Liitrr Examined aiiil Ans-cvercil 
seems still more conclusive on this point: " Had his soul 
been in my sinil's case, expos^'d to the miseries, pioverties, 
necessities, nant^. debts, hardshijis of se<i ajui Unt.i, in ,i 
banished eendi/irn. he would. 1 presume, reach forth a 
more merciful cordial to the atllicted." If, on the other 
hand, he escaped at once into the wilderness, as has been 
more comntonly supposed, he perhaps took the road over 
which he had so often travelled to ,ui-«er the citations of 
the Court at Iloston. striking wed when he reached Sau- 
gu> into tile unknown and unbroken woixls, ginded by a 
pocket compass, which has been i)reser\'ed, in accordance 
with the tradition^ that ha\'c come down to us, as a 
mement'i of lii^ journey. After long exposure, the effects 
of whicli he felt even in old age, he reached the wigwam 
of his aged Indian friend, Massasoit, with whom he 
remainetl fc»r siune time, ami from whom he obtained a 
grant of land, now included in the town of Seekonk, Mas- 
sachusetts, and began to build a house or cabin. He 
cleared the ground and planted Indian corn. Meanwhile 
some friends had joined him. though his wife and children 
remained at Salem. The crop^. beneath the sun ami 
showers of June, looketl green and thriving when he re- 
ceiveil a letter from his friend, Governor Winslow, of 
Plymoutli. To use his own words: "I lirst pitched and 
began to bnild and iilant at Seekonk, now Rehoboth; but 
I receiveii .i letter from my ancient fnend Mr. Winslow, 
then { iinernrtr ol I'lynuiuth. |"irofessing his own ami others' 
lo\'e anil re^iiect to ]ne. yet lovingly ad\ising me, since I 
was fallen into the edge of their bounds, and they were 
loath to displease the Bay, to remove to the otiier si.le of 
the water, and there, he said, I had the country free before 
me, and might be as free as thenisi Ives, and we shouhi be 
loving neighbors together." It w.i, in the latter ]>art of 
June. 1 6^6. as well as can now be ascertained, that 
William-., with his five companions, embarked in his canoe 
at Seekonk, to find at length a resting-place on the free 
soil ol Rhode Island. Traclition has preserved the shout 
of welcome, "What ( heer, Netop," which greeted his 
binding at Slate Rock. ,\fier exchanging friendly saluta- 
tions with the Indian^ ihey again embarked, and pursuing 
their course around the headland of Tockwotlen passed 
what are now i.dhd h'ox I'oint and India Point, and 
entered the Mooshaiisiik River. Rowing up tlli■^ broad 
and biMutibil sheet of water, ilirn bordcreil bv a dense 



forest, their attention was attracted by a delicious sjiring, 
gushing from the b'Ot of a liill near the margin of the 
stream. Here they landed, and upon the slope that as- 
cends from the river commenced a settlement, to which, in 
gratitude to his Supreme Deliverer, Williams gave the 
name r)f Proviilence. Other settlers from Massachusetts 
joined them, and at an early j^eriod they entered into an 
agreement or compact "only in civil things," and became 
" incorjiorated together into a town fellowshi])." Thus 
was founded, says (iervinus. the celebrated ( ierman pro- 
fessor, " a small, irew society in Rhode Islanii, upon the 

principles of entire lilierty of conscience," 

which princi]>]es " ha^■e not only maintained themselves 

here, but have spiread over the whole Union," 

and " have given laws to one-quarter of the globe." True 
to the principle that he had so earnestly avowed, that the 
Indians were the rightful proprietors of the lands they oc- 
cupied, and that no English patent could convey a com- 
jilete title theret'j. he fir^t secured the territory by semi- 

' purcha>e, though to do this he was obliged to mortg.age 
his house at Salem in order to secure jiresents for the Nar- 
ragansett sachems. " It was not." he affirms, "thousands 

j nor tens of thousands of ntmie)' that could have bought an 
Engli-.h entrance into this Bay, Init I was the procurer of 
the ])urchase by that language, acquaintance and favor 
w ith the natives, and other advantages, which it pleased 
( ;od to give me." The laml was conveyed to him by form.al 
deed front L'anonicus and Miantononii, and " v\'as his as 
much as any man's coat upim his back." This land he freely 
shared with his companions, reserving for himsLlf no 
special rights, and securing no kind of pre-eminence. In 
the spring of 1639 Williams, whose tendency to Bapitist 
views, as a rigid Separatist, had long been apparent, was 
publicly immersed. Winthrop, in giving the account, says : 
" A sifter (if Mrs. I lulchinson, the w ife of one .Scott, being 
infected with .-\iiabaptistry, and going last year to live at 
Providence. Mr. Williams was taken, or rather, emboldened 
by her to make open professiiui thereof, and accordingly 
was rebaptized by one Hol_\nian, a ]>oru' man. late of 
S.deni. Then Mr. Williams reljapti/ed him and some ten 
more." Thus was established a church, which, after two 
and one-half centuries of vicissitude, and trial, and growth, 
is now know n as the First Baptist Church of Providence, 
and which has always been regarded by the ilenominalion 
to which it is attached with sentiments of filial attachment 
and piride. It is true that he did not long i(.t.tin his out- 
ward connection with the little band, which for seventy 
years and upwards were accusteimed to worship in jirivate 
houses and beneath the shade of spreading trees. "In a 

I few months," says .Scolt, " he broke from the society, and 

I declared at large the grounds and reason of it, — that their 
baptism could not be right because it was not administered 
by an apostle." He became what in the history of that 
eventful period is denominated a .Skikfr ; a term, says 
I'rofessor t^Iamiiu II. not inapll)' applied to those wdio, in 



BIOGRAPHICAL C ] 'CL OPED I A. 



'3 



any age of the Cliurcli, are dissatisfied with its prevailing 
creeds and institutions, and seek for more congenial views 
of truth, or a faith better adapted to their spiritual wants. 
Although, like his illustrious friends Milton and Cromwell 
and Vane, he preferred to live disconnected with any par- 
ticular church, he nevertheless did not, as appears from 
his writings, undervalue the benefits of Christian fellow- 
ship. He continued on terms of the closest intimacy with 
his successor in the ministry, Kev. Chad. I'.rown, of whom 
he speaks in one of his letters as "that noble spirit now 
with God." He believed " in that gallant, and heavenly, 
and fundamental principle of the true matter of a Christian 
congregation, flock, or society, viz., actual believers, true 
disciples and converts, living stones, such as can give some 
account how the grace of God hath appeared unto them." 
He continued also to preach the Gospel. In a letter to 
Governor Bradstreet, written very near the close of his 
life, he desires to have the discourses wdiich he had 
preache<l to "the scattered English at Narragansett " 
printed, either at Boston or Cambridge. In regard to wdiat 
is known as the distinguishing sentiment of Baptists at the 
present day, viz., baptism by immersion, he did not, it 
appears, materially change his views. In a letter to Win- 
throp, dated September lo, 1649, more than ten years after 
the founding of the Baptist Church, speaking of immersion 
in the river at Seekonk by Clarke and Lucar, he says : " I 
believe their practice comes nearer the lirst practice of our 
great founder Christ Jesus than other practices do." In 
1643 the neighboring colonies formed a League or Con- 
federation for " mutual protection against the depredations 
committed by the natives," which Rhode Inland was not 
invited to join, and to which she was afterwards refused 
■admittance. The authorities of Massachusetts, not satis- 
fied with having driven ^Villiams and others from their 
territory, laid claim to juristliction over the settlements in 
Narragansett Bay, as in the case of .Samuel Gorton, the 
history of wdiich forms a melancholy chapter in the annals 
of New England. For these and other reasons the in- 
haViitants of Rhode Island and Providence requested 
Williams to proceed to England, and obtain, if possible, a 
charter, defining their rights, and giving them indejiendent 
authority, free from the intrusive interference of their 
neighbors. He proceeded to New York, from whence he 
set sail in June, 1643. Notwithstanding his di.-^tinguished 
services in allaying Indian ferocity, and preventing by his 
personal influence the attacks of the native tribes upon the 
settlements of the Bay State, he was not even permitted to 
enter her territory and to ship from the more convenient 
port of Boston. He arrived at London in the midil of the 
horrors of a civil war. Hampden, the great leader in 
political affairs, had been stricken down in battle, and the 
fate of the English monarchy hung suspended in the 
balance. The affairs of the Colonies were intrusterl to a 
Board i.»f Commissioners, of wdioni Sir lleniy Vane, t)ie 
intimate friend of Williams, was a member. Through his 



influence a charter, bearing date March 14, 1644, was ob- 
tained, with which he returned to America. At Seekonk 
he received a perfect ovation, the inhabitants of Providence 
meeting him with a fleet of fourteen canoes, and conveying 
him in triuni|)h to his home. The limits of a sketch like 
this compel us to pass rapidly in review some of the lead- 
ing events in the further career of our great founder, 
referring the reader to the more extended memoirs of 
Knowdes, Gammell, and Elton, and to Arnold's exhaustive 
history of the State. In 1645 he was instrumental, through 
his great personal influence among the Indians, in making 
peace between the Narragansctts and the Mohegans, thus 
preserving the settlements of New England a second time 
from a general war. He was chosen Deputy President of the 
Colony in 1649, but declined the honor, as also the office 
of Governor, three years later. In November, 1651, in 
company w itii his " loving friend " Rev. John Clarke, 
M.D., of Newport, he embarked at Boston, upon a scc- 
onil voyage to England, to procure the revocation of Ciov- 
ernor Coddington's commission, and the confirmation of 
the first charter. It was during this vi^it that three of his 
works were published, a list of w hich we liave reserved 
for our close. He enjoyed the hospitality of Vane, spend- 
ing many weeks at Belleau, his beautiful country resi- 
dence in Lincolnshire ; and he was brought into intimate 
relations with Cromwell, Milton, Hutchinson, and other 
kindred spirits. In a letter to (;overnor \Yinlhrop, written 
after his return, he says: " It jileased the [jjrd to call me 
for some time, and with some persons, to practice the 
Hebrew, the Greek, Latin, French, and Dutch. The Sec- 
retary of the Council, Mr. Milton, for my Dutch I read 
him, read me many more languages." This extract pre- 
sents a pleasing view of the literary acquirements and 
tastes of Roger Williams. Returning to Providence in 
the summer of 1654, he succeeded in reorganizing the 
government upon a jiermanent ba^is, and in September 
following he was chosen I'resiilent or Governor. This 
position he occupied until May, 165S, when he retired 
from the office. It was during this period that he ad- 
dressed to the town his famous letter, which Knowles has 
quoted from the reconts, setting forth the principles on 
wdiich the state was foundeil, ami rebuking in the strong- 
est terms the lawless license that then prevailed. " There 
goes," he says, " many a ship to sea, with many hundred 
souls in one ship, whose weal and woe is common, and is 
a true picture of a commonwealth." This letter has long 
been regarded as a classic. Concerning the closing years 
of Williams's life we know but little. He outlived most 
of his contemporaries, dying at the advanced age of eighty- 
four, in the full vigor of his intellectual faculties. With 
ample means for the acquisition of wealth in his earlier 
career, he was compelled, it appears, in his latter days, to 
endure the ilK of ]ioverly. The precise date of his death 
is nowhere mentioned. It must have occurred early in 
16S3, for Mr. fohn Thornton, of Proviilence, writing to 



niOGR.lPIIICAL CYCL OPED/. I. 



RfV. Samuel Ilulilinnl, of Boston, umlcr date of May 
lolh of tlli^ year, says, "The l.oicl liatli arresleil by death 
our ancient and a|i|noved friend, Mr. Rot;er Williams, 
with divers others here." He was Imrieil under arms, 
" with ,dl tlic solemnity," says Callender, " the Colony was 
able to show." 'I'he place of his iiilermeiit is now an 
orch.ird, in the rear of the residence of the late Mr. Sulli- 
van l>oir. In I. Si )o his remains, " dust and ashes," were 
exhumed, under the direeliuu of one of his descendants, 
and removed t'l the North liuri.d ( Iround. The follow- 
in;.; is a li-.t of the n-ritin;.;^ of Koi;er Williams, the 
titles beiuL; L;iv..'n in full, and arranged in elironoloi^ical 
order: (I.) " .\ Key into the Language of .\merica ; or. 
An Help to the Language of the \atives in th.it part 
of America called New England ; together with liriefe I Ib- 
servations of the ("ustomes, .Manners, and Worships, &c., 
of the ah iresaid Natives, in Peace and Warre, in Life and 
L)e.ath ; on all which are adiled Spirituall ( )bscrvations, 
Generall and Particular, by the .Vuthor, of Chiefe and ,Spe- 
ciall Use, ujion all decisions, to all the Knglish inhaliiting 
those Parts; yet Pleasant and Prohtable to the View of all 
Men. London. I'rintcil by Gregory Dexter. 1643." (Small 
dii"ilecinio. Jio pages, including [Jieface and table. It is 
dedicated to the .Vulhor's '* i_leare and \\-ell-l)elo\eil friends 
and country-men in 1 Hd and New luigland.") {2.} " Mr. 
Cotton's Letter, latel)' printed, examined and ans\\-ered. 
Lomlim. Imprinted in the yeere 1644." (.\ small ciuarto 
o( forty-seven pages, including two pages to the " Imjiar- 
tiall Reader.") (3.) "The Bloody Tenent of Persecu- 
tion for (_'ause of t'onscience, diNCUssed in a Conference 
between Truth and Peace, who, in all tender affection, 
present to the H'.gh Court of P.irliament, as the result cif 
their discour-.e, the^e, amongst other passages of highest 
consideration. London. Printed in the year Ih44." (A 
small quarto, comprising 247 pages of text, besides 24 
pages of table and introduction.) (4.) " (Queries of High- 
est Consiiler.ation, proposed to Mr. Tho. ( lijodwin, Mr. 
Philip Nye, Mr. Wil. Bridges, Mr. Jer. Burroughs, Mr. 
Sidr. .Simpson, all Inde|)endents ; and to the Commission- 
ers from the (Generall Assembly, so-called, of the Church 
of Scotland, upon (decision of their late printed Ayujlo- 
gies for themselves and their Churches. In all humble 
re\erence presented to the view of the Right Honorable 
the Houses of the High Court of Parliament. London. 
Imprinted in the yeare 1644." (.\n anonymous pam]ddet 
of thirteen [lages.) (5,) "The Ploody Teiieiit yet more 
IJloody, Ijy Mr. Cotton's endeavor to wash it white in the 
hlooil of the Land); of whose precious blood, spilt in the 
blood of Ids serv.ints, and of the blood of milli.uis spilt 
in former and filler wars for conscience' sake, that most 
Bloody reneiit f»t Persecution fir cause of conscience, 
upon a secon.l iryal, is foiin,| now iiuue app.irenilv and 
more not. uiou ,ly guilty. In this rejoyndei to Mr. Cotton 
are principally: i. The n.Uure of jjersecution. 2. The 
power of the civill suor.l in spirituals examined. 3. The 



Parliament's permission of dissenting consciences justified. 
Also, as a testimony to Mr. (?lark's Narrative, is added a 
letter to Mr. Endicot, (jovernor of the Massachusetts in 
N. E. Loiulon. Printed for Ciles Calvert, and are to be 
sold at the Black Spread-Eagle, at the West-Iuid of Pauls. 
1652." {A small {[uarto of 373 pages, inchuling the in- 
troduction and table of contents.) (6.) "The Hireling 
Ministry None of (_'hrist's; or, .X Discourse touching the 
Projiagating the G'lspiel of Christ Jcsus. Humbly pre- 
sented to such pious and honoralde hands, whom the 
present debate thereof concerns. London. Printed in the 
-Second Month, 1652." (A small ([uarto, com|irising thirty- 
six pages of text and eight ]^ages of introductoi"}" matter.) 
(7.) " Experiments of .Spiritual Life and Health, an<l their 
Preservatives, in which the weakest Child of (_;ud may get 
assurance of his .Spuritual Lit'e and Blessednesse, and the 
strongest may tinde proportionable I tiscoverics cif his Chris- 
tian Growth, and the Means of it. London. Printed in the 
.Second Month, 1652." {\ sniall quarto, comprising t^ifty- 
nine pages of text, and ten pages of introductory matter. 
In the form of a letter to his w ife, commencing " My 
Dearest Love and Com|>aiiioii in this Vale of Tears." 
Dedicated to the Honorable Lady Vane.) (S.) "George 
Fox digg'd out of his Burrowes ; or, .'\n ( >fler of Dispu- 
tation on }-'ourteen Proposalls made this last Summer, 
1072, so-called, unto ti. Fox, then jiresent on Rhode 
Island, in New England, by k. W. As also how, C. 
Fox slyly deiiarting, the diqiutation went on, being man- 
aged three dayes at Newport, on Rhode Island, and one 
day at Providence, betw ecu John Stubs, John Burnet, and 
William ICdmundson, on the one ]iart, and R. W. on the 
other. In which many quotations out of (i. Flix and I'aI. 
Burrowcs's book, in folio, are alleadged. With an api- 
jieiidix of some scores of (_i. F. his sinqile lame answers 
to his opj.osiies in that boolc, quoted ami replyed to. 
BostLin. Printed by John Foster. 1076." (A quarto of 
335 P'^g'-"^') Pliese works in their original editions are 
seldom now fmnd, eitlier in [niblic or private libraries. 
They in.leed belong to that class of books which Clement, 
in his /i/7'//(>//jc'i/!u- Cnri.u^r, denominates " t\XL\-s^i7\'/v 
!\!ii\" L'nder the auspices of the " Narragansett Club," 
they, together with his letters, have recently been re- 
printed, with the exception of Hhtlm^ Ministry and 
Spiritmil /CxpLyinu'fiti, in six t.|uarto volumes, consti- 
tuting a monument to the author's genius and worth, 
more enduring than " storied urn" or scul|itured marble. 
Professor T)der has given a masterly analysis of them 
in his //is/ory of' .t inrrirnii Literature. " Roger W'il- 
lianis," he says in the commencement, " never in any- 
thing addicted to concealments, has put himself, without 
reserve, into his writings. There he still remains. There, 
if anvwhere, we m.iy get well acquainted with him. 
.Searching for him along the two thousand printed pages 
upon which he has stamped his own portrait, we seem to 
see a verv human and fillible man, with a large head, a 




V 



A //t-^^_ I r J-^/ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



•5 



wavm heart, a healtliy body, an eloquent and iniiirudent 
tongue; not a symmetrical person, poised, cool, accurate, 
circumspect; a man very anxious to be genuine and to get 
at the truth, but impatient of slow methods, trusting gal- 
lantly to his own intuitions, easily deluded by his own 
hopes ; an imaginative, sympathetic, aflluent, impulsive 
man; an optimist ; his master-passion benevolence; . . . 
lovely in his carriage; ... of a hearty and sociable 
turn; ... in truth a clubahle person; a man whose 
dignity would not have petriiied us, nor his saintliness 
have given us a chill ; . . . . from early manhood even 
down to late old age .... in New England a mighty 
and benignant form, always pleading for some magnan- 
imous idea, some tender charity, the rectification of some 
wrong, the exercise of some sort of forbearance towards 
men's bodies or souls." In February, 1872, Providence 
came into possession of the Joseph Williams farm, now 
called the " Roger Williams Park," a splendid inclosure 
of one hundred acres and upwards. The original owner 
was a son of Roger. By the terms of tlie will bequeath- 
ing the estate, the old family burying-ground in the south- 
west corner of the park must always be reserved " as a 
place of sepulchre of the descendants of Roger Williams." 
The will also required the erection of a monument to his 
memory. Plans for this, by Franklin .Simmons, the dis- 
tinguished American artist at Rome, were accepted by the 
City Council, and on Tuesday, October 16, 1877, the mon- 
ument was formally dedicated. It stands on the high bank 
west of the lake, and faces west. The monument, which 
is twenty-seven feet in height from the base, is crowned by 
a statue of Roger Williams, seven and one-half feet in 
height, of which our frontispiece is an excellent engrav- 
ing. Another monument to his memory will in time be 
erected somewhere on Pro^pect Hill, the late Stephen 
Randall, a descendant, having left funds in the People's 
Savings Bank to accumukite for this purpose. 



^REENE, Nathan.\el, Major-Genkral in the 
army of the Revolution, was born in Warwick, 
^^^ Rhode Island, May 27, 1742. His father, Na- 
^]|*^ thanael, w-as a Quaker preacher, ami also a large 
4> landed proprietor, the owner of a grist-mill, a flour- 
mill, a saw-mill, and a forge, which he kept in constant 
and profitable operation. Eight sons, two of them liy his 
first wife, Phcebe Greene, the other six, including young 
Nathanael, by his second wife, Mary Mott, were trained 
from their boyhood to work in the fields, the mills, and the 
forge, and to walk their two miles to the meeting-house in 
all kinds of weather. At the age of fourteen he formed 
the casual acquaintance of a student by the name of Giles, 
who was passing a college vacation in the vicinity of Poto- 
womut. This event served to awaken in hinr new hopes 
and aspirations, and from this time on a world of knowl- 



edge began to unfold itself before him. The next winter, 
under the direction of a teacher by the name of Maxwell, 
he began the study of geometry and Latin. He also read 
with avidity standard works of history. The further 
acquaintance of the Rev. Dr. Stiles, of Newport, and of 
the grammarian Lindley Murray, introduced him to Watt's 
Lo;^ic and Locke On t/w Uinlcistaitdini;, and led him to 
lay the foundation of those habits of patient investigation, 
which so often excited the wonder and ailmiration of those 
wdio were called to act with him in his public career. At 
the age of twenty he had acquired a stock of knowledge, 
which would have been remarkable under any circum- 
stances. His little library too had been enlarged, until he 
could count several hundred classics among his treasures. 
Notwithstanding his manual laboi^ at the forge, and his 
literary and scientific pursuits, he retained his original pas- 
sion for frolic and game, and was ever reaily for a feat of 
strength or agility, being usually the victor in a contest. 
His chief passion was dancing, wdiich he sometimes in- 
dulged, with the full knowledge of the penalties and pains 
of his stern father's displeasure. He soon began to take 
an active part in public affairs, and in 1770 he was elected 
a member of the General Assembly from Coventry. The 
taking (;f the King's cutter at Newport, in 1769, and the 
Inirning of the Gaspee in Providence River three years 
later, were evidences of an impending contest in which lie 
felt that he must be a leader. To qualify himself for this 
he applied himself to the study of the art of war with all 
the energy of his soul, and Sharpe's Military GiiiJe^ the 
JMemoirs of Tiirt'iiiie, Cirsiir\^ Coz/u/ic'/iiiiric's 3.nd Plutai-ih^ 
became his textbooks and daily companions. For engag- 
ing in military exercises and joining the Kenti^^h Guards 
he was expelled from the Society of Quakers or Friends. 
In July, 1774, he married Catharine I.ittlefield, of Block 
Island, a lady worthy of his love, witli whom he lived 
most happily through all the clianges and vicissitudes of 
his after life. In May, 1775. he was appointed by the 
General Assembly to command as Brigadier-General the 
Rhode Island contingents in the army before Boston. He 
joined his command on the 3d of June, and from that 
time remained in active service, without a day's furlough, 
till the final disbandment of the army in 17S3. The story 
of his military career has been faithfully portrayed by the 
historians of the war, by his biographer. Judge William 
Johnson, whose work in two large quarto volumes was 
published in 1S22, and later by his grandson, the accom- 
plished Professor George W. Greene, who in three large 
octavo volumes has embodied the researches and studies 
of twenty years, leaving nothing further to be desired. At 
Roxbury General Greene's brigade was distinguished by 
its discipline, and he at once won the love and confidence 
of Washington, a confidence that was never shaken, and a 
love that increased from year to year. He liecame the 
second of the Great Commander in the hearts of the peo- 
ple, and he would undoubtedly have succeeded him incase 



If) 



luo GK. I rim \ii c) ri. opf.dia. 



of any iinfuitumte contingency. After tlie evacuation of 
lioslon, lie was intni^leil with tlie defence of Long Island, 
l>ut was stricken dow n bv a fever a few days heftjre tlie dis- 
astrous liattle of August 27, In September, 1776, lie 
was made Major-Gcneral, and appointed to the comniand 
in New lersey. At Trenton he led the division with which 
Washington marched in pers.m, and with Knox was for 
following np the advantages of that brilliant surprise. He 
took a prominent pari in the battles of Princeton ami of 
Brandywine. At Gerniantown he commanded the left 
wing which penetrated into the village. On the 2il of 
Maich, 177S, at the urgent solicitation of W.isliingtoii and 
the Committee of Congress, he accepted the office of 
Quartermaster-Cicneral, stipulating that he should retain 
his right to command in action. This position he held 
until .\ugust, 17S0. lie commanded the right wing at 
Monmouth, in 1778, and took an active jiart in the fjattle 
of Tiverton Heights near Newport, lie was in command 
of the army dnrmg Cjeneral W'ashinglon's visit to Hart- 
ford in September, 17S0, when .Vrnidd's conspiracy was 
discovered, and sat as President of the court of iiniuiry 
U])On Major .\ndre. On the I4lh of ( )ctobcr following he 
was appointed to the command of the .Southern army, 
which he found on his arrival in a state of utter disorgan- 
ization and want. His presence, however, soon restored 
the conlidence of the troops. (.>n the 20th he advanced 
to a well-chosen cam]i on the banks of the Pedee, and 
began a series of operations which, in less than a year, 
stripped the enemy of nearly all their hard-won conquests 
in the Carolinas and t.leorgia, and shut them up in Charles- 
ton and its immediate vicinity. Through his skilful 
strategy, even his reverses pnuliiceil the fruits of victory. 
In March, 17S1, he was defeated by Lord Cornwallis in 
the hard-fought liattle of Guilford Court-house, but the 
Knglish general derived no permanent advantages from 
his triumph. Cornwallis having retreated into Virginia, 
Greene defeated, after a severe action, the forces of (.'olo- 
nel Stewart at Entaw Springs, and thereby put an end to 
the liritish ])ower in .South Carolina. This was the last 
battle in which General Greene was eng.aged, although he 
held his Command till the end of the war. (Ihi the l6th 
of A|jril came the long-expected news of peace. Charles- 
ton was illuminated, and the troops at their encampment 
on James's Island celebrated the day with firing and every 
military expression of joy. Soon the army was disbanded, 
and he with a lightened heart commenced his journey 
homeward. Everywhere on his route his presence was 
greeted with addresses and ]irocessions, and all those 
exijressions of gratitude and veneration wdiich go so 
directly to the heart that is conscious of deserving them. 
Congress was then silting at Princeton; and thither he 
repaired to give an account of his administration, anil sur- 
render U]i his tru-t. There, |o,i, he met Washington, and 
enjoyed with him, for the list tune, that free and unre- 
served comiminioii of confiding friendship in w Inch they 



had so often sought refuge from the cares and anxieties of 
their public career. After jiassing a year in Rhode Island 
in the society of his loved family and friends, in the spring 
of 17S5 he returned to the S<mth in order to establish 
himself as a jdantcr at the beautiful seat of Mulberry 
Grove, on the Savannah River, \\ Inch had been presented 
to him by the State of Georgia. Thither in the following 
autumn he removed his family. But his life amid these 
pleasant surroundings was soon to terminate. On Mon- 
day, June 12, 17S6, he was stricken down from the effects 
of a sunstroke, and on the following Moiulav he exjiired, 
in the 4sth year of his age. Congress at once j^assed suita- 
ble resolutions, and vrited a monument, which, hijwever, 
has never been erected. His only record at the seat of 
the national government is the noble statue by II. K. 
I'rown, a gift of the State of Rhode Island. His pub- 
lished Life iind Ctiryrspinidciice constitutes a monument 
more enduring than brass or marble. General Greene 
left fi\e children, George Washington, Martha AVash- 
ington, Cornelia I.ott. Nathanael Ray, and Louisa Catha- 
rine. George accompanied Lafayette to I-'rance in 17S5, 
and pursued his educaticui under the iManpiis's care 
until 1794, when he returned to Georgia. Soon alter his 
return he was drowned in the .Sa\'annah River. Martha 
married John C. Nightingale, and afterwards I)r. Henry 
Turner, of Tennessee. Cornelia married Peyton .Skipwith, 
and after his death K. B. Littleiield, of Tennessee. 
Nathanael married Miss .\nn t.'l.irke, and settled in East 
Greenwich, Rhode Ishind. Louisa, who was born a few 
months at'ter the ilcatli of her father, married Mr. James 
Shaw, and settled on (.'umberland Isl.iiid. Mrs. Greene 
remained a w iilow a few \'eais and then married Mr. 
Pliineas Miller. She died September 2, 1S14, transmit- 
ting to each of her children a competent fortune, through 
iutlicious economy and vigorous management, assisted by 
the liberal grants made to her first husband by the legis- 
latures of the Carolinas and of tieorgia. 



il 



.\RRIS, \Vii.]-i.\M, one of the five persons who 
were originally associatetl w ith Roger Williams 
p in the settlement of Providence, was Ijorn early 
in the seventeenth century. The early connection 
of Harris with Williams is thus referred to by the 
latter. Many years after the founding of the colony " my 
soul's dcsiie was to do the natives gootl, and to that end to 
have their language (which I afterwards ]irinted), and 
therefore desired not to lie troubled with English comp.iny, 
yet out of pity I gave leave to William Il.irris, then poor 
and destitute, to come along in mycom]any." On becom- 
ing the lawful owner of the extensive territory, a part of 
which embraces Providence, Roger Williams executed a 
<\c.K^^\ giving an equal share with himself to twelve ol his 
companions, one of whom was Harris, who, with William 
Arnold, William Carpenter, and Zechariah Rhodes, removed 



BIO GRA P II If A L CYCL OPED I A. 



17 



in 1638 to " Pawtiixet Purchase," so cnlleJ, to distinguish 
it from the ** grand purchase of Providence." Mr. Harris 
was one of the twelve original members of the First Bap- 
tist Church in Providence, having been baptized by Roger 
Williams in March, 1638-39. The removal of the eccen- 
tric Samuel Gorton and his associates from Newport to 
Pawtuxet gave rise to serious disturliances between him 
and his neighbors, among whom was the subject of this 
sketch. It is said that " the parlies became so much ex- 
asperated that they proceeded to acts of violence and 
bloodshed." Finding that they needed protection from a 
stronger government than that of Rhode Island, a number 
of citizens of Pawtuxet wrote to the government of Mas- 
sachusetts for aid and counsel. Among those who signed 
this letter was William Harris, who seems, however, to 
have drawn back when the time of actual submission to the 
Massachusetts authority was reached. In 1654 Mr. Harris 
appears upon the stage of action as the promulgator of 
ultra doctrines on liberty of conscience, w'hich, if carried 
into practice, would lie subversive of all government. " In 
open court he protested, before the whole Colony Assembly, 
that he would maintain his writings with his blood." He 
seems, however, in a short time, to have come into a bet- 
ter str.te of mind, for, according to Backus, he " cried up 
government and magistrates as much as he had cried them 
down before." It was at this time that Roger Williams 
wrote his famous letter, in which he so forcibly points out 
the difference between true liberty and lawlessness. One 
unfortunate result of the controversy w'as to bring the 
founder of Rhode Island and the man whom, when he 
was " poor and destitute " he had befriended, into antag- 
onism with each other. When the former was in office as 
President of the Colony, he was so exasperated by the con- 
duct of Harris that he issued a warrant for his arrest, on 
the charge of high treason against the Commonwealth of 
England. The warrant was not carried into execution, 
but the accused was required to give bonds for ;^500 to 
keep the peace until the matter could be adjudicated upon 
in England. It is very evident that Harris was a man of 
marked positive character. Governor Arnold says that he 
" brought to whatever he undertook the resources of a 
great mind and, to all appearance, the honest convictions of 
an earnest soul." His enemies were not sparing in the 
utterances of their opinion about him. (.See Staplcs's An- 
nals, pp. 147-48.) His friends, however, clung to him, and 
he was often chosen to fill imjiortant posts of honor and 
trust. Knowles says : " We may hope that Mr. Harris, 
though he doubtless had faults, was less culpable than his 
contemporaries thought him. It was an unquiet time, and 
few public men escaped censure." Down even to the close 
of life he seems to have been in trouble of one sort or 
other. Grave difficulties arose with regard to the proprie- 
torship of certain lands in Pawtuxet, the details of which 
cannot now be given. In 1677 Harris made a voyage to 
England in the interest of his friends, but no definite result 
3 



was reached. Three voyages to England were made for 
the same object. On his fourth voyage, in 1689, he was 
taken a prisoner by a Barbary corsair and carried to Algiers, 
where he was detained a year, being finally ransomed by 
the payment of $1200. The summer following he spent 
in travel, but he was so broken down by the hardships he 
had experienced, that three days after reaching London he 
died. For an estimate of his character the reader is re- 
ferred to Arnold's History of Kliode Isliuu/, vol. i, p. 437. 



Sj^^MITH, John, known in the early history of Rhode 
S^™ Island as " John Smith, the Miller," was born near 
faM' the commencement of the seventeenth century. He 
&m was among the few individuals who joined Roger 
* Williams at .Seekonk previous to his crossing the 
river to take up his residence on its west side. In the dis- 
tribution of land made by Williams his name appears 
among the fifty-four owners of " town lots," and as a 
signer of the document drawn up and dated December, 
1647, designed to restore peace and union to the somewhat 
distracted colony. His designation as "the miller" was 
given to him to distinguish him from several other 
persons of the same name. It seems that the town, on the 
1st of January, 1646, " agreed that John Smith should have 
the valley where his home stands, in case he set up a mill." 
This valley, we are told, "comprehended all the land 
between the west branch of the Moshassuck River and the 
hill to the east of Jefferson I'lains, from Smith Street 
on the south to Orms Street on the north. Charles Stree 
now passes along this valley." In this valley John Smith 
set up a grist-mill, near the first stone lock of the Black- 
stone Canal, and the privilege descended to his posterity, 
and for many years has been used for manufacturing pur- 
poses. In the year 1654 we find the first record of an 
election of military officers in Providence. It took place 
November 6, and John Smith was chosen ensign. In 1658 
his name appears as having been chosen a "commissioner" 
from Providence to meet his associates at Portsmouth on 
the loth of March. During King Philip's war Providence 
was in great peril, and at one time the town was nearly 
forsaken by its inhabitants, who repaired to the island of 
Rhode Island for safety. An attack was made upon the 
town on tile 30th of March, 1676, and some thirty houses, 
situated at the north part of the place, were burned. One 
of these iiouses was the dwelling of Smith, who at the 
time was town clerk, and had in his house the records of 
the town. They were thrown from his burning house into 
the mill-pond to preserve them from the flames. " To the 
present day," says Judge Staples, "they bear plenary evi- 
dence of the twofold danger they escaped and the two- 
fold injury they suffered." On the 14th of August of this 
yeai" a town meeting was held " under a tree," supposed 
to have been an old sycamore tree which, some years ago, 
stood on the east side of South Main Street, nearly oppo- 



i8 



BIOCRAFIIICAL C i CI OPEDIA. 



site Crawfonl Street. At this meeting a committee v as ap- 
pointed toileticle wliat ilisiiiisiliun slioulil he niaiie of eel tain 
Indian?, uln. liad ln-en tal%en cai>live^. Tile \\ liole thint; was 
put up in sliaies, and the names iil tln'se to whom shares were 
assigned have emne down to us. Among these we find the 
name of lohn Snutli, miller, wlm was to have half a share. 
The amount received liy him eoidil not have lieen very 
large if we are to judge from llie account nl s.des which 
lias liecn prescr\ e<l. < 'ne .■\nthony Lew liccame the o\\ ner 
of hve of tlicse Indian captives, ''great ami small," (or a 
limited peiioil for £i.. I If the closing years of the life of 
Jidin Smith we liave lieen unalde to ol't.iin any informa- 
tion. It is eviilent from wdiat we have hccn aMe to glean 
from various sources that he was a man ol no inconsider- 
alile standing among the cili/ens of the town of I'rovi- 
dence. 




'ICKES, Fr.\.ncis. His name is associated with 
(■'^JK'Hy the nairies of the original companions of Roger 
\\'illiams in his lirst planting at Seekonk. It 
is also found in the *'ci\il compact"' signed 
by the thirteen early settlers of Providence. .\t 
this time he is supposed to have been a minor. He was 
one of the llfty-four who had allotted to them tow n lots 
on the east side of the river in Providence, The original 
"civil compact" not being decreed sufiiciently iriinute in 
its details to lay the foundation of a well-ordered civil 
government, a committee, consisting of Koljert Cole, Chad. 
Brown, William Harris and John \\'arner, was chosen to 
dralt something coming nearer to the modern idea of a 
Constitution. Twelve articles were specihed, which the 
curious reader will had in Staples' s Annals, pp. 40, 43. 
These articles were signed by thirty-nine persons, and 
among them we find the mark, a X 1 of Francis Wickes, 
the name being Ihe tenth on (he list. Uf his subsequent 
histor)- no information, so far as \\e know, has come (.lown 
to us. .'Vnother Wickes, a more conspicuous character in 
Rhode Island history, bore the name of ]olin. He was 
born in Kngland in lOoq, ami came to this country in ibsj, 
in the IlopcwcU. He was a tanner by trade. In 1037 he 
resided in Plymouth, Mass., where he formed the aci|uaint- 
ance of Gorton, for whom he cherished a warm friend- 
ship. For a time he lived at Portsmouth, in this State, and 
subseijucntly united with Gorton, Ilolden, Greene and 
others, in the purchase ofwh.it they calleil Warw ick, in 
honor of Earl Warwick. In the l.ioiton troubles he was 
carried prisoner to Post.ui, and was conlined in prison in 
Charlestown, at labor, in irons, " during the pleasure of 
the Couil." After Ills release he retuincd to Warwick, 
where his lellow -uti/cns honored him by electing him as 
one of the two town magistrates, and subseiiuently as a 
representative to the General .Assembly. He was killed 
by the Indians in November, 1675. The name is some- 
times spelled Weeks. 



ERIX, ]osHU.\, one of the earliest settlers of Provi- 
dence, was born in England, and came to this 
country in the ship James, Captain (haves, from 
11 ' Southampton, in the year 1635. In the clearance 
J"i of the Ncssul he is c.iUed " a roper, of .Salisbury, W'i Its 
County." He took up his residence in Salem, where he 
became acipiainted w ith Roger Williams, and soon after 
his arriving at .Seekonk he joined him with his family, and, 
as has already been intiinateil, was one of the lirst settlers 
of l'rovi<lencc. Peautiful for situation although the new 
home of the exile-- was, it was not altogether a j.iaradise, 
and Vcrin had not huig been there before he fcuiml him- 
self in trouble. We fiiul the following record of a vote 
]iasseil at a lown meeeling May 21. 1OJ7: '• 1 hat Joshua 
W-i in, upon the breach of a covenant for restraining of the 
libertie of conscience, shall be withheld from the libertie of 
voting till he shall declare the eontrarie." To understand 
w liaf this " restraining of the libertie of conscience" v^'as, we 
refer to Governor ^^'lnthrop, as ipioted by Jutlge Stajiles, 
After reciting the trouble which a certain Mrs. ( lliver had 
given the ministers and magistrates of Massachusetts by 
her contumacious heresy, the Governor goes on to say : " At 
Providence, also, the Devil was not idle. For whereas 
at their first coming thither, Mr. Williams and the rest did 
make an order that no man should lie molested for his 
Conscience, now men's wives, and children, and servants, 
claiming liberty hereby to go to all religious meetings, 
though never so often, orthcuigh private upon the week 
days," and because one \'crin refused to let his wife go to 
Mr. Williams's so often as she was called for, they recpiired 
to have him censured. Hut there stood up one Arnold, a 
w ilty man of their own company, and w ithstood it, telling 
them that, wheir he consented to that order, he never in- 
tended that it shoulil extend to the breach of any ordinance 
of God, such as the subjection of wives to their husbands, 
etc., and gave divers solid reasons against it. Then one 
Greene replied that if they should restrain their wives, etc., 
all the wonren in tire country would cry out of them, etc. 
Arnold answered him thus : ' !)id you pretend to leave the 
Massachusetts because you wcuUd not offend Goil to ]ilcase 
men, and wuuhl you now break an ordinance and com- 
mandment of God to pilease v\cimen?' Some were of the 
opinion that if Verin would not sulTer his w ife to base her 
liberty, the church should dispose her to some other man 
who would use her better. Arnold told them that it was 
not the woman's tlesire to go so oft from home, but only 
Mr. Williams's and others. In conclusion, w hen they would 
have censured Verin, .Arnold told them that it was against 
their own order, for Verin did what he did out of con- 
science, and their order was that no man should be cen- 
sured for his conscience." Governor Arnold in relating this 
incident remarks ; " Here was a ease involving the cardi- 
nal prineijiles of the Rliode Islan^l settlers with the nrost 
delicate subject of family regulation ; one of greater diffi- 
culty could not w ell be imagined. ( )n the sui"ii">osition that 





't 






^^'^:; 



BIO GR. I PIIICA L C \ XL OPED 1,1 . 



>9 



Mrs. Veiin felt boiiml in conscience to attend the meetings, 
and did so without detriment to her domestic duties, the re- 
straint inferred by her husband was a violation of tlie Rhode 
Island principle, and as such, the punishment was correctly 
administered, although the report, as given by Winthrop, 
doulrtless derived from Verin himself, naturally gives the 
best of this argument to the latter." Poor Verin, not find- 
ing even in free Rhode Island just the sort of liberty which 
he, as a husband, claimed to have over the actions of his 
spouse, went back to Salem, where " law and order" pre- 
vailed, and there we find him living as late as 1650. Al- 
though he had gone away from Providence very soon after 
his pui'chase of certain lands in this town, in addition to 
his receiving what was allotted to him in common with 
the other settlers by Roger Williams, he did not regard 
himself as relinquishing his claim to this land, which he 
still regarded as his rightful possession. Accordingly over 
the date of " Salem, November 21, 1650," he writes a 
letter which is " to be delivered to the deputies of the 
town of Providence, to be presented to the whole town," 
as follows : " Gentlemen and countrymen of the whole town 
of Providence. This is to certify you, that I look upon 
my purchase of the town of Providence to be my lawful 
ri'.;ht. In my travel I ha\e inquired and do tind it recover- 
able according to law, for my coming away could not dis- 
inherit me. .Some of you cannot but recollect that we six 
which came first should have the first convenience, as it 
was put in practice, first, by our house lots ; and second, by 
the meadows on Wanasquatucket River; and then, those 
that were admitted by us into the purchase to have the next 
which were about, but it is contrary to law, reason, and 
equity for to dispose of any part without my assent. There- 
fore deal not worse with me than we dealt with the Inilians, 
for we made answer by purchasing it of them, and hazarded 
our lives. .So hoping you will take it into your serious con- 
sideration and to give me reasonable satisfaction, I rest 
Yours in the way of right and equity, Joshua Verin." Reply 
was sent back to him : " If you shall come into court, and 
prove your right, they will do you justice. Per me, Geo. 
Dexter, Town Clerk. " We hear no more of Mr. \'erin, 
and have been unable to ascertain the date of his death. 
There came with him to this country, in the James, a brother, 
Philip by name, abso a " roper," from Salisbury, who, in 
the year 1655, was imprisoned as a Quaker. 



^|h^NGELL, Thom.\s. Governor Arnold, in liis ffn- 
"M^^^ tory of the Stale of Rhode Island, states that 
>'v?<T-- among the original companions of Roger Wil- 
TE Hams was " a lad whom tradition asserts to lie 
Jf\, Thomas Angell." (_)ur knowledge of the early 
history of this " lad " is of the scantiest character. Ac- 
cording to tradition, he was the .son of Henry Angell, of 
Liverpool, England, and was born in lOlS. It is also said 
of him that at the age of twelve he went to London to look 



after his own fortune. In I>eccml)er, 1630, the ship Lyon 
sailetl from Bristol, and had a tempestuous passage of sixty- 
four days across the Atlantic. Among the twenty, or, ac- 
cording to Governor Dudley, twenty-six passengers who 
came m the Lyon, were Roger Williams and Thomas .An- 
gell, who was regarded as the servant or " hired man " of 
Williams. We are told, as perhaps explaining this, that 
" a class of men of distinction sometimes escaped to 
America from England as servants to those permitted to 
come, who would have been prevented if they had attempted 
to come in their own names. Such was the strictness of the 
laws and the vigilance of oflicers that many f')und it neces- 
sary by this means to accomplish their object." It is 
supposed that Angell remained about two months in Boston 
with Williams, and then went with him to Salem, where he 
remained from 1631 to 1636, and was with him in the early 
days of the settlement of Providence. In the assignment 
of the six-acre lots in the new town, he received the lot 
where are situated the First Baptist Church and the High 
School House. He was elected in 1652 and re-elected in 
1653 a commissioner to make laws for the colony. Two 
years later he is mentioned as a farmer and constable. The 
latter oftice, sometimes called that of sergeant, he held for 
many years. While holding this office it is said that an 
officer out of the State came and arrested a man in Paw- 
tuxet, with intent to carry him off, but being detained in 
Providence, the officer and his prisoner were arrested by 
Angell, assisted by four other men, and taken before a 
court for examination, in Providence. It is a proof of the 
estimation in which he was held by his fellow citizens that 
he was often appointed to honorable positions in the com- 
munity in whicli he lived. He died in Providence in 1695, 
and his will, <late<l Providence. May 3, 1685, has been pre- 
served to the present time. By this he a]i|iears to have 
accumulated a considerai^le fortune. His children were 
John, who married Ruth Field, a resident of " Field's 
Point." He is said to have been a man of wonderful phys- 
ical strength. The second .son of Thomas was James, 
who married Abigail, oidy daughter of Rev. Gregory Dex- 
ter, and was deacon, for some time, of the First Baptist 
Church in Providence. Besiiles the two sons referred to, 
there were five daughters: Amphillis, Mary, Deborah, 
Alice, and Margaret. Thomas Angell was the progenitor 
of hundreds of descendants who ha\'e lived or are now 
living in Rhode Island. 

fOPKINS, Commodore Eseic, U. S. N., a brother 
i^*^ of Stephen Hopkins, the Rhode Island signer of 
. -"?::"" the Declaration of Independence, was born in 
' Ti "■ Scituate, R. I., in 1718. (If the facts of his earlier 
J'ta history we have lieen unable to obtain information. 
He became a resident of Providence prior to 1752, for we 
find that he was, at that date, on a committee whose duty 
it was ** to have the care of the tmvn school-house, and to 
appoint a master to teach m said house." Very soon after 



lUOGRAPlIICAL CVi. 7. OrEPf.l. 



tlif lirc.iKiiii; nut nf tlir Ri-voUilidiiary \\iir the CiLiirral 
As-'Ciiilily <il' RliD.K- Isl.ui'l. al a -.ikh iai ^I'svicm Ik-M April 
22, 177s, |iasM;<l a villi- III luit llic t'lilnny in a |iiistinr of 
iK'lViu'i.-. Ill Aiii;ii^t ol' tliK year several I'.rilisli ship^.tlieii 
in Newiiiirt ami in tlic I!ay, threatened an attaek on I'mvi- 
ilenee. At a town ineetinL;, held on the 2iitli of the month, 
F.sek llii|ikin> was aiipointed coininamlani of a battery of 
six eighteeii-pounders, wliich hail lieen ereeted on Fox 
roinl. The |)re|iaralions which were made to ward off the 
llrilish resniled in their aliandoniiiL; the |ilaii of attaeking 
rrii\idence. A few weeks after this the lleet of the enemy 
made a demand iipuii the islands nf khode Island and 
Conanieut for li\e stock. l'",sek Iln|ikins, under a com- 
mission frnin I Governor Cooke, was placed in cninmand of 
a force of six hundied men, live companies heini^ from 
Providence, and the remainder of the men fiom Tiverton 
and Little (_'nm|itnn. His orders were to march at once to 



Newport to secure the stuck and repel the invaders 



The 

deslruclinn of places nn the sea-cnast, like Portland, in 
Maine, w liich was linmliardcd < Ictuhcr iS, 1775, seemed so 
ohviiiusly the piiirpose of the enemy, that the country was 
thoroughly aroused to the necessity of increasing the de- 
fences all along the coast and the P.ays of Xew Kngland. 
The danger to many places in Rhode Island was imminent. 
Early in ( )ctol)er, Hristol and Warren had both suffered 
severely at the hands of the enemy. Under these circum- 
stances, additional ]>recaulions were taken for the security 
of Providence. A iloating ballery was built, fire ships 
were pirepaictl, and a boom and chain were got ready to lie 
stretched across the channel in case nf the apprnach of the 
Brilisli lleet. Messrs. Hopkins and Joseph Brown were 
apirointcd to visit wdiat were regarded as the most exposed 
places in the colony, and to suggest and carry into execu- 
tion the best plans for fortifying them. Under their 
direction batteries were erected at Pawtuxet and other 
places, and reinforcements were sent to Conanieut and 
Block Island. Meanwhile the attention of Congress had 
liecn called to the necessity of "building, at the Conti- 
nental exiieiise, a licet of sufficient force for the protectinn 
of these cnlomes, and for employing them in such mamrer 
and places as will most annoy our enemies and contribute 
to the common defence of these colonies." Congress ap- 
pointed a committee, with instructions to procure three 
vessels, one of fourteen, one of twenty, and one of tliirty- 
six guns, and Ksek Hopkins was made commander-in- 
chief of this inf.int navy. .\t once he iiroccedcd to Phila- 
delphia, and w ith a licet of several vessels he left the capes 
of the Delaware on the 17th of February, 1776, and pro- 
ceeded to the Bermudas. An attack was made on the fort 
at New Proviilence, and all the cannon and military stores 
there were captured, taking the governor, lieutenant- 
governor, and one of the council as prisoners. He safely 
brought them to the L'nited States, landing April 8, 1776 
at New London. When off Blnck Island, on his home 
Voyage, Commodnre Hopkins took the British schooner 



Hawke and the bomb liiigBolten, for which gallant deeds 
he received the otficial thanks of Congress. Charged with 
the duly ol strengthening the naval force nf the country, 
the C-'ommodore was obliged to contend with many dis- 
couragements. Charges were brought against him, which 
he was ordered to meet before the Congressional authori- 
ties in Philadelphia. L'pon examination he was acipiitled, 
and continued in his position as Commodore. John Adams 
defendeil him with great aliility, and after his acipiittal the 
famous Jnhn Paul Jones wrote him a letter of congratula- 
tion. The fnllnwing year he w-as again cited before the 
same committee tn rejily to similar charges. Feeling that 
he v\as an innocent man, and had tlischarged his duties to 
the best of his ability, he declined to heed the citation. 
He was dismissed from the service January 2, 177S. As 
has been well said, "the fame of Connuodore Hopkins 
stands unsullied for his bravery and integrity ; his patriotism 
is beyond disjuite, and no one has proved him neglectful of 
his duties." He died at Xorth Providence. February 26, 
1S02. .\ tine jiortiait of him may be seen in the ]^icture 
gallery of Rhode Maud Hall,Bio\\n I'niversity. It was 
painted by the artist lleade from a mezzotint engraving 
executed in London, in the collection of the late Hon. 
]nhn Carter Brown. 




.VTERM.W, Ciii.iiNF.i, Ricn.\RD, one nf the 
PJK'X'-'' oi'io'"'''' settlers nf Khode Island, came to this 
country in the fleet with Higginsrm in U)20, 
n having been sent as an expert hunter by the gov- 
J't. ernor and company, although the tradition is that 
he came in the same ship with Roger Williams. He first 
settled in Salem, Massachusetts, where he was a member 
of the church. In March, 1638 he was permitted to fol- 
low Roger W^illiams to Pro\ii.lence, and was there named 
the twelfth among those to whom were granted equal 
shares of the land that Williams received from Canonicus. 
After a few years, he joined with Randall Ilnlden, .Samuel 
(iorton, and others, in the purchase, from the Indian chief 
Miantonomi, of a large tract on the western shore of the 
Narragansctt. Here the settlement of .Shawomut was 
commenced, which was afterwaixl known as oUi Warv^ick. 
Waterman did not remove there from Providence w ith his 
fellow-purchasers ; though he endured with his compan- 
ions the losses and jiersecutions which fell upon that infant 
colony through the unjust claims of Massachusetts to the 
pnssessinn of that district. In 11^43, a sipiad of Massa- 
chusetts soldiers arrested the leaders of the colony, and 
carrieil them jirisouers to Boston, where many of them 
were incarcerated for several months. Richard Water- 
man suffered the confiscation of some of his estate, Ijy 
order of the court, in October, 1 643, and was bound over 
to apjiear at the .May term following. His companions 
barely escaped the sentence of death, while the sentence 
pronounced against Waterman at the Ceneral t^'ourl was 



BrOGRAFHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



as follo\v5 : " Being found enoneous, licrL-tical and obsti- 
nate, it was agreed that he should be detained prisoner till 
the Quarter Court in the Seventh month, unless five of the 
magistrates do find cause to send him away; which, if 
they do, it is ordered that he shall not return within this 
jurisdiction upon pain of death." When released he took 
an important part in securing justice for the Warwick set- 
tlers. The agitation was finally settled by a decision of 
the English authorities in favor of the rightful owners who 
had purchased from the Indian sachem, and the contro- 
versy which had been urged so fiercely was forever set at 
rest. Waterman held possession of his valuable property, 
both in Providence and old Warwick, bequeathing it to his 
heirs, whose descendants have been very numerous, and 
many of whom have been prominent, influential, and useful 
citizens of Rhode Island. He was a church officer, and 
Colonel of the Militia ; a man of great force of character 
and distinguished ability. The name of his w'ife was 
Bethia, but no trace of her family has been found. Colo- 
nel Waterman died in October, 1673. A monument to his 
memory has been erected by some of his descendants, on 
the old family burj'ing ground, corner of Benefit and 
Waterman streets. Providence. His wife died December 
3, 1680. Their children were, Nathaniel, wdio married 
Susanna Carder, probably daughter of Richard Carder; 
Resolved, who married Mercy, daughter of Roger Wil- 
liams, and died in early manhood, leaving five children ; 
Mehitable, who married a Fenner ; and Waiting. The 
widow of Resolved Waterman married for her second hus- 
band Samuel Winsor, and for her third, John Rhodes, of 
Pawtuxet, leaving children by each marriage. Many per- 
sons bearing the names of Waterman, Winsor and Rhodes 
trace their line of descent through her to Roger Williams. 



lYKWfOI'LIM.'VN, OR IIoi.YM.\N, EZEKIEL, was born at 
|jR|^5 Tring, Hertford County, England, and was one 
» ?" S ^ °f '''^ original thirteen proprietors of Providence. 
Tf He came to this country not far from the year 
•ft 1634. It is known that he had resided in Ded- 
ham, Massachusetts, for some time before we hear of him 
as being, in 1637, a citizen of Salem, Massachusetts. That 
he was among the earliest settlers of Providence appears 
from the circumstance that under date of June 4, 1637, 
there is a record of an order confirming to him, among 
other persons, a certain grant of land in the town. He 
was also one of the fifty-four persons to whom was assigned 
a " home lot " on the " Town Street," so called, now North 
and South Main streets. It is known that Roger Williams 
became dissatisfied with his baptism, which had been 
performed in his infancy. Several other persons were also 
induced to adopt the sentiments of the Baptists, with re- 
gard to the mode and the proper subjects for baptism, and 
wished to form themselves into a Baptist church. There 



being no properly qualified Baptist minister in .Massaclui- 
setts to administer the ordinance of baptism, it was decided, 
under the novel circumstances in which they found them- 
selves, that Holliman should baptize Mr. Williams, and 
then Mr. Williams baptized Holliman and ten other per- 
sons in March, 1635-39. This was the origin of the First 
Baptist Church, to which Mr. Williams ministered for a 
time, Mr. Holliman being his colleague. Soon after the 
settlement was commenced at Warwick by Gorton ami his 
friends, Holliman removed to that place, probably in the 
year 1642. Here also resided John Warner, who had 
married his daughter Priscilla, and who in 1652 was the 
second magistrate of the town. After Mr. Holliman re- 
moved to Warwick he was called to occupy honorable 
positions. More than once he was a Deputy from that 
place to the General Court. He also was one of the Com- 
missioners representing Warwick which, in August, 1654, 
perfected the plan for the reunion of the four towns of 
Providence, Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick into one 
corporate body. Surely he deserves an honorable j^lace 
among the worthy citizens of Rhode Island, wdiich we are 
glad to assign to him. We know something of his do- 
mestic history. His first wife was Susanna, daughter of 
John Oxston, of Stanmorc, Middlesex County, England. 
It is not certam whether she did or did not come over to 
this country with her husl)and. Proliably not, but died 
either before or soon after his arrival here. It is thought 
that a daughter by this wife came with him. His second 
wife was Mary, widow of Isaac Sweet, of .Salem, Massa- 
chusetts. Siie seems to have been excluded from the 
Salem Church, July i, 1639, on account of her sympathy 
with the views of Roger Williams. .She was married to 
Holliman in Providence in 1638. They had, as has been 
intimated, one daughter, their only child, probably 
Priscilla, who married John Warner, of Warwick. 



/(^,^<r 



Q^flDDINGTON, William, Governor of Rhode 
SIS Island, including Newport and Portsmouth, was 
a native of Lincolnshire, England, and was born 
- -. in the year 1601. He arrived at Salem, Massa- 
J"!" chuselts, June 12, 1630, having been sent to this 
country as an assistant, or one of the magistrates of Mas- 
sachusetts. We find him acting in this capacity in the 
records that have come down to us of the doings of this 
"Court of Assistants." On March 4, 1631, such a court 
was held in Boston, and the name of William Coddington 
appears in the list of the names of the judges. Party 
politics were as exciting on a small scale then as they are 
on a larger scale now. In 1637 Governor Winthrop was 
chosen in the place of Mr. Vane, to whose interests Mr. 
Coddington was attached, and he was not elected to the 
magistracy. In the excitement which attended the trial of 
Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, Mr. Coddington threw the weight 



BioGK.irniCAL ever. orED/.i. 



of lii^ iiilliK lire on tlio si^le (if tlic ncciised. anil was op- 
puscil [u luj\ciii(ir Winlliinp ami lite miiii^lcis of Hoston. 
His effiutsto viiiilii.-ate tlii^ wDiiian against tlie cliart;es that 
were laid to her account, and his \^■ant of success in some 
other po^itions which he tnuk, so dissatisfied him that he 
abandoned a lucrative business in Boston, sold out his real 
estate in the town of Brainlree, and joined the company of 
emigrants wlio left Massachusetts to niaUe for tlieniselves a 
home on the beautiful inland of Rhode Island. In his 
J/iifory ,1/' />'i.v/,'/;. llrake ■~ays, referring to the date of 
A|iril 211, iti3S: •• Mr. (■oddiiigtoii removed wiili his family 
t'l kliode NLind. lie hail been an assist. int from the first 
eoiiMiig o\-ei* <il the IJoston colony. Thus aiiuiher excel- 
lent and valuable man was lost to ll.jston." He had 
alreaily visited the place which he was to make his future 
residence, for we find his ii.ime standing first on the cove- 
nant which eighteen persims had signed at Atpiidneck, or 
Rhode Island, March 7, I'ljS, forming themselves into a 
body politic, ■' to be governed by the laws of the Lord 
lesiis (^dirist, [he Ring (.if kings." .Vs there was something 
indehnite in tliis statement of the authority by which they 
)iroposed to be governed, it was found necessary to have 
something a little more explicit. A more formal code of 
regulations was drawn up, and Mr. Coddington was elected 
judge, three elders being connected with him in the ad- 
ministration of affairs. He held the office of judge a little 
more than one year. Portsmouth was at that time the 
chief settlement on the island. He was then ajipointed 
judge of Newport, and suliseipiently, when I'orlsinouth 
and Newport were united, in ibjo, under one government, 
he was elected the first governor. It must be borne in 
miiiil that originally the State consisted of four towns: 
I'loviileiice, setlled in 1636, I'ortsmuuth in ibj.S, New- 
poit ill l6jo, and Warwick in IO42. I'acli tow 11 had an 
iiide]>endcnl government at the outset of the hislnry of the 
.Stale. (Governor Coddington held his oHice from March 
IJ, 11140, to May 10, 1047. The four towns were united 
III 1647 under a charter granted liytlie Knglisli rarliamcnt, 
and the title of the chief magislrale was " I'residelil." He 
was chosen the second President of the State, and held the 
office from May, 164.S, to May, 1649. In Seiiteniber of 
this year he made an unsuccessful attempt to have Rhode 
Island included in the Confederacy of the I'nited Colo- 
nies. We find the record of the attempt thus made, 
in //,!'.,uJ, II, |i]i. 09-100, as cpioted by Drake in his 
Ui$li>yy of Boston. We give the i|uaint l.iiiguage and 
spelling of those early days: Captain .Alexander Partridge 
and (_;overnor Coddington, " in behalle of the Ilanders of 
Roode Hand," requested that they might lie " resceauied 
info combination with all tlie vnited C.il.inyes of New 
l-aigland." Tlu y were answered lli.it Rhode Island was 
within the bounds of I'lynioulh ; ihat their "present state 
was full of confusion and danger, haveing much disturb- 
ance aniongist themselves and noe security from the 
Iiidi.ms;" tli.it though the Commissioners desired "in 



seveiall respects" lo afford advice and help, all lliev could 
do then was to consiiler and ad^■i^e how they might be 
accepted " vpou iiist terms and with tender respect to their 
consciences." In 1051 Governor Coddington went to 
England, where he interested himself in promoting the 
inosperity of Rhode Island. Under the Royal Charter 
granted by Charles II, he was Governor from May, 1674, 
to May, 1076. He died November i, 167S. 



^R.ARKE, Rkv. John', M.D., the leading man in the 
j^ settlement of the island of Rhode Island and the 
^,M city of Newport, and the procurer of the charter of 
ffi:^ 1663, the third son of Thomas and Rose Clarke, 
* was born Octolier 8, l6o(>, in Suffolk (some say 
Bedfordshire), England. He receiveil a university educa- 
tion, studied medicine, and practiced his profession for a 
time in London. He became a Ilajitist in England. Ac- 
tuated by a strong love for religious liberty, he came to 
this country, and settled in Poston, as a physician, in IO37. 
He found such " differences " among the Puritans that, w ith 
William Coddington and others, through the influence of 
Roger Williams, he engaged, March 7, 163S, in the pur- 
chase of the island of Aquidiieck, where, with his asso- 
ciates, he settled at Pocasset, but, .\pril 28, 1639, with a 
select few proceeded to settle Newport. From the first he 
was a leader in ci\il and religious alTairs. alsii continued 
his medical (iraclice there. \'ery eIo,e was his infimacy 
and agreement witii Koger Williams. A eluiith of a 
mixed character was begun in Newimrt, of which he was 
an elder, but the organization was soon ilissolved. He 
then proceeded, in 1644,10 found the First Baptist (Jliurch 
in Newport, of which he was chosen ]iastor, and held the 
]iastoiate till his death. He was both .Assistant and Treas- 
urer of the Court of Commissioners that met at W.irwick 
in 1649, and also of the same that met at Newport in \h^o. 
In 1(151 he, with • Ibailiah Holmes and John ('randall, for 
hohling a religious meeting at the Iiousl' of William Wilier, 
in Lynn, Mass., was arrested, and imprisrmed in Boston. 
Holmes received ihirt}' lashes with a three-corded whip. 
Clarke was fined twenty pounds, .ind Crandall five jiounds; 
and friends paid the fines without their knowledge. In 
( Iclober, lb5I, he accomi\anied Roger Williams, liy vote 
of the colony, to I-'ngland, to secure the revocation of Cod- 
dingtoirs commission, and to obtain a new and more ex- 
plicit charter. Williams returned in 1054, leaving l)r. 
Clarke the sole ;igeiit of the coloii\- ; and Claike \\ iscly 
managed afiairs during the Protectorate and until the new 
settlement of the monarchy, finally succeeding in securing 
from Charles II the remarkable charter of 1003, that 
Rhode Island held as her fundamental law till 1.S42. 
While in England he juiblished two volumes: /// ,\Vrt'.r 
from AV:.-' Eui^lauii ; o>\ A Xuyrafi7't- of A'no F.ni^/iiiufs 
/\'rsc\f//ii>t/s, \u 10^2; and. Four Prol^ostih to Piirlia>n<)tf^ 



BIOGK.irniCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



23 



and Four Cotwlusitins toitchiui:; the Faith and Order of the 
Gospel of Christ, out of his Lsat Will and Testament. Re- 
turning from England in 1664, he received the lhanl<s of 
the colony, resumed his pulpit and his medical practice, 
and was chosen a deputy to the General Assembly. He 
served as a Deputy till chosen Deputy (Jovernor. We 
soon find him at the head of a commission, next to Roger 
Williams, for revising the laws of the colony under the 
new charter. Among his numerous puljlic engagements, 
we also find him on a commission for settling the long 
vexed question of the colony's western boundary, an affair 
that excited much ill feeling and led to criminations, but 
out of which Dr. Clarke came with uniaiiited lionor and 
an enviai)le reputation. His versatility of gifts antl great 
strength of judgment are everywhere apparent througli his 
eventful career. He was chosen Deputy Governor in 1669 
and in 1671, having refused the Iionor in 1670. 

He married (i) Elizabeth, daughter of John Harges, 
Esq., of Bedfordshire, England; (2) Mary Fletcher, who 
died April 19, 1675; (3) Sarah Davis, who survived him. 
He had three brothers, Thomas, Joseph, and Carew. From 
Joseph many of the Clarkes of Rhode Island have de- 
scended. Dr. Clarke died April 20, 1676, in the midst of 
King Philip's war, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. 
He left, in manuscript, a statement of his religious opin- 
ions, from which it is shown that he was a Baptist of the 
Calvinistic school. Roger Williams says of him : " The 
grand motive which turned the scale of his life was the 
truth of God — a just liberty to all men's spirits in spiritual 
matters, together with the peace and prosperity of the 
whole colony." John Callender, in his valuable " Century 
Sermon," says : " No character in New England is of 
purer fame than John Clarke." Hon. Samuel G. Arnold, 
the historian of Rhode Island, adds : " To him Rhode 
Island was chiefly indebted for the extension of her terri- 
tory on each side of the bay, as well as for her royal 
charter." " His life was devoted to the good of others. 
He was a patriot, a scholar, and a Ciiristian." " His 
blameless, self-sacrificing life disarme<l detraction and left 
him without an enemy." Rhode Island owes to him not 
less than she has paid to Roger Williams, ajiionument of 
granite and a statue of bronze ; together they founded the 
colony, and, under (jod, anchoretl it fast in hope. 



•"^(Jl.MES, Rt;v. Ob.\di.\h, was Iiorn at Preston, 
llJPTLj Lancashire, England, about the year 1606. Of 
fSf^' his early youth we have been unable to obtain 
any information. He came to this country about 
the year 1639, and settled first in Salem, Mass., 
and then in Rehoboth, Mass., where he resided eleven 
years. While living in this latter place he liecame a con- 
vert to the distinctive views of the Baptists, and was espe- 
cially strenuous in rejecting infant baptism, and in main- 



taining the doctrine of "soul lilierty." He became a 
member of the Baptist Church in Newport, of which Dr. 
John Clarke was the pastor, and in July, 1G51, was the 
companion of his minister in the visit to Lynn, Mass., of 
which an account may be found in the sketch of Mr. Clarke. 
He was lined thirty pounds by the magistrates of Boston 
for the part wliicli he took in the aftair of which mention 
is made in tlie sketch referred to. The alternative was the 
payment of the fine or to be publicly whipped. The fines 
of Dr. Clarke and his companion, Mr. Crandall, were pro- 
vided for, but that of Mr. Holmes was not jiaid. He was 
kept in prison until September, when he underwent the 
cruel penalty of tiie sentence which had been pronounced 
against him. According to the testimony of Ciovernor 
Joseph Jenks, he " was whipped thirty stripes, and ill such 
an unmerciful manner that, in many days, if not some 
weeks, he would take no rest but as he lay upon his 
knees and elbows, not being al>le to suffer any part of his 
body to touch the bed whereon he lay." C)n recovering 
from his wountls, he removed from Rehoboth to Newport. 
Dr. Clarke having left his church to be absent for a time 
in England, Mr. Holmes, in 1652, was chosen to supply 
his place. His connection with the church as pastor, and 
assistant to Dr. Clarke, on his return from England, con- 
tinued until 16S2, at which time he died, at the advanced 
age of seventy-six. His remains were placed in a grave 
in his own field, over which a monument, with a suitalile 
inscription, was subsequently raised to his memory. Jvlr. 
Holmes left eight children, from whom sprang a numerous 
posterity, which is widely spread through several different 
States. One of his sons, Obadiah, was for several years 
a judge in New Jersey, and a minister in Cohansey, in that 
State. Another son, Jolin, was a magistrate in Philadel- 
phia. In 1770 one of his grandsons, an olil man of ninety- 
six years of age, was living in Newport. 



Iviy^l-'TCHINStlN, GoVKRNoR William, was l)orn in 
IjKt^ Alford, Lincolnshire, England, not far from the 
Ci'"-^ year 1600, and, with liis mother, wife, and chil- 
'f ! ~ dien, arrived in Boston, in the ship Grcffin, Sep- 
J»i« tember 18, 1634. He is represented as having been 
** a man of a good estate, and appears to have been a peace- 
able individual and much trusted, before his wife, the cele- 
brated .Vnn Hutcliinson, involved him « itli her troubled 
course." The records of the First Church, Boston, under 
date of October 26, speak of the admission of William 
Hutchinson, merchant, into its membership. He took the 
freeman's oath, March 4, 1635, and shortly afterward was 
honored with an election as a representative of Boston in 
the General Court. He made himself useful in various 
ways in discharging tlic duties of civil offices to which he 
was appointed. It does not fall within the scope of an 
article like this to give a detailed account of the famous 



24 



B/OCA'. I rniCA L C ] XL OPED I A . 



*' Anlinoninn '' controversy lH)st<»n, in uliicli Anne 

Hutchinson bore so cunsincuoiis a part. A full account i>f 
it may be found in Governor Arnolil's J]istory, vol. i. 
cha|i. ii. A sentence of banishment was pronounced 
against Mrs. Hutchinson, Noveniliur 15, 1637, and she with 
Iter husband and family went fust to l'ro\idence, and then 
to .Ai|uiclneck, now Rhode Island, early in the year 1639, 
and there the family took up their residence. He was 
soon chosen one of two town treasurers (if the irew settle- 
ment, and was judge or executive head of Portsmouth 
from April 30, 1639, to March 12, 1640. He died some 
time in the year 1(142. For aught that appears to the con- 
trary he was faithful and true to his wife through all the 
bitter controversy which terminated in her bani-.hment 
from lioston. Sparks says of him ; " i'oubtless, as in his 
last days at the island he reviewed his pilgrimage, it must 
have seemetl strange to hint ti' tind himself and his family 
cut f)ff from felloushi]! with the companions of hi^ youth, 
wlio. tliough still li\ing with hinr on a foreign shore, 
which they had sought together for freedom of faith, had 
been <livided by a wider barrier than the ocean. We do 
not know that he e\er complained I'jf his lot. f'erhaps it 
was not to him bO great a hardship as to us it ajipears.'* 



^.KrF.XE, I.Ut'TIiNANT-CiiI.ON'KL CHRISTOPHER, a 
distingui^hc'l military ofticer in the Re\ olutionary 
f'^~| war and .son of Philip Greene, Es([., was born in 
^(^ Warwick in 1737. His fatlier \\ as a well-known 
* and highly Inincired citizen, and was, from 1759 to 
17S4, a judge in the Court of Common Pleas of Kent 
County. The sulject of this sketch received a gootl edu- 
cation, and showed, from his early youth-, a special fond- 
ness formathematic.il studies. P'or the years 1770, 1771, 
and 1772 he represented his nati\e town in the Cfdonia! 
Legislature. P'pon the formation of the celebrated mili- 
tary corps, known as the " Kentidi Guards," which 
emiiraccil in its membership some of the most distin- 
guished citizens of Kent Count\', )'oung (ireene w'as 
chosen a lieutenant. It is an interesting circumstance that 
all the members of the " Kenti>h Guards " who entered 
the Continental army liccame ofticers of the line. In May, 
1775, Lieutenant (ireene received from the legislature a 
Commission as a Major in the " .Vrniy of Observation," a 
brigade of l6oo soldiers, the command of which was 
assigned to his distinguished relative, IJrigadier \athanael 
Greene. His next promotion was to the commantl of a 
company of infantry in one of the regiments raised by the 
St;\te for C'Hitinental service. This regiment composed a 
part of General Montgomery's army, which, in the attack 
on (Hiebec.was defeated. Captain Greene was here taken 
]irisoner. His captivity was so irksome to him, that he 
formed the resolution that if he obtained his freeilom he 
would never ag.iin be taken alive. In due time he was 
libeiated by exchange and once more took his place in his 



regiment, where he jierformed his duties with so much 
(idelit), that he was promoted to the Majority of General J. 
M. Varnum's regiment, ami In 1777 was appointed to the 
command of the regiment, and was selected by General 
Washington to take charge of Fort Mercer, known under 
the more common name of Red Bank, which post, with 
that of Fort Mifllin, or Mud Island, it was deemed of the 
highest imp'ortance to hold, l-'or the great gallantry which 
he disjilaycd in contending with the British force, greatly 
superior to his own, he received the warmest commenda- 
tions of the Commander-in-'chief. His regiment was 
attached to the troops under (ieneral .Sullivan's command 
in the attack on the British in Rhode Island. The end of 
the military career, and of the life of Colonel Greene, was 
a sad one. He was posted on the Croton River, in New 
York, in ailvance of the army. Cin the other side of this 
river was a corps of refugees — American Tories — who were 
under the command of Colonel Delancey. We are told 
that •' these half citizens, half soldiers, were notorious for 
rapine and munler." An inferior officer of this corps 
made a midnight assault on Colonel Greene's force. When 
the noise of the ajiproaching troops was heard prepara- 
tions were made for defence. Major Flagg discharged his 
pistol at the approaching enemy, and was instantly mor- 
tally wounded. The foe then burst open the door of the 
room in which Colonel Greene was, xvho valiantly de- 
fended himself, and before he was overjiowered, slew- 
several of his op|)onents. He was put to death, and his 
body treated in the most brutal manner by his murderers. 
The death u{ this brave officer was greatly lamented by 
General Washington, who had ever founil him a trusty 
officer in whom he could rely. I'or his gallant exploits at 
Fort Mercer, Congress, Novemlier 4, 1777, passed a reso- 
lution " that an elegant sword be provided by the Board 
of War and presented to Colonel Greene." For variiais 
reasons, this resolution was not carried into effect for some 
time, and when the sword w as readv, he w ho was to re- 
cei\e it was no more. Some years afterwards it was for- 
warded to his son. Job Greene, of Centreville, accompanied 
bv a letter from the Secretary of War, General Knox, of a 
character most complimentary to Colonel Greene. The 
letter, after alluding to his death, closes with these words: 
" In that catastrophe, his country mourned the sacrifice of a 
patriot and a sohlier, and mingled its tears with those of 
his faniilv. That the patriotic and military \irtues of 
your hiuiorable fither may influence your conduct in every 
case in w hich )'our country may ret|uire your services is the 
sincere wish, sir, of your most obedient and very humble 
servant, II. Knox." The wife of Colonel Greene was 
Miss Anne Lijipitt, w ho, w itli three sons and four daughters, 
survived the ileath of her husband. He is represented as 
having been " stout and strong in jierson, about five feet ten 
inches high, with a broad round chest ; his aspei t manly, 
and demeanor pleasing; enjoying always a high state o, 
health, its bloom irradiating a countenance which signifi- 



niOGRArillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



25 



cantly expressed the fortkuile ami mildness invarialily 
displayed throughout his life." 



THE INDIAN CHIEFS. 
^HE accounts of the Intlian sachems whose acts of 
kindness and friendship to Roger Williams and 
m his associates marked the early settlement of 
Rhode Island^ and of the leaders of the hostile bands 
with whom the colonists were afterwards brought 
into deadly conflict, occupy such prominence in history that 
sketches of these famous chieftains are entitled to a place 
in this work. " It is to be regretted," .says Irving, " that 
those early writers, who treate^l of the discovery and settle- 
ment of America, have not given us more particular and 
candid accounts of the remarkable characters that flourished 
in savage life. The scanty anecdotes which have reached 
us are full of peculiarity and interest; they furnish us with 
nearer glimpses of human nature, and show what man is in 
his comparatively primitive state, and what he owes to civil- 
ization. There is something of the charm of discovery in 
lighting upon these wild and unexplored tracts of human 
nature ; in witnessing, as it were, the native growth of moral 
sentiment, and perceiving those generous and romantic 
qualities which have been artificially cultivated by society, 
vegetating in spontaneous hardihood and rude niagnili- 
cence." Among the Indian chieftains most distinguished 
for noble traits of character was Massasoit, or Ouseme- 
quin, of Pokanoket, the chief sachem of tlie Wampanoags, 
the native tribe that occupied the territory extending over 
nearly all the southeastern part of Massachusetts between 
Cape Cod antl Narragansett Bay. He was born about 
15S0, and was in his prime when the whites began to settle 
in his dominions. The first knowledge we have of him 
was furnished by Captain Dernier, who sailed from Eng- 
land to America in 1619, and the same year made an expe- 
dition into the territory occupied by the Wampanoags, 
accompanied by a Pokanoket Indian, named Stjuanto, 
Squantum, or Tisquantum, whom he brought with him from 
England, and who, it is said, was carried from the coast of 
New England in 1605, by Captain George Weymouth, who 
had been sent from England to discover a northwest pas- 
sage. Squanto rendered valuable service to the English as 
guide and interpreter. On the 22d of March, 1621, Massa- 
soit visited the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and entered into a 
treaty with tliem which he sacredly kept until his death. 
Tile colonists had gathered some information concerning 
him a week previous to his visit from an Indian named 
Samoset, who, says tlie account, " entered the village with 
great boldness and greeted the inhabitants with a ' wel- 
come.' " In July, 1621, Governor Bradford sent P^dward 
Winslow and Stephen Hopkins, accompanied by .Squanto 
as guide and interpreter, to return the visit of Massasoit, 
" to gain a better knowledge of the country and of the 
strength and power of the sachem, to Confirm the treaty and 
4 



to strengthen theirmutual good unilerstan<ling,and to jiro- 
cure seed-corn." Chi their arrival at Sowams (now War- 
ren, R. I.), tlie resilience of Massasoit, the sachem was not 
at liome, but he arrived soon after and gave them a kindly 
welcome. In March, 1623, news having been received at 
Plymouth that Massasoit was sick and " like to die," and 
that a Dutch vessel had been stranded near his dw-elling. 
Governor Bradford again sent Winslow, accompanied by 
John Hampden, with an Indian named Habbamok for 
guide (Squanto having died 111 l)ccenil>er, 1622), to visit 
Ma.ssasoit, and to have a conference w ilh the Dutch. The 
tender ministry of Winslow seems to have saved Massa- 
soit's life, and upon his recovery he thus expressed his 
gratitude, " Now I see the English are my friends and love 
me, and whilst I live I will never forget this kindness they 
have showed me." As his guests were about to leave he 
disclosed to them, through Habbamok, a plot against tlie 
colonists among the Massachusetts Indians, in which he 
had been invited to join, and which was suppressed by the 
notable exploit of Miles Standish. " These reciprocal acts 
of kindness and frien<lshi]i between the English and Massa- 
soit," says Miller, in his iVo/:;s concerning the Wampan'oag 
I.NDIANS, " very naturally caused their relations to be more 
intimate, and the route through the woods between Plymouth 
and Mount Hope Neck, soon became a well-worn path. As 
early as 1632, the Plymouth settlers had a trading-post at 
Sowams. Sowams was probably the name of the river 
(what is now known as Warren River), where the Swanzey 
rivers meet, and run together for near a mile, w'hen they 
empty into the Narragansett Bay. Tiie trading-post 
was supposeil to have been located on the Barrington 
side of the ri\'er, on the land know n as Phebe's Neck." 
At the time of the visits referred to, Massasoit's resilience 
\\'as on the Sowams River, near the famous Massasoit 
Spring, in what is now the village of Warren. Roger 
^Villiams formed the acijuaintance of Massasoit when on 
his missionary tours before his exile ; was entertained by 
him for several weeks vvhen banished from Massachusetts, 
and from him obtaineil the gr.iiil of land on the .Seekonk 
Ri\er, where, he says, he *' jiitched and Ijegan to build 
and plant " Massasoit is described as "a portly man, in 
his best )ears, grav'C of countenance, sjiare of speech." 
All historians speak well of him. Trumbull .says : " He 
seems to have been a most estimable man. He was just, 
humane and beneficent, true to his word, and in every 
respect an honest man." Fessenden, in his /fistory of 
WaiTi-n^ says: '* Massasoit, though a heathen, proves 
himself true to the dictates which the light of nature sug- 
gested. He jiossessed all the elements of a great mind 
and a noble heart. With the advantages of a civili/ed 
life, and the light which a pure Christianity would have 
supplied, he miL;lit ha\'e achieved a brilliant destiny, and 
occupied a high niche in the temple of fame. In all the 
memorials which have come down to us, Massasoit's charac- 
ter stands above reproach. No one has ever charged him 



HIOGKAPHICAL CVCLOPEDIA. 



with evil. Itoiii the time w luii he rc|iaiRil Im T'lymoutli, 
Maixh 22, 1621, to welcome tlie I'llgiiiii-^ and to temler to 
them liis friendship, to the time of his death, — when they 
w ere \\ eak and defenceless, encountering sickness, want and 
death, u lien at almost any moment Massasoit could have 
exlermiualed them, in no one instance did he depart 
from th'ise ]ilain enc;a,L;enienls <>f treaty « liieh he made 
when lie phylileil his laith In sirani;ers. lie was n..t only 
tlieir uniform friend, but tlieir jirotectur, at tnnes when his 
protection was eipiivalent to their |ireservatinn." Massa- 
soit had two brothers, Ouadequina and Ahkompoin, who 
seem to have lieen associated with him in the I'okanoket 
government. He had three s.ms, tlie tirst known by the 
names nf Muiianum, Wanisutta. ami afterward as Alexan- 
der; the second as romctacom, Metacum, and afterward as 
I'hilip; and the third as SiincMmwhew ; also a danyhter, j 
whose name is imt kiiuun. Ills sons anil their wives 
remaineil with liim unid his death. .Mass.asoit died in the 
autumn of 1001. and was sncceeiled in the I'okanoket gov- 
ernment by his eldest son. Alexander, who had been asso- 
ciated with him in liis sovereignty for several years on ac- 
count ..f the aged sachem's mfunnlies. .\le\aniler received 
his l-'.nglish ii.ime ir. 1002, w lien the nanieof I'liiliii was con- 
feired on liis younger brother. Thatcher says : •• The two 
young men cinie together, on that oi casi.m, into op^n court 
at rismouth. and, professing great regard for llie English, 
retiuesicd that nanies should be given them. Their father 
not being nientioned as having attended them at the observ- 
ance of the ceremony, has jirobably occasioned the sug- 
gestion of his death. It i\ould be a sufficient explanation 
of his absence, however, that he was iiiiw an old man, and 
that the di~taiiee of Snwains fiom I'lymouth was mtire than 
fortv miles. It is easy to imagine that the solicitude he had 
alwavs manifested to sustain a good understanding w ith 
his rUim.ulh friends, might lead him to recommend tliis 
])acilic and conciliatory measure, as a suitable preparation 
for his own decease, and perhaps as the absolute termination 
of his reign." Soon after this event, in the same year, it 
was rumored that .Alexander was plotting with the Narra- 
gausetts to risL- .igaiiist the English ,iiid dii\e tliein from 
the land, and (:o\eriior Prince, of riymoiuh, sent M.ajor 
Winslow with an armed force to seize him ami bring him to 
I'lymouth lo answer the accusation which had been made 
against hiin. Ib-w.is smpiistd and liumili.ited .it the sml- 
denness of his aire-t, and, chaling under the disgrace and in- 
dignities to which he was thus exposed, he was thrown into 
a raging fever. His recovery being regarded doubtful, the 
Indian warriors were jiermitted to take him home, where 
he died wuliin t\co or three ilays, having reigned less than 
a ye.ir. •' The Ion ilile sri/nre of .\le\ander upon his own 
huiuiiig-grounds. and its fatal se'iueiice," says Miller, 
"inu-l ha\ebeen ,1 lude-lnak to the 1 ndiail', stoics though 
tlii-v were. It wa- a bold lUp.uuiie bom the coiisiilerate 
and pacihc policy which had marked the intercourse of the 
riyinouth government with the Wampanoags, during the 



lifetime of Massasoit." Is it to be wondered at that they 
were greatly exasperated ? While the colonists generally 
ailmitted that .Alexander died of a broken and crushed spirit 
caused by liisaricst. Is It surprising that the Indians believed 
tile story llial his death was caused by poison administered 
by the English? Wetamoe (Alexander's wife) fully be- 
liesed it. and from that time forth was the unielciiling hje 
of the colonists. She was the Sf|iiaw' sachem of the I'o- 
cassetts, and could rally around her three hundreil of her 
own warriors. The successor of .Alexander was his brother, 
roinetacom, Metacom, or King Philip, the famous war- 
rior, whose spirit of indejiendencc, heroism, and misfortunes 
have rendered him the most noted of all the sachems of 
New England. His wife w as Woontonekanuske, who was 
the sister of Wetamoe, the wife of Alexander. .According 

j to an Indian custom, not to live wdrere a sachem had died, 
I'liili]! chose for his residence the beautiful eminence of 
Mount Hope, in Uristol, concerning which Mtuiro, in the 
story i.>i Miuii!/ 11,'p,- /.iii!i/i,'^ays: •' hair now is the pros- 
pect which delights the sons ami daughters of llristol as 
they stand u])im the summit of Mount Hope and gaze upon 
the matchless p.iiioraiiia of verdant fields, of wa\'iug forests, 
and of sparkling waters w liich lies unveiled before them. 
The ceaseless energy and the wise forethought of their 
fathers have made these lields to •bloss.uii as the rose,' 
theii tireless daring li.is sul idued the wild forces of the sea, 
and made it the iiigliw ay u[Km which the products of lands 

' lying beneath far-distant skies might come to contribute to 
their condort and to increase their riches. But fairer aiul 
dearer to the eye of the Indian chieftain was the spectacle 
w hich, more than two hundred years ago, entranced his wan- 
dering gaze. Every sj^ot on w hich his eye rested was rich to 
him from association ainl tradition. Here his ancestors fur 

unknown ageshad lived and died With an intensity 

wdiieli we of this age of change can scarcely re. di/e, the 
Inilian loved the home of his ancestors, and every look 
which Philip gave to tli.it beautiful picture must have en- 
couraged him to more mighty exertions to secure to his 
descendants this ancient patrimony of his race." la I(*2, 
soon after lie had been proclaimed sachem, Philip renewed 
the treatv which his killier, Massasoit, had made, and for 
se\eral \ears thereafter there seems to ha\e been no inter- 
ruption in the friendly iiitcicourse between him and the 
colonists. l'.)-and bv, howe\er, he began to manifest a 
s|iirii of jealousy on account of the grow ing pow er and en- 
croarhmeats of the whites, by whom he was now regarded 
with suspicion. He was finally summoned before the 
PlMiiouth colonists, and after being closely questioned, en- 
tered into another treaty, in which mutual friendship was 
pledged, and cuisentcd to the disarming of his ]ieople. 
Notwithst.niding llie a[i|>arcnt amicable result of the con- 
ference, the rigorous inve-tig.ition to which Philip was sub- 
jected e\iilcnlly increased his spiiit .d' hostility against the 

' colonists, who soon regarded him with still greater distrust. 
Smarting under the humiliations suffered by his brother and 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



27 



himself, he finally resolved upon a war of defence, which, 
in the end, became one of revenge. This event was 
hastened by the murder of John Sassamon, a Wanipa- 
noag Indian, who had been converted through the instru- 
mentality of Eliot, the Indian apostle, and had for some 
time served as Philip's confidential secretary and inter- 
preter. Sassamon charged Philip with plotting against 
the safety of the English, which accusation greatly in- 
censed Philip, and it was said he took steps to have his 
accuser put to death for his perfidy. Early in the spring 
of 1675 Sassamon disappeared, and after much search his 
dead body was found under the ice of Assawomset Pond, 
in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Three Indians con- 
nected with the council of Philip were arrested on suspicion 
of being his murderers. They were tried before the Plym- 
outh Court, condemned, and executed. This so enraged 
the followers of Philip that they committed various depre- 
dations, and it is said that Philip took but little pains to 
conceal his hostility or to check that of his subjects. On 
Sunday, the 20th of June, the Indians made a raid into the 
town of Swanzey, and while they were engaged in hostile 
demonstrations one of their number was fired upon and 
wounded by a colonist. This was the signal for open hos- 
tilities, and soon ensued the tragic scenes of the bloody 
conflict known in history as King Philip's War, wdiich raged 
w'ith unabated fury until the autumn of 1676. On the Izth 
of August of that year, Philip was surprised at the foot of 
Mount Hope by a party under command of Captain Ben- 
jamin Church, a man skilled in all the arts of Indian war- 
fare, and distinguished as the hero of the war. While en- 
deavoring to escape from his pursuers, Philip was shot 
down by a renegade Indian of his own nation, and thus 
the conflict was brought to a close. The war resulted in the 
complete subjection of the Wampanoag tribe, the death of 
6oocolonists, the destruction of thirteen towns, the burning 
of 600 buildings, the expenditure of nearly a million dollars 
for the suppression of the war, and an immense loss in goo<ls 
and cattle. It is said that hostilities were commenced 
before Philip was prepared for combat, and that he wept 
when he heard of the death of the colonists in Swanzey. 
" The story of Philip has been variously told," says Greene, 
*' some looking upon him as a crafty savage, loving the 
wiles and cruelty of Indian warfare and fighting with no 
other object than immediate success ; others as an Indian 
patriot, contending for the independence of his country. 
In either case, if we judge him by the standard of his own 
people, he was a great ruler in peace and a valiant leader 
in war." The two hundredth anniversary of Philip's 
death was observed by the Rhode Island Historical .Society 
in 1876, and in 1S77 a monument was erected near the spot 
wdiere the chieftain fell. Among the other Indian sachems 
who occupy a prominent place in Rhode Island history are 
those of the Narragansett tribe. The first chief of the 
Narragansetts mentioned in history was Tashtassuck, who 
had two children, a son and a daughter, whom, it is said, 



he joined in wedlock, because he could not match them 
according to their dignity, the issue of the marriage being 
four sons, the eldest of whom was Canonicus, who was 
born about 1565. Tashtassuck ruled over the Narragansetts 
when they numbered over four thousand trained warriors, 
and held the coast from Cape Cod to Connecticut. The 
old dominion had diminished when Canonicus came into 
power, the eastern part having come under the rule of the 
Wampanoags, and the western part under the dominion of 
the Niantics. The Narragansetts maintained peaceable 
relations with the English during the life of Canonicus, 
although engaged in several Indian wars, and that chieftain 
is especially noted for his firm friendship to Roger Wil- 
liams, whom he received with hospitality when Williams 
was obliged to cross the Seekonk River after his banish- 
ment, and to whom he made the grant of land embraced in 
Providence Plantations. Canonicus resided on the island 
of Conanicut, at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, and was 
an old man when Roger Williams and his followers set- 
tled in his territory. It is said that, although he was the 
sole governor or sachem when the English first arrived, he 
and his nephew Miantonomi were soon after associated in 
the administration of tlie government. " What were the 
particular conditions of the royal copartnership, or wdiat 
was the occasion of it," says Thatcher, " cannot now be 
determined. Some writers supjiose that the sole authority 
belonged to the younger of the two, and that the elder acted 
in the capacity of regent ; but considering that the associa- 
tion continued during the whole term of the joint lives of 
the two, it appears more probable that Canonicus, finding 
himself far advanced in years, as well as incumbered with 
the charge of an extensive dominion, at the period of the 
first English settlements, thought proper to make such an 
alteration in his regal state as seemed to be required by the 
exigencies of the times. He therefore selected as an 
associate the most poj^ular and active prince of his own 
family." History has preserved a very meagre account of 
Canonicus. Roger Williams speaks of him as " a wise and 
peaceable prince," who " once in a solemne oration," " in 
a solemne assembly," said to him, " I have never suffered 
any wrong to be offered to the English since they landed, 

nor never will If the Englishman speake true, 

if he meane truly, then shall I go to my grave in peace, and 
hope that the English and my posteritie shall live in love 
and peace together." Canonicus died June 4, 1647. He 
seems to have been a discreet and popular ruler, and a man 
of kindly disposition and courteous manners. Mianto- 
nomi, the nephew and colleague of Canonicus, was a high- 
spirited man, and is described as of large stature, stern in 
manner, " causing all his nobility and attendants to tremble 
at his speech," When messengers from the whites visited 
him in 1636, he " lay extended on a mat, and his noliility 
sat around on the ground, their knees touching their chins. 
At the close of their message Miantonomi replied, he was 
willing to have peace with the English, but not with the 



28 



PIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



Pequot'^." His wigwam wa'^ at tlic old \Vi)iuimetoiioniy 
Hill, on the i^lan(l of Rhode Islanil, iiortli of Newport, 
now Uiiowna-i Tonomy Uill,.ind sometimes called Mianto- 
nonii Hill. Woiuimotoiiomy, in whose honor that locality 
was first nameil, was the last sachem of the old Af|uidnecks, 
conquereil by tlie Xarra;,'ansetts. Miantonomi, like his 
uncle Canoiiicus, was a firm friend of the colonists, whom 
he aidetl in the Perjuot war, and is also notetl fur his 
hospitality to KoLjcr ^Vi^ialns and his associates, to \\ horn 
he made grants of land. In his nnliappy cinitest with 
L'ncas, sachem of the Mohegans. he fell into the hands of 
the Commissioners of the United C'olonies — Massacliusctts, 
IMytnontli, Coiiiiccticut, and Ne\\' Haven — was wrongfully 
condemned, and at last treaclierously put to death near 
(ireenville, Connecticut, in if>4j;. His ilcath has been 
styled a " clerico-judicial murder," as clergy and magis- 
trates were guilty of it. Miantoiiomi's whole career with 
the English displayed " the nicest sentiment of honor, 
blended with a proper regard for his own dignity and 
alrsolute sovereignty," and he expected " to receive from 
his allies an equally honorable conduct." The place 
wdiere he fell is markeil tiy a granite block, aiul is now 
kiniw n as Sachem's Plain. " Tliis," says G()vernor Hop- 
kins, '* was the end of Miantonomi, the most potent Indian 
prince the peo])le ^^{ New England had ever any concern 

with ; and this w as the rewar<l he received fcjr assistinti 

i 
them seven years before, in the war with the Pequots. 

Surely a Rhode Island man may be permitted to mourn his 
unhap])y fate, and dro]] a tear on the ashes of Miantonomi, ] 
wdio, with his uncle Canonicus, were the best friends and 
greatest benefactors the colony (of Rhode Island) everluad. 
They kindly received, fed, and protected the first settlers 
of it wdien tliev were in distress and were strangers and 
exiles, and all mankind else were their enemies, and by 
this kindness to them drew U]iou themselves the resentment 
of the neighboring colonies, and hastened the untimely end 
of the young king." Another distinguished chieftain of 
the Narragan^ett tribe was NanunleiMo. or Quananshett, 
commonly called by the English Canonchet, the son and 
heir of Miantonomi. He is supjiosed to have succeeded 
to his father's high rank after the death of Mexham, .son of 
Canonicus, and I'essacus, brother of Miantonomi, who for 
some time were at the head of the Narragansett tribe. 
Canonchet is de--cribed as *' a large, muscular man. of great 
courage of mind, as well as strength of body." He 
espoused the cause of Philip, and when asked to surrender 
the hostile Indians who h.ad taken refuge in the Narragan- 
sett country, replied; "Deliver the Indians of Philip! 
Never ! not a Wampanoag will I give up. No ! not the 
paring of a Wampanoag's nail 1 " In the fierce and bloody 
engagement, so fatal to the Indians, known as the Swamp 
Fight, which took place in .South Kingstown, R. I., 
Ilecember lo. 1675, he displayed remarkable valor. "The 
last scene of his life," says Irving, " is one <jf the noblest 
instances on rectnd of Indian magnanimity. lirokcn ilow ir 



in his power ami resources by this signal defeat, yet faithful 
to his ally and to the hapless cause w hicli he had es])ouseil, 
he rejected all overtures of peace, offered on condition of 
betraying Philip and his followers, and declared that 'he 
would light it out to the last man, rather than become a 
servant to the English.' Ilis home being destroyed, his 
country harassed and laid waste by the incursions of the 
conquerors, he was obliged to wander away to the banks of 
the Connecticut, where he formed a rallying-point to the 
whole body of western Indians, and laid waste several of 
the English settlements." While encamped on Hlackstone 
River, near Pawtucket Ealls, he was sur]irised and captured 
by a party umler command of Captain Denison, of Con- 
necticut. In his endeavor to escaiie from his pursuers, he 
plungetl into the river, when, unluckilv, he slipped upon a 
stone and fell so deep as to wet his gun, which accident 
caused him to abandon all hope of escape. It is said that 
on being seized by a Pequot Indian, he m.ide no resistance ; 
but wdien (luestioned by a young Englishman, Robert 
Stanton, w ho Ihst came up with him, he regardeil his youth- 
ful cajitorwith an air of contempt, and replied in broken 
English : '* Vou much child, no understand matters of war ; 
let your brother or your chief come, him will I answer." 
When offered his life on condition that he and his tribe 
would submit to the English, he ilisdainfully rejected the 
rejieated offers and calmly said : ** Let me hear no more 
aliout it." He was soon afterward taken to St<-mington, 
Connecticut, where a council of war eonilemned him to 
death. When informed of his sentence, he answ-cred : " I 
like it well ; I shall die before my heart is soft or I have 
said anything unworthy of myself." The Pc<pK)ts were 
permitted to shoot him, the Mohegans to l»eliead and quar- 
ter him, and the Niantics to burn his boily, his head being 
reserved anil sent to the English Council at Hartford, "as 
a token of love and fidelity to their civili-'ed allies." 
Thus bravely and heroically perished the last sachem of 
the Narragansetts. Another famous sachem w.as Ninigret, 
or Juanenio, who is said to have been of Pequot origin, 
and was found by Roger Williams at the head of the old 
Niantic tribe. .Some writers represent that he was the 
uncle of Miantonomi, and others that he was the brother 
or brother-in law of that celebrated chieftain, whose 
memory he cherished. Ninigret was the imjierial name of 
the rulers of his tribe, like the Pharaohs and C-esars of old. 
When Roger Williams first knew him, Ninigret, or Juanenio, 
was a young man, proud, reserved, brave, and a thorough 
pagan. Williams speaks of him as a " chiefe souldier," 
and he is said to have been usually successful in his wars 
w ith the Manisses and Montauks. When asked to favor 
the iireaching of Christianity among his people, he replied 
that it wouUl lie belter to preach it among the ICnglish till 
they ]>roved its good fruits. He remained neutral during 
the Pequot war of 1632. In 1657, when .M.ijor John 
Mason marched with his intrepid band from Narragansett 
ISay to attack the I'cijuots in (Jroton, Connecticut, he halted 




.i',i-;i;'r in.\l; l.i-'.s s'ITAIit 



-^ . -/ 



-# V- / --^ 






BrOG RA PHICA L C J 'CI OPED I A . 



29 



at Fort Neck, in Charlestown, the residence of Ninigret, 
and the centre of his dominion. Ninigret declined to tal<e 
an active part in the war, but allowed his sulijects to go as 
volunteers under Mason. In 1653 he was suspected of 
having formed an alliance with the Dutch against the 
English, and in .September of the same year complaints 
were made to the Commissioners of the United Colonies 
that the Narragansett and Niantic sachems had waged war 
upon the Long Island Indians, which called for interference 
on the part of the commissioners. On the receipt of the 
report of messengers who had been dispatched to demand 
explanation and satisfaction, the commissioners decided to 
make war against Ninigret, but as a member from Massa- 
chusetts did not favor this decision, and entered a protest 
against it, it was not immediately carried into effect. In 
1654 Ninigret, having refused to obey a summons to appear 
at Hartford, Major Simon Willard was sent into the 
Niantic country with a body of troops raised in the three 
united colonies, "to demand of Ninigret the Pequots sub- 
ject to his control, the tribute already due for them, and 
also a cessation of hostilities against the Indians of Long 
Island. On refusal to comply with these terms, they were 
to reduce him to submission and tribute by force and take 
hostages for security." When he heard of the approach of 
the troops, he fled into a swamp, ten or tifteen miles distant 
from the army, and messengers being sent to him to present 
the demand of the commissioners, he agreed to surrender 
the Pequots, but otherwise the result of the conference was 
very unsatisfactory to the commissioners. No further hos- 
tile movements were made against him, and he afterward 
maintained friendly relations with the colonists, to whom 
he finally sold a large portion of his territory. He refused 
to join in the great uprising of the Indians under Philip, 
of Pokanoket, against the whites, and on account of his 
fidelity his tribe and territory were spared, while the con- 
test resulted most disastrously to the Narragansetls. Nini- 
gret is supposed to have died soon after King Philip's war. 
While he was on a visit to Boston, in 1647, to meet certain 
colonial commissioners, a fine portrait of him was made by 
an English artist. His sister, Quaiapen, married Mexham, 
the son of Canonicus, and when Canonchet, the last 
sachem of the Narragansetts, fell, near the close of Philip's 
war, the Narragansetts and Niantics were consolidated in 
one nation, under the rule of Ninigret, and, though the 
majority were Niantics, they have since been called Narra- 
gansetts. By his first wife Ninigret had a daughter, who 
succeeded him, but did not reign long. By his second 
wife he had a son, Ninigret, who succeeded his half-sister, 
and died near 1722, leaving two sons, Charles Augustus 
Ninigret and tJeorge Ninigret. Charles Augustus became 
sachem, and dying left a son, Charles, who was acknowl- 
edged as sachem by a portion of the nation, while a greater 
part adhered to his uncle, George. Charles dying, George 
received the royal belt of peage in 1735. He left lliree chil- 
dren, Thomas, George, and Esther. Thomas Ninigret, 



better known as King Tom, was born in 1736, and began 
to rule in 1746. During his reign much of the Indian 
reservation was sold, and a portion of the tribe, diss.it- 
isfied from the increase of the whites and the narrow- 
ing of their hunting-grounds, emigrated to the State of 
New York and affiliated with the red men of that region. 
I'Cing Tom yielded much to the light of Christianity, and in 
1765 he petitioned the Society for the Propagation of thi; 
Gospel to establish schools for the children, closing his 
letter with the hopeful words : " That when time with us 
shall be no more, that wlicn we and the children over 
whom you have been such benefactors shall leave ihc sun 
and stars, we .shall rejoice in a far superior light." The 
dwelling-house built by him is still standing in Charlestown, 
R. I., south of Queen .-^Lnne's Road, near Coronation Rock 
and Kort Neck. As a result of the " great revival," the 
Indian church was organized in 1750, and King Tom was 
a firm friend to the preachers among his people. He was 
succeeded by his sister Esther, who was succeeded by her 
son, George Ninigret. The latter was reigning during the 
period of our Revolution. When about twenty-two years 
of age, George Ninigret w'as killed by the falling of a tree. 
He was the last of the Niantic sachems, commonly called 
the Narragansett sachems. After his death the tribe was 
governed by an annually elected governor, or president, 
and a council of four members, and in 1707 the tribe and 
reservation of lands came under the jurisdiction of Rhode 
Island. The old Indian burying-ground in Charlestown 
has been suitably inclosed and marked by the State. 



bTUART, Gilbert Chari.es, the distinguished, 
'^'MWi portrait painter, was born in Narragansett, Rhode 
Island, in 1756. His decided taste for art early 
develo[>ed itself. A Scotch painter named Alex- 
ander, residing in Newport, gave him his first les- 
sons in painting, and formed .so strong an attachment 
to the youthful artist, that on his return to his native land 
he invited him to accompany him. ^ He accepted the in- 
vitation. Soon after they reached Scotland, Alexander 
died, and Stuart found himself a stranger, without funds, 
in a strange land. Self-reliant and full of courage, he 
determined to work his way back to America, and to effect 
his object he shipped on a returning vessel as a common 
sailor before the mast. Immediately on reaching home 
he commenced his labors as a portrait painter, trying the 
experiment first in Newport, and then in Boston and New 
York. When he was but twenty-two years of age he de- 
termined to seek his fortune in the Old World, and in 1778 
sailed for London. In that great metropolis he passed 
through an experience which has so often been the lot of 
men of genius. " He was," as we are told, *' a way- 
ward and eccentric genius, proud as Lucifer, and on his 
arrival in London he found himself full of poverty, enthu- 
siasm and hope — often a painter's only capital." He must 



3" 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPICDIA. 



havf known that his countvymnn, Bcnjnmin West, wns a 
distinguishLMl artist in Lontlon, hut probably he was too 
sensitive to olitnulc his aC'iuaintance upon him. West, 
however, found him out, and at once bestowed on him 
those delicate attentions which would be so much appre- I 
ciatcd by a luL^li-'^pnited younc^ man. He says, himself: | 
"On application to West to receive me as a pupil. I was I 
welcomed with true bene\olcnce, encourai::;ed and taken 
into the family, antl nothing; could exceed the attentions of | 
the great arti'^t to me ; llicv were paU-rnal.'" He remained 
for several yt-ars a member of his family, and before leav- 
ing his hospitable mansion he ])ainted a fulldeni;th portrait 
of West, which, as a work of art, elicited expressions of 
the warmest commendation. AIkmU the year 1781 he 
commenced independent practice, and soon rose to great 
distinction, taking high rank among the best artists of 
Great Britain. While he was tlius winning reputation and 
success in his pn)fcssi(<n in London, his great abilities 
attracted tlie attention of the 1 >uke of Rutland, who invited 
him to visit r)ul>lin, promising him his influence and 
patronage. W'hen he reached I)ublin, in 17S8, he found 
that his noble friend was dead. lie \^ as not daunted by 
what seemed to be a misfnrtune, but at once offered his 
services as a |"iainter of portraits, au'l ha<i no dift'iculty in 
securing the lie-^t patronage of tlie city. Sul>sei[uently he 
resided for a time in Paris, where also success rewarded 
his labors. A biilliaiit future was Iiefiue iiini if he should 
continue in his professional employmein in llie ( lid World. 
But, says his rlaughter, *' the love of Ids own country, his 
admiration of (leneral W^ashingtiui, and the very great 
desire he had to jiaint his portrait, was his on/v induce- 
ment to turn his back up'Ui his guud ftirlune in Kurope." 
In order to carry out this one most cherished jiurposc, he 
embarked for New Vi.irk in lyo,^, ami made a home fur 
his family in that city. In 1704 he went to i'hiladelphia, 
where arrangements had Ikcu made w ith Washington that 
he should sit for his portrait. The President received him 
wuii great courtesy. Stuart userl to say that when he 
found himself for the first time m [he presence of Wash- 
ingt'Ui, he felt end^arrassed, ami ihat it was the first time 
in his life lli.tt he felt awe in the presence of a fellow-man. 
The first picture winch he look (Ud not satisfy him, and he 
destroyed it. ^-^^^^g meditatiiui mi what he desired to 
accontplish. in order to give to posterity a correct likeness 
r)f the '* I-'at!ier of lii> Countrv," li.id .iwakened an intense 
desire, amounting to a passion, in the bosom of the artist 
to reach his ideal, and he could be c-intent with nothing 
sliL.rt of perfection. His second portrait corresponded 
better w ith ins conception of what he was aiming to secure. 
This second jiortrail 1- the one from uhivli he made all his 
subse'iuent cojiies. It is now in the Boston Athemvum, 
together with a liea-1 of Mr-. Wa-htngton. Hunlap lelN 
us tliat Sluarl ]iainted it on a t Iirre i]uarter canvas, but 
only fini■^hed the hiad. "This bi-auliful image of tlie 
mini! as well as ft-atures of Washington was offered to the 



State of Massachusetts, by the artist, for one thousand 
dollars, which they refused to give. Those intrusted with 
our national government passed by the o)iportunity of 
doing honor to themselves during the life of a man they 
could not honor, and the only portrait of Washington 
was left neglected in the painter's workshop, until the 
Boston AtheiKvum purchased it of his wideiw." The 
excellence of this painting led other artists to attempt to 
make a copy of it. An English portrait painter, Winstan- 
ley, made several copies of it, and succeeded in j)alming 
one of them off on a Boston merchant for five hundred 
dollars, which he had lent the artist, taking the portrait as 
his security for the payment of his loan. The painter, soon 
after getting his money, absconded. The merchant found 
that he had been imposed upon. The picture was little 
better than a daub, and. what was worse, the purchaser 
found himself the butt o{ the town's ridicule for ha\ ing 
suffered himself to be so deceived. The only thing he 
could do gracefully to get out of his trouble was to get 
Stuart to make a cojiy of his own W^ashington for six hundred 
dollars. This he did in nine days, and the ]iicture now 
hangs in Faneuil Hall, Boston. Subserjuently, in iSoo, he 
painted, to till an order from the Cleneral Assembly of 
Rhode Island, two other copies, one of which is in the 
State House in Providence, and the other in the State 
House in Newport. The last davsof Stuart were spent in 
Boston, where he ]>ainte<l a large number of i>orlraits, 
which are scattered all over the country. As a jiaiiiler of 
heads, no artist of modern times has surpassed him. < 'n 
the other parts of his pictures he bestowed but compara- 
tively little labor. His last portrait was one of Hon. John 
Quincy Adams^ the face ftnly of which was the production 
of his pencil. Mr. Stuart, while residing in London in 
17S6, married the daughter of I )r. ("oates. By tlii^ mar- 
riage he hail thirteen chihircn, two of whom were born in 
London. Two of his ciiildrcn were sons, one of whom 
had much of the ability of his father as a painter. The 
youngest daughter. Miss Jane Stuart, has achieved success 
and reputation as an artist. Stuart died in Boston, July, 
1 828. His remains were placed in the cemetery of the 
Kpiscopal Church, in which he worshipped while residing 
in Boston. 



J^f^HURriT. ("iiloNir. BrNiAMlN, a celebrated officer 
i^j/jt> I'l 'li*-' Indian wars, son of Richard ami I'll^-abelh 
?ifi* (Warren) Church, was born at I'lymouth, Massa- 
(Ifte chusetts, in 1639- Hi'' fiither, a house builder by 
* trade, served in the Perpiot war, and died December 
27, 1668, leaving nine children. Benjamin learned the 
trade of his father. .*\t the age of twenty-seven he niar- 
rieil Alice Southwoith. of Iiuxbury, Massachusetts. He 
first appeared in public life in l6r»S. In I''7j he assisted 
ill purchasing Seaconet (Little Compton), Rhode Island, 
where he settled in ii'74. He engage<l in the war against 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCl. OPEDIA. 



31 



Pluliji, ami was a conspicuous actor in the great swamp 
fight in Soutli Kingstown, Rhode Island, December 19, 
1675, when he was severely wounded. He was commis- 
sioned Captain by Plymouth Colony, July 10, 1676, and 
marched to capture the Nonpansets. Serving under an 
enlarged commission, he captured prisoners at Acushnet. 
On July 30 he chased Philip into the swamps of Norton 
and Rehoboth, and took many prisoners. He marched to 
Pocasset woods August 10. Finally meeting Pliilip at 
Mount Hope, he slew him, August 12, 1676. On .Septem- 
ber II he captured Annawon. June 7, 1677, he became a 
magistrate at Seaconet and Pocasset, and assisted in bound- 
ing lands (Talamanucke's). On September 14, 16S0, he 
signed and sealed the Grand Articles for the settlement of 
Bristol, Rhode Island, to which place he soon removed. 
He became one of the original members of the Congrega- 
tional Church in Bristol, May 8, 16S7. On September 6, 
16S9, he was commis-sioned Major and Commander-in- 
chief of the Plymouth forces for the Eastern Expedition ; 
on the iSth started for Casco, Maine, and had an engage- 
ment with tlie enemy on the 21st, losing eleven killed and 
ten wounded. He was commissioned for the second 
Eastern Expedition, September 2, 1690. In 1696 he re- 
moved from Bristol to Fall River, and on August 3 was 
chosen for the fourth Eastern Expedition. In Januaiy, 
1703, he appears as Lieutenant-Colonel, and was commis- 
sioned for the fifth Eastern Expedition, March iS, 1704. 
Soon after this he removed from Fall River to Little 
Compton, where, November 29, 1704, he aided in forming 
the Congregational Church, of which he remained a con- 
sistent and valued member till his death. In 1706 he was 
a representative of tlie town in the State legislature, 
His historical works, Eiilerlaimiig Passat^es, etc., or 
Churches Philip's War, and his Eastern Expeditions, ap- 
pear to have been dictated to his son Thomas, at the place 
of his last residence. He was much engaged in public 
affairs. His death occurred January 17, 1717, and was 
occasioned by a fall from his horse. His wife died March 
5 of the same year. His children were, Thomas, Constant, 
Benjamin, Edward, Charles, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Martha. 
Colonel Church was one of the ablest, bravest, noblest 
men of his time in the colonies. 



pv||OGGESHAI.L, John, First President of Rhode 
S^B Island, was a native of England, and, with his w ife 

fMary, and her three children, John, Joshua and 
Ann, arrived in Boston, on the ship Lyon, Sund.iy 
evening, September 16, 1632. He was descended 
from an ancient family in the county of Essex, dating, like 
the famous Tyrell family, from the Conquest. The Cog- 
geshalls possessed ten manors and estates in Essex and 
Suffolk, including the manor of Little Coggeshall, and 
their chief seat, Codham Hall, Weathersfield, two and a 
half miles from St. Peter's Church, Coggeshall, an ancient 



town on the Black water, twenty-live miles northeast of 
London, froni which the family derives its surname. The 
older members of the family, following the usage of the 
Normans, wrote their names with the preposition, as 
Thomas de Coggeshall, who was the owner of these vast 
estates, in the reign of King Stephen of Blois, grandson 
of the Conqueror, 1135-1154. Five of the famdy, several 
of whom were knights, were sheriffs of Essex, which until 
1556 included Herefordshire. Coggeshall Abbey, the 
most famous of the Cistercian order in England, was built 
by King Stephen, 1 142, and endowed by his Queen Ma- 
tilda of Boulogne, and his son Eustace, with their lands 
in France. Ralph Coggeshall, a pious and learned Cister- 
cian monk, was in the Second Crusade, and on his return 
home wrote A Chronicle of the Holy Lan,l, or the Siei;e 
of ycriisaleni. This work, after lying in manuscript for 
live hundred years, was printed in London in 1729, and is 
now extremely rare. He also wrote a history of England, 
from the Conquest, 1066, to 1200, which was partly a his- 
tory of his own times. He died, the sixth Abbot of Cog- 
geshall, 122S, in the reign of Henry HI, the fourth Plan- 
tagenet. As luany branches of the family have three coats 
of arms, that of the Coggeshalls of Essex, from whom the 
subject of this sketch was descended, indicates their con- 
nection with the Crusades, ami is probably one of the old- 
est in English heraldry. John Coggeshall first entered 
his name, and that of his wife, on the original records of 
the church in Roxbury, of which John Eliot, the Indian 
apostle, was pastor, their names being the twenty-eighth 
and twenty-ninth on the list. The Roxbury church was 
formed the same year. He was admitted a freeman No- 
vember 6, 1632. Being a merchant, and seeing that Bos- 
ton was to be the seat of trade and commerce, he removed 
tliere in the spring of 1634, and on the 20th of April be- 
came a member of the church in that place, on the records 
of whicli his name, with that of his wife and two female 
servants, appear, under that date. He was soon elected a 
deacon of that church, under Wilson and Cotton, the pas- 
tor and teacher. Being a man of wealth, enterprise and 
ability, he was soon called to office in the state as well as 
in the church. On the 1st of September, 1634, he ap- 
pears as one of the first Boaid of Selectmen of Boston, 
the other members being John Winlhrop, William Cod- 
diiigton. Captain John L'nderhill, Thomas Oliver, Thomas 
Leverett, Giles Firmin, also a deacon of the Boston church, 
John Peirce, Robert Hardinge, and William Brenton, af- 
terward President of Rhode Island. The minutes con- 
nected with these names, in the handwriting of Winthrop, 
is the first entry in the town records of Boston. But a 
more important entry than this previously appears. At 
the first General Court of Massachusetts, that of May 14, 
1634, he heads the list of deputies from Boston, who were 
John Coggeshall, Edmund Quincy and Captain John Un- 
derhill. The whole number of deputies was twenty-four, 
representing eight towns. Coggeshall was a member of 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCI.OPI-.IUA. 



all llie IlLiicinl Court-;, o\i.~i,-|it tlu- fcuiitli, tenth ami 
eleventh, up Id the twelUli, tli.il mI" N()\rnilirr 2. 1637. 
Aliout this time theie was ennsitier.iitle aj^italion m the 
ceimnumity on aeconnt of the pieaehin;:; of the celebrateil 
Ann Ihiteliinson, wife of William Hutehinson, who was 
Itnally coiulemneil by a legal trihunal, and she and her fol- 
lowers banished. Cogijeshall beinj; one of her most ar- 
elent supjiorters, and ha\inL^ entered his pi-otest against the 
denial of the right of jiutition b)- the Massaehusetts Cien- 
eral Court, in the ease of the jK-tiluin of one of the par- 
ties marked lor eondemnation, was renro\ed from his ofli- 
eial [losition, an-1 eompelle<l to depiart. Kighteen men, 
inebuling William ("oddington, \\ lut acted as leader in this 
important nuuement. John ( 'larKe, au'I the Hutehinson 
family, upon the ad\ ice of Roger Williams, who was 
ah'eady in Providence, now iiurehased the island of Aquid- 
neek of the Narragansett sachems. Here a civil organi- 
zation was effected, based iij)i>n the jirinctj-le cif religious 
lii.erty. 

Although the lands \vcre among the most fertile and 
beautiful in New England, and were offered at the low 
price of one shilling per acre, no one took more than 240 
acres, and some took less ; for the reason that they had not 
Come for personal aggrandizement, hut for the a<lvancement 
of civil and religious liberty. They first laid the founda- 
tion of the town of Portsmouth, near the north end of the 
island. The tow n was laid out in family lots of six acres 
each, of which six, on account of his large family, were 
assignet-l to Wdliam Hutchinson. The little colony grew 
so rapidly that enlargement soon became necessary. Ac- 
cordmgly, a settlement was made on the south end of the 
island, which resulted in the founding of Newport. The 
first streets laid out were Tanner, Spring, Marlborough, 
and Farewell; and the hrsi house w.is built bv Nicholas 
E.'iston. The houses soon afterward erectcii b\- Codding- 
ton and Coggeshall were standmg until recently, and that 
of Henry Ihdl is still standing, being the only relic of the 
time. In tlie meantime, W.iru ick, cju the western shore iif 
the Bay, was settled, and the need of a general govern- 
ment being felt, Roger Williams was requested to visit 
Kngland to procure a charter. He sailed from New York 
in .September, 1643, and returned in .September, 1644, 
bringing with hmi a charter, dated .March 14, 1644, 
and bestowing upon those to whom it was granted corpo- 
rate powers, with religions freedom and entire liberty of 
conscience. An organization was Ihially el'fected, at Ports- 
mouth; Coggeshall was elected President, and Roger 
Wdliams was chosen assistant for Providence, Wdliam 
Coildington for Ncwqiort, and Randall llolden for War- 
wick; and with the adojHion <d' a general code of laws, 
the government was completed. 

Coggeshall hail now assisted to fuund two cities, two 
stales, and two separate ami independent governments. 
He died in oltiee, November 27, ■'■47, aged about hfty-six 
years, and was buried upon his estate, on what is now the 



corner of Coggeshall and Victoria avenues, Newport, one 
mile aufl a half from the State House. Here also lies his 
wile, Mary, w ho survived him thirty-seven years, dying 
December 19, 1684, aged eighty-nine years, and his eldest 
son, John, who succeeded to his father's estate, and tilled 
various im|)ortant offices in the colony, for more than forty 
yeais, dying I )ctober I, 1 70S, in his ninetieth year; also 
numerous members of his family. Here is the last resting- 
place of Abi.iliam liedwood, the founder of the Redwood 
Library, and his w ife. Martha Coggeshall, and his son Wil- 
liam Redwood and his wife; also William ICllery, the 
signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was re- 
lateil to the Coggeshalls by marriage, with all his family, 
except I.ucy, the mother of Dr. William Kllery Clianning, 
the distinguished divine ; and here is the grave of Russell 
Coggeshall, who died December 25, 1S64, leaving S50,- 
000 to the poor of the city, and *!ioo,ooo to \arious par- 
ties. He gave $10,000 for the erection of the granite 
wall surrounding the beautiful cemetery in which his re- 
mains rejiose. (Jver the remains of the lirst President of 
the colony and his consort has been ereeteil a granite obe- 
lisk. The name of John Coggeshall, with the date of his 
presidency, may be seen in one of the memorial w inilows 
of tlie Metropolitan M. E. Church, Washington, D. C, 
contributed by one of his descendants. 



JiHiCESHAI.L. .M.vioR John, eldest son of John 
iJ Coggeshall, the hrst I'resident of RIi.hIc Maud, was 
t'^'f' ''°''" '" linglaml, in 161S. and was consequently 
fourteen years of age at the time of the arrival of 
the family at Roston, in 1632. He received a good 
education, and at his father's table had the advantage of 
meeting such men as the courtly .Sir Harry \'aiie, ( ii'vernor 
Winthro]). Jiihii Cotton, teacher of the church in P.ostcm, 
John Eliot, the Indian apostle, and other distinguished 
men, whose conversation and deportment must have deeply 
im|iresscil his highly receinive mind; «hile the preaching 
and the catechetical instructions of those two noted nrin- 
isters doulitless had great effect in moulding his character. 
He w as twenty years of age at the time the storm of per- 
secution broke U]ion the heads of the friemls and adherents 
of Mrs. .Ann Hutchinson; and his f.ither, being among 
those who had to ilepart from Massachusetts on that 
account, he accompanied him and the family into what 
was then an unknown w ilderness, finally settling at New- 
port. Ill .\pril, 1030. l'|"ion the death of his father, in 
i(>47, and upon coming into possession of most of his large 
estate, he married Elizabeth, daughter of \\illiam Baul- 
stone, who came to Boston in the fleet with Wimhrop, in 
1630, and who was a soldier in the Pequot war, and one 
id' the associates in the purchase of the i^l.iud, in 163S. 
By her he had three children, John, Wilbaiii, and Eliz- 
abeth. This marriage, notwithstanding the respectability 
of the jiarties, seems to have been unfortunate. They 



BIOGRArmCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



33 



parted, by mutual consent, and by permission of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, in 1654. She retired to the home of her 
father, who owned a large and valuable farm on the West 
Road, in Portsmouth, embracing what has since been the 
Portsmouth Grove and Hospital Grounds. William Baul- 
stone brought up three grandchildren, and in his will, 
dated March 11, 1677, left to the two grandsons, John anil 
William, this valuable property, with a life interest in it to 
their mother and sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth married John 
Warner. These children are the founders of a distinct 
branch of the family, long prominent in the history and 
polities of this ancient town, called the liaulstone Cogge- 
shalls. The property above mentioned, on which stands 
a large house of ante-RcvoIution.iry date, was in posses- 
sion of the family until within the memory of persons now 
living. John Coggeshall and his wife both having re- 
ceived permission from the General Assembly to marry 
again, she married Thomas Gold, of Wickford, and, De- 
cember, 1655, he married Patience Thrograorton, daugliter 
of John Throgmorton, of Providence. They had ten chil- 
dren. She died September 7, 1676. Major Coggeshall 
was long and often in office, and during his official career 
exhibited eminent executive ability. He was Commis- 
sioner for Newport, upon the union of the four towns and 
the reorganization of the government, August 31, 1654; 
also at the last election under the old charter, May 22, 
1663 ; and the last meeting under the old charter, Novem- 
ber 24, 1663. He was one of the original grantees of the 
royal charter of 1663; and at the first general election 
under that charter. May 4, 1664, he was elected one of the 
five assistants, with Governor Benedict Arnold and Deputy- 
Governor William Brenton ; also, in 1665, 1670, 1671, 1674, 
and 1676. He was Treasurer of the colony in 1664, 1665, 
1666, 16S3, 1684, 1685, and 1686 — seven years; and 
was Deputy for Newport, October 25, 1665, October 29, 
1668, and May 4, 1669. February 23, 1665, he was ap- 
pointed to receive the King's Commissioners, Robert Carr, 
George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick. His influence 
with these gentlemen was highly advantageous to the in- 
terests of the colony. April 8, 1665, with thirteen others, 
he was made a Justice of the Peace by these Commission- 
ers. May 7, 1673, Cajitain John Cranston, Coggeshall, 
and John Clarke, each in order, were elected Deputy- 
Governor, but refused to serve. William Coddington was 
finally elected, and accepted, with Nicholas Easton, Gov- 
ernor. At the election of May 3, 1676, Coggeshall was 
an assistant, and was also chosen Recorder. Soon after- 
ward he addressed two noted letters to the authorities of 
Connecticut, in regard to the jurisdiction of the Narra- 
gansett country, and was instrumental in securing to Rhode 
Island peaceable possession of the entire western portion 
of its territory. At the General Assembly of May 2, 16S3, 
he was a deputy for Newport, and was also elected assist- 
ant. In 1684 he was re-elected to the same positions. 
This year he was chosen Major-Gencral of the forces on | 
5 



the island, and was thereafter frequently designated as 
Major Coggeshall. May 5, 16S5, he was assistant. May 
4, 1 686, he was elected Deputy-Governor, Walter Clarke 
being at the same time chosen Governor. Upon the usur- 
pation of Governor Andros, who seized upon or abrogated 
all the New England charters this year, he was appointed 
one of his council at Boston, Decemlier 30, 1686. Upon 
the fall of Andros, April 18, 16S9, and the arrival of the 
news of the accession of William and Mary, Governor 
Clarke declined to assume his audiority. Christojiher 
Almy, one of the assistants, was then chosen, but also 
declined. Coggeshall then boldly seized the reins of gov- 
ernment, and carried the colony through an interregnum 
of ten months, when, at a special election, P'ebruary 27, 
1690, Henry Bull was elected Governor, ami accepted, 
Coggeshall continuing as Deputy-Governor. At the gen- 
eral election of May 7, 1690, Henry Bull was again chosen 
Governor, but declined to serve, when Coggeshall was 
chosen, who also declined. John Easton was then elected, 
and accepted. May 6, 1701, Coggeshall again appears as 
deputy for Newport, being then eighty-three years of age. 
This closeil his official career, which extended over a 
period of nearly half a century. He died October I, 1708, 
in his ninetieth year, and was buried in the family ceme- 
tery, at Newport. But few men of his time exerted greater 
influence, or rendered the colony such faithful ami efficient 
service. 



fc!(.)GCiESII.\LL, Josini.\, the seccmd son of the first 
President of Rhode Island, was born in Eng- 
land, December 22, 1631, and consequently was 
I& not nine months old at the time of the immigration in 
632. He was but six years of age at the time of the 
immigration to Rhoile Island in 1638. On the 22d of De- 
cember, 1652, he married Joan West, who was then seven- 
teen years of age. They had seven children, Mary, Joshua, 
John, Josiah, Daniel, Humilis, and Caleb. In connection 
with his mother, Mr. Coggeshall sold 160 acres of land in 
Newport, and by diflTerent purchases, from Octoljcr 23, 1654, 
to February 26, 1660, he procured a farm of 202 acres, 
situated on the " West Road," lying partly in Newport and 
partly in Portsmoutli. His house " stood in from the road," 
on the Purt'-mouth side of the line, w hich made him an in- 
habitant of that town. Tlie old homestead is still in 
possession of the family, the dwelling-house, a substantial 
structure, probably built in the reign of William and Mary, 
is on the other side of the line, in Middletown, which was 
a part of Newport until 1743. "The Anderson Place," so 
called, distinguished by the large and beautiful linden trees 
in front, was a part of this valuable estate. The house in 
which the gallant Colonel Barton captured General Pres- 
cotl, on the night of July 9, 1777, is situated opposite the 



34 



DIOGRArillCAL CYCL OPED! A. 



Coggesh:ill farms. At the sccuiul session of the General 
Assembly, after the urgani/atinn of the colonial govern- 
ment, uniler the new tliarter. in ( Molier, 1664, witli John 
Clarke and otliers, josluia C'o.ggeshall a|ii>ears as a deputy. 
He was also assistant in 1672, 1673, 1674 and 1676. 
Dindng Kiitg I'hilip's war lie was a member of the Com- 
nnttee of Safety, and discharged the duties thus required 
of him \\ itti raie prudLnce, courage, and sagacity. In the 
records of I'.Jitsinouth lie consiaiilly appears as moderator 
of town meetings, memlier of tow 11 council, member of 
important committees, and also as representative of 
the tow It in the iidant colonial legislature, showing his 
great capacity for public business, and the conhdence re- 
posed in his judgment and integrity by the community, 
then so nnich in need of a ctnitroUing and guiding mind. 
He was one of the founders of (^Jnakerism in the United 
States, and thus became cine of the founders of religious 
liberty. W'lule al->road. in h'cbruary, l6c>o, he was seized 
in Plymouth Colony, thrust into I*l\inouth jail, and had 
his horse taken biun him and sold. William Robinson and 
Marmaduke Stei>hensou, who were executed in Lloston, 
(.)ctober m, If'59, ami Mary l>yre, who was hung 
June I, U)l)0, were his coreligionists. Ilisbrother-indaw, 
Daniel (!;ould,a speaker among the Friends, was lashed to 
a gun in llostcm. November, 1659, and subjected to thirty 
lashes, Daniel Gould died at llie advanced age of ninety, 
and was buried in rurtsmoiith. 'riiere was no church edi- 
lice in Rh')de Island at that time, and the meetings of the 
Society were held at the hinises of (Jovernor Coddington, 
in Newpoit, and of Joslnia Coggeshall and Adam .Mott, in 
Portsmouth. The house of .\dam Mott is still standing. 
The first houses of woiship in the colony were the Friends' 
Meeting House, and Trinity Church, Newport, built in 
1704, both of which are yet standing and in use. Joshua 
Coggeshall died March I, 16S9, at the age of hfty-seven 
years. The number of his descendants is estimated at five 
thousand. 



IQPMITII, GoVEKMiR Joii.N, was born near the com- 
i^^l niencement of the 17th century, and was among the 
^~'^'j early emigrants from Fhigland to this country. Ac- 
''-'h cording to Savage, he was probably a citizen of Salem 



or Governor, William Coddington. The 22d of May 
following, at a meeting iif the i ieiieral Assembly held in 
Warwick, he was elected ( ".overnor or President, to succeed 
Coddington. In those early colonial times piersons were 
not so eager to get into office as in this age. At this 
meeting of the General .\ssembly it was " ordered, that if a 
President elected, .shall refuse to serve in that general 
office, that then he shall pay a line of ten pounds." John 
Smith declined the honor which had been conferred on 
him, and accordingly was fined. He seems, how ever, to 
have changed his mind, as his line was remitted and his name 
appears in the list of " Presidents under the Patent," his 
term of service being from May, 1649, to May, 1650. Again, 
when a separation having taken place between the four 
towns of the colony. Providence and Warwick became a 
distinct corporation, John Smith was elected President and 
held the office from May, 1652, to May, 1653. In 1779 there 
was demolished in Warwick a \eneralile stone house built 
by John Smith soon after he to<ik up his residence in the 
tow n. lieing by trade a stonemason, he chose the material 
on which he had Ijcen accustomed to labor for the construc- 
tion of his dwelling-house. This house bore the romantic 
name of the " Gld Stone Castle." In 1663, when the In- 
dians destroyed the village, this was the only house which 
escaped the fury of the tlanies. Many years after this the 
"Gld Stone Castle" came into the ]:iossession of Thomas 
Greene, whose descendants, from this circumstance, were 
styled ''.Stone Castle Greenes." In 1795 Thomas Greene 
purchased a dwelliiig-house on the opposite side of the 
street, and tc»re down the " Castle," using the materials for 
the cellar of a house that stands near the site of the old 
John Smith house. Probably the " (Jastle " was regarded 
as a stronghold to which the people might flee if attacked 
by the Indians. After his ser\ice as President, Governor 
Smith was a]ipointed one year, if not more than that period, 
as assistant, and w as in office at the time of his death, 
which occurred in the early [lavt of 1604. 



in 1631 or 1632. Here he formed the acquaintance of 
Roger Williams, and was in sympathy w itli him in his views 
on civil and religious liberty. Sulisequeiitly he removed 
to Boston. In one of his letters written several years after | 
this, Roger Williams alludes to liim as a " Marchant or 
ship-keeper that liveil in li.jston." He was banished in 
"',)5 for " divers dangerous opinions w hitli he holdeth and 
hath divulgeil." and to(.k up his residence in Providence, 
where he lived for a few years, and tlien removed to War- 
wick, being among tlie tirst settlers of that |dacc. In 1648 i 
he was elected •• .\ssistaiit " for W.iiuick, unrler President 



■^L.VTER, S.vMfKl., son of William and Elizabeth 
ySi ( 1'0.\) Slater, was born at Belper, in Derbyshire, 
,j England, June 9, 1 76S. The estate upon which he 
was born is known as " Holly House," and is now 
owned by Horatio NlI, on Slater, Esq.. of Webster, 
Mass., the fifth son ..f Samuel. Willi, im Slater lielonged to 
the better class of Fhiglish yeomen, owning his own farm, 
ailding to the income deri\'eil frtjin his agricultural pursuits 
the pr<;>ceeds obtaineil from the sale of timber. His death 
occurred in 17S2, when Samuel was fourteen years of age, 
being at the time on trial, pre\ious to his being apprenticed 
to Jedediah Strutt.a cotton manufactuier at Milfrnd near 
Helper. ( )n his fiitlier's de.ith, he executed liis t.w n imlen- 
ture to ser\e until lie became of age. As an evidence that 




^/ ^-7 t^<- 



<- ' ^ y/r. /; . ^ 



BIOGRAmiCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



35 



liis eavly education had not lieen neglected we are told that 
his father replied to Mr. Strutt, who wished to secure the 
services of one of his sons to learn and carry on the busi- 
ness of cotton manufacturing, " Samuel writes well, is good 
at figures, and possesses a mechanical genius." He was 
received into the family of Mr. Strutt, who at once recog- 
nized the ability of his young apprentice, and directed his 
special attention to teaching him all the mysteries of his 
craft, and consulted him on matters pertaining to improve- 
ments which he was constantly making in machinery. A 
brilliant future was before him in his native land. When 
he closed his apprenticeship with Mr. Strutt, he was prob- 
ably among the most skilful and best trained young men in 
England in his vocation as a cotton manufacturer. He was 
familiar with all the details of the Arkwright system, and 
with the inventions of Hargreaves and Crompton. As an 
intelligent and thoughtful young man, he could anticipate 
the speedy coming of the time when the bitter hostility 
which then existed against the introduction of labor-saving 
machinery would pass away, and a more enlightened state 
of public opinion would take its place. England at this 
time had virtually the command of the markets of the 
world in the sale of cotton fabrics, and, as is well known, 
very many enterprising men, who engaged in the business 
of manufacturing, made colossal fortunes. Humanly speak- 
ing, the success of .Slater as an English manufacturer was 
jilaced beyond a peradventure. It could therefore not have 
been the mere love of gain which sent him forth from his 
home in the Old World, and led him to cross the ocean, 
and, a stranger in a strange land, to begin a career which 
in the event proved to be one of such marvellous success. 
The love of adventure and the laudable ambition to seek 
his fortune in a new country, whose wonderful resources 
and possibilities surpassed all conceptions, and, may we 
not add, the guiding hand of that Providence which shapes 
and controls human destiny, led to the formation of the 
resolution that he would turn his footsteps toward these 
western .shores. It deserves to be mentioned that some at- 
tempts had been made in the United States, about this time, 
to spin cotton by machinery. Such an attempt was made 
in the Byfield factory in Newbury, Mass., but the machin- 
ery here used formed no part of the Arkwright system, 
and It proved to be worthless, and finally was abandoned. 
It may also be mentioned, that not long before Slater left 
England, the legislature of Pennsylvania had paid a bounty 
of one hundred pounds to a person who had constructed a 
carding machine to make rolls for jennies. It was very 
evident that there was a demand in the New World for 
the skill and inventive genius of just such a young man as 
Slater. The decision having been reached to emigrate to 
this country, there were some weighty obstacles to be over- 
come before he could leave. There was, in the first place, 
great jealousy in England against the emigration of skilled 
machinists, and if he had openly avowed his purpose, steps 
would undoubtedly have been taken to prevent its execu- 



tion. And then, in the second place, the severest penalties 
had been made against either taking or sending out of the 
country models, patterns, or drawings of machinery, and 
Slater must have all these things so thoroughly and so 
accurately locked up in his memory, that he could readily 
reproduce them when he reached the place of his destina- 
tion. To disarm suspicion, he left home in the dress of a 
farm laborer. The only thing he carried with him to indi- 
cate his profession was his indenture, which he carefully con- 
cealed. He sailed from London, September 13, 17S9, and 
landed in New York, November i8th, after a passage of 
sixty-six days. His thoughts were from the beginning turned 
towards Philadelphia, but shortly after landing in New 
York, he found employment with a manufacturing company 
formed for the purpose of manufacturing by machinery. 
After a short time he became satisfied that the concern had 
no prospect of success, and he was considering the ques- 
tion of looking elsewhere for employment, when he heard 
from the captain of a sloop, trading between Providence 
and New York, of an experiment made by Moses Brown 
to spin cotton by machinery, and that the machine had 
proved a failure. Mr. Slater wrote to Moses Brown, on 
the 2(1 of December, and received a reply, dated on the loth, 
describing the failure to use his machine successfully, and 
inviting Mr. Slater " to come and have the credit as well 
as advantage of perfecting the first water-mill in .\merica." 
In the month of January, 1790, he left New York for Prov- 
idence, and on reaching the latter place called on Moses 
Brown, who took him to Pawtucket and showed him his 
machinery, which Mr. Slater, on seeing, pronounced worth- 
less. An examination of the machinery showed him at once 
its inferiority as compared with that of the Arkwright sys- 
tem, and he immediately set about the construction of ma- 
chines, the models of which he carried in his well-stored 
brain. On the 20th of December, 1790, according to his o«'n 
account, ** he started three cards, drawing and roving, and 
seventy-two spindles, which were worked by an old fidling 
mill water-wheel in a clothier's building, in which they 
continued spinning about twenty months; at the expiration 
of which time they had several thousand jiounds of yarn 
on hand, notwithstanding every exertion was used to 
weave it up and sell it." So good, however, was his pros- 
pect of ultimate success, that on the 5th of April, 1790, 
articles of copartnershij) were signed between Almy and 
Brown on the one part, and Samuel Slater on the other, 
under the style of Almy, Brown & Slater, a business re- 
lation which continued for about forty years. It is evi- 
dent from what has already been said, that whatever may 
have been said to the contrary, the claim of laying the first 
foundations of the American cotton manufacture incon- 
testably belongs to Samuel Slater, who introduced and es- 
tablished the whole series of machines patented and used 
by Arkwright for spinning cotton. In the construction of 
these machines he met with manifold obstacles, which 
would have thoroughly discouraged men of less patience 



36 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



ami heiuic Jctcrminatinn tluin lie. One of his chief Jiffi- 
culties wa^ in getting mechanics wlin could execute his 
plans. His machine canls were matle by Pliny Earl, of 
Worcester. On attemiiling to use them they ])roved to be 
a failure. The cards were rude, and the holes in the leather 
being pricked by hand were loo large, allowing the teeth to 
fall Iiack, thus causing the cotton to roll up. A gloomy 
period of a few days followed, the lookers-on regarding 
the whole thing as a failure. I'liny Earl was sent for; he 
came, and pounded the teeth forward by hand, and machine 
carding was securcil. .\nd now came another trouble. 
The water-wheel which carried the m.achinery w.as in so 
exposed a situation that it was frozen every night, and as no 
one else could be induced to break the ice in the morning 
to start the wheel, it devolved on him to do it, and we are 
told that he spent two or three hours breaking the ice before 
breakfast, till he was wet and cold, and limbs benumbed, 
and thus were laid the foundalicjns of chronic disorders 
from wdiich he suffered so much in the latter jiart of his life. 
These obst.icles and others were, one by one, overcome. 
For a period of tuenty years after the e^talili-.hment of the 
hr^t cotton mill by Mr. Slater, alnio-,t all the mechanical and 
manufacturing skill was furnished in all new enterprises by 
men who had been in his service. In 1 703 a mill was com 
pleted in rawtiicket which still stands, somewhat altered, 
and bears the name of the " (Jld .Slater Mill." .-Vljout this 
time another most important step was taken in the utilizing 
of cotton for domestic |iurpose^, and the foundation was 
laid for the devclopmeiU of what has proved to be one of 
the greatest and most useful industries of the world. Up 
to this time, thread for sewing jnuposes was matle of linen 
or flax. Mr. Slater had succeeded in spinning some very 
smooth and even yarn fnun Surinam cotton, resembling, in 
length of staple and ijuality of lilire, th.it w liich at a later 
date was jiroduceil from the Sea Inland cotton. The hint 
was thrown out by his wife tliat it would make a good 
sew ing thread. Some of it accordingly was twisteil by her 
and her si-ter on a common spiiining-wheel, ami there- 
suit was a 2-pl\ .No. 20 se\\ ing threail. This is sup]iosed 
t'> have been the first sewing cotton ever made. We are 
told that on testing this with linen thread, by sewing a 
seam of cloth w ith each, the cotton thread w as found to be 
the stronger. About five years after this, /. ,.•., in 179S, Mr. 
.Slater entered into a second partnership, his business rela- 
tions w ith Messrs. /Mmy and lirown remaining unchanged 
His new partners were Oziel Wilkinson, his father-in law, 
and Timothy Green ami William Wilkinson, the husbands 
of his wife's sisters. They erecteil a mill on the other side 
of the Paw tucket River, which at that time came within the 
bounds of Massachusetts. ^Vfter several years of successful 
prosecution of business, the attention of Mr. Slater was 
turned in another directifui, where rare f.icilities were pre- 
sented to him for carrying on the manufacture of cotton. 
The ]dace which he had in his mind was known as " Ox- 
f.)rd South (lore," a locality about thirty miles northwest 



of Providence. Here was a large suiiply of water, which 
would furnish sufhcieiit ]>ower to run all the factories he 
might see fit to erect. Alreaily one part of the business in 
the locality w here it was originally started seemed to have 
reached its limit. The power-loom had not been invented, 
and cotton yarn onlv was manufactured liy the then exist- 
ing machineiy. The yarn in skeins was at first sold in all 
parts of the country, wdierever a market could be found for 
it. Afterwards it was chiefly dyed at the mill, put up into 
webs, and sent for many miles around to be woven in fami- 
lies. The Cotton was also picked by families. At the time 
of which we now sp.eak, I.Si i, it was not easy, so large was 
the amount of manufactured yarn, to find a sufficient num- 
ber of families to take this yarn and weave it into cloth, 
and to pick the cotton by hand. For this reason Mr. Sla- 
ter resolved to go back into the farming region in Massa- 
chusetts, and commence operations in what is now known 
as East Webster, the town ofWebster, being since so called 
in honorof Hon. Daniel Webster. Having taken into part- 
nership one of his former clerks, Mr. Bela Tiffany, the new- 
firm, under the style of Slater & Tiffany, proceeded to erect 
the first cottiui mill in what is now the flourishing village of 
East Welister. F'or several years improvements were made 
by different individuals upon French River, in which Mr. 
Slater took a dee|i interest. Woollen as well as cotton mills 
were built in various localities, three villages springing up 
where, but a few years before, there was only a forest. 
These villages, in connection w ith sections taken from the 
towns of Dudley and Oxford, were, in 1S32, incor|iorated 
into a town, as already intimated, and named Webster, as 
before stated. Passing over some other enterprises in which 
Mr. Slater was interesteil, we come dow n to the year 1S22. 
.Some time during this year his attention was directed to 
the great capabilities of the .\moskeag F'alls, on the Mer- 
rimac River. For the purpose iif making a personal ex.ami- 
nation of these F'alK, he visited them, with his wdfe and 
son, Horatio N., who was then a lad of fourteen years of 
a'^e. Passing through (.'helnisford. he saw laborers blast- 
ing rocks and laying the foundation of what is now the 
flourishing city of Eowell. Reaching the place of his des- 
tination, he was so impressed by what he saw , that he de- 
cided to purchase the properly which would control the 
water-power, and to commence manufacturing operations at 
the Amoskeag Falls. Out of this compar.atively humble 
beginning have grown the immense manufacturing indus- 
tries of the city of Manchester, N. FI. Almost uninterrupt- 
ed success followed Mr. Slater in the prosecution of what 
had now come to be his very large and extended business, 
until the year 1829, when, iluring one of those great finan- 
cial revulsions which, from time to lime, visit the country, 
he met with heavy pecuniary losses, amounting in all to 
nearly a quarter of a million dollars. By his excellent 
management, and his rare financial ability, although he 
m.rde large sacrifices, he passed through the fearful ordeal 
with unimpared credit, and with no .stain upon his repu- 



BIOGRArillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



37 



taliun. At this time he became the owner of the Provi- 
dence steam mills, and of the mills at Wilkinsonville, in 
Sutton, Mass. While his mind was occupied with all the 
great material interests of which he had charge, he was not 
forgetful of the domestic comfort and the intellectual and 
moral wants of his employes. It was his aim to rejiroduce 
in this country what he had witnessed in the manufactur- 
ing villages of Derbyshire in England. The children and 
young people connected with the families, which, as busi- 
ness increased, clustered about the factories, were gathered 
into schools, and it is believed that Mr. Slater established 
the first Sabbath-school that was formed in New England. 
Among the first teachers of this school in Pawtucket was 
William Collier, then a student in Brow-n University, and 
afterwards well known as a city missionary in Boston. Not 
only Sunday-schools, but common day schools were estab- 
lished and supported by Mr. Slater in his manufacturing 
villages, in some cases he assuming the whole expenses con- 
nected with the department of instruction in these schools. 
So, also, regular public worship was maintained on the 
Sabbath, to the support of which he liberally contributed. 
Thus we are told that *' hundreds of families, coming 
originally from places where the general poverty had pre- 
cluded schools and public worship, brought up illiterate 
and without religious instruction, and disorderly and 
vicious in consequence of their lack of regular employment, 
were transplanted to these new creations of skill and enter- 
prise, and by the ameliorating effects of study, industry, 
and instruction, were reclaimed, civilized. Christianized." 
Although the residence of Mr. Slater, during most of his 
active business life, was in Pawtucket, in which place he re- 
tained his citizenship to the last, he passed nearly all his 
time, in his last years, at his home in East Webster, now oc- 
cupied by his son, Horatio N. Slater, Esq. Here he died, 
April 21, 1835, at the age of 66 years, 10 months, and 12 
days. The story of his domestic life may be told in few 
words. He married, October 2, 1791, Hannah, daughter 
of Oziel Wilkinson, of Pawtucket. Their children were; 
William, born August 31, 1796, who died when young; 
Elizabeth, born September 28, 1801 ; Samuel, born Septem- 
ber 28, 1802; George Basset, born February 12, 1804 ; John, 
born May 23, 1S05 ; Horatio Nelson, born March 5, 1808; 
William 2d, born October 15, 1809; and Thomas Graham, 
born September 19, 1S12. Mrs. Slater died shortly after 
the birth of her last son, and Mr. Slater married, a second 
time, November 21, 1817, Mrs. Esther, widow of Robert 
Parkinson, of Philadelphia. In personal appearance he is 
described as having been " tall, fully six feet, his usual 
weight being about two hundred and sixty pounds. He 
was of light complexion ; his features were regular, his 
forehead was broad and high ; his expression intellectual, 
and his presence and bearing were commanding." As the 
" father of American manufactures," Mr. Slater occupies a 
position which will always keep him in the front rank of 
the " Representative Men of Rhode Island." 



SASTON, Governor Nichol.\s, was bom in Wales 
KSO '" '593' I^y ""ade he was a tanner. He came to 
this country and landed in New England, May 14' 
1634, accompanied by two sons, Peter and John. 
For some months his home was in Ipswich, Massa- 
chusetts. In the spring of 1635 he commenced the settle- 
ment of Agawam, now Newberiy, Massachusetts. In 1638 
he built the first English house in Hampton. In conse- 
ciuence of the Anlinomian controversy, w'hich produced so 
much excitement in Massachusetts, and reached even the 
most remote hamlets of the colony, Mr. Easton decided to 
cast in his fortunes with those who removed to Rhode 
Island. We find his name among the nineteen settlers of 
A({uidneck who signed the civil compact which was 
formed at Providence, by which the parties pledged them- 
selves to be governed. The compact was as follows : 
" The 7th day of the first month, 163S. We whose names 
are underwritten do here solemnly, in the presence of 
Jehovah, incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politik, and as 
he shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates 
unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord 
of lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of 
his given us in his holy word of truth to be guided and 
judged thereby. Exod. xxiv. 3, 4; 2 Chronicles xi. 3; 2 
Kings xi. 17." The signature of Easton must have been 
affixed ctmsiderably later than January 7, 163S, as it was 
in this year that he liuilt his house in Hampton, and was 
not admitted as a freeman into the little colony of Pocasset 
until August 20. In November a water-mill was projected 
by Mr. Easton, or, as the name was written, Esson, and 
his two sons, for the use of the plantation, and a grant of 
land and timber was made to him for that purpose. Six 
months later the father and his sons built the first house in 
Newport. He was elected an " Elder " to assist Judge 
Coddington in his official duties, etc. So rapid was the 
growth of Pocasset that it w as decided to commence an- 
other colony on the southwest side of the island, where 
now Newport is, and the name of Nicholas Easton apjiears 
second on the instrument by which the parties agreed to 
start the new .settlement. All the memliers of the Pocasset 
government were among the emigrants. Mr. Easton and 
his sons went to Newport, and, as has already been said, 
proceeded to erect the first house that was built in the 
place. The house was on the east side of Farewell Street, 
a little west of the Friends' meeting-house. By the care- 
lessness or malice of some Indians, who kindled a fire in 
the woods near by, it was burned down in 1 64 1. How- 
modest in their expectations of growth the early settlers of 
Newport were, appears from the circumstance that they 
concluded that the territory selected by them for settlement 
" might reasonably accommodate fifty families." Four 
acres were assigned for each house lot. The town soon 
be<yan to be in a flourishing condition, and it was not long 
before the two governments, that of Pocasset and that of 
New Port, as the name was spelled, were united ; an<l at 



BIOGKAnUCAL C YCLVI'EDIA. 



tlu' fiv^t " r.ciK-ral Court of Election," hcl'l at Xc\v].>ort 
March 12, 1640, Nicholas Eastoir was chosen "Assistant" 
from th.it town. The four town^ of Ilic Slate were united 
under a charter or ]iatent in 1647. I'lider this patent he 
vv.as President Iroin May, 1650, to August, Ili5I,and a 
second time from May. 1654,10 Septemher 12, 1654. From 
May, 1670,10 MiN-, i()7i,he was De])LUy C.overnor, and 
(/(osernrir undei- tlie Royal (_'harter froni May, 1672, to Mav, 
1674. His death occurred at Newport, August 15, 1675. 
I'or many years liefore his ileath (Jovernor Eastun had been 
a mcml)er of tlie Society of l-'ricnds. 



IPORTON, Giivt'.KNdR Samuel, the Ihst settler of 
Warwick, was liorn in Enj^land, not far from the 
ci:inimencement of the se\*entcenth century. He 
;_ I. sprang; from a i^ood family, had resi.lcd in London, 
•■v and came to this country in 1636, and landed in 
Hoston. Here he remained about a year, and then went 
to Plymouth. While in lioston he gave expression to what 
were considered very heretical doctrines, and made himself 
very obnoxious to the ecclesiastical powers; and in Plym- 
outh, so great was the prejudice against him '»n account 
ol his peculiar views, that he was subjected to corporal 
punishnient on their account. Packus, the historian, tells 
Us that he " evidently w.is a man of smart capacity, and of 
considerable learning, and when he pleased, could express 
his ide.is as plainly as any man; but he used such a mysti- 
cal method \\\ handling the Scri]itures, and in speaking 
about religion, that peo]ile are not agreed to this day (1777) 
what his real sentiments were." Mackie, in his Life of 
(.iorton, s.ays that had he lived in these days he would not 
unlikely have been denuininated a " Tra>ts,-,:iijLiitaliit." 
Gorton lel'l Plymouth in io;S, and removed in June of that 
year to Rhode Island. While residing in Newport he 
made enemies by the utterance of his jieculiar notions, 
and liiiding it uncomfortable to live any longer there, he 
ivent across Narragansett Bay, and in January, 1641, pur- 
chased lanil near I'awtuxet River, in the south [lart of 
Providence. Encroaching, as he was charged with doing, 
Uj)on the lands of others, under co\-er of his jnirchase. com- 
jilaints were m.ide ag.iinst hiin, ami he was summoned to 
aiipear before the .M,i-.sacluHetts courts to answer to the 
charges brought .igainsi him. He treated the summons 
with contempt, and that he might protect himself against 
the attack which he had reason to antici|iale wa.uld be 
maile U|ion him, he, with eleven associates, purchased of 
Miantonomi, the Narragansett sachem, a tract of land in 
Shawoniet, afterwards called Warwick, in honor of the 
Earl of Warwick. For this land he paid one hundred and 
forty four fathoms of wampum. The contemptuous answers 
of (Jorton to the >Lissachusctts magistrates aroused their 
anger, and forty men were at once selected fcu' an expedi- 
tiim .against liim. 1 )n reaching Shawomet they found that 
the pl.ice had been loriilicd, ami although the attacking 



force outnumbered the besieged three to one, the occupants 
of the fort determined to defend it. .Several times the fort 
w as on lire, but the defenders of it succeeded in quenching 
the flames. At last, in sjiiie of the most heroic resistance, 
the lort was taken, ami nine of the besieged were carried 
to Boston, three of them having had the good fortune to 
escape. ( )n the arrival of the party in Boston, great 
demonstrations of joy were made over the successful ter- 
mination of the expedition. The Governor caused the 
jirisoners to be brought before him, and " laid before them 
their contem])tuous carriage and how obstinately they had 
refused to do right to those they had wronged, against all 
the fair means .and moderation we have used ; that now the 
IjOrd had delivered them into our hands." Gorton and his 
companions were all sent to padson. In the record of the 
events which transpired, we hnd a curious illustration of 
the character of the times, and of a state of feeling in the 
ct.nnmunity which we should think bordered somewdiat on 
bigotry. The prisoners, not sympathizing with the religious 
ojiinions of those among whom they fouird themselves, 
peremptorily refused to attend public worship on the Lord's 
day. Not having much respect for the rights of conscience, 
the officeis of the law took the prisoners by force and com- 
pelled them to go to the church and listen to " the Word," 
which, under the circunrstances, must have Vseen very e<li- 
fying. Such jiroceedings seem \ery strange to lis, and it 
would be impossible to believe in their occurrence if the 
facts were not vouched for by the most reliable authorities. 
If, however, the sum of the trials to which these " Shawo- 
metites " were subjected was their compulsory attendance 
upon preaching which they did not care to hear, we might 
]iardon the Puritans for the course « hich they pursued. J'.ut 
this was only thebeginning of their s(.irrows. After a minith's 
im|irisonment. they were brought before the General Court, 
and after undergoing a kiiul of trial, the followdng sentences 
were ])asserl upon them : The ]irincipal ofl'ender, Gorton, w.as 
sentenced to be confined in Charlestown, at the discretion of 
the Court, and kept at hard work, " and to wear such bolts 
or irons " as would prevent his escape ; that if, in the mean- 
time, he should s|)eak or write "any of the Idasjihemous 
and abcuninable heresies wherewith he had been charged 
liy the Court, upon conviction thereof, he should be con- 
demned to death and executed." .Seven of the companions 
of ( iorton were sentenced to be scut to seven towns in 
Massachusetts, and there puit to har<l work, and wear irons 
U]ion tme leg, on the same conditions as were awarded to 
Gorton. Among familiar Rhode Island names which we 
recognize as i)eing among the jirisoners are those of Ran- 
dall Holden, Robert Potter, and Richard Waterman. The 
reaction against these severe measures at length came, and 
("lorton and his friends were released from their imj^rison- 
mcnt anil commaiided to depart out of the coasts of Massa- 
chusetts. Moli\'cs of policy exerted an influence in this 
case, as they have done in many others of a similar charac- 
ter. It seemed verv desirable to conciliate the favor of the 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



39 



Earl of Warwick, who was tlie special friend of Gorton, 
and, accordingly, he was released from his hard bondage. 
To guard himself against persecution in the future, Gorton 
at once went to England, carrying with him a deed from 
the Narragansett Indians, transferring their territory to the 
king. An order, securing to him the peaceable possession 
of his lands, was obtained from Parliament. He returned 
to Boston in 1648, and repaired at once to his home in 
Shawomet, where he became the religious teacher of those 
who sympathized with him in his views. He dieil between 
November 27 and December 10, 1677, the precise date of 
his decease not being known. Among his published 
writings are Simplicity' s Defence againsi the Seven- Headed 
Policy, Antidote against P/iarisaieal Teachers, Saltmaish 
returned from the Dead, and A Glass for Ihe People of 
New England. 



gKW^'^LDEN, Randall, was born not far from the year 
mJRNJH 1600, and came to this country from Salisbury, 
f ""?'.N Wilts County, England, the date of his arrival 
jj not being known. When, precisely, he canie to 
Jts Rhode Inland we are not informed. Early in 1638 
we find him a citizen of Portsmouth. He must, therefore, 
have come to the colony not long after Roger Williams 
commenced his settlement in Providence. In the year 
1638, he was a witness with Roger Williams to the deed 
of the island of Rhode Island, which was purchaseti by 
the early settlers of Aquidneck of the sachems of the Nar- 
ragansetts. Not long after this he removed to Warwick. 
When, in 1643, the famous controversy arose with regard to 
the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over the territory of Sliaw- 
omet or Warwick, Samuel Gorton and his friends, among 
whom was Holden, w-ere taken by an armed force of forty 
men and carried to Boston, where they were imprisoned, 
and subsequently put on trial for their lives. A majority of 
two votes only saved them from death. Gort*->n was sent to 
jail in Charlestown, and Holden was imprisoned in Salem. 
Each of the eleven prisoners w'as " compelled," as we 
learn from Knowles, "to wear an iron chain, fast bolted 
round the leg, and in this manner to labor. If they spoke 
to any person except an ot^cer of church or state, they were 
to suffer death. They were kept at hard labor during the 
winter, and were then banished from Massachusetts, and 
from the lands at Shawomet, on pain of death." Gorton, 
with his friends, Holden and Greene, subsequently went 
to England and were successful in obtaining an order from 
the Earl of Warwick, and his associate commissioners, 
dated August ig, 1644, forbidding Massachusetts to disturb 
the settlers at Warwick. We are told " Massachusetts re- 
luctantly complied, and Mr. Gorton and his followers oc- 
cupied their lands in quiet." Under the Parliamentary 
Patent, Holden was General Treasurer for two years, May, 
1652, to May, 1654. In 1653 he was elected General Assist- 
ant for the town of Warwick, and again in 1654. A Court 



of Commissioners had been appointed to sec what could 
be done towards perfecting a reunion of the towns on the 
island and on the mainland, an amicable adjustment of 
pending difliculties was made, and the four towns, viz., 
Portsmouth and Newport, Providence and Warwick, agreed 
" to oriler this colony by the authority of the charter 
granted to us by the honored Parli.iment of the Common- 
wealth of England, bearing <late the 14th day of May, 
1643." Among the si.x commissioners from Warwick was 
Randall Holden. For several years after this he was Gen- 
eral Assistant from Warwick. Mr. Holden died August 
23, 1692. His wife was Frances, daughter of Jeremiah 
Clark, of Newport. Their children were Frances, Eliza- 
beth, Mary, John, Sarah, Randall, Margaret, Charles, Bar- 
bara, Susan and Anthony. Charles, son of Randall, mar- 
ried Catherine Greene, daughter of John Greene, of War- 
wick, wdio became Deputy-Governor of the colony, being in 
office from i6goto 1700. Another son, Randall, married 
Bertha Waterman, and had six children, John, Randall, 
Waite, Mary, Frances, and Susanna. The desccndantsof Mr. 
Holden are very numerous, and representatives of the family 
are to be found in different sections of the country. As a 
friend and associate of Samuel Goiton, in whose fortunes, 
prosperous and adverse, he shared, he fills a conspicuous 
place in that part of Rhode Island history which relates to 
the early settlers of Warwick. The proceedings against 
these men furnish us a fair illustration of the temper of 
the limes in which they lived. Professor Knowles well 
says: " The conduct of Massachusetts none will now defend. 
It was a manifest usurpation and a cruel abuse of power. 
It is a prolitable example of the manifold evils of erecting 
the civil government into a court of inquisition. Il was 
the alleged heresies and blasphemies of Mr. Gorton and his 
friends against which the edge of this persecution was di- 
rected ; and those unhajtjjy men narrowly escaped the fate 
which, a .few years later, befell the Quakers. The rulers 
and clergy of Massachusetts undoubtedly thought that they 
were impelled by an honest zeal for the purity of religion 
and the glory of Gotl. Their conduct proves that a being 
so fallible as man is unlit to be intrusted with power over 
the conscience." 

^:EXTEK, Rkv. Gregory, the fifth pastor of the 
First Baptist Church in Providence is said to have 
been born in London early in the .seventeenth 
century. He followed the stationery business in 
his native city with one Coleman. For printing a 
piece that was offensive to the government he was com- 
pelled to flee the country, and came to Providence in 1643. 
The same year he was received into the church, of which 
he subsequently became the pastor. That he soon became 
a person of some importance m the infant colony is evi- 
dent from the circumstance that he was elected town clerk 
a few years al'ter taking up his residence in Providence. 
He w"as also among the fift)'-lour persons to whom " town 



40 



BIOGRAPIIICA L C ) VL OPED /A. 



lots" were as5igne<I. In 164S lie w.is chosen a " commis- 
sioner" to rej)resenl llie town in tlie tJeneral Assembly, 
and again in 1650. He was I'resident of tlie two towns 
of Providence and Warwick one year, 16^3-^4. In Sta- 
ples's Annuls may lie found, p[). 106-S, an interesting 
letter of Mr. DcNter's to Sir Henry \'ane, in reply to the 
charge which that gentleman had made, that there were 
"divisions, disorder^, etc., m the colony which had sorely 
troubled him, iheir loving and steadf.i^t frieml." In the 
subseqneiu history of the state, the name o{ Mr. 1 >e.\ter 
occasionally appears, as taking ]>art in the civil affairs of 
the colony. He was chosen Pastor of the First Church in 
Providence to succeed Kev. William ^Vickenden, who dietl 
February 23, 1669. Morgan Edwards says of him : " Mr. 
Dexter, by all accounts, was not only a welbbred man but 
remarkably pious. He was never observed to laugh, sel- 
dom to smile. So e.trnest was he in his ministry that he 
could hardly forljear preaching w hen he came into a house 
or nret with a concourse of people out of doors." The 
exact date of his death is not known, but it must have been 
not far from the close of the century in which he was 
born. He lived to be over 90 years of .rge. "The wife 
of Mr. Dexter was Abigail Fullcrton, by whom he had 
three sons and one daughter, Stcjiheii, James, John, and 
Abigail." 

iQ^f .\X1 iFORD, John, was born in England, not far from 
'iiSS] the year 1600, and came to tlii-. country, landing in 
PfS^ Boston in 1 63 1. He was sworn a freeman April 
f^^'^'f 3' '*^3-« -^"^^ th*-' same year was made cannoneer of 
el I !& the fort. In the famous " .Vnlinonrian C(nitroversy " 
he symjtathized with Ann Hutchinson and her adherents, 
and as the result, was obliged to leave Massachusetts in 
1638. His name a]>pears in the ci\il comi)act formed by 
the nineteen settlers of .Aquitlneck. In 1640 he was ap- 
pointei-1 Constafile for Portsmouth, and in 1647 assistant to 
John Coggeshall, President of the four united towns of the 
state of Rhode Island. In 1651 a sej)aration having taken 
place between the four towns, he served as President of 
Portsmouth and New[>ort from May, 1653, to May, 1654. The 
union *:)f the four towns having been re-established, he was 
chosen Oeneral Treasurer of the State, and held the office 
from May 22, 1655,10 May 21, IdOI, and, after an interval 
of one year, to 1663. Under the Royal Charier of Charles 
H, he was again chosen to the same office, holding it from 
November 26, 1663, to May 4, 1664. He was Attorney- 
General from June, 1662, to May, 1664, and again from 
.May, 1670, to May, 1671. Besides the offices already re- 
ferreil to, Mr. Sandfoid was Secretary of State from May, 
1656, to May, 1661, and again from 1666 to 1669. Subse- 
quently he filled the same office from 1671 to 1676, and 
from 167710 i6So. His service to the state was a most 
useful one and covered a long period. Not long after .\iin 
Hulcliiiison removed to a spot near Hurl (;ale, all her 
household, sixteen in number, were murdered, with the ex- 



ception of one or more of the children of John Sandford. 
The exact date of his death we ha\ e not been able to ascer- 



y^L.ATI'^R, JiiHN', brother and business copartner of 
•Samuel Slater — the first to introduce successfully 
, ,,,y the spinning of cotton in .\merica — son of William 
feV^ Slater, was born in Belper, Derbyshire, England, 

* December 25, 1776. Receiving a good education, 
and developing mechanical ajitness and taste, he learned 
the trade of a wheelwright, which then included in its 
scope the construction and setting up of all sorts of ma- 
chinery, and worked at Manchester and Oldham. M the 
suggestion of his brother .Samuel, he made a special study 
of such machinery as was then profitable in the manufac- 
ture of yarns and cloths, w ith a view to transferring his 
ideas and skill to .America. By invitation of his brother 
he came to this country in the latter part of 1S03, and at 
once uirited his knowdedge and skill with the ideas and 
plans of his brother, at Pawtucket, R. I., bringing wdth him 
particularly a knowledge of the mule spinning invented by 
the firmous Samuel Cromiiton. His itieas were a great 
accession to the manufacturing interests already developed 
in Pawtucket under the guidance of his brother .Samuel. 
In lSo5 was formed the business firm of " Almy, Brown & 
Slaters," comiiosed of William Almy,01>adiah Brown, Sam- 
uel Slater, and John .Slater, equal owners. By this firm a 
jHirchase of property was made and a mill started in North 
.Smithfield, thus beginning what has fin.ally grown into the 
beautiful and prosperous village of .Slatersville. 

In 1S07 John, having married, removed to Sl.itersville 
to superinteml the mill and the ri^ing village evoked by 
the new enterprise. Here he continued to reside through 
his laboricais ami successful life, steadily enlarging the 
mills and the young settlement, and directing business in 
other places in which he was interested. In 1S33 he and 
his brother Samuel bought out the interests of Almy and 
Brown in .Slatersville, and so became entire owners of these 
mills and privileges, becoming equal owners, under the 
firm-name of " S. i: J. Slater." They had already, under the 
same hrm-nanie, in 1S23, purchased and put in operation the 
mill at Jew ett City, Griswold, Conn. In 1S25 John, on his 
own account, Imught the mill [property on Pachaug River, 
three indes above Jewett City, and named the place Hope- 
viUe. Here he increased the manufacturing business 
and made it remark.ably successful ; indeed, everywdiere 
his skill, energy, and prudence insured success to his 
undertakings. In 1S31 he purchased the interest of his 
brother Samuel in the Jewett City property, thus becoming 
sole owner of it, and placed his eldest son, John K., in 
charge as business manager. His second son, William .S., 
as~i-.ted him in the condutt of the Slatersville interests. 
In other localities w here he was interested with his brother 
Samuel he continued the copartnership as at Slatersville, 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCI OPEDIA. 



41 



till Samiiul's death, in 1S35, and frir a time afterwards 
with the heirs of Samuel. In i8i<S was established the 
Burrillville Agricultural and Manufacturers' Bank (char- 
tered as early as 1S15). In 1S24 the name was chani^ed 
to the Village Bank, and finally, in 1S65, was styled the 
First National Bank of North Smithfield. Of this insti- 
tution Mr. Slater was the first president, and he continued 
to preside over it till his death. In Imsiness he was sys- 
tematic, studious, discerning, diligent, careful, prom]>t, and 
exact. He was a man of large form, and noble in apjiear- 
ance, as was also his brother Samuel. In disposition he 
was kind, hospitable, and generous. It was said no man 
could laugh more heartily than John .Slater. In all affairs 
he was broad-minded and puldic-spirited, being particu- 
larly thoughtful and considerate of the interests of his 
workmen, and cherished a lively interest in the education 
and progress of the young. In educational, religious, and 
industrial interests Slatersville bore the impress of his 
worthy life. His business extended into other States. He 
was concerned, with Robert Rogerson and others, in a mill 
at Boylston, Mass. Robert Foss, the father of the twin 
brothers who were editors of the Woonsockel Patriot, 
was for many years his trusted private secretary or clerk. 
He married, in 1S07, Ruth liucklin, daughter of John 
Bucklin, of Tavvtucket, R. I., and had eleven children, 
only four of whom, two sons and two daughters, lived 
to maturity, viz., Minerva, who married Dr. John C. 
Greene, of Lowell, Mass. (she died in early womanhood) ; 
Elizabeth, who married Dr. Elisha Bartlett, for many years 
Mayor of Lowell, Mass., Professor in the College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, in New York, in the New York 
University, in the Medical Department of Dartmouth Col- 
lege, in Transylvania University, and in Berkshire Medical 
Institute. His sons were carefully tr.ained to business pur- 
suits, particularly to manufacturing, and so were prepared 
to aid their father and to succeed him in the enteri)rises 
that he had established. John F. has become a celebrated 
and successful manufacturer in Connecticut, resiiling in 
the city of Nonvich. William S. succeeded his father in 
Slatersville, and is elsewhere sketched in this volume. On 
the death of their father, the sons formeil the firm of " J. & 
W. Slater." The father died in Slatersville, May 27, 1S43, 
at the age of sixty-six years. 



jfROWN, Rev. Ch.^d, the progenitor of the distin- 
guished family of that name so well known for more 
than two centuries in the annals of Rhode Island, 
(is'nh was a native of England, and born not far from the 
year 1600. He came to America in the ship Martin, 
in July, 1638, as is generally supposed. He, with his wife 
Elizabeth and his little family, came to Providence not long 
after Roger Williams settled there. It is impossible to fix 
the exact date of his arrival, the early records of the town 
having, many of them, been destroyed during King Philip's 

6 



war. It appears, from such evidence as wc can have access 
to, that he occupied a position of prominence among his fel- 
low-cilizens. .Serious difllculties having arisen respecting 
the division of lands made by Roger Williams, the matter 
of the adjustment with the contending parties is thus re- 
ferred to by Williams: "The truth is, Chad Browne, that 
wise and godly soul (now with God), with myself brought 
the remaining afiercomers and the first twelve to a oneness 
by arbitration." Among the names of the owners of " home 
lots," extending from what are now North and South Main 
streets eastward to Hope Street, we find the name of the 
subject of this sketch. Upon a portion of this " home lot " 
was what is now the college campus of Brown University. 
In 1642 Mr. Brown was formally ordained as one of the 
pastors of the Ba]itist Church in Providence. For more 
than half a century the church had no meeting-house, the 
place of their assemblage for public worship being a grove 
or orchard, and in unpleasant weather in the house of some 
one of the members. The special theological controversy 
which occu]>ied the minds of the colonists during Mr. 
Brow n's ministry, was on the " laying on of hands," re- 
ferred to in the E))istle to the Hebrews, vi. i, 2. The 
controversy gave rise to the formation of distinct Baptist 
churches in the colony, called " .Six Principle Baptists," 
which have kept up their organization to this day. Mr. 
Brown performed the duties of the ministerial office till 
his death, which occurred about the year 166=;. His re- 
mains, which originally were intcrreil in a lot not far 
from where the new court-house, on the corner (jf College 
and Benefit streets, now stands, were removed, in 1792, to 
the North Burying-ground. Five sons survived the death 
of their father, — John, who married a Holmes ; Judah, alias 
Chad, who died without children; James, who about the 
year 1672 removed to Newport; Jeremiah, who, like his 
brother, became a citizen of Newport ; and Daniel, who 
married a Herenden, Chad Brown seems to have been, 
really, the first pastor of the First Baptist Church in Prov- 
idence, the connection of Roger Williams having been of 
such brief duration, and of so informal a character, as to 
forbid that he should be recognized as its first pastor. The 
venerable John Howland says: " ( )n ihc ipiestion among 
the founders of Rhode Island College on what lot to place 
the building — University Hall — they decided on the pres- 
ent site because it was the home lot of Chad Brown, tha 
first minister of tlie Baptist C/iurc/i." 



^^?ROWN, JiiHN, eldest son of Rev. Chad Brown, 
^Esk^ was a native of England, and was liorn in the year 
f°'.'S 1630. His wife was Mary Holmes, daughter 
(^!|t) of Rev. Obadiah Holmes, of Newjiort. Of Mr. 
4> Brown's life and character we have very little in- 
formation. From the little that h.as come down to us from 
the early colonial times in which he lived, he seems to 
have been respected in the community. We'find him to 



42 



BlOCKArillCAL CYCLOrEDIA. 



lie one of the coniniissioncrs fioni Prox iiUiKL- t'l meet 
commissioners chosen to represent other towns in the col- 
ony at Waiuick, Augtist 31, 1654, the purpose of the meet- 
ini; beinr; to adjust certain ditTiculties whicli had arisen, 
which threatened to distiuii tlie jieace and harmony of the 
Col, my. 1 le wasappointed, in 1 66 j, an associate witli Roger 
Williams and Thomas Harris, Jr., tlie three constituting the 
Tou n Council of I'rovidence. Tlie date of liis deatli we 
have heen nnalile to ascertain. His surviving chiUlren 
were John, liorn March 18, l66j ; James, ( iliadiah, Martha, 
and IJeljorah. (Jovernor Joseph Jenckes married Martha. 



^RtjWX, James, grandson of Rev. Chad Rrown, 
and second son of John and Mary {H(.dmes) 
^^ Ihown, was born in Providence in tlie year 1666. 
He married Mary Harris, a granddaughter of Wil- 
liam Harris, wlu> was one of the hrst live who 
originally came with Rriger Williams to Providence. He 
was for several years pastor of the ll.i|itist Church, hrst as 
colleague with Rev. Pardon Tillingliast, and (ui his decease 
associating w itli himself in the pastural office Rev. TLhenezer 
Jenckes. He seems to have been of a generous, liberal 
.spirit, not insisting that wdiat he regardeil as matters of 
minor coiiseiiuence should be made texts of church fcl- 
loushij). ( )f the details in the life of Mr. Prow n our 
informatiiin is exceedingly scanty. The period in whicli 
he lived was not one for writing memoirs or extended 
obituary notices. We have this siniple but comprelieiisise 
record of him, — that he was "an example of |iiety and 
meekness worthy of all admiration." He had ten children: 
John, who died in 1716, without issue; J.iines, Josepih, 
Martha, Andrew, .Mary, ( Ibaili.di, Jeremiah, Klislia, and 
Anna. These children married into families bearing well- 
kiiouii Rhode Island names: Parker, Rhodes, Smith, 
(_'oiiistock. Harris, (ireen, I'ield, Power, and Kmiwlton. 



v'R( iWN, Jampis, merchant, second son of James and 
Mary (Harris) Brown, was born in Providence, 
?'^'? March 22, 169S. His tastes inclined him to mcr- 
|!l||> cantile jnirsuits, and he laid the foundation of the 
weallh and prosperity of his descendants, who have 
so distinguished themselves among the liruiorable and suc- 
cessful merchants of Rhode Island. He married, in 1723, 
Hope Power, daughter of Nicholas Power aiul grand- 
daughter of the Rev. Pardon Tillingliast. At his own 
expense Mr. Prown liuilt the first ineetiug-housc occupied 
by the P'lrst Pajitist (_'hurcli in Pun idence. K decil of the 
church edil'ice and of the lot on w Inch it stood w as executed 
to the church and their successors in the year 171 1. Mr. 
Brown died .April 27, I7,;9, leaving a widow and six chil- 
dren. Mrs, prown ilietl Rine 8, I792,lia\iiig reached the 
age of ninety years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brown wtre 



members of the Pa] tist Church, and gave to their children 
a religious education. Their children were: Mary, who 
married Dr. David Vanderlight, a German, and a jihysician 
of I'rovidence. She died May 6, 1795; James, who be- 
came master of a vessel, and died at York, Va., February 
15, 1750; Nicholas, Jose]ih, John, and Moses. The last 
four are know n in the annals of I'rovidence as the " Four 
Brothers." 

liSr'MITH, RniiARii, the hrst white settler in North 
yW™ Kingstow n, and a man of great distinction, was a 
(^' ' ^) native of (Gloucestershire, Fhiglaiid, but who, it is 
'.'•j' -, ^^1^* said, " for his conscience to (jod, left fair jiosses- 
J I L sions," "anil adventured with his relations and 
estate to New England, and was a most acceptalde and 
prime leading man in Taunton, in Plymouth colony. For 
his conscience sake (many differences arising) he left 
Taunton and came to the Narragansett country, at Wick- 
ford, in l6j9, where b)' (iod's meicy ami the fa\or of the 
Narragansett sachems he broke the ice (at his great charge 
and hazanis) and jnit up, in the thickest of the barbarians, 
the hrst English house among them." In 1641 he ha<l a 
iK.iuse at the head of Piiint Wharf ("ove, the timber of 
which was l:>rought from 'I'aunton Ri\er by water. He 
purchased a tract of land of the Narragaiisetts, computed 
at 30.000 acres. This was the third settlement made in 
Rhode Island, the first being in Providence in 1636, the 
second being in Portsmouth in 163S. Smith immediately 
erected an important trading station, and was associated 
with Roger Williams in trade and iniblic affairs. The juris- 
diction of the territory he occupied came into shar|) and 
long disjiute between Rhode Island and the adjacent 
colonies, Massachusetts and Connecticut in turn seeking to 
estalilish a claim <m the Narragansett country. .Sniith's 
block. house — a re;il garrisim — was the stronghold reached 
by the colonial forces after the " Creat Swamp Fight" and 
victory of December 19, 1675, when the Indians lo,t about 
seven hundred men, and the whites about two hundred In 
.Smith's garden, near a large rock (now bearing a ilrill 
mark), were buried in one grave forty-two of the w hite men 
who fell in the struggle. This is known as the "(ireat 
Cirave." The spot is about a mile north e>f the jiresent 
village of Wickford, on what latterly was known as the 
Updike farm. Mr. Smith's daughter married Dr. (iilbert 
Updike, and from her descended Daniel Lpdike.the .\ttor- 
ney-Cieneral of the colony for twenty-four years, and the 
intimate friend of Bishop Berkeley. His son, Richard, 
was a major in the .service of Cromwell, and also served 
the colony. Mr. Smith's w ife brought from Gloucestershire 
the recipe for making the celelirated Cheshire cheese, 
which was adopted in the Narragansett country. The tract 
of land at one time owned liy Mr. Smith w.as nine miles 
long and three miles wiile. He was tlie lirst white owner 
of Hog Island, at the mouth of Piistid liaibor, having 
bought it of Wamsutta, a Wampamiag sachem, in 1I15S. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



43 



He wa?; one of the leading men of liis time. His prin- 
ciples made him a lit colaborcr of Roger Williams, who 
always spoke of liini in terms of esteem, and who finally 
sohl to him his chief interest in the Narragansett country. 
Smith, like Williams, always bought his lands of the 
natives, and was a man of clear religious principles. He 
died about 1670, and was buried near his house, which 
still stands, and the rude tombstones remained unlettered 
for more than two hundred years, till Major Theodore War- 
ren chiselled on them Mr. Smith's name. The burial- 
ground has recently been inclosed by stone posts and iron 
rails, at the expense of the Updike family. Mr. Smith's 
son. Major Richard Smith, died in 1692. 



^^RNOLD, GovKRNOR Benedict, son of William 
^jfcfflfe Arnold, was born in England, December 21, 161 5, 
W^>W^ and was among the early Puritan emigrants from 
Y*|*^l the Old Country to Massachusetts. Sympathizing 
Is t J J w-ith Roger Williams in his views on civil and 
religious liberty, he was among the first settlers of Provi- 
dence. His name appears on the first conveyance in the 
records of the town. It is attached to a "memorandum, 
3 m., 9th day, 1639," which is added to the deed convey- 
ing a grant of land by Massasoit. " This was all again 
confirmed by Miantonomi ; he acknowledged this his act 
and hand, up the streams of Pawtucket and Pawtu.xet 
without limits, we might have for our use of cattle. Wit- 
ness hereof (signed) Roger Williams, Benedict Arnold." 
By comparing dates it will be seen that Mr. Arnold was 
at this time only a little more than twenty-three years of 
age. His name appears on the list of fifty-four persons to 
whom the " town lots," i. e., the lots bounded by what are 
now North and South Main streets and Hope Street, w'ere 
assigned to the first settlers of the town. His name also 
appears in the Civil Compact in which the signers declared : 
" We do promise to subject ourselves in active and passive 
obedience to all such orders or agreements as shall be 
made for public good of the body, in an orderly way, by 
the major assent of the present inhabitants, etc. ; " antl 
when, not long after, another instrument was ilrawn up, 
designed to secure more stability and good order in the 
management of civil affairs, this paper was signed by Mr. 
Arnold. It will thus appear th.at from the very outset, and 
when he was but a young man, he took an interest in mat- 
ters affecting the welfare of the little colony. In 1642 he 
was one of four of the inhabitants who, becoming dissatis- 
fied with the conduct of Gorton and his company, placed 
themselves and their lands under the government and pro- 
tection of Massachusetts, where they all remained for 
sixteen years, with the exception of Mr. Arnokl, who, before 
the completion of this period, removed to Newport. He 
took an active part in Indian affairs, doing what lay in his 
power to allay the hostile spirit of the natives. His 



removal to Newport was in 1653. We find his name upon 
the list of " commissioners" from that place, appointed to 
adjust certain difficulties and to bring about the union of 
the towns of Rhode Island under the charter or patent 
granted by the " honored Parliament of the Commonwealth 
of England." At the meeting of the General Assembly in 
September, 1654, he was elected a " colony officer" till the 
next May, and was re-elected the following year. For 
four years, 1657-61, he held the office of President of the 
colony, and under the charter of King Charles he was 
Governor from May, 1663, to May, 1666; also from May, 
l66g, to May, 1672. During Governor Arnold's second 
term of office, serious difficulties sprang up with the colony 
of Connecticut, which at one time threatened the peace 
and welfare of both the colonies. The Governor was 
a|ipointed as agent of Rhode Island to proceed to England 
and defend wduit was believed to be the rights of the colony 
under the charier. The two towns of W'esterly and 
Stonington maintained a sort of internecine strife for many 
years. In 1677 Mr. Arnold was again chosen Governor, 
and was in office at the time of his death, which occurred 
June 20, 1678. Governor Arnold was a leading man of 
the times in which he lived, and occupied a cons])icuous 
])lace in Rhode Island history. Hon. S. C. .Vrnold says of 
him : " His liberal views and thorough appreciation of the 
Rhode Island idea of intellectual freedom appear in the 
letters that, as President of the colony, he wrote in reply to 
the arrogant demand of the United Colonies when they 
urged the forcible expulsion of the Quakers. Throughout his 
long and useful life he displayed talents of a brilliant order, 
which were employed for the welfare of his fellow-men." 



§^P|RENT()N, Governor Wili.i.\m, is supposed to 
^jf^i have been born in Hammersmith in England, not far 
™-i3 from the commencement of the 17th century. He 
I was among the early settlers of Massachusetts, hav- 
•<• ing been admitted as a freeman in Boston, May 14, 
1634. For three years, 1634-37, he was a selectman of 
Boston, and for one year, 1635, was a Deputy in the General 
Court. August 20, 163S, he was admitted as a freeman of 
Pocasset, or Portsmouth, in the island of Rhode Island. In 
January, the year following, he was appointed an " Elder," 
to assist " Judge " Coddington in his judicial duties, 
etc. He was among the first settlers of what is now New- 
port, where he had assigned to him four acres of land. 
His fellow-citizens chose him from time to time to fill the 
highest offices of honor and trust. He was Deputy Gover- 
nor of Aquidneck or the island of Rhode Island from 
March 12, 1640, to May 19, 1647. He subsequently held 
the same office from November, 1663, to May, 1666. He 
was President of the four united towns of Providence, War- 
wick, Portsmouth and Newport, from May, 1660, to May, 
1662. He was Governor under the Royal Charter from 



44 



KlOCKArillCAL CVCLOPEniA. 



May, i6(i6, lo May. Ii>(''9. SiiliscquLiitiy, in H>72. he was 
ai^ain cK-cIl-<1 governor. Init dcclinctl to scive. Ills dontli oc- 
currod in if»74. ( ;u\ i-nini- I',iLiUnn ii\\ nod L'\teiisive tracts 
of land (in Khoilc Island, in .\ariaL;:uisrtt and other plaet-s. 
He liad seven children, three si.ns and (our daii;^hlers. His 
tddest son, lalileel, die<l \\ ithonl issue. Nnvemljer 2, I7J2., 
and was Imried on IJrentun's Point. This son held a com- 
mission from William ami Mary, and was (."ollector and Sur- 
vcyor-Oeneral (A the customs of the eiihuiy. His second 
son was William, who \\ a^^ one of tiie first settlers of iJristoh 
His third sun was FJjenezer, w ho aNn lived in Ilristol, and 
]>roI)al)iy died there. His ^.n of the same name acjuircd 
military distinction and h'-re the title of " Major." The 
four daughters of ( 1m\ ei noi Tin lUnn w ere Sarali. Mehitahel, 
Alii^ail, and I'di/ahetli. Several of his descendants reached 
eminence as na\al otficcr-.; jahleel, his great-j^randson, 
rose to tlic rank of admiral in the lirilish navy, and his 
son of the same name, Sir jahleel Jirenton, was also an 
admiral, ami another son, Edward, a post cajitain. Another 
of his de^eendanls, loim. was secretary to Adnnral Pruvost 
on the East India station, and a post captain. 



^.QrilKRMAN, Pnii.li\ The Civil Cmpact, founded at 
Pro\,idenee for the occupation of the island of 
Aqnidneck, now Rhode Island, w a-^ siij;ned by the 
I nineteen settlers, March 7, 163S. One of the ^ign- 
♦r er^, who Pecame one of the proprietors, was Philip 
Shermaj). All of the signers, with the exception of Wil- 
liam Coddington and Randall Holden.had been dismissed 
by the famous act of the previous November, which for- 
mally banished them from the Massachusetts colony. The 
seltlenient was called Pocassut, and at the meeting for the 
election of otficers the foUuwinL^ year, 1639, seven assist- 
ants were chosen, " for the help and care of oon<lucting 
public business and affairs," tine of the number being 
I'hilip Sherman. These olTicers con--titute-l a court for set- 
tling an_\ disjuite involving less than forty shillings. Some 
of the settlers removed to the southern eml of the island 
and formed another settlement, known as Newport, but 
.Sherman remained at Focassel, w hieh name was changed 
in ifi^o to that of Portsmouth. In May, l648,the " Gen- 
eral ("uuit of F.lection " was organi/ed. and at the first 
election Plulip Sherman \\aschi>sen (ieneral Recon.ler, and 
at the spring election in i'>5o he was again elected to the 
same otlice. 



o^Wlf^ANNINt;. Rr.v. Jamls, H.D., a distinguished 

jJ^IaV;; scholar and divine, tlie tirsl President of Rhode 
^-* ,^'_Y Island ( "oilcgr, now P.iowii Uni\ersity. was 
(-■'» born in I'di/abelhlou n, New jersey. October 22, 

«l ^7.1^. 11'^ lather. Is.iac M, inning, was a farmer 

in easy circunislant es. Ili^ son eiiio\ed superuir advan- 
tages i<n intelleitnal cultme. and .it llie age of eighteen 



entere<l the academy at Hopewell, where he was fitted for 
college by the Rev. Isaac Eaton. In 175S he entered the 
College of New lersey at Princeton, where he was gradu- 
ated in 1762, with the second honi^rs of his class. .Among 
his classmates were his intimate friend Rev. Hezekiah 
Smith, D.I)., of Haverhill, Mass.; Ebenezer Hazard, the 
hrst Postmaster-General of the United States; Jona. Dick- 
inson Sergeant, the first Attorney-Geiieral of Pennsylvania ; 
and Hon. Isaac Allen, who was the Valedictorian. Soon 
after graduating, March 23, 1763, he was nnited in mar- 
riage to Margaret, daughter of lohn Stites. I-lsip, a " ruling 
elder" in the .Scotch Plains Baptist Church, and for several 
years the Chief Magistrate of Ellizabethtown. ( »n the 19th 
of April fi»llowing he was pid^licly ordained and set apart 
for the w ork o| the Christian ministry, to w hi', h he hatl con- 
secrated his life. Having been chosen by the I'hiladelphia 
Association as a leader in the enterprise of establishing in 
Rhode Island a PajHist College, "in wdiich," to use the 
words (.)f the historian Backus, " education might be pro- 
moteil and superior learning obtained, free from any 
sectarian tests," he at once set out on his mission. In the 
mi.inth of lulv, i7'>3, he arrived at Newjnjrt and suljmitted 
his plans to Colonel Gardner, the De|nity Governor, and 
other gentlemen of like views. The result w as an aj-plica- 
tion to the Cieneral Assembly the month following for a 
charter, which was finally granted in February, 1764, the 
delay having been caused by opposition on the part of 
those who were unfriendly to the enterprise. Immediately 
after this Manning removed with his wife to the town <>{ 
W'arien, and established a Latin sehuol, wliich is still 
continued in Proviilence. under the name of the " Univer- 
sity Grammar School," He also preache<l statedlv on the 
Sablnith. His /eal and elotpience so()n attracted crow ds -if 
hearers, many of whom were converted, (^n the 15th of 
November, 17O4, a Ba])tist Church was organized, over 
which he was duly installe*l as Pastor. This relation he 
sustained six years, or until the removal of the college to 
Providence. In I7*'5. having been appointed Prcsi.lent 
by a formal vote (if the corporation, he eonunenced the 
work of college instruction with a single puj'il. William 
Rogers, a lad fr<un Newport. In 17*'7 the Warren Asso- 
ciation, which owes its otigin to \\\v suggestions and per- 
sonal inlluence of Manning, and which is the mother of all 
similar associations in New England, held its first meeting 
in connection with the Warren church. The first com- 
mencement of the College was held in the meeting-house 
on the 7th of September, I7i>(). 'Piie occasion drew 
together a large concourse of jieople Irom all jiarls of the 
c<duny, inaugurating the earliest state holi<lay in the his- 
tory of Rhode Island. Seven young men, most of whom 
aojuiretl disiiiutioii in allerdile. then took their bachelor's 
degree in the arts. .\i once a contest arose as to where 
the College should be permanently located. The four 
towns of W.iirLii, h'ast (Ireenwich, Newport, and Provi- 
dence all i>res-.ed their t lainis lor the honor of giving the 





'/^^-Ct^^-m-t^ 




Firs'. Prcr-inent (if Brown ilniversii\ — trnni •:■ Frrr-ii' i:''-:.'"-'j '■' ''~y 



BIOGRA rinCA L C } r/. OPEDIA. 



45 



young institution a lionie. It was fninlly dcciilcd by a vote 
of 21 to 14, tliat the College should be removed to Provi- 
dence, and in May, 1770, the foundations for the building, 
now known as University Hall, were laid. It was jiainful 
for Manning to sever his pastoral relations with the peo]iIe 
in Warren, to whom he had become greatly endeared, but 
his work he felt must be in connection with the College, of 
which he may justly be regarded, in one sense, as the 
founder. The Baptist church in Providence having in- 
vited him to preach for them, he, in 1771, accepted the 
invitation, continuing for twenty years the twofold relation 
of Pastor and President. In 1774 a remarkable revival of 
religion attended his labors, which resulted in the erection 
of the present noble edifice, the pride of the city and the 
joy of the Baptist denomination. It w.as dedicated in May, 
1775. The first commencement held in the new meeting- 
house was in 1776, when nine young men were graduated. 
From December 7, 1776, until May 27, 17S2, the seat of 
Muses became the habitation of Mars. The course of 
studies was suspended, and the college edifice was occu- 
pied for barracks, and afterwards for a hospital by the 
American and French troops. The President, who had 
thus far discharged his arduous and responsible duties with 
unwearied assiduity and the most gratifying success, now 
employed this interval in the labors of the ministry, and in 
various acts of social benevolence, which the perils and 
distresses of that period prompted him to perform. In 1782 
college instruction was resumed. In 1785 Manning re- 
ceived from the University of Pennsylvania the honorary 
degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 17S6 he was, by a unan- 
imous resolution of the General Assemljly, appointed to 
represent Rhode Island in the Congress of the Confedera- 
tion. In this new relation he acquitted himself with dis- 
tinguished honor, having the pen of a ready writer, and 
being thoroughly familiar with the discussions and contro- 
versies of the day. Dr. Manning, as the late Samuel 
Thurber quaintly remarks, *• did great things in the way of 
enlightening and informing the people. Schools revived 
by means of his advice and assi-stance." He was a mem- 
ber of the school committee of the town, and for many 
years the chairman. One of the last acts of his life was to 
draw up a report in fiivor of the establishment of free public 
schools, which was read at an adjourned town meeting 
held in the state-house two days after his decease. This 
report, which forms the basis of the present free school 
system, has been pronounced by a leading educator of 
New England, Hon. Henry Barnard, to be the best docu- 
ment of the kind extant. On the last Sabbath in April, 
1791, he preached to the people of his charge his farewell 
.sermon, and at a meeting of the corporation held on the 
13th of the same month, he requested them to look out for 
a successor in the presidency. He seems to have had a sin- 
gular presentiment of his approaching nuutalily, but what 
gave rise to it can never perhaps be ascerl.iined. On Sab- 
bath morning, July 24th, while uttering the voice of prayer 



arountl the domestic altar, he was sei^ied with a iit of apo- 
plexy, in which he reniaineil, with but imperfect conscious- 
ness, till the ensuing P'riday, whenhe expired, July 29, 1791, 
in the fifty-fourth year of his age. His funeral, which was 
the day following, was the " most numerous and respecta- 
l)le," says the Providence Gazette, " ever attended in 
town." The memory of President Manning will be per- 
]ietuated in the beautiful hall erected by the late Hon. 
Nicholas Brown, which bears his name, and in the charac- 
ters and lives of his pupils and their descendants. His 
reports, addresses, and letters, such as are preserved, have 
been published in a volume of 523 pages, entitled, Zi/e, 
Times ajiil Correspondenee of %ri>es I^IaiDiing, and the 
Riirfv Ilistorv of Broion Vtiiversity. The following ex- 
tract from the inscri[iti<)n on his monument, written by his 
friend and associate in college instruction, Hon. Jutlge 
Howell, may fitly close this sketch: "His person was 
graceful, and his countenance remarkably expressive of 
sensibility, cheerfulness, and dignity. The variety and 
excellence of his natural abilities, improved by educa- 
tion and enriched by science, raised him to a rank 
of eminence among literary characters. His manners 
were engaging and his voice was harmonious. Ilis 
eloquence was natural and jiowerful. His social vir- 
tues, classic learning, eminent patriotism, shining talents 
for instructing and governing youth, and zeal in the cause 
of Christianity, are recorded on the tables of many hearts. 
The Trustees and Fellows of the College have erected 
this monument." 

I^IJSlaCKSTONE, Rev. William, an Episcopal cler- 
gyman, born in 1595, graduated at Cambridge in 
1617, ordained in 1621, left his native country, 
'Tr' England, with the expedition of Koliert Gorges in 
J-L 1623, and first .settled at Shawnnit — now Boston. 
The jilan of esLablishing an Episcopal colony was unsuc- 
cessful, and all returned to England except Blackstone. 
He had occupied Shavvmut about seven years when Win- 
throp and his party arrived. He says, " I left England to 
get from under the power of the lord bishops." He was 
therefore a pronounced nonconformist. At his request the 
major part of the colonists of 1630, who had settled at 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, removed to Boston. But Puri- 
tanism proved little less to his taste than the domination 
of the " lord bishops." In 1635 he sold his lands in Bos- 
ton to the Puritan settlers, " each inhabitant paying him 
sixpence, and some of them more." Purchasing cattle, he 
removed to what was known afterwards as " the Attlcbcjro 
Gore," in Plymouth patent, now the town of Cumberland, 
Rhode Island, and settled on a spot that he named Study 
Hill, a place of natural beauty, favorable to his mental pur- 
suits. A venerable oak, encircled by an iron railing for its 
protection, about a hundred yards e.ast of the Lonsilale 
Kailw.iy station, marks his place of residence. (Jf his dis- 
like for Boston he said : "In America I am fallen under the 



4!) 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCIOPf.DIA. 



power uf the Inr.l l.iethreii." In tlie wililornoss he fmind 
freedom. He was the fir-t permanent white settler on 
lands now belonging to Rli.ule Waml. At Sliidy Hill he 
planted an apple orchard, the fust lliat ever liore fruit in 
Rhode Island, anil it is said that " he ha<l the first of that 
sort called yellow sweetings that were ever in the world 
perhaps, tlie richest and most delicious apple of the whole 
kind." " As late as 1S30 three of his ajjple-trees were liv- 
ing, and two of them bore apples." In 1659 he married 
a widow. Sarah Stevenson, of ISoston, by whom he had a 
son John, who afterwards lived in Providence. .Mrs. lilack- 
stone died in June, 1673. " Though not agreeing in all re- 
S]iects with Roger Williams, Mr. Elackstone ever lived in 
fraternal relations with him, and frequently came to Provi- 
dence to preach." He ilied at Study Hill, May 26, 1675, 
at the age of eighty. A few days after, his house and 
library were burned liy the Indians in Philip's bloody war. 
He has descendants now living in Connecticut and New 
York. 



fwFTS&^H.M.F., TuEciPIIILfS, the distinguished early set- 
j^V\r;: tier of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, was 
l^/^/ Ijorn in England, of an opulent family, near 
j5ir 1616, and received a university education. His 
tT remarkable reticence in regard to his family and 

early history has left us only the fact that " till he was 
eighteen years old he knew not what it was to want a ser- 
vant to attend him with a silver ewer and napkin whenever 
he waiUed to wash his hands." When nearly twenty years 
of age, under official auspices, he came to America, and 
served as an officer in the Indian difficulties in the colony 
of Virginia. In personal appearance he was full si.\ feet 
high, of a strong though not heavy frame, and he pre- 
served his erectness to his one hundredth year. Returning 
to England after his experiences in Virginia, he served in 
the memorable Parliamentary wars, and also through the 
period of the Protectorate, and was an officer in a regiment 
of guards that participated in the execution of King Charles 
I, in 1649. But on the restoration of the monarchy in 
1660, the political situation induced him, as it did the regi- 
cide judges and others, to flee the country. Again he came 
to Virginia, where the most we have learned of him is 
tliat, near 1670, he married Elizabeth Mills, and here, 
probably four of his children, Joane, .-Xnna, Theoilosia, and 
Eli/!al)eth, were born. On account of religious ilissensions, 
as he was a Haptist,and from variances with the Royalists, 
possilily fearing the consequences of being known as a par- 
ticipant in the execution of Charles, he removed with his 
family from th.at colony, and came to Xarragansett, Rhode 
Islanil, about 16S0. Here he settled near the head of 
Petta<iuamscut Pond, in South Kingstown, on what was 
known as the farm of Colonel Francis Willitt. His first 
abode was very humble, and he lived liy fishing, weaving, 
and teaching. Here his three children, Martha, I.ydia, 
and .Samuel, were born. Mr. Whale here opened a private 



school of a high order, through which classical tastes and 
attainments were infused into the Xarragansett country, 
greatlv to the credit of Rhode Island. He could speak 
Hebrew, (heek, and Latin, all of which he desired to 
teach to Ids grandson, Samuel Hopkins, and was a constant 
student of his Greek Bible. Among the Narragansett 
settlers he was conspicuous as a gentleman of manners, 
talents, attainments, and character, though he habitually 
shrank from jniblic notice, and was not disposeil to be- 
come communicative about aflairs in England or in the 
colonies. He preferred the life of a student and a recluse. 
He did much service to the planters as a penman in ex- 
ecuting their deeds and papers, and in teaching their 
children. Distinguished men from Boston and other 
parts of the country visited him, and it is believeil ]iri- 
vately supplied him with money. A Captain Whale once 
entered Narragansett Bay in his ship, and landing, called 
at Tlieophilus's residence, where there was a cordial ineet- 
ing. Facts like these, coupled with his persistent silence 
in regard to his English history, awakened the suspicion, 
wdiich finally grew into an accepted opinion, that he was 
of the Whalley family, and had altered his name lest 
he should be detecteil. It was even surmised that he 
was the real Edwanl Whalley, one that had signed the 
death-warrant of Charles. He finally came into posses- 
sion of a farm. His wife died near 1715, aged about 
seventy years. His daughter, Martha, married Joseph 
Hopkins, and became the mother of Judge Samuel Hop- 
kins. In his last (Lays, leaving his old home in South 
Kingstown, he lived with his daughter in West (ireen- 
wich, where he ilied, near 1719, aged one hundred and 
three years, and was liuried with military honors on Hop- 
kins Hill, in what has been known as Judge Samuel Hop- 
kins's lot. The grave may be found about six miles south- 
west from East Creenwich Court-house, one mile west of 
the East Greenwich line, and a mile north of the Exeter 
line. A careful ]ilat of the ground has been prepared by 
Mr. Charles W. Hojikins, one of his descendants. 




if^H.I.ETT, CArr.MN Thom.vs, born near 1612, was 
f'i one of the last of the Leyden company who 
came to this country, arriving at Plymouth in 
[629. Having been educateil as a merchant, and, 
through his intimate l)Usiness relations with Hol- 
land, having aciiuired a full knowledge of the customs 
and language of the Hutch, he was of great service to the 
first settlers of this country. He was sent by the people of 
Plymouth as the su]>erintendent of a trading-house they 
had established at Kennebeck, where he continued six or 
seven years, when he married a Plymouth lady and re- 
moved to Dorchester, but between 1641 and 1647 returned 
to Plymouth. In this last year, 1647, he succeeded Miles 
Standish in the command of the military force of Plym- 



outh. 



In 1 65 1 he was elected one of the Governor's 



BIPGRAnilCAL CYCLOPEDLi. 



47 



Assistants, and was annually re-elected to that office till 
1661;, when business engagements compelled him to de- 
cline the position, and James Brown, of Swansea, succeeded 
him. In 1660 he settled in Rehoboth and became a great 
landowner in that region. He finally relinquished Attle- 
boro and Cumberland, in 1666, into the hands of the Plym- 
outh Colony. In 1667 he, with Rev. John Miles, founded 
the town of Swansea. On the surrender of New York to 
the English, under Colonel Nichols, in August, 1664, by 
the Dutch Governor, Stuyvesant, Captain Willett accompa- 
nied the Commissioners of Appeals, Nichols, Carr, Cart- 
wright, and Maverick, and rendered such service in that 
city, by his knowledge of the Dutch and their language, 
that after the organization of the new municipal govern- 
ment he was elected the first English Mayor of the munici- 
pality, and was continued in office for two years. He was 
so popular among the Dutch people, for his abilities and 
integrity, that they selected him as their umpire to deter- 
mine the disputed boundary between New York and New 
Haven. When his term of mayoralty expired he re- 
turned to Rehoboth, afterwards known as the Northwest 
of Swansea, later a part of Barrington and Seekonk. 
He married, July 6, 1636, Maiy Brown, supposed to have 
been the daughter of John Brown, the elder, at Plym- 
outh, and sister of James Brown, one of the seven con- 
stituent members of the Swansea Baptist Church, under 
Rev. John Miles. He had eight children, some of whom 
died young. Several of his descendants have distin- 
guished themselves in the history of the country. Francis 
Willett was prominent in Rhode Island. Colonel Marinus 
Willett .served with .special honor in the Revolution, and 
was also a mayor of New York city. Captain Thomas 
Willett died in Barrington, August 4, 1674, at the age of 
sixty-three, and was buried at the head of Bullock's Cove. 
His wife, Mary, died near 1669, and was buried at the 
same place. 



S^^LARKE, Governor Walter, son of Jeremiah and 
MB|| Frances (Latham) Clarke, was born in Newport in 
^fE 1640. As a public man he filled many posts of 
^'1 honor and civil trust. During King Philip's war he 
I I was chosen Governor, and held the office from May, 
1676, to May, 1677. He was acting Governor some time 
previous to this, for we find that when Providence was 
threatened with an attack from the Indians, application was 
made to Governor Clarke for assistance. The reply of the 
Governor may be found in Staples's Annals, page 162. It 
is written in a quaint style, and expresses sentiments such 
as we might expect a Quaker Governor would utter. 
" What you can secure by your own people is best," he 
tells Captain Arthur Fenner and the other citizens who had 
petitioned for help, " and what you cannot secure is best to 
be transported hither (Newport) for security; for we have 



no hopes, but sorrows will increase and time will wear you 
out, and if men lie upon you, their charge will be more 
than your profit twice told. I know your losses have been 
great and your exercises many, which do and may exas- 
perate to passionate words, yet men should keep within 
the bounds of reason, lest what they threaten others with, 
fall upon themselves; and if reports are true, we have not 
deserved such reproach, and I can truly say I have done 
to the uttermost of my ability for your good, and do, and 
shall do; yet we know the Lord's hand is against New 
England, and no weapon formed will or shall prosper till 
the work be finished by which the wheat is pulled up with 
the tares, and the innocent suffer with the guilty." Soon 
after the town was burned Governor Clarke was again 
called upon for aid, and agreed " to bear the charge of ten 
men upon the colony's account." Rhode Island was a 
great sufferer by the war, and the wisdom of her Governor 
and his Council was taxed to the utmost to meet the emer- 
gency. " Victors and vanquished at the close of the war 
were alike exhausted. The rural districts were everywhere 
laid waste. Rhode Island, excluded from the league, and 
always opposed to the war, had suffered most severely of 
all. Her mainland had become a desert, her islands 
fortresses for defence and cities of refuge." To adil to the 
misery of the citizens, especially of the island of Rhode 
Island, in the train of war came pestilence, and but few 
families escaped without the loss of some of their number. 
At the spring election. May, 1677, Benedict Arnold was 
elected Governor in the place of Governor Clarke, which 
was considered a triumph for the war party in Rhode 
Island. The fact that Governor Clarke was chosen Deputy 
Governor from May, 1679, and each year to M.ay, 16S6, is 
an evidence of the high place he held in the regards of his 
fellow-citizens. In May, 1686, he was again elected Gov- 
ernor. During the suspension of the Royal Charter, for a 
])eriod of nearly four years. Governor Clarke declined to 
serve, and the Deputy Governor, John Coggeshall, acted 
as Coventor. This was the period of the administration 
of the obnoxious Sir Edmund Andros. Governor Clarke 
was one of seven persons from Rhode Island whom 
Andros selected to be members of the First General Coun- 
cil, which was to meet in Boston. On the return of 
Andros from his visit to Connecticut, in October, 16S7, 
when the charter of the State was concealed in the famous 
oak in Hartford, he stopped at Newport and proposed to 
take possession also of the charter of Rhode Island. We 
learn from the Foster MSS., as quoted by Governor S. G. 
Arnold, that " in this attempt he was foiled by the foresight 
of the cautious Clarke, who, on hearing of his arrival, sent 
the precious parchment to his brother, with orders to have 
it concealed in some place unknown to himself, but within 
the knowledge of the secretary. He then wailed upon 
Sir Edmund and invited him to his house. A great search 
was made for the coveted document, but it could nowhere 
be found while Andros remained in Newport. After he 



ItlOCKAPIIR AL CYC LOPED 1. 1. 



CI;irkc was cHoslmi (.ovcnior, and entered U|.fin llie aiiue-! 
of bis ol'lke in Jamuiry, l6o<', and was in (ilficc until 
March. i(«)S, at wliicli time lie resi^jneil in favor of his 
nephew, (lovernor Samuel Crin^on. His felliiw-eiti/ens, 
liiiwever, were not willini,' to dispense with liis public ser- 
viees, and at the spring; eleition of 1700 be was chosen 
I lejiulv I Governor, and lield tliat offiee uiitd the <lay of 
his deatli, May 22. 1714. I'ew men in Rhode Island 
have been lon^'er in public lil'e than was ( bivernor Clarke. 

"^^RANS'l'ON.GovKRNiiR Jdirs.came to Rhode Island 
IVa> |irobably from Eni;land. An act was jiassed l>y 
t^^ the (ieneral Assembly. March I, 1664, permittini; 
I' I' him "to administer pbisieke and ]iractice cbiriir- 
I I gery," and in these words (hat body conferred upon 
bini the title of M.U.; "and is by this Court styled and 
recorded I loctor of I'hisieke and Cliiruriiery by the au- 
thority of this the General Assembly of the Colony." The 
same year Captain Cranston, with John Clarke ami William 
Dyre, was sent to England with a letter from the authori- 
ties in Rhode Island, cxjiressing the gratituile of the 
colony to the King for the eliai'ler he hail been pleased to 
grant, and congratulating the commissioners. May i. 
ib72, Captain John Cranston \vas elected I)eputy Gov- 
ernor, which oft'ice he hehl for that year. In 1676 he was 
again elected t(.) the same oftice. which he hehl till 
November S, 167S, when he was chosen Governor, to fill 
the vacancy caused by tlie ileath of Governor Coddington, 
which election was conlhined by the peojile the following 
May. He died while in office, March 12, 16S0, the thinl 
(governor who had ilied in olfice in Rhoile Inland. Ik- 
was the first jierson who had the title of Major General, 
which office was conferrcl upon him in King Philip's 
war. G'>vcrnor Samuel Cranston, who was in office during 
the long period <if twenty-nine years, was his scm. 



Ng John Cranston, was born in Newport 111 Ii>5(}. He 

twenty-nine 
17-- 



,1. 6 .c was Ciovernor of Rhode Island \i 

"^ ' f Consecuti\e years, from 169S to 1727. His father 



1 1 was a ])hysici.in anil surgeon, and served as Altor 
ne\'-General of the Ci ilmiy bom io:;4 fo 1O36; was Hejuity 
(lovernor in I'i72, i('70. and I''77. and Gowrnor from 
Novi-iiiber, ib7.S,to M.irch 12, lO.So, when he died. He 
w.is the nepliew- of (;o\eriior Walter (_d,n"ke, whom he 
suiH-ceded in office. The (^)uaker yii^if/w went out with 
Governor (_"larke, and that of " the world'' laiiie in with 



.Samuel (Cranston. Ills life was romantic, almost from the 
beginning to the close. He married Mary Hart, a grand- 
daughter of Roger Williams. Soon after his marriage he 
went to sea, and was not heard of for many j'ears. He 
had been captured by jiirates, and was unalile to commu- 
nicate w ith his family, who. after .1 long lime, concluded 
that he was dead. It is related by Hull, in his M,-iiii'ir! 
of Rhode AA;/^/, that "his wife having an ofTer of mar- 
riage," from Mr. Uussell, of Boston, " accepted it. and was 
on the eve of solemnizing the marriage ceremony. Hut 
Cranston, having arriveil in Boston, hastened homeward, 
and at Howland's Ferry, just before night, was informeil 
that his wife was to be married that e\ening. With in- 
creased speed he flew to Newport, but not until the 
wedding guests had begun to asscmlile. She was called 
by a servant into the kitchen, a persim being there who 
wished to speak with her. A man in sailor's h.abit ad- 
vanced and informed her that her husband had arrived in 
Boston, and requested him to inform her that he was on 
his way to Newport. This information induced her to 
ipiestion the man very closely. He then told her that 
what he had said was the truth, for he had seen her hus- 
band at Howland's Kerry that very afternoon, and that he 
was on his way to Newport. Then, stepping toward her, 
he raised his cap and pointed to ji scar on his head, and 
said, ' Do you recollect that scar ? ' from which she at once 
recogni/.eil her husband as in her presence. He then en- 
tertained the wedding guests with the story of his adven- 
tures and sufferings." It is said tint Mr. Russell took this 
\ cry unexpected turn of events in good part, and relin- 
i|uished his expected bride to her law fid husband with 
a gocul grace. In gi\"ing an account of his elevation to 
the gubernatorial chair, Governor .Vrnnhl.in his J/iitoiy 
of Kliode [itand, says: "The administration of Governor 
Cranston is remarkable for many reasons. He field his 
[losition, probably, longer than any other man who has ever 
been sulijecteil to the test of an annual ])opular election. 
His greit firmness in seasons of nnevampled trial, that 
occurred in the early part of hi^ public life, is, perhaps, the 
key to his wondei bil popuhirity." He died in olfice, .April 
2b, 1727, aged sixty-eight years. " The death oft lovernor 
S.iniuel Cranston." says Arnold, " was no ordinary event 
in the history of the colony. In the strength of his in- 
tellect, the courage and firmness of his administration, and 
the skill with which he conducted |iublic affairs in every 
ciisis, he resemliles the early race of Rhode Isl.inders. 
Thirty times successi\'ely chosen to the highest office, he 
preserved his popularity amidst poliiical convulsions th.it 
had swept away every other offiei.d in the colony. He 
was the connecting link between tv\'o centuries of its his- 
tory, and seemed. .IS it were, the bridge oxer which it 
p.is^ed in safctv , from the longstiiiggh- for existence w ith the 
nival goveinors id' Massachusetts to the peaceful posses- 
sion of its chartered rights under the House of Hanover." 
He was buried at Newport, and his tomb bears the follow- 





^> 



y/V:'//^'^ /, 



> 



J 



BIOGKAnnCAI. CVCL OPED/A. 



49 



ing inscription : " Here lielh the Boily nf. Samuel Cranston, 
Esqr., late Governor of tins Colony, Aged 68 years, and 
departed this Life, April 26, A.D. 1627. He was son of 
John Cranston, Esqr., who also was Governor here, 1680. 
He was descended from the noble Scottish Lord Cranston, 
and carried in his veins a stream of the ancient Earls of 
Crawford, Bothwell and Traquair ; having for his grand- 
father James Cranston, clerk, chaplain to King Charles the 
First. His great grandfather was John Cranston, Esqr., of 
Bool. This last was son to James Cranston, Esqr., which 
James was son of William Lord Cranston." James Crans- 
ton, Esq., married Lady Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of 
Francis, seventh Earl of Bothwell, who was nephew of 
Mary, Queen of Scots. Others of this distinguished family 
have also been in public office. John Cranston, Jr., was 
Speaker of the House in 1716; Thomas Cranston in 1748, 
and again from May, 1760, to May, 1762 ; Henry Y. Crans- 
ton in 1835, from 1839 to 1841, and again in 1854. He was 
also a member of Congress from 1843 to 1S47. The town 
of Cranston, Rhode Island, takes its name from this family. 



kR.-VNSTON, Colonel John, the eldest son of Gov- 
^ ernor Samuel Cranston, was born in 16S4. In the 
i^y unfortunate expedition, conceived by Governor 
i a, Dudley, against Arcadia, the sloop Bathsheba was 
I I fitted out by the colony of Rhode Lsland. She car- 
ried eight guns and was manned by twenty-six men. 
When ready for sea she \\'as placed under the command of 
Captain John Cranston. In 1708 two sloops were sent 
out by the colony in pursuit of French privateers that 
were annoying vessels on the coast. One of the vessels 
was commanded by Captain Cranston. The privateers, 
seeing they were pursued, burnt their prizes and made 
good their escape. In l7iothe command of the Rhode 
Island forces, in the movement against Port Royal, was 
given to Lieutenant-Colonel Cranston, that being his rank 
at the time. He became the leader of the forces against 
Port Royal. In 1715 he was elected a Deputy. In 1739, 
in the war with Spain, he was in command of Fort George, 
with a garrison of fifty-two men, and again in command of 
the fort in 1744. He died October 15, 1745. Colonel 
Cranston married Penelope Godfrey, born i6S5, and died 
March 18, 1760. Their children were John, Samuel, 
Thomas, William, James, Jeremiah, Peleg, Caleb, Mary, 
Hart, Sarah, and Elizabeth. 



§S^?ROWN, Hon. Nicholas, son of Nicholas and 

^^^^ Rhodes ( Jenckes) Brown, was born in Providence, 

^"^ April 4, 1769. He graduated at Brown Univer- 

fsity, in the class of 17S6. His father died in 1791, 
and he came into possession of a large estate. 
Having entered into partnership with the husband of his 
only sister, Thomas Poynton Ives, the firm at once em- 
7 



l)arked in commercial business on an extensive scale. For 
over forty years Brown & Ives were among the most enter- 
prising and sagacious merchants in the country, and their 
name was honored and their credit unquestioned in almost 
every quarter of the world where commerce had reached. 
Mn. Brown, who was a Federalist of the old school, in- 
terested himself somewhat in politics. For many years he 
was in the General Assembly, either as a Senator or Rep- 
resentative. As one of the Rhode Island Electors, he cast 
the vote of his native State for General Harrison for Pres- 
ident of the United States. He took a deep and intelli- 
gent interest in those institutions in Providence which had 
for their object the welfare of the community in which he 
lived. He was one of the original founders of the Athe- 
nanim. He gave liberally to several colleges and seats of 
learning which were founded and fostered by the Baptists, 
with which denomination he was connected. The insti- 
tution, however, for which he cherished a regard which 
never faltered, w'as the University which bears his name. 
He was elected one of its trustees in 1791, and for twenty- 
nine years was the treasurer of its corporation. In 1825 
he was chosen a member of the Board of Fellows, and 
continued in office until his death, in 1841. He com- 
menced his gifts to the College in 1792, by presenting to 
the corporation the sum of five hundred dollars, to be used 
for the purchase of law-books for the library. In the letter 
which accompanied the donation he says that he makes 
the gift " under a deep impression of the generous inten- 
tions of my honored father, deceased, towards the college 
in this town, as well as from my own personal feelings 
towards the institution in which I received my education, 
and from a desire to promote literature in general, and in 
particular the laws of our country, under the iiifiuence 
whereof not only our property, but our lives and clearest 
privileges are protected." A few years later, in 1S04, he 
gave to the University five thousand dollars as a founda- 
tion for the establishment of a professorship of oratory and 
belles-lettres. This gift, added to others which his kin- 
dred and himself at different times had bestowed, led the 
corporation to change the name of Rhode Island College 
to that of Brown University. At his own expense he 
erected a college hall, in 1822, to which the corporation, at 
his suggestion, gave the name of " Hope College," in honor 
of his sister, Mrs. Hope Ives. He also erected at his own 
expense, in 1835, another Iiuilding, which at his request 
was called, in honor of the first president of the college, 
" Manning Hall." Towartls the erection of Rhode Island 
Hall and the president's house, in 1840, he contributed 
ten thousand dollars. When it was proposed to raise the 
sum of twenty-five thousand dollars towards the library 
fund, he subscribed ten thousand dollars. It is estimated 
that the entire sum of his recorded benefactions and be- 
quests to the University amounts to one hundred and sixty 
thousand dollars, assigning to the donations of lands and 
buildings the valuation which wa> put upon them at the time 



5° 



BroGRArniCA l cycl ofedia. 



they were marlo. "lie lived," s.ivs riofe-.sor (^ml'Iard, 
"to rejdicc in the conviction that wh.it he liail ilone in this 
instance had not been done in vain. He lived tn hehold 
the Uiiivefsity placed, mainly I'V his insti unieiilality, on 
stahle foundations, supplied with means of instruction 
largely increased ; endowed with impulse-, which injure her 
continued progress." In the same -nam T'oife-sor Ciammell 
remarks : " The monument- of his wise and pious benefac- 
tions are all anamd us, — in the L'niver-ity with which his 
name is as-oeiated ; in the lUiller lbi-]iitnl for the In-ane, 
and the Providence .\lhen,ium, ti> wlio-e louuding he so 
largely contributed; and in the churches and colleges and 
institutions of ])hiIanthro)iy over the whole land to which 
he so (d'tcn lent hi- liberal and ino-t timely aid. So long as 
learning and religion sh.ill have a ]ilace in the affections 
of men, these enduring memorials will proclaim his char- 
acter and sjieak his eulogy. /// ioiutisiimi tt'shs. hi max- 
imi /aiii/tUorrs." It was Mr. Hrou n's bec|uest of thirty 
thousand dollars for the foumling of a " Retreat or Asylum 
for the Insane," that led to the establi-hment of the lintler 
Hospital for the Insane in Trovidence. His gifts to the 
First Baptist Church, in whose place of worship he was a 
devout attendant, were freipient and generous. What, at 
the time, was considered one of the fine-t organs in the 
countrv, was piresented t'"> the society l>y Mr. llrow n. He 
was a decided, outs]ioken B.ipti-t, and (me of the mo-t 
liberal su[>porter- of the in-titutions of his denrimination, 
not only in his native .State, but in ilifferent ]iarts of the 
country. He was t.ne of the liberal -uppioiters of the 
American Tract Society from the commencement of its 
exi-tence, and contributed liberally towarils the stereotyping 
of several of its most impmrtant volumes. Thus in his native 
city and l^tate, and throughout hi- ow n country and other 
counlrie- he m.ide his influence fell. In the w inter of 1S41 
his health began to ilecline. Through a somewhat pro- 
tractetl illness he e.xhibited the -piirit of a true t^hri-tian, and 
at length passed away to his reward. Hi- death occurred 
-September 27, 1.S4I. in the -e\ entytliinl \earof his age. 
Mr. Brown vva- twice married. His fir-t wife was Anne, 
daughter of John and Anty (Cr.iwf»)rd| (.'arter, whom he 
married Novendier 3, 1791. .She died June 16, 1708. They 
had three sons and a daughter, Nicholas, Moses — who died 
in infancy — John Carter, and .-Vnue Carter — who was the 
wife of Governor John Brown Francis. Mr. Brow n's second 
wife was Marv Bowen, tlaughtcr of P.enjamin and Iluhlah 
(Crawford) Slelle, whom he married, July 22, iSoi. She 
dicfl, without i--ue. Itecemlier 12, tSjb. 



profound respect, combined with the warmest affection. 
He engaged in mercantile pur-uit-, ha\ing tastes in th.it 
direction which he inherited from his father. His plans of 
business were prompted by sagacity and an intelligent con- 
ccj^tion of the w-anls of the community, which he aimed 
to supply. With diligence ami ui"iwearied devotion to his 
calling, he added largely to the patrimony w liich he had 
received from his father. The iloniestic relations of Mr. 
Brown were of the happiest character. His first wile, 
whom he married May 2, 1762, was Khoda Jenckes, the 
tilth ilaughter of Judge Daniel Jencke-. They had ten chil- 
dren, two only of whom survived their parents, — Hon. Nich- 
olas Brown, and Mrs. Hope Ives, the wife of Thomas Poyn- 
lon Ives, Esq. Mrs. Brown died Ueceniber 16, 17S3. The 
second wife of Mr. Brown was Avis, daughter of Captain 
Barnabas Binne\', of Boston, a ladv of superior accom- 
pilishments. Mr. Brown died sinldenlv. May 29, 1791. 
He rotle out on the morning of the Sabbath on which he 
dietl, and was arranging to go to tlie chinch where he wor- 
shipped, when he was stricken down by the disease from 
wdiich he hati been suffering, and in a few hours breathed 
his last. At his funeral Rev. Dr. Stillman, of Boston, 
preached the sermon, and thus sketched the character of 
his deceased frieml : "He was the aflectionate husband, 
the tender father, the compassionate master, the flulilul 
son, the loving brother, and the steady, faithful friend. 
He took much ]"tains, by reading and by conversation, to 
inform his mind, and had ac(|Uired much general knowl- 
edge. But religion was his favorite subject. To Chris- 
tianity in general, as founded on a fulness of evidence, 
and to its peculiar doctrines, he was firmly attached. . . . 
He was a Baptist from princip)le, and a lover of good men 
of all denominations. Blessed with opulence, he was ready 
to distribute to public and jtrivate uses. In his death the 
College in this place, this church and society, the town of 
I'lovidence, and the general interests of religion, learning, 
and liberalitv have lost a friend indeed." 



,"RI)WN, Nkhoi.As, Merchant, the oldest of the 

" Four Brothers." and second son of James and 

_p Hope (Power) Brown, was liorn in I'rovidcnce, 

(■-\ July 2S, 1729. He lo-t hi- father when he was 

^v but ten years of age, and came under the care of a 

fond mother, tor w horn he never ceased to cherish the most 



Ri A\'\, ]i>sEru, Merchant, thirtl son of lames and 
) Hope (Power) Brown, and second of the " Four 
Brt)thers," was born in Pro\idence, December 3, 
[''-■-^ 17.VV He early became interested in mercantile 
* -> and manulactuiing jairsuits, and ac(|uiied a com- 
l>etency. and thus was able to gratify other marked tastes 
besides thti-e which led him to pur-ue the vocation of 
a merchant. He wa- fond of the natural sciences, and 
experimented, e-p'ecially in electricity It is said that 
at his death he left an electrical a|>paratus of his own 
construction, e<]ual, if not superior, to any then existing 
in the country. He was also an adepit in the mechanic 
ails. So re-pectal)Ie were his attainments in scientific 
knowleilge, that in 1770, Rhode Island Ccdlege conferred 
upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 
1 7.S4 called him to the chair of Natural Philostiphy, in 



BIOG KA PHICA L C ) XL OPE D/A . 



wliich liepnrtment he n;a\'e instruction for several years 
without drawing any salary. He was warmly interested 
in the prosperity of the College, contributing to its funds, 
and acting as a trustee from 1769 to the close of his life. 
In the erection of the noble edifice of the First Baptist 
Church in Providence, of which he was the principal ar- 
chitect, he took the deepest interest, and left everywhere 
upon it the marks of his own good taste and architectural 
skill. As an evidence of the reputation which he had 
acquired, we find that the General Assembly, in which he 
was a Representative, appointed him and Hon. Ezek. Hop- 
kins a committee to visit different sections of the State 
and fix upon the localities upon which forts should be 
erected. In his domestic relations Mr. Brown was hap[iy. 
His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Power, Esq. 
He built, in 1774, what was at the time one of the most 
elegant mansions in Providence, the building 70 South 
Main Street, now occupied by the Providence Bank. 
Mary Brown, the oldest of his children, was married in 
1799 to the Rev. Dr. Gano, p.astor of the First Baptist 
Church in Providence. The last living representative of 
the family of Mr. Brown was the late Mrs. Eliza B. Rogers, 
wife of Joseph Rogers, Esq. His son Obadiah Brown 
never married. He died February 14, 1S15. Eliza Brown, 
the third child, became the wife of Richard Ward, a mer- 
chant of New York. She died, leaving no children, in 
1845. The youngest child, Joseph, died at the age of six- 
teen, in 1 77 1. By the decease of Mrs. E. B. Rogers, this 
branch of the family ceased to exist. Mr. Brown's name 
is associated with the transit of Venus, which he observed 
June 3, 1769, the observations having been taken on the 
hill where, subsequently, what is now known as Transit 
Street was laid out. Professor Benjamin West, at the 
time Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Rhode 
Island College, had responded to the desire expressed by 
Mr. Brown to aid him in any way in his power, by asking 
him to get certain instruments needed to obtain the best 
possible view of the expected transit. Costly appara- 
tus, designed to facilitate the observation, was imported 
from London at Mr. Brown's expense, and was used with 
great skill and success at the required time. Professor 
West says : " Mr. Brown's expense in this laudable under- 
taking was little less than .,£'100 sterling, besides near a 
month's time of himself and servants in making the neces- 
sary previous experiments and preparations." Mr. Brown 
died December 3, 17S5. 



|jK^ROWN, John, Merchant, fourth son of James and 
^H^ Hope (Power) Brown, and the third of the " Four 
^^?; Brothers," was born in Providence, January 27, 
53? 173^- He was a fitting representative of the com- 
111 mercial activity and enterprise which have added so 
much to the prosperity of the town in which the eminent 
merchants who bore his name were bom. Tins " brother " 



holds a pre-emiiirnt pl.ice in his family for mercantile 
sagacity and the ability to lay out and mature large plans, 
the execution of which was followed by the most gratifving 
success. He is said to have been the first merchant in 
Rhode Islanil who embarked in the China and East India 
trade. Like his brothers, he was interested in all good and 
charitable enterprises. He was also a firm patriot. At the 
breaking out of the Revolutionary War he was in the 
prime of life. That his professions of attachment to his 
country were more than mere words, appears from the fol- 
lowing facts: "Finding the aniiy destitute, in 1775, of 
every munition of war, particularly of powder, Mr. Brown 
directed the captains of his vessels, on their return voyage, 
to freight with that article; and when the army at Boston 
had not four rounds to a man, most fortunately one of Mr. 
Brown's vessels brought in a ton and a half of powder, 
and it was immediately forwarded, under the charge of one 
of his apprentices — Mr. Elkanah Watson — to Cambridge, 
attended by six or eight recruits to guard it." It appears 
from the colonial records of Hon. J, R. Bartlelt that, 
including a period of four years (1776-79), the name of 
John Brown appears in connection with important commit- 
tees and various public services no less than twenty-six 
times. Subsequently he threw the full weight of his in- 
fluence, and against a strong opposing force, in inducing 
his fellow-citizens to adopt the Constitution of the United 
States. In 1784 he represented Rhode Island in Congress, 
and was appomted one of the commissioners for the erection 
of the Federal buildings. He was re-elected in 17S5, and 
in 1799 was again chosen a member of Congress. His 
death took place September 20, 1803. Some interesting 
facts have been preserved in the life and experience of Mr. 
Brown, to which we may briefly allude. He was eminently 
a " man of affairs," antl ready whenever there was a call 
for it to lay his own hand to any work that was to be done. 
Dissatisfied with the condition in which Main Street, then 
the leading street of the town, had too long been suffered 
to be, he caused it to be paved, and, although a wealthy 
merchant, his ships plying between Proviilence and almost 
all quarters of the civilized world, he might be seen superin- 
tending the work himself, watching its progress from day 
to day and carefully noting what was done and what 
needed to be done. To build what wa.s for the time his 
stalely mansion, on Main Street, he imported his brick and 
freestone from England, in 17S6. In that house, it is said, 
was given on a certain occasion the greatest private dinner 
th.at had ever been given in Rhode Island. The festivity 
was in honor of General Nathanael Greene. Mr. Brown was 
Treasurer of Rhode Island College from 1775 to 1796, and 
his commencement dinners, at which so many distinguished 
gentlemen, friends of the College and others, were enter- 
tained, long lived in the memories of those who were his 
guests. The part he took in what is known as the " Gas]")ee 
affair," is familiar to all who are acquainted with Rhode 
Island history. .\ brief account of the affair may properly 



52 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



be inlrutliiCL-il in a sketch "f lliu life u{ one « lio look so 
prominent a ]iart in tlial luilliant e\|>]oit. For tins account 
we are imleliteil to I)|-. R. A. Ouil.l, who com])ileil the 
facts from varicjus writers. In Marcli. 1772, tlie I iaspee, a 
Britisli arnieil schooner, lirst a|i|ieared in tlie waters of 
Narragansett I'.ay. basing been disiiatclieil thilher liy the 
Commissioners .if Customs at lioston to prevent infractions 
of tlie revenue laws. Her ap|)earance ilisi|uictetl the 
pcojile, and her interference witli tlie free navigation of the 
bay irritateil them. Thereupon a spirited correspondence 
ensued between 1 leputy Governor Sessions and (iovernor 
Wanton on the one part, and Lieutenant Duddingston and 
Admiral Mont.igue on the other. ( )n the <)th of June, 
1792, Captain I.indscy left Newport for Providence in his 
packet, the Hannah. The Caspee, as usual, gave chase, 
but ran aground on Xanniuit. since called Caspee Point, 
below PawtHNct. and tlie Hannah escaped. Arriving at 
I'rovidence ai'out sunset, Captain I.indsey at once communi- 
cated the fact of the groumliiig of the Caspce to Mr. 
liroH n, who thought tins a good oppoiluiiity to put an end 
to the vexations caused l\v her |>rcsence. He ininiediately 
ordered the preparation of eight of tlie largest long-boats 
in the harbor, to be ]ilaced under the general command of 
Captain Abraham \Vhip]4e, alleiwards (.'ominodoie, wh.i 
was one of his most trusty shi|iiiiasteis. Information of 
the enemy's situation was |iroclainied by beat ol drum, a 
man nameil Ftaniel Pearce passing along Main Street and 
inviting such of the inhabitants as were willing to engage 
in a perilous eiiterpri-e hir the destruction of the Gaspee, 
to meet at the house of bunes Sabine, known in later times 
as the Governor .\rnold house, northeast corner of South 
Main and I'lanet streets. The boats left Providence 
between ten and eleven o'clock, tilled with siMy-four well- 
armed men, and between one and two in the morniiig they 
reached the Gaspee. Two shots were exchanged, one of 
w Inch wouniled Lieutenant Duddingston in the groin. This 
was the tirst British blood shed in the War of Independence. 
The schooner was now bo. iided w itlioiU much opjn.sition, 
and the crew and olficers were compelleil to lea\e w ithout 
their effects, when she was set on lire and blow 11 uii. Mr. 
Prow n was the last man to leave the deck, being determined 
that no one should carry fnuu the vessel auUhiiig which 
might lead to the identification and detection of the parties. 
By so doing he narrowly escaped with his life, in con- 
serpience of the falling timbers and spars. A reward of 
one thousand pounds was offered for the arrest and con- 
viction of the two leaders of the affair, but they were not to 
be found, although it was well known in Pro\idence who 
they were. It was a lirave exploit, ]>erforined under the im- 
pulse of excited feeling. On subsequent reflection Mr.P>rown 
regretted the part he took in the affair, altllough he never 
regretted the result. Mr. Brown died Lebruary 27, 182S. 
His wife was .Sarah, daughter of iJaniel Smith, of Provi- 
dence. They had si.x children: James, died December 12, 
iSj4; Benjamin, died Jaly 7, 1774; Abigail, died in 



infancy; Aljby, wife of John Francis, married January I, 
1788; Sarah, wife of Charles F. Herreshoff, and Alice, 
wife of James Brown Mason. The jiart which Mr. Brown 
took in the building of the meeting-house of the F'irst 
Ba].ti-t (."hurch makes it proper to allude to the circum- 
stances wliicli led to the erection of this venerable and 
time-honored place of worship. The meeting-house in 
w Inch the church had been worshipping for many years was 
very small — thirty-hve by forty feet in dimensions. It was 
built in 1726, and stood on the corner of North Main and 
Smith streets. From the description we have of it, it must 
have been a structure of which the religious congregation 
accustomed to freipient it could not have been very proud. 
We are told that " at high tide the water flowed nearly up 
to the west end of the building. There were no j^ews. 
F'riiin the front door, ojiening on Main Street, an aisle e.\- 
tcmled to the pulpit, which was raised three or four steps 
from the floor. ( in each side of the aisle benches extended 
north and south to the walls of the house, and there were 
benches in the gallery, which was entered by narrow stairs 
from a door on the south side of the house. The church 
did not approve of singing, and never practiced it in public 
wcuship. The house could not contain a large congrega- 
tion, nor did the number present seem to require a larger 
house, as they were not crowded, though many of them 
rode in from the neighboring towns on horseback, with 
women behind thein riding on pillions." The popular 
preaching of Presnlent Manning so crowded the small 
house that it could no longer contain the people who came 
to listen to the eloipient preacher. It was therefore decided 
to erect a new church. Among the resolutions ]iassed at a 
meeting of the society, held .April 25, 1774, was the fol- 
lowing: "That Mr. John Brow 11 be the commitlee-inan 
for carrying on the building of the new meeting-house for 
said society." The choice of Mr. Brown to till this 
im]iortant position is the best jjroof of the high regard in 
which he was held in the society. In accordance with the 
ciisioiiis of the times, recourse was had to a lottery to raise 
a portion of the necessary funds. The sum thus to be 
secured was two thousand pounds law Jul nionc)', or not far 
from seven thousand dollars. <Jn Monday, August 29, 
1 774, the new meeting house w as '* raised " in the presence 
of a large crowd. The d.^y seems to have been of a gen- 
eral suspension of business throughout the town. The 
house was opened for public worship Sunday, May 28, I775i 
on w hich occasion President Manning preached a dedica- 
tion discourse from Gen. X-xviii : 17: "And he was 
afraid, and said. How dreadful is this jilace I This is none 
other but the house of God. and this is the gate of heaven." 

I The raising of the steeple, which occupied nearly four 
days, was cnnpleted June 0. The house is modelled after 
the church known as St. Martin's-in-the-F'ields, in London, 

I in the neighborhood of Charing Cross and Trafalgar 
Square, a view of w Inch may be seen in Knight's IHuslnitcd 
London, vol. v, p. 195. The total height of the steeple 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED J A. 



53 



is one humired and ninety-six feet. Tlie house is eighty 
feet square. Upon the bell that was placed in the tower 
was this inscription : 

For freedom of conscience the town was first planted ; 

Persuasion, not force, was used by the people ; 
The church was the eldest, and has not recanted. 

Enjoying, and granting, bell, temple and steeple. 

The whole cost of the edifice with the lot, was some- 
what over tiventy-five thousand dollars, a very large sum 
for the times in which it was erected. 



'^^ROWN, Moses, a distinguished member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, the youngest son of James and 
Hope (Power) Brown, was born in Providence 
-- September 23, 1738. He was the youngest of the 
J"L " Four Brothers " whose names occupy so promi- 
nent a position in the earlier annals of Providence. He 
left school when he was but thirteen years of age. His 
father died when he was a mere lad, and he was placed in 
the family of his paternal uncle, Obadlah Brown, who 
supplied, so far as it was possible, the love and tender care 
of a father. He married Anna Brown, the daughter of 
his uncle, in 1764, and a portion of the large estate 
of his wife's father, came, by will, into his possession. In 
1764 he formed a partnership with his three brothers for 
the transaction of commercial business. He remained in 
the firm but ten years, and then, in consequence of feeble 
health, and because the excitements and cares of business 
were not congenial to his tastes, he retired to the seclusion 
of his pleasant home, in what was then the suburbs of the 
town of Providence. He di<l not entirely withdraw from 
the discharge of his duties as a citizen. He represented 
his native town in the General Assembly of the colony 
from May, 1764, to October, 1771, where he was an influ- 
ential member of the House. " Though decided in his 
views on political questions, he abstained habitually and 
conscientiously from partisan strife ; l^ut he never ne- 
glected to exercise the right of suffrage when any grave 
public interest or any commanding principle of right 
seemed to be involved in the issue." He was deeply inter- 
ested in the foundation of Rhode Island College, and in 
1764, heartily co-operated with the gentlemen who led off 
in the enterprise. Governor Hopkins and Moses Brown 
were largely instrumental in the final establishment of the 
University at Providence, rather than at Newport, Kent, or 
Warren ; and Moses Brown and his brother John gave to 
the University the land on which University Hall stands, 
it being the home lot of their ancestor, Chad Brown, the 
first Baptist elder in Rhode Island. With a far-seeing sa- 
gacity he anticipated the results which might be expected 
to follow from the introduction of domestic manufactures 
into the colony, and he encouraged Mr. Samuel Slater, the 
" Father of Manufactures," in his attempts to advance the 



cause which interested his energies and taxed his best 
powers to bring to the point of success which it subse- 
quently attained. Like so many of his relatives and per- 
sonal friends, Mr. Brown was originally a Baptist and 
worshipped in the meeting-house of the First Baptist 
Church in Providence. Following his own convictions, 
and what he recognized as the teachings of the Divine 
Sijirit, he became, at the age of thirty-five, a member of 
the Society of Friends. From the outset of his connec- 
tion with the Society till his death, he was thoroughly de- 
voted to the concerns of the religious body to which he be- 
came so warmly attached. His interest in the cause of 
education led him to feel how important it was to the well- 
being of the rising generation in his own denomination, 
that there should be some institution of a high character 
to which they could repair and receive that mental culture 
which would better fit them to act well their parts on the 
stage of life. Prompted by this feeling he was one of the 
founders and most generous patrons of the " Yearly Meet- 
ing Boarding School," established in Providence in the 
year 17S0. For about fifty-three successive years he was 
the treasurer of this institution, and held the oflice almost 
to the close of his long life. As an evidence of the deep 
regard he had for the school, he presented to its trustees in 
1817 the land, measuring forty-three acres, on which its 
buildings have been erected. He also gave it a house and 
lot and the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. Moses Brown 
was a strong anti-slavery man, making the matter one of 
practical interest, and proving the sincerity of his avowed 
convictions by freeing all his slaves in 1773. In many 
ways he evinced the regard which he had for the down- 
trodden, oppressed colored people, and sought by a variety 
of means to alleviate their condition. In like manner he 
was opposed to all wars, and advocated the formation of 
Peace Societies. For some of the natural sciences he had 
a special fondness, particularly for chemistry and natural 
philosophy. He made himself acquainted also with mat- 
ters connected with hygiene and the practice of the heal- 
ing art, and cheerfully gave the results of his studies in 
this direction to those wdio, he thought, might be bene- 
fited by them. Mr. Brown reached a remarkable old age, 
having survived all the contemporaries of his early life. He 
was almost ninety-eight when he died. There was noth- 
ing peculiar in the care which he took of himself wdiich 
led to such longevity. He was temperate in his habits of 
eating and drinking, although accustomed to take four 
meals a day. He preserved an even temper and a uniform 
trust in the beneficent orderings of Divine Providence. 
He took the charge of the affairs of his large estate, and 
was ready to coimsel his friends who sought his advice in 
the management of their worldly concerns. He died Sep- 
tember 6, 1836. Of him it could with great emphasis and 
truth be said that he came to his grave " like a shock of 
corn fully ripe." Few citizens of Rhode Island deserve to 
hold a warmer place in memory than Moses Brown. He 



54 



BIOGKAl'IIICAL CYCL OPED I A. 



wa-. manied tine- timc^. Ili^ lirst wife wa-. Anna Brown. 
Hy this marria;j;e llieic were three cliil'Iren, a son and two 
claii-lUer-. He ..iillixed all his family. I lis i.nly grand- 
child was Mrs. .\nni .\hiiv Jenkin-, whose sa<l death, at 
the hinninj; of her hoiHC on IJenelit Street, was a shock to 
the whole connnunity. 



Sandford, Peleg, and Cook .\lniy. 3. Elizabetli, who 
married Thomas Noycs, of Stonington, Connecticut. Gov- 
ernor Sandford died not far from the year 1700. 



S?tV?AXUFORr). CovKRNoi; rii.Ki;. son of John Sand- 
^^j ford, was Iicini in ISoston, in I()j2, and removed 
'\ "\ to Rhode Island when his f.ither took uji his resi- 
dence there, in cun,eiiuence c.f his sympathy with 
the views of .\nn Mutchinsdn and her ailherents. Of 
his early history we know hut little. lie shared with his 
family in the hardships and self-denials incident to the lot 
of the new settlers of a country. In one of the numerous 
boundary questions which mark the earlier years of the his- 
tory of Rhode Island, he was ajuiointed liy the General As- 
sembly as an ai^ent of the colony, in connection with Rich- 
ard liailey, to proceed to Kngland, to endeavor to adjust the 
difficulties which had arisen, and two hundred and fifty 
pounds were voted for their outlit. Matters were so ar- 1 
rani;cd, subsequently, that the colony agents did not cross 
the ocean. In 1677 he was appointed one of eight com- 
missioners to settle disputes between Providence and Paw- 
tuxct relating to titles to lands in the latter place. In 167S 
he was chosen one of five liankrupt Commissioners, who 
was sworn to make a just distribution of insolvent estates 
among the creditors. Under the Royal Charter he was 
General Treasurer from 167S to 16S1. On the decease of 
Governor John Cranston, " Major " Sandford was elected 
his successor by tile General .\ssembly, and his election 
conhrnied by the people March \(i, l6So, and was in office 
until May, l6Sj. In the month of Cjctoljcr, a crew of pri- 
vateers having been taken and im|)risoned in Neivport, a 
])ortion of them broke jail and laii-l a p'lot to assassinate 
Governor Sandford. The |ilot was disclosed by one of 
their number in time to avert the po il which threatened j 
his ileath. .At the election in the S])ring of 16S3, Gov- j 
ernor Sandford declined to be a caiulidate, and William 
Coddington, Jr., was chosen in his place. In Seiileniber 
of this year he was again chosen, w ilh Arthur Fenner, as 
colonial agent, to proceed to Englaml on business affect- 
ing parlies li\ing in Narragansett. In H»*>) he was ap- 
pointed by roval commission a Judge of .Admiralty. As 
such, he had to sit in juilgment on more than one case of 
jiiracv. especially that of the famous C'aptain Kidd. From 
this brief recital it is evident that Governor Sandford w.as 
'• a man of affairs" in Rhode Islaml and one of her most 
useful citizens. His wife, whom he inariied in 16(^5, was 
the daughter of (_Io\einor William IJeiiton, by whom he 
had three daughters. i. .Ann, who married a Mason and 
hail a son, Peleg Sandford Mason. 2. Bridget, wdio mar- 
ried Job .Almy, of Tiverton. They had three children. 



'.\\T,.AXI), Fk.\Ncis, D.D., IX.D., eldest son of 
~\ Francis and Sarah (Moore) Wayland, and fourth 
'^^ President of Brown University, was born in the 
-tH'^St" city of New A'ork, March II, 1796. llis ]iarents 
' J) :i were of English liirth and came to this country in 
1792. The occupation of his father was that of a currier. 
Soon after his arrival in New York he became a member 
of a Iia)ilist church worshipping in Fayette Street. 1)1 
this church he was appointed a deacon, and received from 
it a license to preach, which was granted June 10, 1S05. 
Subsequently he became a pastor in two or three places, 
his last settlement being at Saratoga Springs, where he died 
April 0, 1S41). The subject of this sketch received his 
academic training in the Dutchess County Academy, Pough- 
keepMe, under the charge of Daniel H. Barnes, « ho was a 
thorough teacher, and subsequently reached ilistinction as a 
scientific scholar. He entered Union College, .Scheiiec 
tady, in May, 181 1, being admitted to the third term of the 
Sophomore year, and was graduated July 28, 1813. Soon 
after leaving college he commenced the study of medicine 
in Troy, New A'ork, spending the winter of 1S14-15 at- 
tending medical lectures in New York. In due time 
he received a license to practice his profession. But all his 
plans for life were changed when he became a Christian, 
an event which occurred in 1S16. At once he decided to 
study for the ministry, and went to Andover, Massachu- 
setts, and entered the Theological Seminary in that place. 
Here he remained until the close of the Seminary year in 
the summer of 1817. He then accepted an appointment as 
tutor in Union College. The range of studies over which, 
in his in^tructiijns, he passed unuld be deemed, in our day, 
more extensive than usually falls to the lot of one man. 
There were vacancies in the faculty, and it became his 
business to teach every class, and in nearly every depart- 
ment. " Xenophon, Homer, and I, onginus, Tacitus, Cicero, 
and Horace, geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and the va- 
rious branches of mathematics, rhetoric and chemistry." 
" These," he remarks, " I well remember." He spent four 
years in Union College, a period, he says, " of great ser- 
vice to me intellectually." (In the Sth of January, 1S21, 
a letter was sent to him from Boston, requesting him to 
supply the |>ulpit of the First Baptist Church, made vacant 
by the death of their pastor. Rev. J. M. Wmchell. This 
invit.ition was respiuided to, by the promise to visit Boston 
in the spring, and at the time agreed upon he went to New 
England, taking with him his little stock of prepared ser- 
. mons, eight in number. He preached four Sabbaths, and 
then was called to the pastorate of the church. He ac- 




^ -ry^y Lc^^ 



n^' 



BIO GRA rniCA L CYCL OPED/A . 



55 



cepted the call, and was ordained August 21, 1S21, and 
commenced his ministerial labors by preaching two ser- 
mons from the text : " It is required in stewards that a 
man be found faithful," a passage of Scripture which 
might properly be selected as a description of his own 
character, as it developed itself in all his subsecpient ca- 
reer, — a steward of God, and a faithful steward. Mr. Way- 
land found himself occupying a difficult position as pastor 
of the First Baptist Church in Boston. He had to con- 
tend with much that must have been peculiarly trying to a 
young man of extreme sensitiveness as he was. There 
was no general widespread sympathy with what were 
known as '* evangelical sentiments." The popular minis- 
ters of the city were in the Unitarian and Episcopal pul- 
pits, and the wealth and culture of the city of the Puritans ] 
were but feebly represented in Baptist congregations. " Only 
a few plain people," says his biographer, " found their way 
down to hear the awkward young stranger just settled at the 
North End. No crowd thronged the long plank-walk that 
led from the street back to the old and unattractive wooden 
meeting-house, nor did any benches obstruct the aisles, as 
Mr. Winslow, the sexton, with the dgnity of a beadle, 
gravely preceded the minister and ushered him into the 
desk. Nor was the new minister a man calculated spe- 
cially to draw a crowded house, and impart popularity to a 
waning interest. His manner in the puli>it was unattrac- 
tive; he was tall, lean, angular, ungraceful, spoke with 
but little action, rarely withdrawing his hands from his 
pockets save to turn a leaf, his eye seldom meeting the 
sympathetic eye of the auditor. To those who conversed 
with him, he appeared abstracted and embarrassed. The 
work of composition was laborious, and, with his habits of 
study, consumed so much time as to leave him little 
leisure to win, by personal intercourse, the aflections of 
the people." Moreover, there was a minority, strong, 
at least, in numbers, opposed to him. With a rare knowl- 
edge of human nature, and in the exercise of the kind- 
est spirit, he met and at length triumphed over all this oppo- 
sition. Writing to Reverend, afterwards Bishop, ,^lonzo 
Potter, a few months after his settlement, he says : " The 
people are becoming united, if I am not much misin- 
formed. The attention on Sabbath is uniformly good; and 
I believe that they are not very much elated with the idea 
of anybody else going into the pulpit. I ought to be 
thankful to God ; I hope I am." There was one sermon 
which he preached a little more than two years after his 
settlement in Boston which at once arrested attention as a 
remarkable pulpit production, and made its author famous, 
both at home and abroad. The circumstances under 
which this sermon was preached are worthy of mention. 
A notice appeared in the daily papers, October 25, 1S23, 
that Rev. F. Wayland, Jr., would preach the annual sermon 
before the Boston Bapti.st Foreign Mission Society, the fol- 
lowing Sabbath evening. The evening proved to be a disa- 
greeable one, and but a small audience was in attendance. 



After the preliminary services the preacher announcefl his 
text, " The field is the world;" the subject, "The Moral 
Dignity of the Missionary Enterprise." We are told that 
the house was uncomfortable (the preacher wearing his 
great coat throughout the service), and there was but little 
enthusiasm on the occasion. On Monday morning Mr. 
Wayland went to Rev. Mr. Wisner's, the pastor of the 
Old South Church, and threw himself on the sofa, in one 
of his most depressed moods, saying: " It was a complete 
failure. It fell perfectly dead." The sermon was pub- 
lished, and the high rank which it holds among the dis- 
courses of the American pulpit no one will question. The 
publication of other discourses soon followed, and only 
added to the well-deserved reputation of their author. 
His connection with this church in Boston continued a 
little more than five years. He preached his farewell ser- 
mon, September 17, 1826, and went to Schenectady to enter 
upon his duties as a professor in Union College, where he 
remained until February, 1827, when he removed to Provi- 
dence, having been elected in September, 1S26, President 
of Brown University, to take the place made vacant by 
the resignation of President Messer. The outlook was 
anything but hopeful. The college was not supposed to 
be in a flourishing condition, and it was believed by the 
corporation that there needed to be infused into it the 
sort of new life, which it was confidently hoped a com- 
paratively young man of vigorous intellect and experience 
would bring to it. What President Wayland accomplished 
for Brown University during his long administration, is 
matter of history. He was thirty-one years of age when 
he commenced the great task which had been laid upon 
him, as he believed, by a higher than human power. He 
had exalted conceptions of what a college should be, and 
he determined to spare no pains to reach his ideal. He 
raised the standard of study and discipline. He brought 
himself in direct contact with every student, and made 
him feel the impress of his own character, in moulding 
and shaping his habits of thought and modes of action. 
What, externally was done, in great part through his 
agency and personal influence, while he was in the presi- 
dential chair, is thus summed up. Manning Hall was 
erected. The library fund of $25,000 was created, and 
the library placed on a new basis; Rhode Island Hall and 
the new president's house were built, the college grounds 
were enlarged and improved, and the college funds greatly 
increased. What was brought to pass in the interior life 
and workings of the University it is not so easy to de- 
scribe. In the class-room he was the prince of instruc- 
tors, and dull indeed must have been the intellect, and de- 
void of sensibility the heart, which did not feel the in- 
fluence of his great mind, and perhaps, his still greater 
heart. The testimony of some of the graduates of some 
of his earlier classes, as to the new quickening that was 
given to every department in the college, when he as- 
sumed the reins of government, is of the most decided 



^6 



BIOGRArinCAL CYCL OrEDIA. 



anrl apprecintive character. ( >n all his stiulents he left 
his mark, aii'i, as one after another of them was called to fill 
stations of honor or trust, they looked back with devout 
gratiliule to Him who, in the ordering of llis wise Provi- 
dence, had lirought them to sit, for a season, at the feet of 
so accomplished a teacher. The honors which were con- 
ferred npon President Waylaml during the twenty-eight 
years of his connection with Pirown University were nu- 
merous and merited. He recei\ed the degree of D.D. 
from Union College in iSjS.and from Harvard College in 
I,S2i). In lS^2 Harvard College cruiferreil upon him the 
degree of LL.D. He was chosen the hrst President of 
the " .Vmerican Institute of Instructi^m," and for several 
years was re-elected to that oftice. retiring from it in 1S33, 
liy his own free choice. He was selected to deliver the 
adilress at the opening of the "Providence Athenaum," 
|iily II, 1S3S. He was appointed preacher of the " Dud- 
leian Lecture " at Harvard University, which was deliv- 
ered in ISIay, 1S31, and at the first anniversary of the 
Rhode Island Chapter of the Phi Ileta Kajipa Society, 
September 7, 1S31, he was ihe orator. He was frequently 
selected to preach or'lination, installation and missionary 
discourses. He delivered the Phi Heta Kappa oration at 
Harvard University, September I, 1S36. In the course of 
Koreign Missions he took a lifelong interest. He was 
elected President of the "Baptist Triennial Convention" 
,n 1S44, and in the deliberations of the " Baptist Mission- 
ary Union" his advice was sought and respected. He 
held connection with numerous other organizations which 
delighted to do him himor. The best years (jf his life 
were given to Brown University, and how much that insti- 
tution owes to him it is not possible to estimate. His 
term of service as president closed with the commence- 
ment of 1S55. With the exception of a brief period, dur- 
ing which iJr. Wayland acted as pastor of the First Bap- 
tist Church in Providence, the remaining years of his life 
were spent in the ipiiel of his own pleasant home on the 
corner of (Governor and Angell streets. Providence. He 
did not, however, lose his interest in ])uiilic affairs, nor 
gi\e up those literary pursuits which liail occupied his 
thoughts anil his pjen through life. When the civil wur 
broke out his voice was uttered for the cause of his coun- 
try, and he followed the fmlunes of the P'eileral army 
with the deepest interest, until the Rebellion was brought 
to a close by the surrender of General Pee. In the chari- 
table and benevolent institutions of his adojited home, he 
also took a constant interest. A\'e can but barely allude to 
his labors in criiiiicction with the Reform School and the 
.Stale Pri-011, line is aiua/ed to note how niuch he did 
with his jieu 111 .idditioii to all the other things he brought 
to p,is>. With the evceptioli of lUie or two \-ears, during 
the long period e\ten«ling fi'oiii iNj^ to I.S05, there is not 
a year in which one or more of his productions did not 
pas> tjiiough \\\\.- [iress. Wli.it his biographers allude t(j as 
an " impel feet" list c>f his \\'»)rks, relers to seventy-two of 



his published writings in the form of textbooks, sermons, dis- 
courses, review articles, etc. Among these the more jiromi- 
nent are his Moral Sru-nre', Political Eoo}ioi)n\ lutolhc- 
tital Philosophv^ ['uiversi/y Sor/rjotts, Monioir of Dr. 
yut/soii, 2 \ols., Liwi/afions lo Human Re$poii!.il>ility, 
A'oles on ///<■ Prinoiples and Prarticcs of the Baptist 
Churches, and Domestic Slavery considered as a Script}i- 
ral Institution, discussion with Rev. R. Fuller, I). I). A 
life of such prolonged, incessant, intellectual labor, must 
inevitalily draw to a close, wdth a sense of weariness 
and a con\'iction that the mental powers have been o\er- 
taxed. The last public service which he atlen<led was 
the meeting of the "Warren Association," held with the 
"Central Baptist Church," in Providence, September 13 
and 14, 1S65. The end came a few days after this. He 
died Saturday, September 30, 1S65. Had he lived until 
the lith of the March foUovidng, he would have been 
seventy years of age. Dr. Waylaml was twice married. 
His first wife was I.ucy L. Lincoln, of Boston. Two 
children by this marriage survive the death of their 
parents, Hon. Francis Wayland, of New Haven, and Rev. 
H. L. Wayland, D.l)., of Philadelphia. Mrs. Wayland 
died in Providence, .•\pril 3, 1S34. His second wife was 
Mrs. H. S. -Sage, of Boston, whom he married, August I, 
1S3S. I )ne son, Howard, was the fruit of this marriage. 
He died in Providence, .■\ngust 19, 1S74, his death being 
precede. 1 by that of his mother, who died October 22, 
I.S72. 



ILKlXSi iX, L.WVRKNCE, son of William and Mary 
tj'tlifijl'li (Conyers), was born in Lanchester, I)urliani 
iu^'JL^ Ciuiiity,Iingland, early in the seventeenth century. 
'■'J ( )f his early youth we have no know ledge. Not far 
ifU from 1(140 we lind that he was a lieutenant in the 
Roval .\rmv, endeavoring to maintain the authority of his 
King, Charles II, against Oliver Cromwell. h\ the fall of 
Xewcaslle he was taken prisoner, and his estates were 
sequestered. I laving obtained permission of Lord Fairfax, 
then in command of the Parliamentary army, he embarked 
for New England, accompanied by his w ife and child, and 
arrived in Providence, according to one authority, in 1645, 
and according to another in 1646, while another makes it as 
late as 1(152. Sfion after he reached Providence he recei\ed 
a gift of tw enty-live acres of land in the new tou 11. and com- 
menced the life of a hardy tiller of the soil. He must have 
realived the contrast betu een his situation in Rhode Island, 
anil that of an English gentleman with every convenience 
and luxury of life at his coirimand. Thrift and energy soon 
won for him a large estate, and the marked i|ualities of his 
character, in due time, brought him into prominent notice 
among his lellow-citizens. In 1659 he was chosen a mem- 
ber of the legislature which met at Portsmouth. Fre- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



57 



quently lie was called to fill offices of lioiior and trust. 
He heartily sympathized with his friend Roger Williams in 
his doctrine of "sold liberty." He is represented as hav- 
ing been a man of great firmness and decision of charac- 
ter. In the Indian wars, he was a fearless soldier, and 
when the savages threatened the destruction of Providence, 
although many fled from the town, he, with Roger Williams 
and Major Hopkins, would not desert their post. After a 
long and useful life, he died August 9, 1692. When the 
wife who accompanied him from England died, we have 
been unable to ascertain. His second wife was Susannah 
Smith, only daughter of Christopher Smith, whose name is 
perpetuated in the well-known locality in Providence called 
"Smith's Hill." Mr. Wilkinson was the father of six 
children, three sons, Samuel, John, and Jonas ; and three 
daughters, Susannah, who died young, Joanna, and Susan- 
nah, named for her deceased sister. (For an account of 
Samuel, see sketch.) The second son of Lawrence was 
John, born in Providence, March 2, 1654. He was noted 
for his great physical strength. I, ike his brother .Samuel, 
he took up land within a few miles of Providence settle- 
ment, although within the boundaries of the town. The 
locality is now known as " Martin's Wade." He took an 
active part in King Philip's War, where he was noted for his 
bravery and rashness. In a fight with the Indians, several 
years after the war, he was severely wounded, and the Gen- 
eral Assembly voted him ten pounds in token of their ap- 
preciation of his services. He received honors from his 
fellow-citizens, among which was the office of Deputy for 
Providence to the General Court for several years. He 
died suddenly April 10, 170S. He married April 16, 1689, 
Deborah Whipple, by whom he had three sons and three 
daughters. Most of the name in Cumberland and several 
in Smithfield descended from John. The third son of Law- 
rence was Jonas, born about the year 1660 and married 
Hannah Tyler, of Taunton, by whom he had one daughter. 
He died August 10, 1&92, one day after his father. Of the 
daughters of Lawrence, Susannah died young ; of Joanna, 
no record is left, and of the second Susannah, little is 
known except that she married a citizen of Rehoboth. 



ra|^i%ILKINSON, Samuel, elde.st son of Lawrence and 
Sj™|fe Susannah (Smith) Wilkinson, was born in Provi- 
«5*^S»" dence, not far from the year 1650. In 1672 he 
Xfi married a daughter of Rev. William Wickenden. 
el She bore the somewhat singular name of " Plain." 

Mr. Wickenden, the father of Mrs. Wilkinson, w,is associate 
pastor with Rev. Chad TJrown, of the First Baptist Church 
in Providence, and when Mr. Brown resigned his office, 
he was for several years sole pastor of tlie church. He 
died at a place called " Solitary Hill," near the south part 
of Olneyville, February 23, 1669. " Wickenden Street," 



on the east side of Providence, perpetuates his name. Im- 
mediately after his marriage, Samuel Wilkinson removed 
to what is now Smithfield, where he had taken up a farm. 
Here the hardy pioneer was performing the severe tasks of 
his daily life when King Philip's War broke out, and the 
Rhode Island colonists barely escaped annihilation. He 
sent his wife and child to the garrison-house in Providence 
for safety, while he performed his duty as a soldier. At 
the end of the war, which was brought to a close by the 
death of King Philip, he returned to his farm in Smithfield, 
where he lived the rest of his life. He died August 27, 
1726. Of his children, the oldest, a son, bore the name of 
his father, Samuel. He was born September iS, 1674. 
His father gave liini a farm in what is now .Smithfield, then 
within the limits of Providence. His wife was Huldah 
Alilrich, by whom he had fifteen children. Besides carry- 
ing on his farm, he was a tanner and currier, and shoema- 
ker. His life seems to have been a quiet, peaceful one, 
unmarked by any very stirring incidents. By religious pro- 
fession he was a member of the Society of Friends. He 
died January iS, 1726-7. The second son of .Samuel and 
Plain Wilkinson was John, who was born January 25, 
167S. He went to Pennsylvania, where he took up his 
residence and died in 1751. The third son, William, was 
born in Providence August i, 16S0. He was a birthright 
member of the Society of Friends, and became a preacher 
among them. When he came to man's estate, he went lo 
Barbadoes on business, and thence sailed for England, 
where he married a Yorkshire lady, whose maiden name 
we have not been able lo learn. He died in England, but 
exactly at wdiat date is not known. The fourth son, Jo- 
seph, was one of the first settlers of the to» n of Scituate. 
He was born January 22, 16S2, and married Martha Pray, 
a granddaughter of one of the olilest settlers of Scituate. 
He was a "man of affairs" in the town, representing it in 
the Legislature, acting as Town Treasurer, interesting him- 
self in military matters, etc. He became a very extensive 
landowner, nearly a thousand acres coming into his po.sses- 
sion during his lifetime. For the times in which he lived 
he was a rich man. His death occurred April 24, 1780. 
The oldest daughter of .Samuel and Plain Wilkinson was 
Ruth; she married William Hopkins, who was a mechanic 
or day-laborer on her father's farm. They had a large 
family, some of whom ranked among the most distinguished 
citizens of Rhode Island. Their oldest son was William, 
who became a sea captain. His life was full of adventure. 
Another son was Stephen, the signer of the Declaration of 
Independence (see sketch). Commodore or Admiral Esek 
Hopkins was also a son (sec sketch). The second daugh- 
ter of Samuel and Plain was Susannah, born April 27, 
16S8; she married James Angell, by whom she had three 
sons and two daughters. The descendants of Samuel Wil- 
kinson are among the most honored and respected inhabi- 
tants of the Stale, and have a record of which they may 
reasonably be proud. 



5S 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



Ili^B^Il.KINSOX, Ji RIM I A II, son of Jnlm ami I tcliorah 
wJLjt^i ( \Vlii|i|jUri Wilkiiist.ii, \\a^ born in Sniiilifielil, 
' *iXi-{ Klio.k- Island, Jinu- 4, 1707. Kaily w life lie 
E \\fnl lo Ciunln-ilan.l, \\lRre he tncik up lands. 
Aliiiul the year l7jS he married Eli/alielh Amey 
\\'hi|.|ile, liy whom he had a lari^e family of ehildren. He 
wa^a liiithneht nieniljer uf the S.>ciely of Frieirds. Among 
his ehildren, the eighth 111 the older of hirlh was the cele- 
brated leniima Wilkinson, who u a-, liorn in < iimberland, 
November 29, 175:!. She was brought under the inlluence 
of the ].reaelnng of George Whitefield when she was 
eii^'hteen years of age, and .1 most marked change in her 
life was the result. In 1775 she had a fever, and for a 
time was so greatly reduced in strength that her death was 
soon expected. Coming out of a sort of tiance slate, in 
which she liad been lying for nearly a half hour-, she 
claimed that she had rliL-il, ,ind her morlal body had lieen 
reanimated l)y "the spirit and )iower" of Jesus (.'hrist, 
while her own spirit was in lua\en. Uecoming iiiiwa 
public speaker, the fame iif her eloi|uence and singular 
power soon spread in every direction. She i)re.iched in 
Tiovidence and all the principal towns 111 the State, ]iro- 
claiming everywhere to large assemblages the mess.age 
w hich, she Ixdieved, it had been given loherto utter. Not 
merely the igiunant and the easily escited became her fol- 
lowers, but some of the most intelligent and thoughtful 
men and women <'f the Stale. .Vm^ng these was Judge 
William T'ltter, of South Ivmgstown, who according to 
I'pdike, " lor the more ornforlable accommodations of 
herself and her adherents, built a large addition to his al- 
ready spacious mansion. Her inlluence controlled his 
househidd servants and the income <if his great estates. 
She made his home her headi|uarlers f.r about six years." 
From an elaborate description of her personal appearance 
and style c'f address, we learn that " in her public addresses, 
she would rise uji, and stand perfectly still hjr a minute or 
more, and then proceed with a slow and ilisiinct enuncia- 
tion, .she sj.oke with great ease and increased tluency, 
her voice clear and harmonious, and manner persuasive 
and em|ihatic. When she rode on horseback her appear- 
ance was imposing. In her religious peregrinations Judge 
I'otter usually rode beside Jemima, and then her followers, 
two bv two, on horseback, ^instituted a sulemn and iin- 
pressi\e procession." .Siibse'[ueiuly she settled in Vates 
(."ounty, N. \'., six miles from Penn \'an, where she built 
up a place w hich she calleil Jerusalem. She took the name 
of " I iiiversal Friend." Her fame reached all over the 
country and across the ocean. It is said that visitors of 
rank and distinction f|-oni the Snulh, from France and Eng- 
l.md. Ire.|uently enjoyed her hospitality. She died July I, 
I.Sni. It was n<it many years before whatever ol religious 
organi/ation Jemima Wilkinson had built uj) fell into decay, 
and she is rcmemliered in our day only as a religious mon- 
omaniac, who had w.uiclerlul success in iluping large 
numbers of jieople by her fascinating gifts and the elo- 



quence of her speech. Jeremiah, the brother of Jemima, 
born julv 0, 1741, was another noted jierson in the family. 
He was a natural born mechanic. When rpiite young he 
engaged in making hand cards for carding wool, ami for 
currying horses and cattle. He was the first person in 
America that " drew " w ire. His greatest invention, w hich 
gave him a world-w ide reinitation, w as that of cutting nails 
from cold iron. The first machines for doing this were, 
as might be supposed, of a very rude character, but they 
have been improved until they have reached a high state of 
perfection, and the business of cutting nails and tacks is 
one of the most extensive and lucrative in the country. 
Mr. Wilkinson died January 29, 1.S31. His father, whose 
name ap|iears at the head of this sketch, died not far from 
'777- 




lI.KINSi IX, ( 1/11:1,, son of John and Ruth [\\\- 
gell) Wilkinson, was born January 30, 1744, in 
fjM Smithfield. His early educational advantages 
Jip'is' were quite linrited, so far as schools were con- 
cl cerned. When he was twenty-two years of age 

he married I.ydia Smith, of Smithfield. Ry trade he was a 
blacksmith, and possessed the inventive genius which 
characterized so many of his relations. Soon after the 
close of the Revolutionary War he nio\ed to the " h'alls f.f 
I'aw tucket," to avail himself of the adniiralile water-power 
which was of such assistance to him in his business. Here 
great prosperity attended him. He became a leading man 
in the tow n, and stood foremost among the manufacturers of 
the country. S.nnuel Slater married into his family. His 
own sons and sons in law w ere ilistinguished for their en- 
terprise, and the great enei'gy wOiich they brought to the 
development of that especial department of business in 
which they engaged, — the manufacture of cotton goods. 
Mr. Wilkinson started his anchor shop, in 1 7S4 or 17S5, 
and l"iirnished many anchors for ships liuilt in diifer- 
ent places. He carried on also the manufacture of nails 
and screws, and farming utensils, as shovels, spades, etc. A 
few years later he built a rolling and slitting mill, bought out 
a flouring mill, and buying his grain in .\lbany, and shipping 
it to Pawtucket, he ground it into flour. The first cottcui- 
mill built at I'aw tucket was erecteil in 1793 by .Mmy, 
Ijrown (Moses) & Slater. It had seventy-two spindles, 
and was set in motion July 12, of that year. (See sketch 
of Samuel Slater.) In 1799 the second cotton-mill was 
erected in I'awtucket on the Massachnsetts sirle of the 
river. It was built of wood, and next to the river was four 
stories high, and was known as the '■ White Mill." It was 
destroyed by fire in I.S23. There was no plan which 
tended to promote the welfare of the community in which 
Mr Wilkinson did not take an interest. We are told that 
" in 1S04, w hell it w as ])roposed to construct the ' Nor- 
folk and Bristol lurnpike,' he had charge of Ihirlecit miles 



PIOCRAPHICAL CYCI.OrEDIA. 



59 



of said rond, and furnished sjiadL-s, siidvels, and picks from 
his establishment in Pawtucliet for the lal.iorers. lie was 
not above his business, and though he had become wealthy, 
he was not puiseproud, and could carry his own nails to 
Boston, and sell them in ijuantities to suit purchasers, at -t/.>- 
teen cents per pound." Nor were his manufacturing opera- 
tions carried on in Rhode Island only. He purchaseil, in con- 
nection with his sons-in-law, a water-power in Connecticut 
on the Quinnebaug River, and the town of Pom fret owes 
much of its prosperity to his enterprise. .\ life of sc\cnty-one 
years, full of activity, and attended with great success, termi- 
nated at PawtucUet, October 22, 1815. Mr. and Mrs. \Vd- 
kinson were the parents often children. The first,I,ucy, mar- 
ried Timothy Greene, of Potowam, Warwick, who became a 
partner with his father-in-law and his brother-in-law, Samuel 
.Slater. They had a family of eight children, among w hom 
was Sarah, wife of William Harris, whose daughter, Eliza 
Green, became the wife of Rev. Dr. Henry Waterman, 
rector of .St. Stejihen's Church in Providence; S.imuel, 
wdio married .Sarah Harris, daughter of .Stephen Harris, 
and had two sons, Paul and Captain Charles Harris ; Dan- 
iel, William, Mary, Paul, Eliza, who married Benjamin C. 
Harris, and had a family of eleven children, and Anna 
W., who married Edward Walcott, and moved to the 
South. The next two children of Oziel were twins, Abra- 
ham and Isaac. They carried on an CNtensive iron business 
in Pawtucket, Providence, and Fall River. They had also 
large cotton-mills in Pawtucket, Valley Falls, and Albion. 
Abraham was frequently honored by his fellow-citizens by 
being elected to positions of trust, the duties of which he 
faithfully discharged. Isaac was a prominent and liberal 
supporter of the First Baptist Church in Pawtucket. The 
fourth child of Oziel was David, born January 5, 1771, 
who married Martha Sayles, by whom he had four chil- 
dren. She was a direct descendant from Mary, oldest 
daughter of Roger Williams, David holds a high rank in 
the Wilkinson family. He early developed a remarkalile 
mechanical genius. We are told that " at the age of six 
he was made to help in the business of heading nails, by 
being set astride of a log, and with his foot in a stirrup, 
he would work the press which had been constructed by 
his father for this purpose. He was early initiated into all 
the mysteries of the blacksmith's trade, and when his father 
moved to Pawtucket Falls, when he was not far from thir- 
teen years of age, he was quite an expert in wielding the 
sledge." He was the inventor, when but a young man, of 
what is known as the " sliding lathe," for turning iron and 
brass. Then he invented the " slide or gauge lathe," and 
after a good deal of opposition and discouragement suc- 
ceeded in getting a patent for it. For several years he 
reaped little or no pecuniary benefit from his patent, which 
in twelve years ran out, and he neglected to renew it. In 
consideration of the great utility of his invention, espe- 
cially in the arsenals and armories of the United States, 
Congress voted him, in 1S48, the sum of $10,000. It is 



claimed, moreover, for David Wilkinson, that he was the 
first person in this country to make use of steam for pro- 
pelling boats, anticipating the experiment of Robert Fulton 
on the Hudson River about sixteen years. The boat used 
by Wilkinson was one belonging to one of the large India 
ships of John Brown, and was about twelve tons burden. 
A mechanic by the name of Ormsbee prepared the boiler, 
and Wilkinson built the engine. The work of getting the 
boat into running order was done at a place about three 
miles and a half from Providence, called " Winsor's Cove," 
a quiet spot, where the parties interested would not be liable 
to he molesteil by the over-curious. The story goes that Wil- 
kinson succeeded in getting his machinery in operation, and 
on a pleasant evening in autumn he left Winsor's Cove in 
the first boat propelled by steam that ever floated on the 
waters of the Narr.agansett Bay and Providence River, 
anil arrivLil in safety at the lower wharf. The next day 
they left, in the boat, for Pawtucket, to show the friends in 
that village the success that had attended the enterprise. 
At Pawtucket the boat remained a day or two, and then 
returned to Providence. For some reason unknown to us 
no practical benefit accrued to Mr. Wilkinson from his in- 
vention. In 1S29 he moved to Cohoes Falls, in New York, 
where he engaged in manufacturing business, and subse- 
quently, when manufacturing was no longer profitable, was 
occupied in various enterprises where his mechanical skill 
was brought into requisition. He died at Caledonia Springs, 
Canada West, February 3, 1S52, and his remains were 
brought to Pawtucket and placed in the family vault. 
Pawtucket owes to David Wilkinson a great debt of grat- 
itude. His monument may be found in the thrift and pros- 
perity of that thriving town. He was interested in relig- 
ious and benevolent organizations; was one of the prin- 
cipal founders of St. Paul's Church, and contributed lib- 
erally to its support. He was also a prominent Mason, and 
one of the founders of Union Lodge. The fifth child of 
Oziel was his daughter Marcy, who married William Wil- 
kinson, of Providence, a graduate of Brown University in 
the class of 1783, for many years Principal of the Univer- 
sity Grammar .School; appointed, in 1792, by Washington, 
Postmaster of Providence; for a number of years publisher 
and bookseller in Providence; Representative, for several 
terms, to the General Assembly ; for some time treasurer of 
the Providence Mutual Insurance Company, and a director 
until his death. His first wife was Chloe Learned, of 
Thompson, Conn., by w hom he hatl six children ; and his 
second Marcy Wilkinson, by whom he had eight children. 
He retained his faculties until his death, at the age of 
ninety-two years. Hannah, the sixth child of Oziel, be- 
came the wife of Samuel .Slater, October 2, 1791. (See 
sketch of .Samuel Slater.) The seventh child was Daniel, 
who married Nancy Tabor, of Tiverton. He was con- 
cerned in the Pomfret factories, as a member of the firm. 
The eighth child was George, wdio died young. The ninth 
was .Smith, who married Elizabeth Howe, of Killingly, 



6o 



BIOCK.irniCA L C 1 'CL or EDI. I. 



Conn. He was a succe-.sful ni:inufncluifr in Putnrim, Conn. 
Tlio tenth was l.ytlia, who in 1S09 married He^ekiah 
Howe. He licc.ime an extensive nianufacturer in Cohoes, 
N. V. 



rJlLKINSON, M.'\JOR JicfTlIA A\'l'UV,son of Jeptha 
i; ji H-j and Lucy (Smith) WilLinson, wa- bom in Cuni- 
ii;*.'; ,;■■.> herl.inil, A]iril 25, 171)!. Hi-, father was one of 
'i' Z tlie '■ Minute .Men" of lioslun iti tlie Reve.hi 
•i' tirju. His mother, who was a woman of remark- 

able enerj^y of character, reneliei-1 neatly her one hundret-lth 
year, retainin;.; her faeuUies in a remarkalile <legree to the 
last. The suliject of this sketch took ]inrt in the war of 
1S12, being in aeti\e ser\*ice for about three years. liefore 
the war eniied he was [nomoted to the rank of M.ijoi'. At 
the close of tlie war lie was offered a eolnneley in one of 
the South American armies; and duiing the Rebellion, 
while siijourning in I'-n;.;laiid, lie was fret|uently urged liy 
(_ieneral .Seott, fiis obi lu-oiher in arms, to accept a com- 
mand in the Union Army. Not long after Ids military 
service was ended he returned to Rhode Ishind. and with 
the in\'cntive genius which seems to have been a special 
gift of the Wilkinson family, he constructed a machine to 
manutacture weavers' reeds for the jiower-loonis which 
had recently been introduced into the cotton factoiies set 
tip by Mr. .Slater. He built an establishment in I'l'ovidence, 
which he ]>l.iced in ch.irge of his brother .'Vrnold while he 
shiuild be absent in I'aigland to bring to the notice of the 
manufacturers there his new machine. He met with such 
encouragement that he put up a building in Manchester 
in which to construct his machine. He encountered, how- 
ever, the most bitter opposition from the hand reed-makers, 
who urged that his success would tie the luiii nf liundreds 
and thousaiuls of poor people, wln.i wnuld l>e thrown out 
of employment. At length their h.itreil reached its climax 
on Sunday while he was at church. His buildings were 
(.lestroyeil by tire; and Mr. WilkinsDn, having leased his 
right to make his machines for ICngland to parties in Man- 
chester, went to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where 
he sold his patent right to the government for nearly 
$18,000. .Soon after he erected an establishment in Paris. 
While there he formed tlie aec|uainlauce of Miss Sarah H. 
Gibson, the daughter of a wealthy lianister of Liiiidiui, 
whom he subsequently married. ( )n reliiining to Prov- 
idence, he found that his establishment had proved a fail 
ure. In alter years, as is well known, the reed machine 
proved a great success, but the inventm- of it rea|ied but 
little pecuniary benefit from it. Another of his inven- 
tions, which in other hands has been the means of enrich- 
ing so many persons, was w-hat is now know n as " Colt's 
Revolver." Mr. Wilkinson, when in Paris, made the hrst 
drawings of this repeating revolver. Colt saw these draw- 
ings at the ottice or residence of an ofticer of the I-'rench 
government, and secured for himself a patent for the 



article. Another of his inventions was the " Rotary Cyl- 
indrical Printing Press." As tar back as the year iSiS he 
maile his drawings of the new press. Being occupied, how- 
e\ er, for many years with the introduction of his reed ma- 
chine, he paid but little attention to the press invention 
until 1859. On the 26th of April of that year he set up 
the first type in regular form placed upon a cylinder, and 
his printing VA'as a success. A few days aftei'. Rev. Dr. 
Waylanil gave him a letter of introduction to his brotlier- 
in-law, Colonel Stone, editor of the New York JTaily .1,/- 
7'L'r/ist'r, wdio introduced him to the Harpers, and they 
recommended him to see Messrs. R. M. Hoc ^ Co. Mr. 
lloe was so far satisfied with the great value of the inven- 
tion of Mr. Wilkinson, that he proposed at once the erection 
of an establishment for its manufacture. Mr. Wilkinson w as 
not ([Liite satisfied with some of the details of the jirojio- 
sition made to him by Mr lloe, and declined to |iroceeil. 
He returned to Providence, and, encouraged by some gen- 
tlemen of his aci|uaintance, aimmg whom were Messrs. 
Prow 11 and hes, to construct a doui'le cylinder press, he 
entered upon the work in the summer of 1S39, and on the 
15th of P'ebruary, 1S40, the new machine was put in ope- 
ration, and was a compilete success. The legislature of 
Rhode Island granted an act of incorporation to the '■ Wil- 
kinson Printing Press (_'ompany," February 4, 184I. A 
few weeks after this, one of the machines, with its newly 
invented apparatus U>v folding and cutting, was pmt in 1110- 

] tion in the office of tlie New \'ork S/ffi. It might reasmi- 
ably be supposed that the inventor of the " Rotary Print- 

j ing Press" was in a lair way to reap the reward of his toil 

' and patience. Put in manifold ways, which we cannot 
stop to specify, he was thwarteil, and others reaped where 
he had sown. It is claimed by the friends of Wilkinson 
that the eelelirated '' Hoe's Lightnitig Press" is substan- 
tially Wilkinson's press. In 1S62 Mr. Wilkinson went 
to Euriipe. His object in going was to renew his French 
patent upon the Rotary Printing Press, and try the exjier- 
imciit ol bringing the machine lii peil'ectton ami introduc- 

! ing it into the market. He was ojijiosed there, as he had 
been in this country, by the manufacturers of other ma- 
chines. After working several years in perfecting a piress 
and making reaily for an exhibition, a fire swept the w hole 
concern out of existence, being, withciut the slightest doulit. 
the work of incendiaries and jiarties interested in the man- 
ufacture of other printing presses. A large part of his time 
was spient in Englanil in di\iding and settling estates left 
by his wife's father, Mr. (iibsoii, who died while his son- 
in-law was there, and was made chief executor to his will. 

' He returned to this country in 1S70, and during most of 
the remainder of his life lived on his farm at South Haven, 
Suftblk County, Long Island, an estate he purchased in 

I 1S46. He died December 31, 1S73, "' 73 Hamilton Street, 
IJrooklyn, N. V. There are now (1S80) living five mein- 
liers of his family: Ellen IL, the eldest of the children, 
Jeptha A., Mary C, Mrs. Emma M. Turner, and .-Mbert. 




X3. 



x--^. 



BIOGR-irillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



6r 



SEARS, Barnas, p.])., LL.D., tlie fifih President of 
s^T.bW Brown University, was horn in Sandisfielcl, Mass., 
November 19, 1802. His paternal ancestor, Rich- 
ard Sears, came from Ent;Iand, wliere, in the time 
of Elizabeth, tlie name was found in the highest 
ranks, and landed at Yarmouth, on Cape Cod, Mass., in 
1630. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, when 
a boy, went from Harwich, Mass., first to Chatham Corners, 
Mass., his brother Elkanah accompanying him. The latter 
remained in Chatham Corners, while the former went on 
through the woods to Sandisfield, where he settled. Barnas 
Sears was the son of Paul, Jr., and Rachel (Granger) Sears. 
He spent the early days of his life on his father's farm, 
where he was accustomed to do all kinds of work. The 
family was a large one, seven sons and three daughters, 
and as he was very strong and enterprising he felt anxious, 
as far as possible, to relieve his parents in bringing up so 
many children. Accordingly, at the age of fifteen he be- 
came his own master, and worked at laying stone wall in 
the summers, hiring a man with his team to assist him, and 
in the winters teaching school, beginning at the age of six- 
teen. A senior in college helped him in his studies, and 
encouraged him to carry out his wish to obtain an educa- 
tion. He pursued his preparatory studies under the tuition 
of " Parson Cooley," of East Granville, Mass., who was the 
teacher of many young men whom he fitted for \'ale Col- 
lege, and was also, for some time, under the care of Jesse, 
afterward Rev. Dr. Jesse Hartwell, who had charge of the 
grammar school connected with Brown University. Having 
a fever just before he was to enter college, he did not 
commence his collegiate studies until the second term 
of the freshman year. During his college course he 
taught school every winter. His rank in his class was a high 
one. His early aim was to strive for the first part, but sub- 
sequently he prepared a broader scholarship, w ithout " cram- 
ming," and therefore devoted himself to a wider range of 
study than that which was prescribed in the ordinary cur- 
riculum. His part, at graduation in the class of 1S25, was 
an English oration, the subject of which was "The In- 
fluence of Association upon the Intellectual Character." 
He commenced to preach in his sophomore year, and, as he 
says, his preaching " was remarkable brith for success and 
failures." Many years after one of his worst failures, 
which mortified him exceedingly, he learned, when calling 
on a family three hundred miles away from his old home, 
that one of their number was converted under that sermon. 
He found warm friends and advisers at this period of his 
life in Rev. Messrs. Gano, Benedict, and Jackson. The 
former recommended him to Rev. Dr. Baldwin, of Boston, 
as a suitable person to become his colleague. Feeling, how- 
ever, the need of a better preparation for the ministry, he 
went to the Newton Theological Seminary, immediately 
after he graduated, in the fall of 1S25, where he remained 
two years, leaving in 1S27 on account of a difficulty with 
his lungs. For a short time he was settled as pastor of the 



First Baptist Church at Hartfonl, Conn. In lS2q he was 
elected Professor of Ancient Languages in the Hamilton 
Literary and Theological Institution, New York. For 
nearly three years he acted as pastor of the Baptist Church 
in that village. The winter of 1S30 he spent in study at the 
Andovei; Theological Institution. September i ;, i<S;3, he 
sailed for Germany, and remained abroad two years and 
three months, studying in Halle, under (iesenius antl 
Tholuck, at Leipsic, under G. Herman and Winer, and at 
Berlin, under Neander and Hengstenberg. The instruc- 
tors from whom he derived the most benefit were Tholuck 
and Neander. On his return to his home, in 1835, he 
resumed his position at Hamilton, where he remained six 
months, and then accepted an appointment as Professor at 
the Newton Theological Institution, commencing his work 
there in the sjiring of 183C, and from 1839 to 1848 was the 
President of the Seminary. On the death, in 183S, of 
Professor James D. Knowles, he became the editor of the 
Christiau Reviciv, and held that position for several years. 
He was also appointed, while residing at Newton, by Gov- 
ernor Briggs a member of the Massachusetts Board of Edu- 
cation. In 1S48, upon the resignation of Horace Mann, 
he was appointed Secretary of the Board, and continued in 
that office until, on the resignation of President Wayland, 
in 1855, he was chosen President of Brown University, 
which position he held until 1S67, when he was elected 
General Agent of the Peabody Education Fund, which 
office he held up to the time of his death. The original 
gift by George Peabody to the United States Government 
for the cause of popular education at the South was 
^2,100,000, which was subsequently increased to $3,500,CKX). 
As originally invested, the income was Ji 20,000. Now, l)y 
the change of interest, it brings only j;83,ooo. The aniouiil 
of good accomplished by the aid granted to the public 
schools at the South, through the agency superintended by 
Dr. Sears, it is not easy to compute. 

Dr. Sears was married February 16, 1830, to Eli/'alieth 
Griggs, daughter of Deacon Elijah Cory, of Brookline, 
Mass. Their children are, William B., Edward H., Eliz- 
abeth C, — now Mrs. J. H. Fultz,of Stauntcm, Va., — Robert 
Davis, and Edmund Dwight. The two oldest sons were 
captains in the army in the civil war. Edward H. was 
transferred to the navy, where he was acting paymaster. 
He was in the Chinese seas three years, after the war, and 
was in the marine fight with the Chinese. The degree of 
Doctorof Divinity was conferred on Dr. Scars by Harvard 
College in 184 1, and that of L>octor of Laws by Yale Col- 
lege in 1862. Among the published writings of Dr. Sears, 
besides what he contributed to the Christian Rcvieiu, are 
numerous articles written for the Bibliolheca Sacra. With 
Professors Edwards and Fellon he was associated in the 
compilation of t7<;.(.t;V<?/ .SyW/if, 1S43. He published The 
Cic-roniana, lf'4g; Life i\f Luther, 1S50; edited XohJen's 
German Grammar, 1842; Seleet IVritiui^s of Luther, 
1846; an edition of Roge/'s Thesaurii!., 1S54. He has 



62 



BWGRAPinCAL CYCL OPED/A. 



al^o publisher] ni:inv reports, nddrcssc';, etc. I)uriiic: hU 
ailministration as riesi.lciu r,f lli.iwn I'nivcisity tin- chem- 
ical lalioratorv was huilt, a large mnnlier i:>f scholarshijis 
for iivligeiU stu'lents c.litaineil, llie '• Bnwen c>-tate," at the 
coiner of George and Prospect sireets, purcliased and in- 
cluded within the college cam)ius, a debt of S25.000 ex- 
tinguished, ar.d Uirgo additions made to the college funds. 
Dr. Sears resided in Staunton, Va.. from abonl the date of 
Ids appi>intment .is (General .\gent of the I'eabndy Fund, 
in I.S07. to the time of his death, which occurred July 6, 
iS.So, at Saratoga, where he had gone to attend a meeting 
of tile .\merican Institute of Instruction, and lieforc which 
lie was U} read a paper on '' E'lucational Prtigress in the 
United Slates during the last Fifty \'ears." His funeral 
took place at Brookline. Mass., Friday afternoon, July 9, 
the ser\ ices being held in the I'.aptist Church. Among 
those ]~iresent were Re\-. Ih. IIo\ey, I'resident of the 
Newton Theological Institution, Hon, ('■eorge S. Routwell, 
of the Massacliusetts lioard of Education. I'rofessor J. I,, 
laiicoln, of Urown University, and Hon. Rr.!iL-rt t.". Win- 
tlirop. rejiresentiiig the Trustees uf the I'eabody IvUica- 
tioiial I'und, who paid most a|>pro|iriate tributes to the 
character aini labors of the deceased. 



^^F.RXi IX, ( ;,-\r.Ril.I,, a distinguished French refugee, 
w.is born at Rochelle, I-'rance, .\[>ril o, I'>44. 
€1,^.. ^ He bieiongcd to an ancient and liiglih* respectable 
If family, and was a man of large jiroperty. The 
Jo trai.lition is that he was at one time Iiereditarv regis- 
trar of Rochelle. He was inij^risonud two years on ac- 
count of his religious opinions. Not long after his 
release, the Edict of Nantes was revokecl, and knowing 
himself to be obno.\ious to the government, he lied to 
ibiiiand. and subsequently found his way to London. 
While there he was induced, through the jiersuasions of 
interested parties, to sliiji himself, his family and servants, 
with some other families, ^\v\ paid passage fcu" aViove forty 
persons for America, ami landed in Boston in lt)S.S. His 
residence for ten years was in Boston. In fulldinent of 
promises made to him before leaving London, there was a i 
gr.int first made to him of 750 acres of land at New ( ).\ford, | 
in Mass.ichusetts, and subseipieiitly 17^0 more acres were 
ad'led, making in all 2^00 acres. In the settlement at 
New Oxford, whither quite a number of the Huguenots 
who had come over with him esiablisheil themselves, Mr. 
Bernon look a great interest. He removed to Newpiu't, 
Rhode Island, in ifn)". -About this time he left the French 
Reformed (_'hurch and became an Episcopalian. His name 
appe.us lir-t on a petiticui which was sent by sixteen mem- 
liers of the Church of Faigland to the Earl of Bellamoiit, 
tj'jvernor ol the .-\ineric.iii Colonies, asking fc)r aid in their 



attem])t to support Episcopal worship in Newport. The 
petition was granted. .'\ minisler was *^ent to them, and a 
house of w(^rshlp erected in 1702, which, j^roving to lie too 
sm.ill, the laesent venerable Trinity Church, within the 
churchyard of which repose the remains of so many emi- 
nent citi/ens of that early period, was built in 1726. Pre- 
cisely how long Mr. Bermni remained in Newport is not 
known. He resided in Narragansctt some years, and then 
removed to Providence, where he interested himself \er)' 
much in the founding of tlie third Episcopal Church in 
Rhode Island, now St. John's, which place of wiusliip was 
built in 1722. He died in Providence, February I, 1736. 
Mr. Bernon was Iw ice married. His first wife was Esther 
Le Roy, daughter of Francois Le Roy, of Rochelle, by 
whom he had ten ehihlren, eight of whom came to this 
country with him. .She ilied in Newport, June 14, 1710. 
( )f the eight ehihlren referred to, Jane marrierl, October 
II, 1722, Colonel William Codilington, of Newjiort. 
Esther married .\dam Howell, or Powell, ^L^y 30, 1713. 
Samuel .Seabtiry, the first P.isho}i of the Episcopal Church 
in America, \\'as the grandson of ICsther Bernon, her 
daughter Elizabeth being the wife of Rev Samuel .Sea- 
bury, the father of the bishop. Maiie, another daugh- 
ter of Mr. Berncm, married (labriel Tourlellot, a well- 
known Rhode Island name, .\nother daughter, Sarah, 
was the wife of Benjamin \Vhip)>le, another noted Rhode 
Island name. The eldest son, I labriel, was drowned liy a 
shipwreck ill early manho.id. Mr. Bernon's second wife, 
whom he married in 1712, was Mary Harris, daughter of 
Thomas Harris, second, and grandniece of Roger \\\\- 
liams's Companion, William Harris. By this wife he had 
four children. The eldest, Ijabriel, died young. The eldest 
daughter. Susanne, married Joseph, son of William Craw- 
ford. August 23, 1734. The next daughter, Mary, was the 
wife of (iideon Crawfonl, and their daughter Sarah was 
the first wife of Captain Zachariah Allen. The last 
daughter, ICve, died unmarried. The house in which Mr. 
Bernon lived when he resided in Providence was directly 
op]iosite what was known as King's, now .St. Jidin's 
Church, and next north of the house occupied afterwards 
by his great grandson, Covernor Philip Allen. A bron/e 
tablet was erected to the memory of Mr. liernon in St. 
John's Church. Judge f^lisha Potter s.ays of him that "he 
was a gentleman by birth and estate, and in leaving his 
native land the greater part of his estate was necessarily 
left behind him. He \\as a courteous, honest, kindly gen- 
tleman, behaving himself as a zealous professor of the 
Protestant religion, and d\ang in the faith and hojie of a 
Redeemer, and w ilh the inward assurance of salvation ; 
leaving a good name among all his acipiaintances, and, by 
his upright life, giving evidence of the power of Christianity 
in sustaining him through his great sufferings in leaving 
his country and a great estate, that he might worship God 
according to his conscience." He adds that "the family 
of Bernon is registered in the Ilisli^rnal nitd (ienialn^^iful 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA 



63 



Dicliona>y of lite Families of Atifieiit Poifou, and it is 
stated there that the name has been known and celebrated 
since the earliest ages of the French monarcliy." 



§|ULL, Governor Henry, was born in South 
Wales in 1610, and came to this country in the 
James, Captain Graves, arriving in Boston June 
,, 4, 1635. He tirst took up his residence in Rox- 
il. bury, and was made a freeman in May, 1637. 
Subsequently he removed to Boston, wliere he became 
involved in the Mrs. Hutchinson affair, and was among 
the large number of citizens, adherents of this lady, who 
were disarmed by the government, which did not consider 
itself safe so long as her followers were in possession of 
weapons of warfare. Drake, in his History of Boston, "^^y^ 
that " this disarming operation was a very serious affair, 
and much blood has flowed from far less causes. The 
peaceable manner in wdiich it was submitted to ought to 
have convinced the rulers of the sincerity of the motives 
of those to whom the indignity w-as offered." Governor 
Arnold refers to it as " a most remarkable act, unparal- 
leled in the subsequent history of the American States. 
Seventy-five names are enumerated as the objects of this 
astonishing order, which, naturally enough, as the finale 
of so much tyranny, aroused a strong feeling of indigna- 
tion." The persecuted pai-fy, among whom was Henry 
Bull, then in the freshness of his early manhood, had for 
some time been considering the question of escaping from 
the tyrannical grasp of the " Lord's Bretliren." Under 
the leadership of John Clarke and William Coddington, 
their first plan was to find a home for themselves on Long 
Island, or near Delaware Bay, and they had actually .set 
sail from Boston to carry this plan into execution. While, 
however, their vessel was doul)ling Cape Cod, they went 
by land to Providence. Narragansett Bay, which seemed 
the destined refuge for outcasts of every faith, attracted 
the wanderers by its fertile shores and genial climate. 
They were recommended by Roger Williams, in whom, as 
may readily be supposed, they fouml a sympathizing 
friend, to settle at Sowams, afterw-ards called Phebe's 
Neck, in Barrington, on the mainland, or on the island of 
Aquidneck, now Rhode Island. So much interest did he 
take in the matter that he accompanied the exploring 
party, of which, probably, Henry Bull was one, to Plym- 
outh to inquire about .Sowams. As it was found to be 
claimed within the Plymouth patent, it was decided that 
the exiles should proceed to Aquidneck. A deed of the 
island was obtained from Canonicus and Miantonomi, and 
a settlement commenced, which was called Pocasset, at 
the cove on the northeast part of the island, in the town of 



Portsmouth. In the "Civil Compact" formed at Provi- 
dence by the .Aquidneck settlers, and signed by nineteen 
persons, the name of Henry Bull appears as the eighteenth. 
Five days after the signing of this compact the General 
Court of Massachusetts passed an act formally banishing 
William Coddington, with nine others, among wdiom was 
the subject of this sketch, with their families, from the Bay 
State. The little colony, now safe from persecution, 
rapidly thrived and grew. We find that in June, 1638, the 
matter of a military organization was discussed in meetings 
held by the citizens, and at the third of these meetings 
ofiicers for the trainbands were chosen, Randal Holden 
and Henry Bull being elected corporals. A few months 
after he was chosen sergeant, " to execute orders of the 
Court, to serve warrants, and to keep the prison, with 
similar power to demand aid from any persons in the dis- 
charge of his office." We find his name among the seven 
" elders" who, under date of April 2S, 1639, agreed "to 
propagate a Plantation in the midst of the island, or else- 
where, etc." The " Plantation " referred to was Newpoit, 
whither the colony proceeded, taking with them the records 
of the Aquidneck settlement down to this date. Hence- 
forth Henry Bull is identified with the forlimes of the 
colony at Newport. Without dwelling particularly upon 
the events of his life for a number of years, it may 
suffice to say that Governor Coddington having declined 
his re-election in 16S5 as chief magistrate, Henry Bull 
was chosen to fill the office. It was about this time that 
Edward Randolph was plotting in England against the 
liberties of the colonies, and urged the revoking of the 
charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island. He was sent 
to New England in the summer of 1685 to carry into exe- 
cution his plans. Fortunately for Governor Bull, his term 
of office expired at the expiration of the year 16S5-S6, and 
he escaped the annoyances which fell to the lot of his 
successor. The appointment of Sir Edmund Andros as 
Governor General of the New England Colonies, and the 
arbitrary measures to which he resorted, are familiar to 
readers of American history. Rhode Island did not ec- 
cajie the tyranny of Andros. Party politics ran high in 
16S9, Royalists and Republicans dividing the colony. There 
had for some time been a confused state of things. For 
nearly four years the Assembly had held no session. At 
length, F'ebruary 26, 1689-go, it convened. Governor 
Walter Clarke, who was absent, was sent for, came, but 
declined to act, and resigned his office. Christopher Almy 
was chosen to take his place. He also declined. It was 
then, as Bancroft tells us, that " all eyes turned to one of 
the old Antinomian exiles, the more than octogenarian, 
Henry Bull," and he was elected. He served one year, 
and then, on account of his great age, refused a re-election. 
His death took place in 1694. Governor Bull was twice 
married, his first wife, Elizabeth, w^as the mother of .sev- 
eral children. His second wife was the widow of Gov- 
ernor N. Easton. 



64 



BlOCKAPHIfAI. CVi L OPEDIA. 



^lia.I) I'AMIIA'. Ani.m:^ (he CMiIv silllers of 
ri'ovhlrnrr. He liii'l llir iianie of William I'leld, 
%~f^ >|,elle.l variously [■-felil, Kfeild. ami I'TieM, lie is 
ft ''■' sal. I loliave niiL^rated to this count rv in Hi; J, and to 
ha\e removed to I'loNident-e from Dorchester, 
Mass., in 10 V, tlieve.ii that koeei W Mlianisconimeneeil his 
selllemeiit in Rhode Island. IIis name a|.|iea)s in the list 
of the liftv-four owners of •■ lionie lots," i. d-.the teriilury 
hounded cjii the Mest hy what Is now North and South 
M.iin Streets, and Hope Street on the e.ist We lind aKo 
th.it he was •• Assist, ml " from I'r.n ideiiee to " the ( '.eneral 
Assembly for election " at Xewpoit in il>50, and for several 
Milise.|uent years. In the oldest "rale lull" cMaiit, we 
observe that he was assessed £i tu. S,/., (his amount being 
exceeded onlv bv that which was paid hy Benedict Arnold, 
vi/., /'s. That he oceiiiiied a ].roininen( aiil honorable 
position among the cili/ells of the ccdoiiy is e\ idelit from the 
circnmslance that he filled positions in civil life of the most 
responsible ehai.uter. He was one of the (.'ommissioiiers 
appointed at a town meeting, held N'ovember lb, Iljb;, 
to be sent to Newport on the 24th of the same month, " to 
solemiii/e the receipt of the charter, acconling to advice 
of the cohmy's agent to the Council." The convocation 
was held at the lime designated, " a very great assembly of 
the people." The brjx m which had been placed the 
(diarler was exhibited insight ol the .Vssenddy, and "it 
was then resoKed," as the record (ells us, " lha( the liox 
in which the King's gracious leders were inclosed be 
opened, and Ihe letters, with (lie broad seal thereto afhxed, 
be taken fordi and read l>y t'aplain I leorge liaxter, m the 
audience and view of all (he pe<iple, which was accord- 
ingly done, and (he said letteis, with his Majesty's royal 
slainp. and the broad seal, with much beseeniing gravity, 
ludd u]i on high, and j. resented to (he pcrfec( \iew ijf the 
people, and so returned into the box, and locked up by 
the (hivernor in eualer to the safe keeping." So far as we 
can learn, (his was (he last post of hcmor which was hlled 
by William hield, wliii died not far from (he date of the 
meeting referred to. Leaving no children, his ne]ihew, 
Thomas, was heir (o his estate, lie died in Providence, 
August 10, 1717, having had three children, Thomas, Wil- 
liam, and Eli/.ibelh. He was among (he few citi/ens " that 
st.ived and well! no( awa\'," and w fio suffered from (he 
at(ack which (he Indians mad<' on [he town, .Mareir 30, 
167(1. I( was before his house, " under a tree Ii\ (he water- 
side," that the annual town meeling was held in June of 
tills \r.\\. liidge Staples says that " (he tree referred to 
w.is piobably the old ,ycaniore which formerly s(ood on (he 
easi side of South M.un Sireet nearly opposite (.'lawlord 
Street. ll was cut down by (he sidewalk commissioners 
aboul iSj2." The house of Thomas KiiTd stood where 
(he l'ro\ideiue 1 II -.1 ilution for SaN'iiigs nriw s(aiids. no( far 
from the sit ■ on wliu.li li.is Ia(ely been erected ihe elegan( 
Armory lliiildingof the First laght Iiifanlr\'. The eldest 
son of riuinias bore liis father's name, and died some time 



in the year 1752. The second son, William, died Novem- 
ber 5, 17S0, and the daughter, Eli/abeth, married John 
Veats, |r. The family now begins (o ramify in so many 
direcbons that we have not suflicient s|iace to trace minute- 
ly its diflerentbranchei.. We mention some of the more 
lirominent representatives of the name. The landed pos- 
sessions of the first William Field were very large, extend- 
ing into Crans(on, Warwick, Johnston, Scituate, Glouces- 
ter, and Smithhehl. Eight hundred acres of land adjacent 
to Field's I'oint, a well known locality near Providence, 
was included in his possessions, and it was the homestead 
of later generabons. Lleacon John Field, a descendant 
of John, brother of William, is spoken of as having been 
•' one of the most noted men of his time for his entei-prise, 
piety, and benevolence." Captain William Field, of 
Field's roin(, had several sons who were noted men in 
(heir day. " No young men in the State were more ' looked 
Uji (o ' than Aimer and Nehemiah Field." Before they 
were twenty-one they held commissions in the (.'ontinen- 
tal .Army, and (00k part in the 1 a((le of Bunker Hill. 
Hon. George Field, of Cranston, the youngest son of l.'ap- 
tain Williams, held a high social position, and was noted 
for his moral and social cjualities. He was well known as 
one who honored positions of trust and distinction which 
he was calleil to till. He bore the title of " Cieorge Field, 
(he (.'a(o of the Senate." (.harles F'ield, from whom the 
street on the east side <:if Providence lieariiig that name 
was called, was liorn in r'ro\'idence al'out 1713, ami died 
A| ril 28, 17411. Abigail I-'iehl, great-grandilaughter of 
Thomas, already referred (o, married, ( )ctobcr 7. 1743, Ben- 
jamin Gorliam, a descendant of Ca|>tain John li.irham, of 
Gorhamburg, England, and Desire Howland, who came to 
America in the Mayflower. Jeremiah, grandson of Thom- 
as, marrierl Lv'dia (_'(dwell, great-granddaughter of Roger 
Williams. The genealogy of (he Field Family gives (he 
names of 362 persons, descendants of Thomas, nephew 
and heir of the lirst William Field. They are scattereii 
through diffircnt sections of the country, d'he branch of 
the family which represents the Fields of Field's Point 
sprang from Jeremiah ami Abigail (Walunanl licld, 
Jeremiah being the grandson of the original Thomas. The 
" Field (.lencalogy " gives the names of 109 descendants 
in ihis branch of the family. \'ery numerous, also, have 
been the ilescendants of John Field, without iloubt the 
brother of (he original William. I( is known that he was 
living in Providence in 1637. The names of 205 descend- 
ants in (his line may lie found in (he (ji-utuiloi^y of t/n^ 
I'iclJ Faiiiilv. A few only of these names can be men- 
tioned. Deacon John Field, the lifth of the name in direct 
descent, lived in Providence. Me was born in 1727, and 
married I,\dia Warren, sister of General Joseph Warren, 
of Bunker Hill memory. They ha<l four sons and three 
daughters. Tha( part of Providence now covering Pine, 
F'riendship. Clifford, and Bassett streets, with included 
territory, was once a part of (he farm of John Field. This 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



65 



farm extended far beyond the old burial-j^round on the 
"West Side" of Providence. He sold a portion out 
of this southwesterly part of the farm to different societies 
for one hundred Spanish milled dollars each, about ninety 
years ago. Of the many descendants of the seven cliil- 
dren of [ohn and Lydia (Warren) Field, a large number 
are prominently engaged in business at home and abroad. 
To his three daughters, Lydia, Abigail, and Zerviah, he 
gave eight acres of land in what is now a thickly settled 
portion of Providence. The daughter of Lydia, who mar- 
ried Josepli Bowler, became the wife of Joseph Fry, of 
Albany, N. Y. The second daughter, Abigail, married 
Daniel Proud. The youngest daughter, Zerviah, married 
Bennett Wheeler, the publisher of The Ciiiffd S/a/i's 
Chronicle Uom 1784101804. The fourth son of Bennett 
and Zerviah (Field) Wheeler, Bennett H., was a person of 
considerable distinction in his native town. He was ac- 
complished both as an editor and a printer. The third son 
of Deacon John Field, Daniel, adopted his nephew and 
namesake, Daniel, son of his brother Lemuel, and at his 
decease left him a valuable property. This nephew became 
a prominent and influential citizen, and died possessed 
of a large estate. The Field Genealogy contains the 
names of 94 of the descendants of James Field, son of 
John, 4th, of Providence, and great-great-grandson of the 
first John Field. Another line, representing 171 persons, 
has been traced, that of Zachariah, the second son of the 
original John. In this branch are found many well-known 
Providence names. Still another branch of the family 
has been traced, of which 81 names are recorded, that of 
Joseph, son of Zachariah. Mrs. Harriet A. Brownell, author 
of the Genealogy of the Field Family, states that there are 
several families in Providence that are not descendants from 
the first settlers of that name ; that the family of Rev. 
Samuel W. Field are descendants of Darby Field, the first 
white man that ascended the White Mountains, and wlio 
settled in New Hampshire ; and that Mr. Silas M. Field, son 
of Robert Field, who resided in Carmel, Maine, told her 
that he was informed by the late Daniel Field, of Provi- 
dence, — of two generations back, — that a brother of the 
first John Field settled in Maine, and doubtless was his pro- 
genitor. 



sANDS, James, born in 1622, at Reading, in the 
County of Berks, England, was one of the early 
S>i" settlers of Portsmouth, R. L, where he was a free- 
man in 1655. fie left Rhode Island with the 
* famous Ann Hutchinson, and assisted in erecting 
for her a dwelling in the wild at East Chester, New 
York. Abandoning from necessity the Indian country 
that proved so calamitous to Mrs. Hutchinson, he re- 
turned to Rhode Island, and then removed for a short 
time to Taunton, Mass., but in 1663, with his wife Sarah, 
removed to Block Island. Being one of the first to per- 
9 



manently settle on this island, and at a time when the 
aborigines were numerous and much excited, he erected a 
large stone edifice, which was widely known as the garri- 
son-house, an important structure in its day. It stood 
near the mill-poml, not far from the harbor. Wlien the 
French captured the island tlie third time, Mr. Sands and 
his family fled from the garrison-house and secreted 
themselves in the woods. His wife, in addition to her 
home duties, was the doctress of the island, being skilled 
both in surgery and medicine. Mr. Sands, being in har- 
mony with the principles of Rhode Island, was active in 
connecting the island with the colony, and in the incorpo- 
ration of the township of New Shoreham, in 1672. During 
King Philip's War, Mr. Sands's garrison-house was a refuge 
for the endangered families of the island, and Mr. Sands 
was really the guardian of the territory. He represented 
Block Island in the General Assembly of the colony in the 
years 167S, 16S0, and 1690. Manifestly he was a man of 
unusual endowments of inind, energy of purpose, and 
pnrity of character, fitted to be the leader of a community 
in the days of trial. He had five sons and three daugh- 
ters. John, James, Samuel, and Job removed to Cowneck, 
on Long Islanfl ; Edward remained on Block Island and 
married Mary Williams, daughter of John Willi.ams, Feb- 
ruary 12, 1685; the eldest daughter was drowned in a 
pond near her fatlier's house ; the younger, Mercy, was 
married to Joshua Raymond, of New London. Mr. Sands 
died on the island March 13, 1695, and left his homestead 
to his son Edward. His widow, .Sarah, in her will, proved 
July 6, 1702, made special provision that no child born 
under her protection and care should be made a slave, and 
so provided for the bringing up and emancipation of 
several negro children, a fact which, observes Hon. Wil- 
liam P. Sheffield, a son and historian of the island, "enti- 
tles her to be ranked among the earliest abolitionists." 
The members of the Sands family have occupied promi- 
nent and honorable positions in the society and life of 
New Shoreham. Colonel Ray Sands and Captain Ed- 
ward Sands were officers in tlie Revolutionary army. 



\-\STON, Governor John, son of Nicholas Easton, 
was born in 1617, in Wales, and came to this 
country with his father in 1C34, and shared with 
him in his fortunes from the time of his arrival 
) to that of his settlement in Newport. That he 
was well educated for the times in which he lived appears 
from the fact that he was chosen Attorney-General of the 
united governments of Portsmouth and Newport from May 
17, 1653, to September 12, 1654, also from May 20, 1656, 
to May 19, 1657, and from May 22, 1660, to May 22, 1663. 
Under the royal charter he held the same office from May 
4, 1664, to May 4, 1670, and for the years 1672, '73, '74. 
He was Deputy Governor from May, 1674, to April, 1676. 



66 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



In 1690, Giivernor Henry Hull declining a re-election on 
account uf tlie intirniities <_•>{ age, Mr. Ea--t')n was chosen 
his successor. It was an important ])eri(.Kl in the history 
of Rhoilc Islanil. At the time when he entered upon the 
duties of his office " the first grand period of Rhode Island 
history," says Governor Arnold, " the formation perioil, w as 
endeil. The era of domestic strife and outwaril conflict 
for e.'vistence, of change ami interruption, of doulit ami 
gloom, anxiety and distress liad almost pa>scd. The |irob- 
lem of self government was sohetl, and a new era of inde- 
j>cndent action commenced." Governor Easton was in 
office five years, — 1690-95, — and well and faithfully did 
he discharge the duties assigned to him, all his services, as 
those of the deputy governor and assistants, being performed 
gratuitously, only they were excepted fronr paying any 
colony tax. One memoralile event look place during his 
administration, — the attack of Captain Thomas Paine on five 
French sail near lilock Island in July, li>90, in which the 
French were beaten. "The brilliant exploit of I'aine at 
once inspireil the ^'Cojile of this colon)' with a na\*al spirit. 
It was the first victory of Khoile Inland in the opien 
ocean, and the worth)' harbinger of many daiing ilcetls." 
Governor Easton lived some ten years after his term of 
service had expjired, and died December 12, 1705. One 
important production of his pen has within a few years 
been repulilished, his "Narrative of King Philip's War," 
Albany, 1S5S. 



ijTS^ARR, (jijvERNiiR C.\l,F.ii, was born in 1623, and was 
M^^ among the early settlers of Rhode Island. He was 
\a^ a Friend by religious profession. As an evideirce 
of the confidence which his fellow-citizens re- 
posed in his integrity, we find that lie was chosen 
Treasurer of the colony, and held the office from May 21, 
1661, to May 22, 1662. We find also his name associated 
v\ith the names of three other persons who were sent by 
the ('ouncil at Newport to Wickford to sit in judgment on 
certain malter^ in dis]aite between (.'onnecticut and Rhode 
Island. In a list of persons who secured the services of 
certain Indians who were taken captive in King Philip's 
War we notice the name of Caleb Carr. The ternis on 
which the*-e ca])tive Indians were disposed of were, " all 
under live years to serve till thirty; above iwn and under 
ten, till twenty eight; above ten to fifteen, till twenty- 
seven; above fifteen to twenty, till twenly-six; from 
twenty to thirty shall serve eight years; all aliove thirty, 
seven years." Mr. Carr took one of these Indians,^w hat 
was his age is not slated, — for which he paid to the town of 
Providence twelve bushels of Indian corn. In 167S he 
was chosen Third Assistant under Governor John Cranston, 
and in May, 1695, he was elected Governor to succeed 
(lovernor John Easton, who had been in office for the five 
preceding years. Up to this period for most of the time 



public service had been rendered gratuitously by civil 
officers. It wMs now enacted that the Governor should 
have ten piounds a year, the Deputy Governor six pounds, 
and the Assistants four pounds each. Governor Carr did 
not live long enough to reap much reward for the dis- 
charge of his duties as chief magistrate. He died in New- 
port, December 17, 1695, being the fourth governor who 
died while in office. He was buried in a small family 
burying-ground on the north side of Mdl Street, between 
Thames and Spring streets, Newport. 



.^fa^ASWELL, Alexis, D.D., LL.I)., the sixth Presi- 
SjaK dent of Brown University, was a tw in son of .Sam- 
\^'^'^ uel and Polly (Seaver) Caswell. He was born in 
All Taunton, Massachusetts, January 29, 1799. His 
4^ ance-,tors were among the earlie-vt settlers of his 
native place, the name of Thomas Caswell being found in 
the list of the householders and propriet(-)rs, most if not all 
of wdiom came from Somersetshire, England. His early 
childhood was spent on the farm of his father. Anxious to 
obtain an education he entered the Academy of Taunton, 
and, having passed through the necessary preparatory train- 
ing, entered Brown University, and w,as graduated with the 
highest honors in the class of 1S22. While m college he 
became a decided Christian, and in July, 1S20, connected 
himself with the First Baptist Church in Pro\idence, from 
wdiicli he never severed his relations, and his interest 
in e\erything that concerned its prosperity remained un- 
abated tdl the close of his life. (_)n leaving college he 
entereil upon the duties of tutor in what is now known as 
Columbian University in Washington, D. C.,then in its in- 
fancy and under the charge of Rev. Dr. William Staughton, 
with whom he [jursued a course of theological study. Fi\ e 
years of earnest work were spent in Washington. The 
emViarrassed pecuniary condition of the in^titutitjn was the 
occasion of Mr. Caswell's resigning his position in the col- 
lege and retiring to his New England home. He tlid not 
wait long before his services were in demand. At this time 
he expected, without doubt, that his life w<jrk would be the 
preaching of the Gos|iel. A Baptist chinch, composed of 
a few families wdto had Iiecome dissatisfied with the Epis- 
copral church with which they hail liecn connected in 
Halifax, N. S., had been formed in that city, and he was 
invited to lake charge of the new organization. He was 
ordained in Halifax, October 7, 1S27, and entered .it 
once \ iili the earnestness and zeal of a young preacher, 
upon the discharge of his ministerial duties. He continued 
to act as pastor of the church for nearly one year, and, as 
the event pro\ed, it was his only settlement as a Christian 
minister. He returned to Providence in the summer of 
1S2S, and wdiile supplying the pul|)it of the First Baptist 
Church, made vacant by the death of Rev. Dr. Gano, he 





^^YL^yL^^^ (So^.^l>c^ e^ , 



BIOGRArniCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



67 



was elected by the corporation of Brown University Pro- 
fessor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. It was at 
an important stage in the affairs of the University when 
Professor Caswell was called to take his place in the 
faculty of the college. Dr. Wayland had been president 
for a year and a half, and was beginning to leave the im- 
press of his own marked character on the institution. The 
new officer at once entered with heartiest sympathy into the 
spirit and plans of the president. If there was a de- 
mand for extra work he was ready to meet that demand. 
In addition to instruction given in the studies in his special 
department he taught the college classes in chemistry, in 
ethics, in natural history, and constitutional law. The state 
of the funds of the University was anything but encourag- 
ing, and he took up the task of making ajipeals to the 
citizens of Providence and the friends of the institution 
everywhere for needed pecuniary aid, a task which he 
cheerfully and successfully assumed at different crises in 
the affairs of the institution until his relation to it was 
brought to a close by his lamented death. His connection 
with Brown University as a professor covered a period of 
a little more than thirty-five years. During this long period 
there was nothing which had reference to the welfare of 
his Alma Mater in which he did not take an interest. To 
his efforts in securing subscriptions the library fund of 
twenty-five thousand dollars is largely indebted. He was 
a member of the library committee for twenty-three years, 
its secretary eleven years, and its chairman four years. In 
addition to instruction given in all the departments of 
natural science prescribed in the college course, for several 
years he taught Butler's Analogy. Perhaps his favorite 
branch of investigation and teaching was astronomy. He 
delivered at the Smithsonian Institution at Washington in 
the winter of 1S5S four lectures on astronomy, which were 
published in an appendix to the annual report of that year. 
For more than forty years, with few interruptions, he kept 
tables of meteorological observations, which were published 
monthly in the Providence yournal. In the twelfth vol- 
ume of the Smithsonian Contributions of Knowledge may 
be found the results of twenty-nine years of these mete- 
orological observations. His reputation as a scientific 
scholar brought with it tlie usual rewards. The American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences elected him an Associate 
Fellow in 1850. Of the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science he was an active working mem- 
ber. At the meeting of the Association which was held in 
Montreal in 1S57 he was called to preside. " He sus- 
tained the credit of his country on a foreign soil," says 
Professor Lovering, " by his d gnified presence and his 
manly eloquence, to the great satisfaction of all his associ- 
ates." When in 1863 Congress established the National 
Academy of Sciences, he was one among the fifty original 
corporators chosen by the government. The usual uni- 
formity which characterizes the life of a college professor 
was occasionallv broken in the case of Professor Caswell. 



In 1S40, when President Wayland was in Europe, Professor 
Caswell performed the duties of President, and when dur- 
ing the last three years of Dr. Wayland's connection with 
the University he was relieved of the disciplinary care of 
the college. Professor Caswell acted as Regent. In 1S60 
he went abroad, and was absent a year from his college du- 
ties. The formation of the acquaintance of scientific 
scholars, his visits to renowned observatories, and his at- 
tendance upon the meetings of the leading scientific asso- 
ciations of Great Britain and the Continent were, to a man 
of his warm and generous sympathies and his lifelong 
interest in science, a source of constant delight. His 
connection with the University continued until the autumn 
of 1863, when he resigned. He was stillin the vigor of a 
ripe manhood, and in the University in which he had so 
long lived there was a constant demand for his services. 
Among other offices which he held were those of President 
of the National Exchange Bank and of the American 
Screw Company. On the resignation of President Sears, 
in 1 868, Professor Caswell was elected President of the 
University, and held that position for four years (1868-1872), 
thus making the whole term of his service in an official 
capacity cover a period of thirty-nine and a half years. 
That his connection with the University might remain un- 
broken, he was elected in 1872 a member of the Board of 
Trustees, and in 1875 a Fellow of the Corporation. The 
University conferred upon him the honorary degree of 
Doctorof Divinity in 1841, and that of Doctor of Laws in 
1S65. He was twice married, fir.st. May 7, 1830, to Esther 
Lois, daughter of Edward K. Thompson, of Providence. 
She died June 25, 1850. On January 31, 1S55, he married 
Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Thomas Edwards, of New- 
ton, Massachusetts. He had six children by his first wife, 
and of these three survive him, viz., Sarah Swoope, wife 
of President James B. Angell, LL.D., of Michigan Uni- 
versity, Dr. Edward Thompson Caswell, physician of 
Providence, and Paymaster Thomas Thompson Caswell, of 
the United States Navy. He died at his residence on 
Angell Street in Providence, January S, 1 87 7. 



^ENCKES, Governor Joseph, son of Joseph 
Jenckes, was born in Pawtucket, in 1656. His 
grandfather of the same name is supposed to have 



¥Qv come from England with the emigrants led by 
H Governor Winthrop, w'ho reached Boston in June, 
1630, and settled m Lynn, Mass. In his history of Lynn 
Mr. Lewis thus alludes to him : " Joseph Jenckes deserves 
to be held in perpetual remembrance in American history 
as being the first founder who worked in brass and iron on 
the Western Continent. By his hands the first models 
were made, and the first castings taken of many domestic 
implements and iron tools." The following order, ex- 



6S 



BIOCRArillCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



pre^^f'l in llie i|viaint lLiiii;uap;o of tlic tinier, was passed 
Mav (). I'qd, l.v llu- (leneial L'.nir( ,if MassachusL-tts : " In 
answer \u llic pclion of J.iscpli Jvnckes, for liliurty to 
make experience of liis alnlityes and inventions fur ye 
making of En;_;ines for mills to ;;o willi water, for ye more 
speedy despatch of work than formerly, ami mills for ye 
making of .Sitlies and other Edged tools, with a new in- 
vented SaweMill, that they may be afforded cheaper than 
formerly, and that for fourteen yeercs without disturbance 

hy any others setting uii the like inventions 

This jieticon is granted.'' Several years later he olitained 
a patent for a scythe, which substantially w.is similar to 
the scythes of moden\ times. The exact date when the 
father of the sidiject of this sketch came to I'awtucket is 
not known, luit is su)iposer| to be 1055. He was ilrawn 
to Rhode Island to , nail himself of uhat were in those 
times the thick forest, em the shores of the lilackstone 
Ri\er, from which charcoal could Ire obtained to be used 
in his blacksmith business, and also to use the line water- 
power of the place for the mills his father had been de- 
vising. We tind but scanty information concerning the 
experience of the father of the future (joverncu-, hi^ son. 
Gooilrich, in his hi^t'irical sketch of ra'vlucket, says: "It 
is known that Mr. Jcnckes,or Jenks, as he write, the name, 
soon erected a forge ; perhaps he ijuickly found out that 
bog iron existed near wdiat has long been styled Mineral 
Springs, for before the Revolution a forge stood near the 
Moshassuck, where the ore was converted into liloonis." 
A readv market was found for all the manufactured arti- 
cles which were offered for sale. For twenty years things 
moved on peacefully and prosperously, and then came 
King Philip's War, of which mention is so frequently made 
in this work. The battle which i, known in history as 
" Pierce's P'ight," so called because Captain i'ierce, of 
Scituate, Mr.ssachu setts, had command of the English force, 
was fought Sunday, March 26, 1675, on the river between 
I'awtucket and Valley Falls, not far, it is supposed, from 
the place where the Providence and Boston Railroad 
crossed the river. Out of the eighty-three men who went 
int<"' this tight, til'ty-live English and ten fi'iendly Indians 
were killed. .So alarmed were the people of Pawtucket 
that the place wa> vacated, the forge of Jenckes was 
burned, and, widiout doubt, the larger part of the humble 
cottages ..f the inli,il]itaiit^ shared the same fate. After the 
war was entknl Mr. Tenches, w ith his family, returned to 
his former home, he rebuilds his forge, the people came 
l)ack and again erected their cabins, and the old }.)rosperity 
returns to Pawtucket. Annd such scenes as these the 
younger jenckes was trained. Se\en chihlreii were in Ids 
father's family, four sons anil three daughters. U.jth his 
father and three brothers acr|uired distinction in the colony. 
The former bore the title of .Assixi.ml, answering to Lieu- 
tenant tl'ivernor or Senator. (Jf the latter, Nathaniel be- 
came a m.rjor, tbcnezer a minister, and William a judge. 
Like his father, the subject of this sketch comes into the 



foreground when he reaches the age of manhood as a man 
prominent in ci\il affairs. Me was appointed as early as 
1705 a commissioner to aid in the settlement of the per- 
plexing question of what should be considered as the 
boundary line between Rhode Isl.md and Massachusetts, 
Again ami ag.dii is he reapjiointcd to assist in running the 
line. In 1715 he was elected Deputy (i(^vernor, and held 
the oftice until May, 1721. While in office he was sent to 
England in 1720 to bring the boundary tlis|)ules between 
Rhode Islanfl as the one party, and Connecticut and Massa- 
chusetts as the other, directly to the notice of the king. 
On his return to his home he was re-elected Ileputy Gov- 
eriuir in I 722, and was in oftice until 1727, when Cnn'ernor 
Cr.uistcin, who had been (iovernor twenty-nine years, 
dying, Mr. Jenckes was chosen as his successor, and hchl 
the oftice for the next five years, residing for the larger 
part of the time in Newport, at the request of the General 
Assembly. An amusing tradition is preserved concerning 
Governor Jenckes to the efi'ect that wdien he was elected, 
feeling a desire to maintain the dignity of the station, and 
to wear a garb like that of the other colonial governors, 
he sent an order to England for a cloak. From some 
l)lun<ler, however, on the part of his corres|»on'Ient, the 
ruder was made t') read for a clock instead of a cloak, and 
a clock was sent. This clock remained in the possession 
of his descendants for more than a century, and, so far as 
we know, 1, still in existence, although it has passed out 
of the family. ( H>vernor Jenckes died a few years after he 
ceased to be the chief magistrate of the State, the event 
taking place lune 15, 1740 He is said to have been the 
tallest man of his time in Rhode Island, standing seven 
feet and two inches without his shoes. His body was 
exhumed [une 2, iS3i,and the skeleton was found entire. 
Eighteen inches was the measure of his thigh-bones. T'he 
in-cription on his tombstone was as follows r " In memory 
of Hon. Joseph Jenckes, Es(|., late Governor of the Colony 
of Rhode Island, deceased the 15th day of June, A.D. 
1740, in the eighty-fourth year of his ,-ige. He was much 
Honoured and Ueloved in Life, and Lamented in Death. 
He was a bright Example of Virtue in every Stage of life. 
He was a zealous Christian, a Wise and Prudent Governor, 
a Kind Husband and a Tender Father, a good Neighbor 
and a Faithful Friend, Grave, Sober, Pleasant in Beha- 
viour, Beautiful in Person, with a soul truly Great, Heroic 
and .Sweetly Temjiered." The wife of Governor Jenckes 
was Martha, daughter of John Brown, eldest son of Rev. 
Chad Brown. It would l>e inipossilile to mention the 
names or even the families of those that have sprung from 
the early founder of Pawtucket. .Somewhat more than half 
a century ago the descendant, of Jo,eph Jenckes, the father 
of the ( iovernrir, amounted to about ten thousand. In early 
times a branch of the family was prominent in building up 
(renlral F'alls. Daniel, a son of Ebene^ier, the brother of 
the Governor, became a wealthy merchant of Providence. 
F"or forty-eight years he w-as a member of the First Baptist 



BIOGRAPHICAL C YCL OPED I A. 



69 



Church, beinc; of tlie same Uennminatinn w ith his uncle 
Joseph. For forty years he was a member of the General 
Assembly, and for nearly thirty years Chief Justice of the 
Providence County Court. Nicholas Brown, fatlier of 
Hon. Nicholas Brown, married his daughter Rhoda, M.iy 
2, 1762. There have been other distinguished persons who 
bear the honored name of Jenckes, and the posteritv of the 
Governor is represented still in I'awtucket ami its neigh- 
borhood. 



S^I^SAY, Simon, one of the first settlers of Block Island, 
Sjt^ was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1635. 
fa»5 " His father was a native of England, and died in 
&!& Braintree in 1641. The subject of this sketch in- 
h herited a large portion of his father's estate, and at 
the age of twenty-five became the leader of the brave little 
colony of sixteen families that settled Block Island in 1660- 
62, at a time when Indian hostilities were alarming, and 
many were compelled to leave Massachusetts on account 
of persecution. Mr. Ray devoted his best energies and his 
fortune to the settlement of Block Island. He paid one- 
half the expense of building a shallop to transport the 
settlers ; w"as instrumental in having the island properly 
apportioned among them, and in obtaining from his fel- 
low-colonists a grant of about fifty acres of choice land to 
be used forever for the support of a minister on the island. 
His life was devoted to promoting the temporal and 
spiritual welfare of the natives and colonists. During a 
period of ninety years he and his son Simon did the princi- 
pal part of the preaching for the colony. His old age having 
been attended with loss of sight, his townsmen manifested 
their appreciation of his worth by holding their meetings at 
his house, which was remote from others, and continuing to 
elect him to the office of Chief Warden. For about thirty 
years he was their representative in the Rhode Island Gen- 
eral Assembly. Mr. Ray died at the advanced age of one 
hundred and two years, and left a large estate. His grave 
at the Island Cemetery is marked by a large gray stone slab 
bearing an affectionate inscription. The children who sur- 
vived him were Sybil, Mary, Dorothy, and Simon. Simon 
became a prominent citizen, and at his house there w-ere 
occasional gatherings of the highest dignitaries of Rhode 
Island. At his death, which occurred March 19, 1775, the 
Rays disappeared from the island, as he was an only son 
and had no male issue. His children were Judith, Cath- 
arine, Anna, and Phcebe. Judith marriedThomas Hubbard, 
of Boston ; Anna married Governor .Samuel Ward, of Rhode 
Island ; Catharme, with whom Franklin corresponded 
freely, married Governor William Greene, of Rhode 
Island; and Phcebe married William Littletield, of Block 
Island, and became the mother of Catharine, who became 
the wife of Major-General Nathanael Greene, and was an 
intimate friend of Martha Washington. 



J*;VF1ELD, HnNoR.MiLF. Nathaniel, son of Rev. 
Richard Byfield, was born in England in 1653. 
His father was an eminent divme, one of the oldest 
('i'^ of the ejected ministers in the county of Surrey, 
'v England, and one of the celebrated " Westminster 
Assembly" that prepared the well-known compendium of 
religious faith known as " The Shorter Catechism." The 
subject of this .sketch was the youngest of twenty-one 
children. He came to this country in 1674. In 1675 he 
married Miss Deborah Clarke. His business was that of 
a merchant in Boston, in which he met with great suc- 
cess, acquiring considerable property, a part of which, at 
the close of Philip's War, he invested with three other per- 
sons in the purchase of the township now known as Bristol, 
and shortly afterwards moved to that place, then but little 
better than a wdlderness. He resided on the beautiful 
peninsula opposite the village known as Poppasquash 
Point, his farm embracing nearly all the peninsula. By 
his wife he had five children, three of whom died voung, 
and of the other two, who were daughters, one married 
Lieutenant-Governor Taylor, of Massachusetts, and the 
other Edward Lyde, Esq. Three of their children lived to 
grow up and leave descendants. Mr. Byfield was a man of 
a decided religious character, giving generously to the cause 
which he loved. " To his wisdom, foresight, and liberality," 
remarks the Rev. J. P. Lane, of Bristol, "are we chiefly 
indebted for our broad and regular streets, our large and 
beautiful common, and especially the school lands, which 
were chiefly his own generous gift to the town, the income 
from which has been a material help to the cause of educa- 
tion here and a perpetual public charity." The service of 
communion of the First Church in Bristol was enriched 
by him with the gift of two cups of solid silver, bearing the 
inscription, " The gift of Nathaniel Byfield, 1693." But 
not only in the church and in the town was he active a.s a 
worthy member of the one, and a good citizen of the other, 
but his influence had been felt in the affairs of the colony in 
which he lived before his removal to Bristol. He was con- 
spicuous both in military and in civil affairs. The differ- 
ent positions he filled are thus summed up ; *' In the field 
he quickly arrived to one of the highest places of power. 
In the province of Massachusetts he was honored with many 
betrustments ; was jn commission for tlie Peace and Judge 
of Probate ; was several times chosen Speaker in the Hon- 
orable House of Representatives; sat chief thirty-eight 
years in the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and 
Common Pleas for the County of Bristol, as afterwards he 
did two years for the county of .Suffolk ; was one of His 
Majesty's Council for the province of Massachusetts Bay 
a great number of years, and had the honor of receiving 
five several commissions for Juilge of the Vice-Admiralty 
from three crowned heads : from King William in 1697, 
from Queen Anne in the years 1702, 1703, and 1709, and 
from King George in 1728." He remained in Bristol until 
1724. where his influence was felt for good in a multitude 



BIOGR.-irHICAL CVCL OTEDIA. 



ofwriyi. Soon afler the ovijani/ation of tlie church in that 
place his first wife, lo « lioni alhisioii has licoii made, 
united witli it, and fur tlie remainder of lier life was "one 
of the most vahialile and u^efid of the female mendiers, a 
fit associate and helpmeet to lier worthy hu^^and." She 
died in 1717. In I7I.She married Mr^. Saiah l.everett, 
youngest daughter oftlovernor Leverett. of Massachusetts, 
with whom he lived till 1 730. She died in Roston, De- 
cember 31, 1730. In \-]l\ Mr. Byfield left Bristol, and 
for the ne.xt nine years resided in Boston, where he died 
lune 6, 173?, leaving a large property, the bulk of which 
was bequeathed to his grandson, Bylield Lyde, Esq. As 
one of the four original proprietors of the Ijeauliful town 
of Bristol, his name deserves honoralde mention ami.mg 
Rhode Island worthies. 



one of whom was lion. Jesse S. Tourtellot, an honored 
Rhode Island name. The fifth child of .\bram, son of 
(iabriel. was .Anna. A\ho wa^ t^\'ice married. By her sec- 
onil husband. F.lienezer White, she had six daughters, the 
youngest of whom. Mar)', was the second wife of her 
Cotisin, Jesse, who also was her second husliand. In its 
riifferent branches, the Tourtellot family, which is of Hu- 
guenot descent, is a large one, and comprises in it some 
of the welbknown families of Rhode Island. 



('.OURTELLDT, .Vi-.RAr.M. In the Rhode Island 
Tracts, No. 5. bearing the title, " Memoir Con- 
cerning the French Settlement in the I'olony of 
^■:h Rhode Islanil, by Elisha R. Potter." may be found 
^ a I'lat of the l'"rench settlement in \\diat was called 
Rochester, subsequently ICingshire. Am<"mg the natnes 
of persons holding lots in this settlement we lind the name 
of Abraum 'IV)tirtellot, who must have been in this country 
as early as 16S6. He seems to have been in ]iartnership 
with his brother Benjamin in mercantile pursuits. This 
lirother diet! at sea, on his way from Lrmdon to this coun- 
try, September 25, 16S7, and Abraum administered on his 
estate. 'I"he sul)ject of this sketch, who lived in Roxbury. 
Massachusetts, had, by his wife Mary, two chilihen, (Iabriel 
Tourtellot, who was born September 24. 1694, and Esther, 
liorn June 12, l6g6. t.ialiriel married Marie, daughter of 
G.abriel Bernon. Her name is mentioned in Bernon's 
will, dated February 16, 1727. Tracing down the pos- 
terity of .\braum Tourtellot, it appears that (laliriel and 
Mary (Bernon) Tourtellot had three children, two sons 
and a daughter. His residence was in Newport, from 
which ])lace he sailed as master of a vessel, and was, 
with Ills eldest son, lost at sea. His son, Abram, marriei.! 
I.ydia Ballard. He settled in (Uoeester, where he was 
the owner of a large landed estate. They had seven chil- 
drcTi. The fourth child was a son, who received the name 
of his father, .Abram. He was born February 27, 1725, 
and was twice niarricl, first to Miss Harris, and second, to 
Mrs, Hannah Coqis, a widow, whom he married January 
29, 1743. They had fi\e children. The first, .Stejihen, 
died young. The second, William, who married I'hcbe 
Whitman, of Providence, and settled in Glocester. They 
had a large family of childien, twH-lve in numlter, four 
sons and eight daughters. The third, |esse, w ho married 
an .Vngell, and scttlL-d in Meriden. They had ten chil- 
dren. The fourth, D.imel, married Urana Keech, by 
whom he had three ihdiben. the lirst of wdiom was 
les,e, w ho ni,irried a Steere. Thev had twelve children. 




si PES. Rev. John, like his contemporary, Roger 
% Williams, was I)orn in the princi|.ialitv of \\'ales. 
In 1649. he became pastor of the Baptist Church, 
in .Swanzea, in the county of Glamorganshire, 
where he distinguished himself as a clerical leader, 
and, in 165 1, was sent as a representative to the Baptist 
Ministers' Meeting in London. Under his ministry his 
church was greatly prospered, receiving two hundred and 
si.\ty-three members, wdien, at last, in 1662, by the intol- 
erant Act of Uniformity. Mr. Miles and some two thousand 
ministers lost their lauful li\"ings, and were ejected bom 
their parishes. Immediately, with many rtf his cluirch 
and the church records, he removed to America. Not 
[ileased with the Puritan restraints of Boston, he first 
settled in Rehoboth Here he reorganized the Suanzea 
Chttrcb. first meeting in the house of John Buttervvorth. 
'I'he body being fined five dollars a member " for setting 
up a meeting without the authority of law," the church 
\\as remo\ed to Wannamoiset, south of Rehoboth, now 
in Barringlon, where they built a meeting-house, about 
three miles northwest of the village of Warren. In 
I()67, Mr. Miles and Captain Thomas Willett were the 
leaders in founding the town of Swanzea, named after the 
church and town which Mr. Miles had left in Wales. Mr. 
Miles w.as an excellent scholar and an able preacher. 
His residence was near Barneyville. In 1673, he was 
chosen bv the town, at a salary of forty pounds per annum, 
to be " master of a school for teaching Grammar, Rhetoric 
and .\rithmetic, and the tongues of Latin, Greek and He- 
brew, also to read English and to write" — wdiat would now 
be called an academy. It was broken up by Philip's War. 
On the 20th of June, 1675, the people gathered into gar- 
rison houses, and Hiilitary forces were intrenched in Mr. 
Miles's mansion, which was termed Miles's Garrison. It 
stood about fifty rods west of Miles's Bridge. The war 
laid half the houses of the settlers in ashes. About iGSo, 
a new meeting-house was Iniilt at Tyler's Point, just below 
Kelly's Bridge, l.iut in 1700 was removed to North .Sw^an- 
zea. Mr. Miles's wdfe was .Ann Humphrey, and his chil- 
dren were John, Susannah, and Samuel. He sometimes 
j.reached for the trongregalionalists, and was hehl in uni- 
versal esteem, both for his attainments and piety. His 
pulpit talents won him high reputation also in Boston. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



He died at Tyler's Point, February 3, 1683, having been 
a preacher thirty eight years — half of that time in this 
country. 



jjLMV FAMILY. William Almy, the American 
ancestor of this numerous and respected family, 
-^'i-s^ was born in England, in 1601. He came to this 
' jT country and settled in Lynn, Mass., in 1631, where 
J"l, he resided for a few years, and then returned to 
England. In 1 635, he came over again, in the ship .Abigail' 
with his wife, Audrey, and children, Annis and Christopher. 
He was one of the ten men of Lynn, grantees of the town of 
Sandwich, by the Plymouth Court, in 1637, whose names 
are given by Barber in his Historical Collections, but 
whether he ever removed to Sandwich, and assisted in 
founding that town, we are unable to ascertain. In 1644 
he was in Portsmouth, R. L, and was granted lands at "the 
Wading Brook," the scene of the hard- fought battle of 
Rhode Island, under Sullivan and Greene, in. August, 177S. 
Portsmouth has ever since been the seat of the oldest 
branch of this family. He soon rose to distinction in the 
infant colony, then so much in need of good and capable 
men. In 1648, the year after the formation of the govern- 
ment, under the charter of 1643, ^^ was Assistant for Ports- 
mouth, and Commissioner in 1656-57 and 1663, the last 
session under the old charter. Assistant then corresponded 
to Senator, and Commissioner to Representative. William 
Alray's will, dated February, 1676, mentions his children, 
Christopher, John, Job, Ann and Catherine. He probably 
died in the year that his will was executed, at which time 
he was seventy-five years of age. On the 5th of March, 
1680, after the close of King Philip's War, Job and Chris, 
topher Almy, Edward Gray and Colonel Benjamin Church, 
and four others, purchased of Plymouth, for ^fiioo, a 
tract of land comprising the present towns of Tiverton and 
Little Compton. The property was divided into thirty 
shares, of which the Almys took seven. They located 
their lands on what is now called " the Neck," lying be- 
tween Nonquit Pond and the Bay, the most valuable of 
which are still in possession of the family. The large and 
beautiful farm of the late Governor Nicholas Cooke, now 
the property of Seth Bateman, of Newport, is a part of this 
fertile tract. This purchase included what is now a part of 
the city of Fall River. The line ran through the Catholic 
church, which, until the late exchange of territory with 
Massachusetts, was partly in Massachusetts and partly in 
Rhode Island. This valuable tract of land, by the charter 
of 1663, actually belonged to Rhode Island, but was not 
surrendered by Massachusetts until after the line was run 
by Commissioners, in 1743. Christopher Almy died in 
1684, aged eighty-two years. Job Almy married Mary, 
daughter of Christopher Unthauk, of Warwick. Their 



children were John, Job, Anthony, Susannah, .Audrey, Deb- 
orah, Catherine, and Mary, who are mentioned in the will 
of the father, who died in February, 1684. Upon the ac- 
cession of James II. a writof y«o7£/rt«-ff«/'o was immediately 
issued against the charter of Rhode Island. This caused 
immense alarm, and upon its receipt, Walter Clarke, the 
Governor, and the Company sent him an humble address, 
under date of July 3, 1 686. This was followed by another 
from " certain inhabitants of Rhode Island in relation to 
the (/IIP warranto" under date of July :6, 1686, and is 
signed by Christopher Almy and thirteen others. This 
was a grandson of William Almy. The charter of Rhode 
Island, like those of all the New England colonies, was 
suspended by Andros from 1686 until he was compelled to 
surrender his authority, April 1 8, 1689, when Walter 
Clarke, the Governor, refusing to assume his duties, John 
Coggeshall, the Deputy-Governor, seized the reins of gov- 
ernment, and carried the imperilled colony through an in- 
terregnum of ten months, till a special election was held in 
February, 1690, when Christopher Almy was a Dei)Uty. 
In the vote for Governor, Mr. Almy was elected, but de- 
clining to serve, "it was then," says Bancroft, "that all 
eyes were turned to one of the old Antmomian exiles, the 
more than octogenarian, Henry Bull; and the fearless 
Quaker, true to the light within, employed the last glim- 
merings of life to restore the democratic charter of Rhode 
Island." John Coggeshall, at this time, was elected 
Assistant, but refusing to serve, Mr. Almy was chosen in 
his place ; and thus the government was reorganized, //v 
tempore, until the regular election was held the following 
May, when other changes took place. Henry Bull and 
John Coggeshall, being successively elected Governor, and 
peremptorily refusing to serve, John Easton was chosen in 
their stead, and continued in office until 1696. Soon after 
this, Christopher .\lmy, on account of his great business 
and executive ability, was sent to England as agent of the 
Colony. On the 2d of August, 1692, there was " an ad- 
dress of the Governor and the Company of Rhode Island 
to their majesties W'illiam and Mary. This was immedi- 
ately followed by another from the Assembly to the King, 
in which they informed him that they had also sent ad- 
dresses, the last spring, by their messenger. Captain Chris- 
topher Almy." As King William was then busily engaged 
as the head of the European Coalition against Louis XIV. 
of France, Christopher Almy addressed a petition to Queen 
Mary and the Lords of the Privy Council, under date of 
August 24, 1693. This appears to have been successful, 
and upon his return, October 28, 1696, he was granted an 
allowance of ;£'i35 los. Sd. for his services and expenses. 
The Almy fam i ly do not appear conspicuous in politics since 
the close of the seventeenth century, but have been dis- 
tinguished as landholders, and for that intelligence, indus- 
try, and .sobriety which make the good citizen. The 
longevity of this family is remarkable. John Almy, of 
Tiverton, died April 20, iSoS, in his eighty-eighth year. 



72 



BIOGRAPHICAL C 1 TL OPEDIA. 



ami Snnfni-.l Almy, of I.itlk- (;'..ni]>lnii, -.till living, and in 
full jio^Mi'^vinii of hi-, facullif,, i^ in lii^ niini y---L-cond year. 



tERRV, (.'c-MMiMi'lKK Dl.IMR IIa/\RIi, U. S. N., 

tlic M)n of CliristopliLi- Raynioiul and Sarah (Al- 
fS'? f^ander) I'erry, ^va^ born in Xcwport, Aui;iivt 2Ist, 
®P 17S5. His paternal ancestor in tlie f.iurlli i;eneration, 
4> Kdward I'erry. an inllnential member ol Ihe Soeiety 
of Friends, eanie from Devonshire, EnL;Iand, alrout the 
year 1650, and took np his resiilenee in South Kingston^ 
His granilfather, Freeman I'erry. a lawyer ol distinction 
in the colony, married, February 2d, I"j2, the daughter of 
Oliver Hazard, " a gentleman of large property, elegant 
manners, and cultivated tastes." The third son by this 
marriage was the father of the subject of this sketch, and 
took a prominent part, as a military officer and in privateer- 
ing service, in lighting the battles of his country liy land 
an<-l sea during nearly the whole period covered by the 
Re\"olutioiiarv War. After his marriage \\'ith .Sarah Alex- 
ander, a .Scotch lady, whose aci|nainlance he made dui'ing 
the homeward jiassage from Ireland on a merchantman, of 
which he was mate, he took up his residence in his father's 
mansion, in South Kingston, where he remained a few 
years, and then removed to Newport. His son Oliver 
was placed in the school of Mr. Frazer, under whose tu- 
ition he received the best training which cotild be obtained 
in the place. Near the close of 1797 the family removed 
from New|iort to Westerly, where the father remained only 
a few ni'inths, and then, accompanied l>y his wife, went to 
Warien. to superintenil the construction of a ship which 
was lo be built in lliat place ixx the United Slates service. 
Oliser, then a lad liif but thiiteen years of age. took the 
charge of his sister and younger brothers during the ab- 
sence of their parents, llpon the completion of his father's 
vessel, the "General Greene," he was ap|ioinled, when 
not i|uite fourteen years of age, a midshipman, and soon 
after saded with his father for Guba. The siiecial duty of 
Captain I'err)- was to prittecl oui" ciumnerce Ir-unthe depre- 
dations committed by French cruisers in the West India 
seas. The breaking out of the yellow fever on board his 
ship compelled him to return to the United .States, after a 
few miinths' service. In the autumn of this year he re- 
turneil to the West India station, his youthful son being 
again one ()!' his suboidniale ofticers. After various ad- 
ventures, smiie of which introiluced Ihe young midshipman 
to the mc)re serious experiences of his jirofession, the 
" ( iener.ll ( ireene "' was ordered t(.) reUitn to the United 
States, and reached Newport towards the close of -May, 
1800. Not long after, our I'rench troubles having been 
amicably adjusted, the navy was reduced, and Captain 
Perry's services were no longer in denumd, and he returned 
to his home. His son, howe\'er, was retained in the ser- 
vice, and a little more than a year from this time he was 



ordered to the " Adams," which w ith other vessels was 
sen! to .Mgiers. He was absent on this cruise a year and a 
half. Meanwhile, his family had once more taken up 
their residence in New port, an<! with litem their son, on 
his return, remained for a few months, al the end of 
which time he was ordered to the " Constellation," which 
sailed for the Mediterranean station in July, 1S04. He 
had now been promoted to a lieutenancy, and in this capaci- 
ty acted on board the " Nautilus," to which he had been 
transferred in 1805. After various fortunes, he returned 
home in the sunnner of 1S06, where for some time he re- 
mained on professional duty. While thus engaged the 
famous attack was made on the United States frigate Chesa- 
peake by the English double-decked ship, " Leopard," 
wliich so thoroughly aroused the indignation of the [Peo- 
ple of this country. Then came the claim which England 
set up to her right to search American vessels whenever 
she suspected that in ihem there were deserters from ihe 
liritish service. From February, 1S08, to April, 1S09, 
Lieutenant Perry was occupied in superintending the con- 
struction of gunboats lo enforce the Embargo Act. At the 
end of this period he was ordered to the schoc>ner Re- 
venge, of fourteen guns, under the command of Commo- 
dore Rodgers, and was in service for more than a year, 
chiefly on the southern coast of the United Stales. Re- 
turning north he was ordered to engage in the work of 
making a survey of the coast in the vicinity of Rhode 
Island. In the discharge of this duly, unfortunately, in a 
dense fog, his vessel was wrecked, January g, iSio, on 
Watch Hill reef. He was acriuitted of all blame for the 
loss of the vessel, which was laid to the account of the 
pilol. He now secured leave of absence from service for 
one vear, and on the 5th of May, iSlI, was married to 
the lady to whom he had been engaged for four years, 
Miss Elizabeth Champlain Mason, of Newport. Upon the 
declaration of war against England in 181 2 he returned 
to active duty, having lieen promoted to the rank of captain, 
and on the 17th of February, 1813, received orders lo 
proceed lo the lakes, to take command of a naval force to 
he created on Lake Erie. In due time, after many delays 
and discouragements, the building and manning of the 
fleet was completed. The force wdiich he was lo encoun- 
ter on Lake Erie was of the most formidable character. 
It consisted of six well-armed vessels, varying in tonnage 
from one hundred 10 live hundred tons, and carrying in all 
sixty-three guns. The squadron was commanded by Cap- 
tain Robert Ilcriot liarclay, a distinguished officer of the 
British navy. The whole number of men in the squadron 
was Ave hundred and two. The vessels umler the com- 
mand of Captain Perry, the Law rence and the Niagara, 
being the only thoroughly reliable ones, carried in all tifty- 
four guns. The whole American force consisted of four 
hundred and ninety men, of whom one hundred and six- 
teen were on the sick-list, under the professional charge of 
Dr. Usher Parsons. A blue flag, bearing in large white 




(J A/ 



/o) 



t / / // 



BIOGRArillCAL C\ CLOPEDIA. 



letters the words, " Don't give up the ship." when seen 
floating from the main royal mast of the Lawrence, was to 
be the signal for commencing the light. On the morning 
of tlie loth of September, 1813, at sunrise, the British 
squadron came in sight, and after various m.mosuvres the 
Lawrence was cleared for action at ten o'clock, the ene- 
my being not far from six miles distant. The blue flag 
was hoisted, and when the squadrons came within fighting 
distance the firing commenced. The details of this cele- 
brated battle it does not fall within our province to relate. 
The fierce attack on the Lawrence, the hazardous passage 
of Captain Perry from his shattered ship to the Niagara, 
the destructive fire of this vessel enforced by that of her 
consorts on the ships of the enemy, and the final surren- 
der of the British naval force to the American, — these 
are well-known matters of history, which we need not at- 
tempt to repeat. The letter which the brave young officer — 
he was then but twenty-seven — sent to General Harrison, 
was brief, but comprehensive: '* Dear General — We have 
met the enemy, and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, 
one schooner, and one sloop. Yours, with great respect 
and esteem, O. H. Perry." Characterized by the same 
modesty was his letter to the Secretary of the Navy : 
" .Sir — It has pleased the Almighty to give to the arms of 
the United States a signal victory over their enemies on 
this lake," etc., adding, in substance what was written in 
the other communication. Without minutely following 
the fortunes of Captain Perry for the next few months, it 
must suffice to say that from Congress and his fellow-citi- 
zens he received the honor and the reward to which he 
was so justly entitled. He was promoted to a post-cap- 
taincy, and in 1814 was appointed to take command of a 
new frigate, the " Java," having an armament of forty-four 
guns. While occupied in Baltimore in fitting out his ship, 
he did good service in annoying, by means of his battery, 
the British squadron in their descent of the Potomac from 
Alexandria, and in the defence of Baltimore. After some 
delay the "Java" was prepared to sail, and was on the 
Mediterranean station for more than two years. In 1819 
he was ordered to the command of the John Adams, to 
proceed to South America to look after the interests of our 
commerce, which was seriously threatened by adventurers, 
using the flags of the new States in that continent. He 
had previously been raised to the rank of Commodore, 
and as such was to visit the far-off country, to which he 
was sent by the government. On leaving the river Orinoco, 
up which the squadron had sailed as far as Angostura, he 
was seized with the yellow fever and died on board of his 
vessel at Port .Spain, August 23, 1819. His remains, 
which were interred in Port Spain, were subsequently 
brought by a national ship to Newport and laid away in a 
tomb in the burying-ground of Trinity Church, in that 
city. In September, i860, a marble statue of Commodore 
Perry was unveiled with imposing ceremonies in the city 
of Cleveland, Ohio. 
10 



SjM^L.\P, Rkv. N.\TlI.\NrEI., a distinguished Congrega- 
jJKg tional minister of Newport, son of Nathaniel, and 
^"t i%, grandson of Deacon Nicholas Clap, one of the early 
S'l settlers of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was born Jan- 
I I uary, 1668. He was a graduate of Harvard College 
in the class of 1690, and commenced his ministry in New- 
port in 1695. His early labors were attended with many 
discouragements. A church was not formed until 1720, 
of wdiich he was ordained November 3d of this year. 
After he had labored with fidelity for several years as the 
minister of this church, a popular young man, whose 
preaching he could not indorse, drew off (.[uite a number 
of his members. A new church was formed, which called 
him to be their pastor. The time of his ministerial service 
in Newport covered a period of fifty years. The impres- 
sion which he made on those who came in contact with 
him is shown by what Whitefield, who landed in Newport 
in 1740, said of him. "He looked like a good old 
Puritan, and gave me an idea of what stamp those men 
were who first settled New England. His countenance 
is very heavenly, and he prayed most affectionately for a 
blessing on my coming to Rhode Island. I could not but 
think that I was sitting with one of the patriarchs." And 
Dean Berkeley thus alludes to him ; " Before I saw Father 
Clap, I thought the Bishop of Rome had the gravest aspect 
of any man I ever saw ; but really the minister of Newport 
has the most venerable appearance." Mr. Clap was never 
married. He died October 30, 1745. 



Sj^»j/\RR, .Sir Roijf.rt, was an English gentleman, ap- 
M^™^^ pointed commissioner, in conjunction with Colonel 
'•ii^ Richard Nichols, George Cartwright, and .Samuel 
"i'i Maverich, by Charles II., in 1664, to sit in judgment 
I I upon matters affecting the interests of the Colonies. 
They were charged to investigate the manner in which the 
charters of New England had been exercised, " with full 
authority to provide for the peace of the country, according 
to the royal instructions and their own discretion." The 
coming of these commissioners was regarded with any 
other than feelings of satisfaction by many of the colonists, 
the appointment being considered a " flagrant violation of 
chartered rights," and an interference in their private 
affairs which was quite generally resented. In this article 
we confine ourselves to the narrative of w hat transpired in 
Rhode Island under the direction of Carr and his asso- 
ciates. Bancroft says : " The nature of the government of 
Rhode Island, its habitual policy of relying on England 
for protection, secured to the royal agents in that province 
a less unfavorable reception." Having effected the cap- 
ture of New York, the commissioners were invited to visit 
Rhode Island on their way to Boston. We are told that 
" the arrival of Sir Robert Carr at Newport, January 23, 
1664, where he was detained some days by a storm, gave 



74 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED /A. 



great >.alisf.iction to the people of Rhoilo Island." On 
leavin*^ Newjiort, Sir Robert Carr s[)cnt sotnc days \\ ith 
Mr. Willett, at his resilience on Narra;,'ansett Hay, who 
was per^uadel-l by hint to {;o t" New \'ork, and tlicre act 
as mayor of that city. An effort, which was not successful, 
was mailc to settle the boundary lines between I'lyniouth 
and Kliode Island. Some troublesome matters which in- 
terested the people of Narragansett were brouj,dit to the 
notice of the commissioners. Sec .-Vrnold's lliiU'ry, vol. 
'•I W- 315-lb.and Tiitter's Eiiiiy lliilory of .Wirragtunett, 
p. 63, etc. The re])ort of the acts of the loyal commis- 
sioners in the different .\mencan colonies was sent to Eng- 
land. That pari of the report which alludes t<i what was 
done in Rhode Islaiul, refers to ■' Narragansett Bay, as the 
largest and safest ])ort in New Kngland, nearest the sea, 
and htteil for trade." In the report there is, also, an allu- 
sion to what (governor Arnold says is "the earliest known 
temperance petition," that of I'essicus, Sachem of the Nar- 
ragansetts, desiring "the conimissionei's to ]iray King 
Charles that no strong liquors might be brought into that 
country, for he hail thirty-two men that died by drinking 
of it." .Soon after his return to England, Sir Robert Carr 
died at Bristol, England, June i, 1667. The jealousy with 
which especially Massachusetts regarded the commission- 
ers, the one member of which, the subject of this sketch, 
was particularly oluioxious to the jteople of Boston, has 
been referred to. " A century later," says Bancroft, "and 
there were none in England who tlid not esteeiri the com- 
mission an unconstitutional usurpation." 



nTlfi'' 'i'KINS, Hon. RoisIlRT, son of Zcbedee and Anne 
^Jr»l/^ Ho[)kins, was born in .Scituate (now Foster), 
«r^'?3 Rhode Island, September 2S, 1765. His father, 
H a representative farmer of his day, was a justice of 
Jt. the peace, and tilled a ]ironiincnt ]'Iace in town 
affairs. Roliert inherited excellent ■pialities of body and 
mind, and early resolved uponagond use of them. Be- 
yond that of his guod home training, his education was the 
result of his own efforts. lie, and a few others of like 
spirit, employed a school-teacher fur their (i\\ n special 
benefit. He became an apt disciple of St. Cris]>in, a suc- 
cessful farmer, an honored jurist, and was acquainted with 
the best and most notalde men of his time. He rose from 
the office of justice of the peace to the Bench of the Court 
of Common I'leas of the county of Providence, taking his 
seat in 181S, by the side of \\'heeler Martin. Thomas 
Mann, Josiah Westcott, and James Cllncy, and held his 
positicju with honor to himself ami to the jieoide for six- 
teen years. He was a plain, unpretending man, and highly 
esteemed for his superior worth. Continuing to value his 
leathern aprim and awd. he was one day called upon by a 
gentleman who inquireil where he might find [udge Hoji- 
kins. Looking U]) from his last, he replied, '• They call 



me by that name." He was the intimate friend of Hon. 
Theodore Foster and Dr. Solomon IJrow ne, who, by their 
learning and wealth did so much for the welfare of the 
township. The pul)lic library, given largely by Mr. Foster, 
was ke|)t in the house of Juilge I lopkins during his life and 
for some time after. The Judge was so unambitious of 
fame, that \vhen he was elected to the State .Senate he de- 
clined the honor. He married, March 31, 1793, Mary 
Ann Brown, daughter of Daniel Brown, of East Green- 
wich, Rhode Islanil. Of his children only one lived to 
ha\e a family. This son, Xoyes Hopkins, born in Foster, 
May 25, 1793, well educated in the schools, became a 
teacher, and married Patience (ircene Brayton, of Reho- 
botli, Massachusetts, and had three children, James Noyes, 
Amelia Greene, and Lucy Brayton. He died in Baltimore, 
Maryland, Sejitember 29, 1S29. The honored Judge died 
at his residence in Foster, January 29, 1S34. 



,.VXSi )X, Rev. John, Sr., was born in 1638, being 
the first w hite child born on the island of Rhode 
Island. At his birth his mother was a widow, 
1 i his lather having just previously been killed by the 
Jl Pequots. In 1661 we find him among the pur- 
chasers of Misquamicut, afterwards Westerly, and his name 
is in the first roll of freemen when Westerly was incor- 
jiorated in l6()9. He shared the excitement and losses 
incident to I'liiliji's war, 1075-70, wdien all the settlers of 
Westerly were obliged to abandon their homes. He set- 
tled in the northern part of Westerly, now Hopkinton.and 
apijiears to ha\ e been one of the constituent members of the 
Sabbatarian Church, perhaps first in Newport, and then of 
the new body in Hopkinton; for on the formal organization 
in Hopkintcul, in, 170S he " was ordained to the place and 
otiice of an elder." The .Sabliatarian Church in Hopkin- 
ton is now the oldest of the kind in the country, and has 
had a worthy history. In 1710. at Mr. Maxson's reipiest, 
he had his son, [ohn Maxson, William 1 )avis, Joseph 
Clarke, Sr., (leorge Stillman. JosL-ph Clarke, Jr., and Jo- 
seph Crandell to assist him in public ministrations. So the 
church hail a piastor, two el<lers, and deacons. The ven- 
erable pastor, who had watched and largely guided the 
wdiLile hist(U"y of the town, died December 17, 1720, aged 
eighty-two years. 



li Indian strua 



f;\XSON,REV. Ji'HN, JR., son of the first jiastor 
of the first Sabbatarian Church in Hopkinton, 
was born in i6o(j, ami was a witness of the great 

.- j^gle under Philip, when the whites all 

J"l tiHik refuge in Xewqiort. C)f necessity his educa- 
tional advantages were limited, but he lived in no common 
home circle. In 1687 he was married to Judith Clarke, 
a lueinber of a gifted and honored family. In August, 
1712, he was ordained a deacon, having assisted his lather 



BIO GRA rniCA L C ) XL OPED I A . 



75 



for two year?. The church tlien niiml)erod almut one luiii- 
dred and thirty members. On the 5th of June, 1719, he 
was appointed an elder, and succeeded his father in the 
pastorate. His brother, Joseph Maxson, was chosen his 
assistant in 1739, and in the same year Thomas Hiscox 
was chosen first a deacon and then an elder. After an up- 
right, faithful, devout life, that left its impress on the church 
and the town, the honored jiastor died in July, 1747, in 
the eiglity-first year of his age. 



fS|l|flipAXSON, Rkv. Joseph, brother of Rev. John 



Maxson, Jr., was born in 1672. In 1732 he 

i_9" received, with Thomas Hiscox, ordination as 

an evancrelist or travellinij minister." (")n the 



•)"(« death of his brother, in 1747, he succeeded to the 
pastoral office, though he was then seventy-five years of age. 
His pastorate was short, and was marked with peculiar 
agitations in the church and community, growing out of the 
New Light movement, that shook all New England He 
died in September, 1750, in the seventy-eighth year of his 
age. 



J^EDWOOI), .\br.\HAM, was bom in Uristol, Eng- 
^^15 land, in 1665. He had command for some time 
■fas^ * of a ship employed in the trade between London 
■""^ and the Island of Jamaica. In 1687 he took up 
his residence in the Island of Antigua. Here he 
married his first wife, Mehetabel Langford, daughter of 
Jonas Langford. By this marriage he came into possession 
of a valuable sugar plantation, called the " Cassada Gar- 
den," on which was a large number of slaves. Soon after 
his marriage he retired from a seafaring life, and devoterl 
himself to his jjlantation. He continued to reside in An- 
tigua until 1712. He then, with his wife and children, 
removed to New England, where he lived seventeen years, 
a part of the time in Salem, Mass., and a part of the time 
in Newport. His first wife died in 1715. His second wife 
was Mrs. Patience Collins, whom he married in 1716. 
She died in Newport in 1745. By her he had five children. 
He died in Salem, Mass., in 1728. The oldest son of 
Abraham and Mehetabel Langford Redwood was Jonas 
Langford Redwood, who was heir to the " Cassada Estate." 
He was thrown from his horse and killed, near the Wind- 
mills, at the north end of Newport. The Antigua 
plantation then came into the possession of his brother 
Abraham, the second son of Abraham and Mehetabel Red- 
wood, and the founder of the " Redwood Library " in 
Newport. He was born in Antigua, in 1 7 10, and when 
a child of two years of age, in 1712, came to this country 
with his parents. He was educated chiefly at Philadelphia. 
Before he was twenty years of age he married Martha Cog- 
geshall, of Newport. He lived in a style of opulence be- 



coming his fortuncand the elegant simplicity which would 
naturally be expected of him as a member of the Society 
of Eriemls. His town and his country residence both 
indicated, in their surroundings, the tastes of the owner. 
In his botanical garden were to be found curious foreign as 
well as indigenous plants, which were in either hot or 
green houses in the open grounds. We are told that the 
first garden in New England that had any pretensions to 
the name of botanical garden was that of Mr. Redwood, 
in Newport. He has transmitted his name to posterity 
through the Lil)rary in Newport, which bears his name, to- 
wards which he contributed a valuable donation. He died in 
17SS, leaving three sons and one daughter, to wit: Jonas 
Langford Redwood, who married Abigail Godfrey, of 
Rhode Island, whose children were Jonas and Abraham. 
The second soli was William, who married Sarah Pope, and 
died without issue. The third son was Abraham, who 
married Sarah Honyman, by whom he had Martha, who 
became the wife of Baron Hottinguer, a banker of Paris. 
Mehetabel, the daughter of Abraham, married Benjamin 
Ellery. She was celebrated for her beauty and accom- 
plishments, and was the mother of the wife of Hon. Chris- 
topher Grant Chaniplin, a distinguished citizen of Newport. 
The Abraham Redwood whose portrait and coat of arms 
are in the Redw'ood Library was the son of yonas Lang- 
ford and Abigail Godfrey Redwood. He was the grand- 
son of the founder of the Librarv. 



ARSONS, Usher, M.D., youngest child of William 
and Abigail Frost (Blunt) Parsons, was born in 
V^l*" Alfred, Maine, August 18, 1788. His ancestors 
were among the earliest of the New England colo- 
nists, the first of the name. Joseph Parsons, arriving 
from England in 1635. His great grandson, Joseph, was 
a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1720, and 
was a minister in Bradford, Massachusetts, for thirty-nine 
years. The fifth son of Joseph (William), the father of 
the subject of this sketch, was a trader and farmer, and a 
prominent citizen in Alfred. His son Usher studied in 
the schools of his native village in (he winter, and worked 
on his father's farm in the summer. He spent about a year 
in the Berwick Academy. For a few years he served as 
a clerk in retail stores in Portland, Maine, and Wells (now 
Kennebunk), Maine. Having decided to study medicine, he 
entered the office of Dr. Abiel Hall, of Alfred While 
he was prosecuting his medical studies, he taught school 
for a part of the time, and in the family of Rev. Moses 
Sweat, of Sanford, Maine ; he nearly fitted for college, in- 
tending to have a full college course before completing his 
medical studies, but, concluding that to carry out this plan 
would occupy too many years, he made up his mind to give 
his undivided attention to the study of his chosen profes- 
sion. He now became a pupil of Dr. John Warren, of 



76 



BIOGRArillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



Boston, remaining; with him six nioiiths. and thi-n was ad- 
mitted to practice. .After v.iiiuvis fiuitlc^s attempts to get 
an appointment in the navy, he received a commission as 
surgeon's mate, wdiich bears the date of July l>, lS[2. Dur- 
ing the following winter and spring he had cliarge of tlie 
sick and wounded at Black Kock, near Buffalo, New York. 
In the month of June, 1S13, t'aptain Oliver li. Terry came 
to Black Rock in the discharge of a professional duty as- 
signed to him. and Dr. Parson, was tran^lerred to the small 
fleet of which he had the crnjiund and had the care of the 
sick among the crews of the dilferent vessels. The battle 
of Lake Erie occurred Septeniljcr 10. .\ large numlier of 
the officers and men connected with the .\meriean fleet 
were suffering from bilious inteiniitleiil lever. During 
that celebrated battle Dr. rarsoii- was ihc only surgeon to 
whom was intrusted the care "f the woumleil, and in what 
manner he acquitted hiuisell in the perfoimance of the 
duties whieh de\i)l\'ed on him on that memoialdc rlay is 
tints st.iled by (/omnioilore Terry, in a letter to the Secre- 
tary of the Xavy : " ( )f Dr. Usher Parsons, ■-urgeon's mate, 
I cannot say loo much, In consequence ipf the disability 
of liiHh the other surgeons, Drs. Ilorsley and i'.arton, the 
whole duty of tiperating, dressing, ,ind attending near a 
hundre'l \^■ounded and as many sick devolved on him; and 
it must be ]]leasing t'l you, sir, to reflect, that nf the whole 
nunrl'er wounilc'l, ordy three have died. I can only say 
that, in the e\ent i-<f my ha\ing another ewniniand, I sllould 
consider nivself fortunate in h.ning him with me as a sur- 
geon.'' .'\ little more than six nn.inths after the Itattle of 
Lake Krie he was [ironioled to the tank of snrgcon. his 
commissinii bluing datetl .\prd IS, 1N14. < hi the 2^\ of 
December of this year he was attached to the frigate Java, 
in the command of Ccmnitpdore Perry, his service in this 
vessel continuing through the yeius iSi5and 1S16. The 
war with England was over, and the Java was ordered to 
sail early in iSlO for the Mediterranean, to lonk after 
American interests, e^peeui!!}' in eonneetinn with the Bar- 
bary States and the threatening attitude of .\lgiers. The 
object contemplated by the trip was successful, aiid the 
Java relnnii'd to the United Slates, reaching Newi'ort, .March 
3, I.Siy. In July of this year Dr. Parsons came to Provi- 
dence with the purpose of entering upon the practice of 
his profession. He attended a course of lectures at the 
Medical Scho.il in Boston through the winter of 1S17- 
I.SiS, and in Mareli, l.SiS, received the degree of Doctor 
of Medicine bom Ilarv.ird Uni\'ersity. Having concluded 
not to remain in Providence, but to continue in |iraetice in 
the Xavy, he sailed from Boston in Julv, I.SlS, as a sur- 
geon of the frigate (luerriere. Captain Thomas Macdon- 
ough, for St. Petersburg, carrying Mr. (/.eorge W. Camp- 
bell, Minister to Russia. (_)f his personal ex]>erience and 
adventures iluring this cruisu he has given in letters to his 
correspondents in the I'nited States a full account. His 
professional tastes he sought in every po-^ible way to gratily 
by intercourse with distinguished medical men, visiting 



the great hospitals of the Old AVorld, and, greatly en- 
riched in knowledge, and with lietter ipialifications than 
ever to pursue his chosen vocation, he returned to his 
native land, reaching Boston early in 1S20. In August of 
this year, he receiver! the appointment of Professor of 
Anatomy and .Surgery in Dartmouth College, wdiere he 
lectured only a year. In April, 1S22, he carried out his 
former purpose to take up his residence in Providence. He 
was appointed Professor of Anatomy and .Surgery in the 
medical schoijl then attached to Brown University, in 
1S23, and held that oflice until 1S2.S. As a ])hysician and 
surgeon he rose to a prominent rank. For ]iurposes of 
Consultation his services were in demand in Rhoile Island 
and the neighboring States. Few men in his ]irofession 
have enjoyed such rare facilities as he for informing them- 
selves of the Iiest methods of the treatment of dise.ases and 
of performing surgical operations, and he made the knowl- 
edge he had acquircl of constant use in his own practice. 
In 1S4; he again visited F.urope, and still further enlarged 
his acquaintance with matters pertaining to his profession. 
He formed friendships with distinguished scholars and 
scientific men, which were the source of great satisfaction 
to him in subsefjuent life. In the Rhode Island Medical 
Society he took a deep interest, and for three years was 
its presiding ofticer, iSjiy, 1S3S, and iS^q. He was pres- 
ent as a delegate from Rhode DIand at the organization of 
the American .Medical .Association, in I.S47, and for many 
years attended the meetings of the .Association in different 
cities of the Union. In 1S5J, at New A'ork, he was elected 
first \'ice-President, and at the meeting at St. Louis, in 
1X^4, in the absence of the Presi<U-nt, he acted as such, 
and made the opening address. His writings on topics con- 
nceteil with his profession were very numerous, and were 
regarded as of a high character. He was a prime mover 
in the plan which culminateil in tlie establishment of the 
Rhode Island Hospital, his ]ieisoml gifts to which were 
one thousand didlars, three hundred volumes from his 
library, and a bequest of one huiidied didlars. He ob- 
tained a charter for the Rho.U- Island Natural History 
Society, in 1S57, and was the first President of the Society. 
" His ecclesiastical relations," says his biogra]iher, "were 
peculiar. He was brought up in Congregational worship 
and the faith of the Turitans. .Soon after his marriage he 
was admitted to the Episcopal communion, at St. John's 
Churcli. In later veais he had a scat in one place of wor- 
ship after another, St. John's, the First Bajitist, St. Ste- 
phen's (now Church of the .Saviour), and the Central Con- 
gregational Church. For the last twelve years of his 
life the latter was his usual jdace of attendance on Sun- 
days, and the only one where he owned a pew, though 
he frequently partook of the communion of the Episco- 
pal Church. He often went to other churches, especially 
the Unitarian, under the ministry of Dr. Edward B. 
Hall, wh.im he much admired." At tile commencement 
of the civil war he offered his services to the governor of 



BIOGRAPIIICAL CVCI.OrEDIA. 



77 



llie State, and was commissioned in June, iS6l, Surgeon 
of the Providence Horse Guards. Although he saw no 
active service, he took a deep interest in all matters per- 
taining to the great conflict. Among a large number of 
productions of his pen was his " Life of Sir William Pep- 
perell," one of his ancestors. He collected from various 
sources a large amount of material which he used in the 
preparation of this volume. Many of his leisure hours dur- 
ing four years from 1851 to 1S55 were devoted to this 
book, which was published in May, 1S55, and favorably 
received both in this country and in England. In 1S61 he 
published a pamphlet of 32 pages, bearing the title, " In- 
dian Names of Places in Rhode Island." The whole sub- 
ject of Indian antiquities had for him a great charm. The 
life of Dr. Parsons was a very active one. He travelled 
much. He interested himself in matters connected with 
his profession. He was fond of antiquarian researches. 
His busy brain was constantly employed on some suljject 
which for him was full of interest. He died in Provi- 
dence, December 19, 1868, in the eighty-first year of his 
age. He married, September 23, 1822, Mary Jackson 
Holmes, daughter of Rev. Abel Holmes, D.D., of Cam- 
bridge, Mass., author of " Annals of America." Mrs. 
Par.sons died June 14, 1S25, leaving one son. Dr. C. W. 
Parsons, of Providence. 




silent. 



pANTON, Edward, ancestor of the distinguished 
family of that name, settled in lioslnn before the 
year 1658. Tradition s.-.ys that he came from 
London, England, bringing his mother with him; 
but of his father both record and tradition arc 
He was probably married before he left England. 
His wife died in 1661. By this marriage he had two chil- 
dren, Edward, born in Boston in l65S,and Margaret, born 
in Boston in 1660, neither of whom lived to mature years. 
He was an officer of the Guard, and was on duty at the 
execution of the Quakers, October 19, 1659. He w.is of 
an eminently religious and impressible nature, and, like 
the great majority of the people of Mas.sachusetts at that 
time, was deeply sensible of the cruelty, injustice, and im- 
policy of these extreme measures. Mr. Wanton was greatly 
affected by the Christian firmness with which they, siii)niit- 
ted to death, and W'as so deeply imjiressed by the addresses 
at the gallows that, on his arrival home, he said, " .\las, 
mother, we have murdered the Lord's people ;" antl taking 
off his sword, he laid it down, and took a .solemn oath that 
he would never wear it again ; which oath he faithfully 
kept to the end of his long and eventful life. Soon after- 
ward he adopted the sentiments of the Friends, and resolved 
to become a teacher among them. This change in his 
views caused him to be subjected to persecution in Massa- 



chusetts, and as Plymouth Colony was more tolerant, lands 
were purchased at Sciluate, in the North River, in 1660, 
wdiere he removed the following year. Being a shipwright, 
he here established a ship-yard, in which he and his sons 
followed this business during the remainder of his life. 
His neighbors soon learned the business of him, ami it 
extended into the towns of Pembroke and Mansfield, and, 
later, into Duxbury. The ship Columbia, in which Cap- 
tain Gray of Boston doubled Cape Horn in 1783, and dis- 
covered the mouth of the great river to which he gave the 
nameofhislittleship, was built on the North Riverin 1773. 
After the death of Mr. Wanton's first wife, a Quaker 
preacher, who visited him at his new home in Scituate, rec- 
ommended to him a lady of his acquaintance in England. 
He sent her proposals in writing, which she accepted, and 
came to this country in 1663, when they were married. 
The marriage, though thus singularly consummated, proved 
a happy one. Their children were Joseph, Elizabeth (who 
bore her mother's name) William, John, Sarah, Margaret, 
Hannah, Michael, Stephen, and Philip. Mr. Wanton 
founded a Friends' Society in Scituate, the first meeting- 
house of wliich was in the vincinity of Judge Cushing's 
residence, about two and a half rods from the harbor. It 
is now represented by the Society in Pembroke. His last 
visit to Newport, as representative from the Quarterly to 
the Yearly Meeting, was in 1716, when he was eighty-five 
years old. He died October l6th, of the same year, and 
was buried on his own farm, a few rods northeast of his 
house, where were also interred several members of his ow-n 
family, and others. He had a large estate, and left to his 
sons Joseph, William, and John all his lands in Pennsyl- 
vania, and all his money in the hands of Edward Shippen, 
formerly an associate trustee with him of the Friends' 
meeting-house in Boston in 1704, and a man of large 
wealth. He bequeathed to his two granddaughters, Mary 
and Lydia, children of Stephen, ;^450 each, legacies to 
various other persons, and the remainder of his estate to 
his son Michael, wdio, like himself, was a Quaker preacher, 
and whom he made executor of his will. The family of 
Michael became connected with a leading family of Friends 
of Rhode Island by the marriage of Maiy, the daughter of 
Michael, to Daniel Coggeshall, of Portsmouth, in 1726. 
John, the son of Governor John, married into the family 
of Abraham Redwood, founder of the Redwood Library. 
Five of the family filled the office of Governor of the Colony 
from 1721 to 1775. William, after being Speaker of the 
House for eight years, was Governor from i732toDecem- 
t'ei'. '733' when he died in office. John, after being 
Deputy-Governor from 1721 to 1722, and again from 1729 
to 1734, seven times, was also elected Governor seven times, 
from 1734 to 1740, when he died in office. Gideon, the son 
of Joseph, of Tiverton, after being General Treasurer from 
1733 to 1743, was Governor from 174710 1748. Joseph, 
son of William Wanton, was Deputy-Governor from 1764 
to 1765, and Governor from 1769 to 1775. 



tS 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCI. OPED/A. 



'AXToX. (;c)VI.RNr>R WlI.IIAM, son of Kilward 
1'^ ami I*^li/al)ctli W.intriii, linrii in Scitu.Uo, iii Ifi/O. 
'■'i^^^ III.- mnrrii.-'i Ruth, ilaui;lUci' uf Dracni Jolin 



«i 



Hrv.uU, of Sciluate, ance^tol■ of Wiliiam I'iiIIl-ii 



liryaiit, the ]iocl. As tlie Wanton family were 
memliers of llie Society of Friends, liis relatives o|i)ioseil 
tlie marriaije on tlie i;round tliat tlie liryants were not mem- 
bers of that Society, ami lier frieniK e>|ually opposed it, lie- 
cause he lielonged lo the then hated and proseribed sect; 
whereupon, it is said, he thu^ addressed her, in the |>re^ence 
of her famih', she being very young : " Ruth, let u~ break 
away from this unreasonable ijondage. J uill gi\e up my 
religion, and thou shalt gise up thine, aiul we will both go tii 
the Church of England and to the devil together." They 
were accordingly married, and became members of the 
( 'hurch of England, to which they adhered throughout their 
live^. Since, furoliviou^ reasons, they could not be married 
either in the P'riemN .Society or the Congregational Church 
in Scituate, the records uf I'ortsmouth, Rhode Island, inform 
us that they were niatrieil in lliat town Jamiarv I, 1691, 
though they did not immediately remove there. Their chil- 
dren were Margaret, born October 22, I'ig2; Ccorge, liorn 
.■\ugnst 24, I(')94-, William, born October 22, t(j()6; I'eter, 
born March 22, 1698 ; Ruth, born bdy 12, 1701 ; Edward, 
born .\pril II, 1702; lo,ciih, liorn .\ugu^t 15, 1705; Ilen- 
jamin, born luue 9, I7Ci7,and Eli.a,born t_)ctolu-r 4, 170Q, 
four of whom. Margaret. I'eter, Ruth, and Eli/a, died young. 
In 1694, when William was twenty-four years uf age, and 
his brother John twenty -two. a pirate -ship ha\ing committed 
several robberies in Massachusetts Ray, in which the ianiily 
had sulTcred losses, these two young men, departing from 
the usages of their Society, headed a parly of volunteers, who 
captured the pirates and carried them into Xewjiort, where 
they were executed, .\gain, in I''>o7.just before the peace 
of Rysw ick, of that )ear, and during the troul'les w ith L'ount 
Frontenac, ( (o\ernor of Canada, a French armeil ship ap- 
]K'are<l in the bay and took several jiri/es. The two brotliers 
e.icli fitted out a m-^siI from I'.dsIou, well manned with 
spirited volunteers, and captured her. It is said that their 
father endca\ored to dissuade them fr-un this bold and 
perilous enter|irise as unlawful, according tii the rules of 
their .Society, but limling them fixed in their resolution he 
said : " It woiiM be a grief to my spirit to licai that ye hail 
fallen in a military enterprise ; but if \e will go, remember 
that it would be a greater grief to hear that ye were cow- 
ard-.." The fame of this bold exploit reached England, and 
when Willi. im and John were there in 1702 they were pre- 
sented at criurt. (,)ueen .\nne receive"! them very gra- 
ciously, granti-d an addition {<> their family coat of arms, 
ami presented each of them with two pieces of ])Iate, a sil- 
ver punch-bowl and salver, with suitable devices. These 
pieces of plate are said to have lieen stolen frrun their houses 
in XewjKut, w lien robbed by the mobs ,,f the political con- 
tests of the l.utions of Ward and Hopkins, w ith the excep- 
tion of one piece. Joseph Wanton, the elder brother. 



having settled in Tiverton in l5SS, and established a ship- 
yard at the |ilace now known as Rridgelon, William fob 
lowed him to this \icinity, and, as early as 1702, purchased 
jirojierty at the north end of the island in Portsmouth, and 
esialilished a shiji-yard at what is now the south end of the 
( lid Colony Railroad britlge. In Queen .Vnne's war against 
Fiance and Sjiain in 1702, " the brigantine Greyhound, of 
one humlred tons, mounting twelve guns, and manned w ith 
one hundreil men and boys, was fitted for sea, and placed 
in Command of Captain William Wantmi, with a privateer 
commission tti cruise fin live months. He ga\'e bonds in 
the sum of /.'looo for the faithful discharge ofhis trust, and 
to return to port in two months." " He returned after two 
months' cruise in the (julf of St. Lawrence crowned with 
brilliant success. He captured and brought into port three 
French ships, one of them a [irivateer of 260 tons, of tweiUy 
guns and fiut\-eight men ; one of 300 tons and sixteen 
guns, and the third of 160 tons and eight guns. They w ere 
loaded with dried fish," and bound for France. The next 
year William sidd his projieity in Portsmouth, consisting 
of nineteen acres of land, the shiji-yard, and ferry, to Daniel 
How land, of Tiverton, fiir ^4>o. ^nd removed to Newport. 
Hence the place from which he removed was afterward 
known as " Ilowdand's Ferry." Upon his removal to New- 
port he turneil his attention to trade and politics, and rap- 
idly rose to power and distinction. He was Speaker of the 
House of Hepulies in 1705, 170.S, 1710, 1715, 1710, 171.S, 
1710, and in l-"ebruai\', 1723. He was electerl (.!o\einor 
111 1732 and 1733, and as his lircaher John was I )eputy 
(;o\e!nor from 1729 to 1734, this was the only instance of 
brothers holding the two principal offices of the colony at 
the same time. Governor William Wanton died in De- 
cemljer, 1733, aged sixty-three years. The State House in 
Xew port was built during his administratis). 



rj.\XTON, GdVKRNoR John, son of Edward and 
. ;, I'li/abelh \\'antcm, was born in 1672. Savage's 
^V*W G'''ti<'/''g'('"/ Victioiiary states that he married, 
i.'C in 1689, a daughter of Gideon Freeborn, Ijy whom 

X he had six children, Eliza, Edward, Gideon, Sarah, 

Joseph and .Marv, wdiile Dean, in his //isforv of Sii/itiih\ 
says that his wife was Mary Stafford, of Tiverton. In 
addition to his naval exiiloits in connection with his 
brother A\'illiam, related in the sketch of the latter in this 
cy,/,:/i;//,!, Arnold's IIi<.tory nf R/uh/e Island says that 
during t^)iieeii .\niie's War, in Tune, 170b, " a sloop loaded 
with ]iro\isions was taken l>y a French privateer near 
lUotk Island. The news reached the Governor the next 
d,ry. Proclamation for volunteers was forthwith issued ; 
two sloops were taken up for the expedition, and within 
two hours' time were manned by one hundred and twenty 
men, under command of Captain John Wanton; and in 
less tlian three hours afterward cajitured the privateer, re- 
t'lok her prize, and brought them into Xewport. The 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



79 



promptness and success of this adventure astonished and 
delighted the country, and added fresh laurels to the naval 
glory of Rhode Island." In 1712, \^■hen forty years of 
age, he rejoined the Society of Friends, of which lie was 
a birthright memlier, and, like his father and his elder 
brother Joseph, Isecame a Quaker preacher. Having am- 
ple means of his own, he travelletl extensively to promote 
the interests of the Society. It must have been a singular 
spectacle to the Quaker congregations in those days to see 
a man distinguished for his great personal bravery, and 
bold and successful naval exploits, appearing in the garb 
of his sect, and preaching the gospel of peace. He is said 
to have been an eloquent preacher. Colonial politics were 
much disturbed after the death, in 1727, of (Governor Sam- 
uel Cranston, who had fdled the gubernatorial ofhce with 
distinguished ability for twenty-nine years, and there were 
many divisions in the little colony. During this state of 
affairs Wanton was induced to enter the arena of politics. 
As his piety and eloquence had commended him to tlie mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends, then the wealthiest and lead- 
ing sect of the colony, so his family influence, groat wealth, 
and acknowledged intrepidity made him immensely popular 
with " the world's people," and assured his success in poli- 
tics. He was Deputy Governor from 1721 to 1722, and 
from 1729 to 1734, when, upon the death of his brother 
William, he was elected Governor seven times successively. 
He died in office, July 5, 1740, and was buried in the Cod- 
dington Cemetery, Farewell .Street, probably before the 
Clifton ground on Golden Hill Street, Newport, was 
opened. Four, if not five, of the colonial governors sleep 
in this now sadly neglected spot. Governor Wanton's grave 
is probably on the west side of the ground, opposite the gate, 
covered with a large freestone slab, the inscription upon 
which is now obliterated. *' He is described as a man of 
middling stature, thin features, and fair ccmiple.xion ; re- 
markable for his gentle attentions to children, many of 
whom would gather around him to catch his smile in the 
street, or collect at his door as he sat in his portico. He 
resided in a house which he purchased, which stood oppo- 
site to that of his brotlier Wdliani," on Thames Street. 
Portraits of these two remarkable men, \\ itli their coat of 
arms, and in the style of Queen Anne's time, m.iy be seen 
in the Hall of Representatives, in the Slate House in 
Providence. 



WTON, Governor Gideon, son of Joseph and 
fiiKiH ; Sarah (Freeborn) Wanton, was born in Tiverton, 
A.CL October 20, 1693. He held the office of General 
III Treasurer of the colony twelve years, 1732-44, and 
J I 1 two years later succeeded William Greene, as Gov- 
ernor of Rhode Island. This office he held for one year, 
and in 1747 he was elected a second time, and was in office 
one year. He took an active part in the stirring events of | 
the period in which he lived. Soon after his installation ' 



as Governor he was called uimii to furnish troops to assist 
in carrying on the war against France, which she had de- 
clared, March 15, 1744. An expedition having been 
planned to proceed to Cape Breton, Rhode Island re- 
sponded to the call for soldiers. Her troops also took part 
in the siege of Louisbourg, and when that place w'as taken 
tliey remained to garrison the captured fortress. We are 
told that " the people of Rhode Island went into this war 
with great spirit, and no man took a deeper interest in it 
than the Quaker Governor of Rhode Island." Mr. Bart- 
lett says, " that although a Quaker, he was a belligerent 
one, and fully equal to the emergency; and had he been 
Governor and Captain-General of Rhode Island in 1861, 
would have been among the first to send a regiment of 
Rhode Island volunteers to Washington. Through life 
Gideon Wanton was distinguished for his talents and for 
the influence he exerted in the affairs of the colony." He 
married, February 6, 17 iS, Mrs. Mary Codman, who died 
September 3, 1780, and was buried in the Friends' burial- 
ground, Newport. His own death occurred September 
12, 1767. He liad four children, Gideon, Jr., John G., 
Joseph, and Edward. The house in which he lived is still 
standing in Bruad Street, Newport. 



iii 



jf;)(*«^.'VNT( )N, Governor Joseph, was a descendant of 
^if" Edward Wanton, who emigrated from Lonilon to 
Boston about the year 1658, and died, a Friend, 
I at Scituate, Mass., aged 85. One of the sons of 
Eihvard — Joseph, the eldest — settled in Tiverton, in 
1688. He and his wife were preachers in the Society of 
Friends. Another son, William, in 1704, settled in New- 
port, and became a successful merchant. He was Gov- 
ernor of the colony of Rhode Island under the Royal Char- 
ter in 1732 and 1733. John Wanton, another son, also a 
wealthy merchant of Newport, and a distinguished Friend, 
was Governor of the colony immediately after his brother, 
and held the office six years, from 1734 to 1740. Gideon, 
son of Philip, another son of Edward, and, like his uncles 
William and John, an enterprising merchant of Newport, 
wasGovernor of the colony in 1745 and 1747. The subject 
of this sketch, Joseph, was the son of Governor William 
Wanton, and was born in Newport in 1705. He inherited 
the taste of his family for mercantile pursuits, and like 
them became an opulent merchant in his native place. 
By blood and affinity he was connected with the wealthiest 
and most popular families in the colony. He was elected 
Lieutenant-Governor of the colony in 1764 and 1767, and 
in 1769 was chosen as the successor of Governor Jonas Lyn- 
don, and was annually re-elected until 1775, when, although 
again chosen to fill the office, he was not confirmed by the 
General Assembly, because of his opposition to a resolution 
which was presented to tlie Assembly, to the effect that an 
" Army of Observation " be raised '* to repel any insult or 
violence that may be offered to the inhabitants; and also, 



So 



lUOGKAPinCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



if it be neces!;ary, for tlie safety niid preservation of any of 
the colonies, to march out of this colony, and join and co- 
operate with the force of the neit;hhoring colonies." Gov- 
ernor Wanton protested ayainst the passage o( this resolution, 
which, however, was passed over his prote-t. TIr- " Army 
of Ohservation," consisting of fifteen hundred men, was 
raised, and General Natlumael Greene appointed its com- 
mander. An act was passed by the General Assembly to 
prevent (iovernor Wanton from performing the duties of 
Governor; he was deposed from office, ami the office was 
declared, for the time lieing, to be vacant. During the oc- 
cupancy of Newport by the British he lived in comparative 
retirement. Whatever may have been the real feeling 
which he cherished for the English government, he com- 
mitted no act which was followed by the confiscation of his 
estate. When the British evacuated the town, ami the 
Americans returned to its possession, he remained w ilhout 
being molested during the brief perioil w liich elapsed liefore 
his death, which occurred July 19, 17X0. Governor Wan 
ton's wife was Mary, daughter of John Still Winthrop, of 
New London, t'onn., by u hom he had three sons and four 
daughters. (I) Joseph, who was an Episcopal clergy- 
man at or near Liverpool, England. (2) William, collector 
of customs at St. Johns, N. S. (3) John, who died when 
a child. (4) Aim, wife of Winthrop Saltonstall, of New- 
London. She died in 17S4, leaving five children. Among 
them was Mary, marrieil, .\oveinber 29, 1789, to Thomas 
Coit, of New London. They were the parents of two 
Episcopal clergymen, Rev. Dr. T. W. Goit and Rev. 
Gurdon S. Coit. (5) .NLary, married Gajitain John Cod- 
dington. (6) Eli/!abeth, married Thomas Wiekham, of 
Newport. (7) Ruth, married William Brown, who was ap- 
pointed by the British government Governor of Bermuda, 
(S) (Catherine, twice married, first to a Mr. Stoddard, and 
seconil to Mr. Keldeur, a surgeon in the lirilisli Army. 



^'ERKELEY, Gi:<)Ri;e, D.D., the distini;uished prel- 
ate and philosopher, was born at Kilcrin, County 
fS^'l'' Kilkenny, Ireland, March 12th, 16S4, and was 
ffl® descended from an English family zealously at- 
<J> tached to the cause of Charles L The biography 
of I'.i^hop Berkeley deserves a place in this volume, on 
account of the intellectual impulse gi\"en to American so- 
ciety through his efforts during his memorable sojourn at 
New|iort. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, 
and w as the author of a number of works w hich ga\e him 
worlilwide celebrity, among wdiich may be mentioned 
An Essay toward ,1 iu"v Theory of I'ision, puldished 
when he was but twenty-five years of age. The Princi- 
ples of Human A'noioleJ:;e, and the Three Dialoi^ites he- 
Iween }{\hii <;«,//'/»/,. ;;,i;(v, publisheil in 1710 and 17IJ, 
respectively, in which he deiiicti the e-\i-^tence ^i matter. 
In 1713 and 1714 he U.ivelled through a part of Italy, 



and, at a later period, through Italy, Sicily, and France; 
in 1 72 1 was appointed Chaplain to the Lord-Lieutenant 
of Ireland, the Duke of Grafton; and in 1724 became 
Dean of Derry, which secured him a large income. Pre- 
vious to this date he came into possession of a fortune 
bcijueathed to him by Mrs. Vanhomrigh, a wealthy lady of 
Dublin, the "Vanessa" of Swift. He became deeply in- 
terestetl in the conversion of the savages of America to 
the Christian faith. His jdan was to erect a college in the 
Bermudas, where youth taken from the Indian tribes might 
be educated and Christianized. In 1725 he |)ul)lished an 
address in London, explaining his benevolent project, and 
offered to resign his own large income from the Church 
establishment, in order to devote his life to the carrying 
out of his design. The ( Hieen offered him an early bish- 
o|>ric if he wouUl remain in England, but Berkeley de- 
clared that he should prefer the headship of St. rauTs 
College at Bermuda to the jirimacy of all England. It is 
said that in anticipation of the happy results of this scheme 
he wrote his celebrated ode in which occurs the familiar 
quotation, " Westward the course of empire takes its w ay." 
The English government voted him a grant of ten thou- 
sand pounds, and he set sail for the field of his labors. A 
short time before his departure he married Anne, the 
eldest daughter of the Right Hon. Juhn Forster, Speaker 
of the Irish House of Commons. In 1729 he arrived in 
Newport, R. I., where he intended to make his headcpiar- 
ters, and to collect materials needed for the su]iply of the 
new institution which he jiroposed to start. " The benev- 
olent object failed," says Greene, "through the failure of 
Lord Carteret to give him the aid of go\"ernment. Instead, 
therefore, of establishing himself in Bermuda, he pur- 
chased a farm near Newport and built a house on it, which 
is still known by the name of Whitehall. He brought 
with him a choice library, a collection of [lictures, and a 
corps uf literary men aiul artists, among them the jjainter 
■Snnbert, who thus became the teacher of C'lpley and 
West. The influence of such a man is (piickly felt in a 
young community, and Berkeley soon gathered aroniid 
him a body of cultivated men, who joined with him in the 
tliscussion of questions of philosophy and the collection 
of books. These books became the b.asis of the Redwood 
Librarv. Not far from his house, among what the modern 
tourist knows as the Hanging Rocks, is a natural alcove, 
which, opening ti» the suuth ami roofed with stone, com- 
inanils an e\tensi\e \iew of the ocean. Here, tradition 
says, Berkeley wrote his AUiphroft, or Minute Philosopher^ 
wdiich was printed in New jiort by James Franklin." His 
house was situated a short distance northeast from the 
Court-house. His hope of securing the government aid 
necessary to establish the intended university being disap- 
])ointed, he returneti to England in the fall of 1731. The 
farm which he puichased near Newpiort he gave to Vale 
College, and made a present of nearly one thousand vol- 
umes to the library of that institution. To Trinity Church, 





"izi-^-^-i^-C^-i. 



^_^y:^^,^^ 



.^-^ "^^ 



^.■^^^^^ 



^' 



B/0 a K.I PHICAL C yCL OTEDIA. 



8i 



Newport, he gave the orgnn and a small library. Many 
interesting reminiscences exist of his brief residence in 
this country. In 1733 he was made Bishop of Cloyne, 
and performed the duties of hi.s sacred office until his 
death, which occurred in 0.\ford, January 14th, 1753. 
Bishop Berkeley was not only distinguished as a scholar 
and philosopher, but also as "a singularly good man, in 
whom a warm benevolence to his fellow-creatures and a 
zealous piety to God were not merely the enthusiasms of 
his heart, but the presiding rule of his life." 



|jffa^.-\RRINGTON, GENF.R.'iL Ei)\v.\Rn, merchant, son 
MmK of Dr. Edward and Susan (Whittlesey) Carrington, 
> . ?^* was born in New Haven, Connecticut. November 2, 
' f 'TTS' His father, and his grandfather, Lemuel Car- 
J rington, were practicing physicians, and the former 
was a graduate of Vale College, in which institution he was 
for some time an instructor. His great-grandfather was 
Dr. Peter Carrington, of Woodbridge, Connecticut, whose 
grandfather, Edward Carrington, is mentioned in the 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, records in 1634, became a 
freeman in 1636, and is said to have come from Warwick- 
shire, England. General Carrington became a resident of 
Providence at an early age, and was first in the employ of 
Samuel Butler, Seth Wheaton, and Richard Jackson, who 
were then among the most prominent and influential citizens 
of that city. He at once gained their confidence, and before 
his majority embarked in commercial ventures on his own 
and their account. About 1802 he went to Canton, China, 
and several years thereafter was appointed United States 
('onsul to that country, which position he continued to fill 
until his return home in iSi i, just preceding the war with 
Great Britain in 1812. As consul he was frequently called 
upon by American shipmasters to redress the wrongs and 
insults to which they were subjected by the British authori- 
ties, who would impress seamen out of American ships. The 
correspondence between General Carrington and the British 
officials was at times very sharp, and involved important 
national interests. He established the commercial firm of 
Eilward Carrington & Co., in Providence, in 1815, his part- 
ner being Mr. Samuel Wetmore,of Middletown, Connecti- 
cut. He afterward became known as one of the most ac- 
complished, enterprising, and successful merchants in the 
United States. He built numerous ships, and at one time 
owned twenty-six merchantmen, wdiich were engaged in 
general commercial trade in various parts of the world. It 
was said of him that he could lay the keel of a ship, and, 
■when the vessel was completed, he could not only navigate 
it, but make it a source of revenue. His commercial ven- 
tures were attended with varying success, but he succeeded 
in acquiring a fortune equal to his highest expectations. 
From the time of his return from China until his death, 
which occurred in Providence, December 23, 1S43, he was 
largely interested in cotton manufacturing. In 1828 he 
II 



built the Hamlet Mill, at Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and 
in 1S32 the Carrington Mill, now known as the Clinton Mill, 
at the same place. He was prominently identified with 
the interests of the city and State, and devoted much of his 
time and fortune to promoting the public welfare. He was 
several times elected to the Rhode Island General Assem- 
bly, of which he was a member at the time of his death. 
For some time he was Major-General of the State Militia, 
and rendered important service as one of the Governor's 
Council during the *' Dorr Rebellion." He was one of the 
movers and a commissioner in the Blackstone Canal en- 
terprise, and was chiefly instrumental in securing its suc- 
cessful completion. As a public man his conduct was 
guided by a high purpose, and his unbending integrity 
commanded the confidence of all who knew him. He was 
ever an advocate of liberal and enlightened views of gov- 
ernment. In private life he was noted for his social, gen- 
erous, and charitable disposition. He married Lorania, 
daughter of Benjamin and Ann Hoppin. They had but 
one child, Edward, Jr., who still resides at the old home- 
stead. Edward, Jr., married Candace Crawford Dorr, 
daughter of Sullivan and Lydia Allen Dorr, February 22, 
1841. They have two children, Annie Ives and Edward. 
Annie Ives married Gamaliel Lyman Dwight, M.D., the 
issue of the marriage being one child, Margarethe Carring- 
ton. On the announcement of General Carrington's death, 
the General Assembly paid a fitting tribute to his memory 
by the adoption of resolutions expressing the highest appre- 
ciation of his worth. His character and public services were 
referred to as follows by Honorable John Whipple, on an- 
nouncing his death to the House of Representatives : " He 
was among the foremost of that class of men who, in what- 
ever direction they move, never fail to leave a broad and 
deep track behind them. He united to an iron frame of 
body an uncommon vigor and directness of mind, and an 
extraordinary tenacity of purpose. With these qualities he 
acquired a justly-earned reputation for liberal and manly 
enterprise, for accurate and extensive practical knowledge, 
and for a most liberal support of all improvements of a 
general public nature. Notwitlistandingthe predominance 
of these hardy and masculine traits, no man entered with 
more eagerness into all the social pleasures of life, or opened 
his heart with a more childlike sim|)licity to the calls of 
friendship. .Ml that he was and all that he purposed origi- 
nated with himself, for during the greater part of his active 
life his position was such as to aft'ord him but little aid from 
the lights of association. As a legislator General Carring- 
ton, though not distinguished as a debater, possessed a 
highly suggestive mind, and many instances are fresh in the 
memories of Iiis colleagues of great aid furnished by him 
to professional minds upon professional subjects. Though 
but an adopted son of our little State, he devoted himself 
to her interests with the same ardor that characterized his 
general mind." It is justly due to one who was many 
years closely identified with General Carrington's l_)usiness 



82 



BIOGRAl'UICAL CVCI.O/'f.fl.!. 



intpie^t^. e-iin-cially ns bis nr;Liil in CliiiKi, tn :i(M tliat the 
aljihly an. I lauhfiilnf-s i.T lii^ nrpliru, Mr. Ka.ic M. Hull 
(t'lwlviin wc are chielly imii-lited lor lliis ineniMiial i. cnn- 
uilnUeil larL;ely tn injure tlie ^ucce^s wlucli attended liis 
cmnniercial operation^ in In.> later years. 



'MIRERT. r>R .'sMVni-RT. JnilX, was born in Edin- 
liuri;!!, Seiitland, alinul lii.S.4, and served his time 
la" as a conimon ln)iise-painlei . 1-i.uly in lile he de- 
{'■:?)• veloped a taste for art. and lia\iii,i; studied in Italy be- 
'v came distiiiguislieil as a ]iainter of portraits. Form- 
ing the aec|uaintanee of 1 )ean, afterw ards I'ishop, Berkeley, 
lie entered \\ .irndy into Ins ^clienie nf establishing an insti- 
tution for the Christian edui'.ilion of the North American 
Imlians, and \\ as hi^ companion, when he came to this 
countr\-, to put into execution his fa\orite plan, d'lie origi- 
n.d ilesign was to l"ound the pro|io^ed in-litution in the 
isl.md of Bermuda. Hut the captain of the ship in which 
Kerkelcy and his companion^ saileil frrmi England failed 
to lind the island of which he was in search, ami steered 
iiorthuard until a land unknown to them was discovered, 
supposed to them to be iiihabited by savages. It was the 
i^land of Rhode Isl.md which they had readied, and on the 
2d of Septemlier, I7-!o, they landed at Newport. As is 
well known, the 1 lean at oiite, « ith true missionary zeal, 
Viegaii to interest liinisclf in llie Indi.tns of Rhode Island. 
In company with .Smibert he made bcjuent visits to Dr. 
McSjiarraii, to inipiire into the combtion .md tlie eliaracter 
of the Narragansett Indians. During these visits the artist 
painted portraits of Dr. McSparran and his wife, which are 
still in existence. The following circumstance led him to 
the conclusion that the Indians were by race immediately 
connected with the tribes of Noithein .\sia. It seems that 
in 162S he had been employed by the (.band Duke of 
Florence to paiirt two or three Siberian Tartars, presented 
to tlie Duke liy the CVar of Russia. When he was intro- 
duced to some of the Narragansett Indians, he instantly 
reeognizei-! them to be the same people as the Siberian Tar- 
tars whom he had painted, and in the opinion which he 
expressed of the relation of the two he was subsei|Uently 
sustained by Dr. Wolff, tlie celebrated traveller. While 
residing in Xewpiru-t, he piainted what is reganled as the 
best sjiecimen of his art, the picture of I lean itcrl^eley and 
Iiis family, tlie portrait id' the artist himself being intro- 
duced into the group. It was painted for a gentleman in 
Boston, and is now in the (iallerv of .\rt at \'ale (College. 
" It is nine feet long ami six wide, and represents Bishop 
Berkeley as standing at one end of a talile, w liich is sur- 
rounded by his family. He appears to be in deep thought, 
his eyes slightly raised, one hand resting on a folio volume 
— his favorite author. I'lato. — and is dict.itiiig to his aman- 
uensis part of the J/iiint,' /'/://,<(, ///(V. w Inch is said to have 
been commciued during his residence in Newj)oit. The 
painter has placed himself in the rear, st.imling liy a pillar 



with a scroll in his h.uid. and bev'ond him opens a \ery 
lieautiful water scene, with woods and headlands, the origi- 
nal of which probably once existed on the shores of the 
N.irragansett Bay." .\mong the figures introduced was 
John Moffatt, of Newport. How many portraits of Rhode 
Island peojile Smibert jiainted cannot be ascertained. Two 
of them, which are said to be in excellent preservation 
and fair examjiles of his style, are the portraits of John 
Channing and his wife, the grandparents of Dr. W. E. 
Channing- Allslon says: "I am grateful to Smibert for 
the instruction he. or rather liis work, gave me." After the 
return of r)ean Bcikely t'l Ireland, he urged his artist 
friend to rejoin him in the Old World. But Smibert was 
too pleasantly and pi'ilitably settled in Boston, and he de- 
clined the invitation. He pursued his \ocatioii I'or many 
years. It is said that the best portraits we have of the 
eminent divines who lived lietween 1725 and 175 1 are from 
his pencil. Several of these are in the collections of New 
England cidleges. He died in Boston. Smibert married 
a daughter of 1 )r. Williams, who was the Latin schoolmaster 
of Boston for tiftv years. {Jne of his children by this mar- 
riage was Nathanael, who gave promise of being a most 
accomplished artist. I le died comparatively a young man. 
Smibert died in I'-oston, in 17SI. Among the jiortraits in 
the rooms of the Rhode Island Historical Society is oneof 
Rev. lohii rallender, of Newport, which is supposed by 
some to have been ]iaiiited by Smibert, while Others attrib- 
ute it to Robert l-eke. There are also copies of his por- 
traits of 1-lr, and Mrs. McSparran. 



.\RD. (hiVERXOR RlCH.\RD, grandson of John 
\\ .lid, who at one time \\'as an officer in one of 
(.'romweirs ca\'alry regiments, and came to this 
(V *' "country fnuii tiloueester. England, after the ac- 
A cession of (liark's H., and settled at Newport, 

where he died in A|iril, lOoS. His second son, Thomas, 
the father of Richard, was born in England, and coming to 
this country before his father, settled in Newport. Backus, 
the historian, says " that he was a Baptist before he came 
out of Cromw^ell's army and a very useful man in the Colony 
of Rhode Island." His second son was Richard, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who was Imrn April I ^, i6S»i. He was 
Secretary of the colony fiu nineteen years. 1714-33. In 
1740 he was elected Deputy Governor, and by the de- 
cease of irovernor John Wanton was Cio\-ernor from July 
15 to May. I74i,aiid waselecled Covernor the two follow- 
ing years, 1741-43. He was jiresent at the siege of 
Louisbourg. His death occurred August 21, 1763. He 
married November 2, 1 709, Mary, daughter of John Till- 
inghast, who died Oetolier ig, 1767. They had fourteen 
children. Among them were Thomas, for many years 
.Secretarv of State ; Samuel, afterwards so faiiKuis in the 
piditical history of the State, in connection with the " Ward 
and Hopkins Controversy;" Isabel, who married Hux- 



BIO GRA PIIICA L CYCL OPEDIA . 



83 



ford Marchaiit, and was tlie grandmotlier of fudge \\'illiani 
Marchant; Amy, who married Samuel Vernon ; Margaret, 
wlio married Colonel Samuel Freebody, of New|)Ort ; 
Henry, who was Secretary of Stale thirty-seven years, De- 
cember 1760-97, his term of office expiring with his death, 
wdiich occurred November 25, 1797. His daughter Eliza- 
beth married Dr. Pardon Bowen, of Providence. 



^^KREENE, Governor William, ist, son of Samuel 
SS* ■">"'' Mary (Gorton) Greene, was born in Warwick, 
fS?j March 16, 1695. He was a descendant of John 
<f'i!^ Greene, son of Peter Greene, of Aukley Hall, Salis- 
i bury, Wiltshire, England. In 1718 he was made a 
freeman, and was Deputy in 1727, 1732, 1736, 1738, and 
1740. He and John Mumford were appointed, in 1728, 
surveyors of the line between Connecticut and Rhode Island, 
and in 1736 received a similar appointment in connection 
with two others. He was Deputy-Governor in 1740, 1742, 
and 1743, and Governor in 1743, 1744, 1746, 174S, to 1755 
and 1757, eleven years. The position which Governor 
Greene held in Rhode Island is shown in the circumstance 
that he, a citizen of Warwick, should have been elected 
as Chief Magistrate of the colony. For three years, 
1654, to 1657, Roger Williams had been President of the 
colony. But from 1657 to 1743, a period of 86 years, 
no citizen not residing in Newport had been called to that 
position, with tl)e exception of Governor Joseph Jenckes, 
and he was elected on condition that he live in Newport, the 
Assembly voting £,\QiO to meet the expense of his removal. 
No such condition w-as made in the case of Governor 
Greene. It was during his administration that the struggle 
was maintained between the English and the French for 
the mastery on this continent. In the Colonial Records 
of Rhode Island may be found a large amount of corre- 
spondence which was carried on between the Governor of 
the colony and persons in military authority in the English 
army. The letters of Governor Greene exhibit good sense 
and habits of business, which indicate that he had rare 
qualifications for the position which he filled. It was also 
during his administration, in part, that the long controversy 
between Massachusetts and Rhode Island as to the position 
of certain towns was ended, and Cumberland, Warren, 
Bristol, Little Compton and Tiverton were brought within 
the bounds of the latter colony. Stirring events, both at home 
and abroad, occurred while Crovernor Greene was in office, 
events in which Rhode Island was deeply interested. In 
1745, I.ouisbourg and Cape Breton were taken by the Eng- 
lish. In 1755 was Braddock's defeat, and in 175S was 
Abercrombie's defeat at Ticonderoga. Rhode Island w-as 
behind none of her sister colonies in the aid which she ren- 
dered to the mother country. We are told that " the colony 
became largely indebted for supplies, etc., furnished the 
government, all of which was expected to be reimbursed. 



and for which expemlitures large amounts of paper money 
were issued by the colony." The reimbursement, however, 
was never made. Under various pretexts the claims of Rhode 
Inland were set aside, and the result was that heavy pecuni- 
ary burdens were laid upon the colony, the pressure of which 
it felt fur many years. Soon after the close of his term of 
office Governor Greene died, the event occurring in Febru- 
ary, 1758. The wife of (Jovernor Greene was Catharine 
daughter of Benjamin Greene. Their children were Benja- 
min, born May 19, 1724; .Samuel, born August 25, 1727 ; 
William (second Governor of the name), born August 16, 
1731 ; Margaret, born November 2, 1733, who became the 
second wife of Rufus Spencer; Catherine, born December 
9- I735> who married John Greene, of Boston ; and Christo- 
pher, born .'Vpril iS, 1741, and died the same year. 



^^R()WN, Rev. M.\rm.\duke, was born in Ireland, 
ti^^ aliout the year 1700. The Society for the Propa- 
f;?? gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent him to 
i^y& this country as one of their missionaries in 1730. He 
* first settled in Providence, where he was the third 
rector of St. John's Church. We are told that he was highly 
esteemed among them, so that they purchased a place in 
Providence Neck, and gave him a deed in fee simple for 
the same. After living a few years in Providence he was 
induced to go to Portsmouth, N. H., by Governor Dunbar. 
Here he remained several year^, until, in 1760, he was 
called to take charge of Trinity Church in Newport. 
Under his niini>try the parish was so prosperous that it be- 
came necessary to enlarge the church edifice to the east- 
ward, thus furnishing thirty additional pews. It was dur- 
ing his ministry that, in 176S, the steeple of Trinity was 
built. His connection with the church continued until it 
was terminated by his death, which occurred March 19, 
1771. He is represented by his son, in an inscription on 
a marble tablet, which he caused to be erected on the walls 
of Trinity Cluircli in lionor of his father, as a man emi- 
nent for talents, learning, and religion. Mention is also 
made of his wife, Mrs. Ann Brown, who is described as a 
lady of uncommon piety and suavity of manners. The 
son referred to was Hon. Arthur Brown, LL.D. , who 
spent most of his life in Ireland, and rose to very great 
distinction as a scholar and a statesman in that country. 



5j^^OI.LINS, Henry, one of the wealthy an<l distin- 
\Mk guished merchants of Newjiort, of the last century, 
fTj/f was born in Newport, in March, 1699, and at an 
'" h early age was sent to England, where he completed 
his education, and where he acquired a love for art 
and literature. When he returned to America he rose to 
eminence as a merchant, and he was as liberal as he was 
intelligent. With ample means at his disposal, and with 



H 



BIO OR. I PIIICA I. C } TL OP ED I A. 



his ciiltivnlcil ta^tt- for linoks and picture-, \k liccame a j 
jiatrmi of ail, ami tonl; plraMinj in addinL; In iIh- lilerary [ 
enjoyment of lii- fcllow-towii-mcn. Smiliert, ( ■o,ino Alex- 
aiuler, and I'V-lie painteil portraits for Ids i;allery ; and, witli 
l)aniel L'|ulike, Edward Scott. William KUery, Stephen 
IIo]ikins, Suetoii Cirant, John Uretl, and others as asso- 
ciates, a literary and iihilosophical society was formed in 
lyjo, which ailded to the histre of Newport, then already 
distinguislied as one of the most remarkahle towns in the 
American colonies for its wealth, learnini;, and |nililic 
spirit. < If this society Dean lieikeley was an active mem- 
ber, if indeed it did not lAve its origin to him ; and during 
the time that he resided here he was the leading spirit in 
its debates. ( kit of this society grew the Redwood Library, 
which was founded in 174S, Ahraiiam I^edwood having 
placed at the disp.osal of the society, the previous year, the 
sum of fiNe hundred ]ionnds sterling, lor the purchase of 
books in London, w hich w .is f, ilh.we<l b\ the gift of a ]>lece 
of land, the present site of the liliiury, for a liiirary build- 
ing, presented by Mr. Collins, of whom Dr. Waterhouse 
thus wrote in after years : " Henry Collins, a wealthy man 
and a man of taste, the Lorenzo de' Mediii of Rhode Isl- 
and, causeil a jiainting to be made of Parson Callender, 
as well as of some other divines, as Hitchcock, Clap, and 
Dean lierkeley, which I have often admired in the L'ollins 
Collection;" and the late lion. William flunler thus sjioke 
of Mr. Collins in his unpublished Centennial .\<ldress, de- 
livered in Neupctrt,in 1S4S: " Henry Collins hned litera- 
ture and the tine arts. He hail taste, the sense of the 
beautiful in n.Tture, conjoined with the iinpuKe to see it 
imitated and surpa--sed b)' art. He was a merchant, opu- 
lent and liberal. .Smibeil, who is noticeil b\ Horace W'.d- 
pole in his Anc^dot^s ol Jiiirlv Euiilisli PuiuCtrs aiiJ En- 
gya7'€rs, was the father of true jiainting in this countr)'. 
His selection by Berkeley as his artist, friend, and comi'an- 
ion is ])ersuasi\ e and adeiiuate ]'roof iif lii^ merits. He 
needed no lutron. Collins was fortunate enough to en- 
gage his earliest labors; mit for his own poitrait onlv, luit 
likewise those of the \enerable Clap, and the worthy and 
pious Calleiiiler; and, above all, of llerki-dev himself." 
In every movement calculated to promote the ]iublic inter- 
est Mr. CoIlin> took an active part. He was one of the 
proprietors of the Long Wharf, the extension of which 
was commenced in lyV), and \\as onI\' iiiterruiited when 
the war broke out; ani.i ;ilthough cripjiled in hi- re-ources 
when the project of budding the market-house and gran- 
ary, now known as the City Hall, was started, in 1760, he 
gave it all the aid and sujiporl in his powi-r. He was also 
one of the committee to erect a building for the Seventh- 
day I'apti.st Church, of whiih snciety he was a member. 
His commercial relations were very extensive, and it was 
through his maritime aflairs that he was reduced from afllu- 
ence to poverty. The .Vdmirally Rule of 1765 swept aw'ay 
the labor of years, and, .ilthough he struggled again-.t ad- 
versities, lie was forced to decl.ire himself a bankrupt. 



He did not long survive the blow, but died about 1770, 
under the roof of the family of Ids loinier yiartner, who 
had pas-ed away belore him. He was ne\er married. 



J^r^lIECKLEV, Rrv. John, was born in Boston, in 16S0. 
M/te His parents came from England, and were able to 
t z-^' give to their son the licst etlucation of the times in 
(■■;j5 which they lived. Having acipiired the rudiments 
^ of knowdedge under the tuition of the famrais " M.is- 
ter" Cheever, he was sent to Englani-l, and completed his 
studies at the University of Oxford. After his graduation 
he spent some time in travel over a large part of luirope, 
and then returned to Boston, where he desoted himself to 
the pursuits of a literary gentlemait. He was a decided 
Episco]:ialian in his religious sentiments, and did not hesitate 
to gi\e utterance to his views. In 17JJ he published a 
liam|ihlct, the design of w liich was to show tliat the l''iiisco- 
p.il iorm of church government was of di\ine apiiointment 
and intended to be perpetual in the Church of Christ. In the 
same year he ]iu])lished an edition of Leslie's S/ioiV and 
irisv Method -villi the Deists, to which he appended a 
** Iliscourse concerning Episcopacy, in defence of Chris- 
tianity and tlie Church of England against Deists and Dis- 
senters." '1 he sentiments avowed in this discourse were 
pronounced by a Court of .'\ssize, before which he was ar- 
raigned, to be libellous, and he was lined fifty pounds. In 
1727 he went to England to recei\e ordination, but such 
rejiresentations were made of his character ami his siiji- 
posed hostility to the royal family that he was refused 
ordination. In 17J9, twelve years after, when he was 
fifty-nine years of age, he was ordained by the Bishop uf 
h'.xeter. He was sent to Rhode Island, and became the 
minister of St. John's Church, in l'ro\ idence, of which he 
took charge in May, 1739. He ]ireacljed abo once a 
month at Warwick and Attleborough. His ministry as 
rector of St. lohn's covered a period of fourteen )'ears. 
He died Eebruary 15th, 1754. .'\n illustration of the con- 
dition of things in the parish w liicli he had ser\-ei-l may be 
found in the letter which the cljuichwardens w rote to the 
secretary of the " Society for the Propagation of the Cos- 
pel in Eoreign I'ai Is," soon after the death of Mr. Checkley : 
"Though the late minister made several small improve- 
ments to the glebe and house, yet its fences being out of 
repair, as well as the house, which will be expected liy his 
successor to lie put into order, and the church likewise 
wanting a great deal of repair, and there being few among 
us all to contribute towards such charges, we are very 
sorry we cannot )iromise any certain sum to our minisler 
per annum until, please Cod, the jnesent congregation is 
not only m betler order or condition, luit that it is in- 
cre.ised." It is inteicsting to notice the dilterenccs of 
opinion which pievail with regard to Mr. Checkley. Mr. 
Lipdike, a sincere Episcopalian, thus apostrophizes him : 



BIOGRAPHICAL C\CL OPEDIA. 



85 



'' Peace to thine ashes, untiring servant of Christ and the 
Church. The faith which sustained tliee teaches us that 
ample amends will soon be made for all earth's forgetful- 
ness." President William Allen, a J'uritan of tlie Puri- 
tans, after speaking of him as "a \\it, a classical scholar, 
skilful also in Helirew and Narragansett, Indian," makes 
the amiable statement that " he was more remarkable for 
the eccentricities of his temper and conduct than for piety 
and learning." Mr. Checkley m.arried, about the year 1715, 

Miss Miller, of Braintree, Mass., by whom he had 

two cliildren, John and Rebecca. 



f|ONYM.\N, Rkv. James, was born in England 
r| about the year 1675. Of his early history and 
education we have been unable to obtain any 
vmy information. He was sent to this country on the 
^v application of the wardens and vestry of Trinity 
Church in Newport, in 1704, where he commenced his ser- 
vice as a missionary of that church. The original founder 
and patron of the church was Sir Francis Nicholson, who 
was Lieutenant-Governor of New York under Sir Edmund 
Andros, and Governor of that colony from 16S7 to 1690. 
He held also other distinguished positions in this country, 
and in what are now the British Provinces. Through 
his instrumentality, probably, Rev. Mr. Lockyear com- 
menced preaching as an Episcopal minister in Newport. 
A handsome church was erected about the year 1702. It 
is alluded to in that year as being " finished all on the out- , 
side and the inside pewed well, but not beautiful." The 
London Society sent over not only a missionary to take 
charge of the church, l)Ut as an encouragement to them, and 
perhaps a help to him, they made a present to them of a 
valuable library of the best theological Ijooks of that day, 
consisting of seventy-five volumes, mostly folio. A few 
years after this Queen Anne presented the church with a 
bell. Not feeling pecuniarily able or disposed, perhaps, to 
raise the funds needed to prepare for and hang this bell, 
the minister, wardens, and vestry wrote to the Governor of 
Massachusetts, and to the Rev. .Samuel Miles, of Bos- 
ton, requesting each of them to send money left in their 
hands by Sir Francis Nicholson, which might be appro- 
priated to that purpose. Mr. Honyman seems to have been 
popular from the commencement of his ministry. He is 
represented as *' a gentleman \vell calculated to unite his 
own society, which grew and flourished exceedingly under 
his charge, as well as to conciliate those of other religious 
persuasions, all of whom he embraced with the arm of 
charity." The signs of progress which were seen in the 
history of the church as the years passed aw.ay are indi- 
cated by the reports which we have of the transactions of 
the Society for the Propagation of the I Gospel in Foreign 
Parts. In the report of 1720-21 itissaid that " Mr. Hony- 
man, missionary at Newport, Rhode Island, preaches twice 



every Sunday, catechizes twice a week, and administers 
sacrament every month, and has baptizeil in about two 
years past seventy-three persons, of whom nineteen are 
adults." The missionary reports " that he had been lately 
to preach at Providence, a town in the colony of Rhode 
Island, to the greatest number of peo|)le he ever had to- 
gether since he came to America ; that no house being able 
to hold them, he was obliged to jircach in the fields; that 
they are getting subscriptions for building a church, and he 
doubts not but there will be a considerable congregation." 
For a period of between two and three years — 171S-1727 — 
he occasionally jierformed divine service in the Narra- 
gansett Church, and administered the rites of bajitism and 
the Lord's Supper. In 1724 the church had outgrown their 
place of \\orslii]>, and in 1726 a new one was consecrated 
to religious service. The body of this building, towards 
the erection of w hich Mr. Honyman contributed £}fi, was 
seventy feet long and forty-six wide. It had two tiers of 
\\indows, was full of pew's, and had galleries all around 
the east end. It w as said to be the most Ijeautiful building 
of its kind in that day in the Colonics. The missionary 
circuit of Mr. Honyman included at this time the towns of 
Newport, Freetown, Tiverton, and Little Compton. In 
September, 1729, Dean Berkeley arrived in Newport (see 
sketch of Berkeley). The story of the circumstances con- 
nected with his landing at Newport is full of interest. It 
was not at all the intention of the Dean when he left 
England to go to Newport, but to Bermuda, for what pur- 
pose may be seen in the sketch referred to. The cajitain 
of the vessel lost his reckoning and was unable to find the 
desired haven. He concluded to steer northwaril until 
they discovered land unknown to them, but which tliey 
supposed was inhabited by savages. It proved to be Block 
Island. They were informed that Newport was not far 
off; that in the town was an Episcopal church, of which 
Rev. James Honyman was the minister. The Dean wrote 
a letter to Mr. Honyman, which was sent to him by a mes- 
senger before the vessel arrived in Newport. It being a 
holy-day, Mr. Honyman was in his church performing ser- 
vice \\dien the messenger arrived. The letter was sent to 
him in his pulpit. Having perused it himself, he deemed 
its contents of .sufhcient importance to be read to the con- 
gregation. As the Dean might at the moment be actually 
landing, the worthy minister dismissed the congregation, 
and, placing himself at their head, marched in procession 
to the wharf, reaching it but a short time before the arrival 
of the vessel with the Dean, his family, and friends, to 
whom a most cordial greeting and hearty welcome were 
e.xtended. With a little touch of honest pride Mr. Hony- 
man writes in his report to the .Society in London, under 
date of .Septemfier 20, 1 732 : " I take the pleasure of tell- 
ing you this known truth, that l)etwi.\t New York and Bos- 
ton, the tlislance of three hundred miles, and wherein are 
many missions, there is not a congregation in the way of the 
Church of England that can compare with mine or equal 



86 



BIO GR. I rmCA L Ci CL OFEDIA 



it in any respect ; nor <lnt<; my cluircli consist of members 
lli.il \verc of it H lien I c.iiiu- line, f .r I Iiavc liurie.i ihem all ; 
nor IS thei-c anv one person now .ili\e tliat ilnl then belong 
to our eliurch, so that our present appenianee is entirely 
owing to Coil's blessinL;on my enilea\ors." Later still, in 
l7;,S~g, he writes '-that lie liinls bis wcrli ijrowini; on bis 
lianils as he grows in years, liiit he will go im, with the Di- 
vine assistance, to promote ti. the utmost of liis endeavors 
the interests of religion, aceoriling to the ilesigns and ex- 
pectations of the venerable society." The reports of the 
labors of Mr. Ilonyman reach mi through many years. The 
long service at length came to an end. The faithful cler- 
gyman died July 2, 1750, at an ailvanced age. On his grave- 
stone in the churchyard of Trinity Church was placed an 
inscription which sets forth the virtues of the deceased. He 
did a good work for the cause of religion in the town where 
for almost fifty vears he was devoted to his Master's work. 
Tlie Hun. |anies Ilonyman, a distinguislied hiwyer of 
Kliodu Island, was his son. He had abo a son Francis, 
and a daugluer ("ecilia, who married William Mumlord, 
of South Kingstown. 




.WVXEY, Coi.oNi-.i. Pf.tf.r, a descendant of a 
Huguenot, who came to this country after the 
revocaticni of the Edict of Nantes, and lived for a 
' i! time in whatis knownas Frenchtown.in Kingstown. 
J'l His name was !,e Mnine, which was changed into 
Miniey and subsecpiently inio M.iw iiey. J'eter Mawney was 
bom in i'".ast (Ireenw ii h, about the year 16S9, where he 
spent a greater jiait r)f his life. He was twice married, 
the fn-t time to Mary Tillinghasi, w ho died in February, 
1727, and the secoinl time to Mercy, daughter of Par- 
ilon Tillingliast. He had a numerous family. (.)ne of his 
daughters, I.ydia, wa> the wife of Dr. F^phraim Bowen, 
one of the most eminent I'lovidence physicians of his time. 
.Another, Marv, married fames .\iigi-ll. .S!ie was the 
grandmother r)f Professor William ti. (ioridard. .Sarah was 
married to Joseph Whipple, the grandfather iif Hon. J<ihn 
Whipple. A son of (.'olonel Mawney was [ohn Mawney, 
who was the husband of Amey t.iibbs, wlio is s.iid ff) lia\e 
been a descendant of Sir Henry (dbbs, of 1 torsetshire, 
I'ingland. t )iie of the children of lohn and Amey Maw- 
ney was Dr. John Mawney, a physician, and at one time 
Sheriff of Providence County. He was in the celebrated 
expedition w hieh destroyed the Gaspee. He AwA in Crans- 
ton, in March, iSjO. The descendants of Colonel Mawney 
are very numerous, and have been and now are represented 
in many highly respected families in Rhode Island, New 
^'ork, and elsewhere, .\mong them were Mary, wife of 
Hon. Eli-ha R. Potter, of South Kingstown, member of 
Congress, i790-r7o7 and 1S09-1S15. They were the 
parents of Judge Elisha R,, Dr. Thomas M., U. S, N., Wil- 
liam Henry, James B. Mason, and Mary Elizabeth Potter. 



1 iDY, Hon. S.\Mt'i''.l,, jurist and statesman, was liorn 
March 31, 1769, in Johnston, R. I. He was the 
son of Deacon Richard Eddy, who was a desceml- 

!■/■;-. ant, in the f )urtli generation, of Samuel Eddy, the 

-V first settler of that name in this country, who came 
to Plymouth in 1(130, and who was the son of the Rev. 
William Eddy, Vicar of Crainbrook, county of Kent, Eng- 
land. Judge Eddy's mother was Martha, daughter of 
.Samuel and Anna ( Brown) Comstock. He attended school 
in the country until 17S1, when he began a course of study 
with Rev. F)r. James Manning, the first president of Brow n 
University, which institution he entered in 17S3. his fattier 
having removed ti.i Pro\idence. He attained eminence as 
a scholar during his collegiate career, being apiiointed 
salutatory orator at his graduation, in 17S7. The follow- 
ing year he commenced the study of law with Benjamin 
Bourne, F^q. On the 2Sth of February, 1790, he was a])- 
jiointed a delegate to the State Convention which decided 
on the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. 

The 27tli of March of the same year he was admitted to 
the bar, and the 6th of May following was elected clerk 
of tile Superior Court. The degree of Master of Arts was 
conferred upon him by Brown University in 1791. The 
next year he was admitted freeman of the town of Provi- 
dence, (tctober 20, 1703, he was chosen clerk of the 
fleneral Assembly, and was appointed in the Februaiy 
following as one of the committee to collect anil revise the 
laws of the Slate. On the 8th of May, 1794, he resigned 
the oflice of clerk of the Superior Court. He was Secre- 
tary of State from F)ecember, 1797, to May, 1S19. On the 
20th of (October, 1S05, he was baptized by the Rev. Stephen 
Gano, and became a prominent member of the I'irst Bap- 
tist Church, frequently attending thereafter the meetings 
of the Warren Association as delegate from that church. 
In March, 1S18, he published a tract entitled, Scripliire its 
own I)itii-prilcr in r,/,i/ii'n to the C/itiincli-r of Christ, 
wdiich created consideiable discussion in theological cir- 
cles. In the same year he liecame associated with the 
First Congregational (Unitarian) Church, aliout the same 
time laiblishing a tiact entitled, Riaions offered, by Sarnitei 

EJ(i\\ ICsij., for /lis o/inions, to t/ie J-'irst Hoftist CJnireh 
in rro7'iJenee, from 'w/iie/i he was eonipe!le,i to -vithdraw 
for J/eleroiloxy. Several editions were jniblished. Many 
years thereafter a tract from his pen was published by the 
.Vmerican I'nitarian .Association. In iSlShc was elected, 
without opposition, as representative in the .SiNteenth Con- 
gress, and was re-elected in 1S20 and 1S22, serving six 
years. In May, iS2(i, he was electeil l'"iflh Justice of the 
Su|aeme ludicial (.'ourt of the State, and the next year 
became (_hief Justice, which office he held until June, 

1.S35. For several years he was also secret. iry of the cor- 
[loiation of Brown Uni\ersity. In his late years he spent 
much time for recreative ends in the study of natural sci- 
ences, making a fine collection of minerals and shells. 
Judge Job Durfee, the successor of Judge Eddy as Chief 




-),x<2'>7 



7 IX-^zJi^ 




BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED I A. 



87 



Justice, rendered a irilnite of respect to the memory of the 
latter, characterizing him as possessed of a strong and 
active mind, and his ruling idea of the love of the true, in 
that form in which it was most positive, definite and cer- 
tain. This was carried into all his judgments, even those 
rendered on the minor duties of life. His open and fear- 
less honesty spoke in every word and act, and thus public 
confidence was fully aw'arded to him. Judge Etldy was 
married four times. First, Kovemljer 11, 1792, to Eliza- 
beth Bucklin, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Carpenter) 
Bucklin, She was born September 20, 1768, and died 
October 27, 1799. December 2, iSoi, he married Martha 
Wheaton, daughter of James and Anna (Angell) Wheaton. 
She was born October 22, 17S0, .and died Fel)ruary I, 1808. 
April 25, 1809, he married Naomi Ann Angell, daughter 
of Elisha and Anna (Fenner) Angell. .She was born March 
7, 17S8, and died February 13, 1817. October 17, 1S24, 
he married Sarah N. Dwight, widow of Gamaliel L. 
Dwight, and daughter of David and Mary (Brown) How- 
ell. Judge Eddy died February 3, 1839. Of his children 
who grew to maturity were Martha, who married Oron- 
dates Mauran ; Jonathan Abliott, who is still living in Bar- 
rington ; Mary, who married William Chace ; and Anna, 
who married, in 1S31, George M. Richmond, son of .Sam- 
uel Richmond. Of the children of the last named, Walter 
Richmond is president of the Richmond Manufacturing 
Company, engaged in the production of printed goods, and 
Frank Eddy Richmond is the treasurer of the same. How- 
ard Richmond, another brother, is treasurer of the Cromp- 
ton Manufacturing Company. 



/5ISCOX, Rev. Thomas, son of Rev. William Ilis- 
JM cox, of Newport, was born in 16S6. He was 

I "^ married at the age of seventeen to Bethia Clarke, 
";|'t daughter of Joseph Clarke, and united with the 

f I Newport Church at the age of twenty. He removed 
to Westerly, where he became a freeman in 1769, and 
town clerk in 1716. He was afterwards justice of the 
peace and town treasurer, acting in the latter office for 
si.vty years, till 1772. In 1716 he was elected deacon, 
and also served the church as clerk. Appointed an elder 
in 1719, he was confirmed publicly in 1727, in which year 
he acted in Lyme, Connecticut, June 7, as one of the mod- 
erators in the meeting for the discussion of great religious 
points, between Rev. John Bulckley, of the .Standing Order, 
and Rev. Valentine W'ightman.onthe part of the Baptists — 
a memorable debate, afterwards published by the parties. 
Mr. Hiscox enjoyed good opportunities for study, and 
availed himself of them to a remarkable extent for those 
times. While he filled the Sabbatarian pulpit in Newport 
a steel-plate portrait of him was executed, showing him in 
the old-time clerical dress. ( )n the death of Rev. John 
Maxson, Jr., in 1750, Mr. Hiscox was chosen to the pas- 
toral office of the Westerly church, now in llopkinton. 



.\t the same time Thomas Clarke was elected assistant 
elder and Joshua Maxson deacon, " wdth authority to ad- 
minister tire ordinance of baptism." Thomas Clarke died 
November 26, 1767, aged eighty-two years, having served 
as an assistant seventeen years. The church at tliis time 
enrolled five hundred and forty-eight members. After a 
laborious and effective career, Mr. Hiscox died. May 20, 
1773, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. 



rjll I ETT, Colonel Francis, son of Andrew Wil- 
i IlII, was born at Boston Neck, North Kings- 
_4 *'gY town, in 1693, and was a grandson of Thomas 
^./L Wdlett, who, in 1629, came, a young merchant, to 
iL Plymouth, Massachusetts, and was engaged in the 

fur and Indian trade, by which he Ijecame very wealthy, 
and owned several estates, one of wliich was in Barrington. 
Being a person of more than ordinary intelligence and 
weight of character, he accompanied Colonel Nichols as a 
counsellor in his attack upon Manhattan (now New York), 
in 1664, and was appointed by him first Mayor of that place. 
W'hen the Dutch resumed the government of New York 
he returned to Barrington, where he died, August 4, 1674. 
His son Andrew, the father of the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Plymouth, October 5, 1655, his wife being 
Mary, daughter of John Brown, Esq. He was in earlier 
life a trader in Boston, Massachusetts, but subsequently 
removed to the family estate on Boston Neck, which he 
bequeathed to his sons Thomas and Francis. The former 
dying in 1725, the estate came into the possession of 
Francis. His wife was Mary Taylor. They had no chil- 
dren. He was educated as a merchant, but possessing 
large estates he did not engage in commercial pursuits, but 
devoted himself to the care of his property. The estate 
at Boston Neck was a tr.ict extending a mile and a half in 
one direction and a mile or more in another direction, and 
was the original seat of the Indian Sachem, Miantonomi. 
On the WiUett farm resided for a time the famous Colonel 
Whalley, one of the regicide judges who condemned 
Charles I. to death. Colonel WiUett died February 6, 1776. 



P^^ULL, Honorable Henry, Attorney-General of 
^1^6 Rhode Island, the grandson of Henry Bull, one 
^^^ of the first purchasers of the island of Rhode 
Island, was born November 23, 1687. His near rel- 



atives all died when he was quite young, and he was 
placed under the charge of his aunt, Mary (Bull) Coggeshall, 
and apprenticed to learn the trade of a carpenter. He 
worked at his trade several years after he reached his 
majority. Dissatisfied, however, with the calling he had 
selected, he decided to study law. It is related of him 
that " when he had made up his mind to practice law, 
he went into the garden to exercise his talents in ad- 



8S 



niOGRAPIIICAL C\CLOPF.niA. 



drt'^siiii^ tlic coint aii'l iiny. W^- iIkii ^ulcctt.'! five cali- 
ha^es ill nm,- niw for judi^os. ami twcKc in another f'T 
JLirurs. After trying; hi-> liaml llicrt- for auliilL-, lie went 
Imldly inlu court aivl l^o'v u|Kin himself llie iluties (if 
an a'lvocatc, ami a little oIiM^rvation aivl cxpcrii-iice there 
convinced him that the same cahha^^e^ were in tlie court- 
house wliieh he tliniiL;ht he had left in the t;ardcn ; 
five in line r'jw and twelve in aiinihei." His knowledge 
of law UKist have hern consiilcraMe, and, considering 
how imjicrfcd his cailv traininj:^ wa^, he deserves great 
cicdil h.ir the atlamments whi^h he niadr. In the prime 
of hi-, life, his pcrxuiial ajipearance is said to liave been 
reiuarkahlv prepossessing; ; lie was nearly six feet high, of 
liL^hl complexion, and had l.>!ue eves ; was well proportioned 
and handsome, and graceful in his manners, ilis pul.»lic 
services rendered to the crdi'uy were of a Lon-.[>icuous char- 
acter, lie represL-nted Xew|'ort from time to time in tlie 
General Assemhiy; wa^ elected Allorney-( General in 1721, 
and re-elected in 1722; wa> Speaker of the House of 
Rcpresentati\ e> in 172S-29; was one of the committee to 
engage in the contro\ersy helween Rhode Island and 
Massachusetts respecting the eastern boundary, also one 
of the committee to revise the colony laws in 172S. When 
the Court of (.'oinmon Pleas was establisheil in 174Q he 
was tlie hrst Chief Ju-tice. Ilisdealh occuired I »ecember 
24, 1771. He was twice marrit'd, ihe hr-'t time to Martha 
C)dlin,by whom he had four sons and three daughters, and 
the second time to rhebe Coggeshall, l)y w liom he had 
seven sons and three dauiihters. 



■-AVIS, I'l 1 1 R, a rju.iker jireacher of Westerly, was 
\ born in l^ngland in l6So. PZducated a Presbyte- 
rian, iie so remaineil until his thirty-sixth year, 

\;'-~^ when he became a niemlier of the Society of Friends. 

" V He was the first distinguished i)reacher in the West- 
erly nieeting-N, held in the eastern part of ihc town. The 
meeting-honse was built in 1744, at a cosi of three hun- 
dred pounds. The society was a part of '' tlic Soutli 
Kingstown moiitlilv mceling," ami contained such mem- 
bers as Jolm Cndins, Jr.. iVtrr 1 )a\ is, Jr.. Stei->hen Rich- 
mond, Solomon Ht)xie, John Robinson, Cyrus Richmond, 
John Hoxie, Lot Trip, John Park,Zebulon Hoxie, Stephen 
Hoxie, and Tliomas Wilbur. Peter r)avis's services were 
n 't confined to this region ; he travelled and addressed the 
meetings of KriemU throughout New England, and was 
everywhere well received. In 1747 lie |)assed through 
Conneilieut, visiied Albany, went to Peiinsvlvania and 
Maryland, and s.iiled from Philadelphia for I-jigland. 
prance and I-!ngland then being at war. he was taken 
jnisnner on his passage, but was shortly released. He 
was highly esteemed, as shown by papers in the W'estern 
and northern jiarls of England. Afler his return lie la- 
bored in various regions. The maxijn, " Honesty i^ the 



best policy," was attributed to him. Peforc his death, 
as he was unable to go out, meetings were often held at 
his house, when he spoke wdth great lemierness and 
fervor. He <lied February 29, 1776. He was succeeded 
in his ministry by his son I'eler, a man of deep ]iiety 
and peculiar gifts, noted for his laconic and forcible ad- 
dresses, who died January 22, 1S12, at the great age of 
one hundred and one years and seven months. 



;":;IPP1TT, (^.HNFRAi. Christopher, son of Christopher 

and ('atharine tlloideii) Pippitt. was a lineal de- 
Vf^?..' scendanl of pihn Pippitl, whose name is the sixth 
y iC- on a list of fifty-two persons wdio, in 1638, had 
1 ! "home-lots" in Providence. On the 27th of May, 
1640, John I.ijipitt signed a c< impact containing proposals 
for a form of government; and, in 1^47, was lui a com- 
mittee from Providence, whieh, with other ciimmittees 
from Portsniituth, Newport, and Warwick, met at Ports- 
mouth " for the purpose of organizing a government " un- 
der the hr>.t charte''. He siion afterward removed to 
Warwick, R. I., where he was a "freeman" in 1^55. 
His descendants have been prominently identihed with the 
interests o| Warwick, ami m.iiiv of them have occupied 
eoiisjiicuous and useful jiositiwns in public life. (leneral 
Pipl'itt's father was a nati\e of Warwick, from wliiili 
place he renioveil to lappui Hill, in Cranstnn, where he 
resided until his death, and his mother was a daughter of 
Anthony and I'hebe (Rhodes) Holden. The former died 
December 7, I7t'4, at the age of tifty-two, and the latter 
May 4, 1S07, in her ninetieth year. They are buried in 
the family grounds on Lippitt Hill, in (.ranston. They 
had twelve children: Anthonv, who died at the age of 
thirteen years; Freelove, who married ( ilney Rice, son of 
Randall Rice; Mary, who married Thomas Rice, brollier 
of ()lney Rice; Chri-topher, the sul'ject of this sketch; 
Catharine ; Warren and Phelie. both of whom tlied in 
childhood ; Moses, who was an officer in the third com]>any 
of the Cranston militia in i7Soand i7Si,anil received a 
pension for his services at tliat time ; Charles, who was a 
resilient of Providence for more than sixty years ; Loudon; 
Waterman; and John, who was a private in Captain Dex- 
ter's company, in his brother's regiment, during the year 
1776, and was at the l)attles of Trenton and Princeton. 
Ceneral Christopher Lippitt was eminently a self-made 
man, and pu-^scs^ed traits rif t liaracter which enabled Iiim 
to attain a high standing as a military officer, and to render 
valuable service in various civil capacities. Nearly two 
years IxTore his death, wliich occurred June 17, 1S24, he 
I)re]>ared. at tlie request of the Rhode Island Historical 
Society, the following autobiographical sketch, under date 
of September 4, 1S22, which we herewith publish, as its 
style indicates the character of its author, and its content*; 
embrace the most interesting points ol his life: "I was 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



89 



born in the to\\'n now called Cranston, in the County of 
Providence, State of Rhode Island, in the year 1744; had 
no other learning than what was commonly obtained at the 
country schools of that day. My father died when I was 
in my twentieth year. When I was twenty-one, I repre- 
sented the town of Cranston in General Assembly, and 
was continued as a member thereof until the Revolution- 
ary War commenced. I was appointed captain of a militia 
company in said town of Cranston and a justice of the peace 
in the twenty-second year of my age, and continued to hold 
said commissions until the Revolutionary War was begun 
at Boston, and was then appointed lieutenant-colonel of 
a regiment of militia in the county of Prttvidence. In the j 
year 1775 I was appointed lieutenant-colonel of a regi- 
ment of minute men. to be ready at a minute's warnini; 
of any movement of the enemy, to resist them. In tlie 
latter part of this year Commodore Wallace, who com- 
manded a small British squadron in our bay, landed his 
marines on the island of Prudence and burned sevelal 
dwellings. I was ordered on said island, and had com- 
mand of several companies of militia and some minute 
men, till I moved off all the inhabitants and cleared the 
island of all movable property and abandoned the same. 
While I was on this business the General Assembly or- 
dered a regiment of infantry, to be used for the protection 
of the St.ate for one year, from the 1 8th day of January, 
A.D. 1776. I was appointed lieutenant-colonel of this 
regiment, and Henry Babcock, colonel. Babcock's con- 
duct was such that he was dismissed in a short time, and I 
was appointed colonel of the regiment, stationed at New- 
port till the forepart of September. When the regiment 
was called for by General Washington and the Congre.ss, 
I, with the commissioned officers under my command, took 
Continental commission; left Rhode Island about the mid- 
dle of .September, 1776, and led the regiment to the camp 
of General Washington on York Island, at a place called 
Harlem Heights. After remaining there eight or ten days, 
the British came out from New York, and we fell back into 
the country, under the immediate command of General 
Lee, who commanded a division of the army at White 
Plains ; and I was at the battle there. We then crossed the 
North River, and on our way through the Jerseys, iteing in 
camp for the night, General Lee, to accommodate himself, 
took quarters a short distance from the camp, and was 
taken a little before day by the British Light Horse and 
carried off. I then led my regiment, under the command 
of General Sullivan, and crossed at the forks of the Dela- 
ware, at a place called East Town, settled by a society of 

religious people called . We then went down to 

Bristol, on the Pennsylvania siile, and about the last of 
December and the forepart of January w'e crossed the 
river into the Jerseys again ; and I, w ith my regiment, unfler 
the immediate command of General Washington, was in 
the battle of Trenton and at Princeton, and took up winter 
quarters at Morri.stown till the time expired we were raised 



for. 1 then dismissed the regiment and returned home. 
While I was with General Washington he gave me a 
brevet command of brigadier-general over a brigade. 
Soon after I was returned home, I was appointed Brigadier 
General of the Militia of the County of Providence, and 
was in that command in the battle on Rhode Island, and 
was again a member of the General Assembly, and con- 
tinued a member and in command as brigadier till after 
the peace, A.D. 1783. Soon after a revolution took place 
in this State that dismissed me from all public life. But 
before this dismissal hajipcned, I hail been appointed 
Judge of the .Superior Court, received my commission, but 
for various causes, refusing to be engageil until the next 
session of (General Assembly, another was chosen in my 
room. I was also chosen to go a delegate to Congress, and 
refuseil. From the time the peace took place to the afore- 
said revolution in this State there was scarcely a rule of 
court submitted by dispnters to referees but what I was a 
member. But being a zealous advocate for the adoption 
of the Constitution of the United States, I was cried down, 
and have lived a retired life from public business to this 
day, the date being the 4lh of Septendier, .A.I). 1S22; and 
in the next month 1 shall, if I live, enter my 79th year. 
Some years back 1 was brought seriously to think of death, 
resurrection, and judgment to come, and set about build- 
ing a house with a few others for jnililic worship, and have 
finished the same mostly at my own expense. When the 
Peace .Society of Providence was adopted, I subscribed 
my name as a member, of which I wish to continue, as a 
useful means of cultivating peace on earth and good will 
toward men during the remainder of my life." ClIKis'io- 
PMER LlPPI'il-. " V. S, I desire this biograjihical relation 
to be entered and pul>lished whenever the doings of the 
Society are matle public, and for the correctness of the 
most part of \\hat is related 1 refer the iiKpiirer to the rec- 
ords of the General Assembly of my native .Slate." C. L. 
He married, March 23, 1777, Waite Harris, daughter of 
William and Patience (Clarke) Harris. .She died Septem- 
ber 8, 1S36, at eighty-one years of age. They had twelve 
children, seven of w horn are Inu'ied near their parents on 
Lippitt Hill. The only child now living is Mary, who 
still resides on the old homestead, at the age of eighty-four. 
K large number of grandchildren are living. As an evi- 
dence of his sense of justice and allectionate regard for his 
immediate kin<lred, it is stated that, at the death of his father, 
General Lippitt waived the exclusive right of inherit- 
ance which belonged to the eldest son by the law of primo- 
geniture, then in force in Rhode Island, and shared equally 
with the other children in the distribution of his father's 
estate. He superintended the building of one of the first 
cotton-mills in the State, Lippitt Mill, in Warwick, in 
which he retained a proprietary interest during his life, 
and which his descendants still hold. He was influential 
in advancing enterprises caliulaleil to promote the general 
welfare of the communit)'. He also took a deep interest 



9° 



B/OOKAPinCAL CYCJ. OPED/A. 



in religion* matters, was n prominent memher of the 
Methodist Ki)i>copal t'hureli, nnil his ho\i^e was tlic lionie 
of the hrst itinerant preaehers of tliat ilenoniinalion in 
Rlioile Island, as mentioned in Stepliens's Miinotials of 
A/ct/ii'Jism. In military life he was rct;arded "a brave 
and enevyetie ofhcer, pronipl in the esecution of all orders, 
prudent 111 his movements, and Ini^hly loniineiided hy the 
eommandei-in-ehief ; as a eivilian he was eiileiprisin>j;, 
[lulilie spinteil, and heartily in sympathy with everythinj; 
pertainiii;^ to the he^t interests of luinianity." 



jlwrfY'-^'-I^''^'''' CriMMOPORi-: SlI.AS, was the ninth ehild of 
irl\; lieiijamin and Zipporah i Allen ) d'alliot, and was 
■^■r^.'" born at Uiyhton, Mass , in the year 1751. Ilis 
\x mother died when he w as four years of age, and his 
I i father having married again, live more ehildrenwere 
adiled to the family. Inured to hardships from early life, 
young Talliot developed an independent and self-reliant 
eharaeter, vet ever e\hiliite<l a genial, self-saerifieing dis- 
position, w hieh endeared him to his eompanions, and gave 
him a commanding inllueiiee over all with whom he was 
brought in contact. He learneil the trade of a slonema^on, 
and subsequently followed the sea for several years, until 
he was fitted to command a ship. In 1772 he became a 
resident of Providence, where he married Anna, daughter 
of Colonel Barzilha Richmond, and pursued his tiaile until 
he had accumulated si mie pioperty. .\t the commencement 
of the Revolutionary War he responded to the call for 
troops, and rose from lieutenant to ihe rank of eapitain in 
the .\rmy of (tbservation, his commission dating June 2,S, 
1775. He was engaged at the siege of llo^itui. accom- 
panying the troops thence to Xew York, where the next 
year he distinguished himself in an attempt, partially suc- 
cessful, to burn the enemy's ships on the .\orth River. 
In view of this daring exploit. Congress promoted him to 
the rank of major in the army. In the dcleiice of Kort 
Mifflin, on Mud. Island, in the Dclauare River, he received 
a severe wound in the thigh, and hi^ wrist was badly shat- 
tered bv a nnisket-ball, but he fought till the work-, were 
evacuated. After a season of reenperatifiii at home lie 
returned to duty in the army commanded by I ieneral Sul- 
livan. l-'.m])loyisl by the latter in collecting the means of 
transportation for the troops, he collected in an incredibly 
short |)eriod a sufficient number of boats to secure the re- 
moval of the army to Rhoile Islaml, on the 9th of August, 
177S. In the battle of Rhode Island, which occurred at 
I'lUtt's, or Ou.aker Hill, twenty days subseipiently. Major 
Talbot was attached to the Light Corps, and was stationed 
three miles in front of the camp. In this engagement he 
exhibited great coolness and bravery. I )n the 2ijth of I )c- 
tober, in the same year, he executed one of the most daring 
exploits of the war, ])lanning aii'l achie\ ing the capiture of 
the llritish floating battery " I'igot," of two hundred 
guns, which was anchored at the nioulli of the Seaconnet 



River, commanding the approach to Newport. With an 
insignificant sloop, equipped with two three-pounders and 
sixty men, he took this saluaiile prize, anfl carried her 
safely to .Stonington. for this brilliant achievement the 
General Assembly awarded liim a vote of thanks ami an 
elegant sword, and Congress at once promoted him to the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel. The Ilritisli report .spoke of 
him as "one of the greatest arch-rebels in nature." In 
1779, Talbot armed his jirize, "The I'igot," and, taking 
command of "The .\rgo," sought with this small fleet to 
protect our coast from Long Island to Nantucket. He 
soon captured " The Lively," w ith twelve guns, and two 
letters of marque brigs from the West Indies; also, the 
" King (icorge," a Tory privateer, armed with fourteen 
guns. He subsequently captured "The Dragmi," a large 
armed vessel, after a battle (*{ four hours, h'ljr the latter 
achie\emeiit Congress commissioned him caiitain in the 
Nav\-, but was unable to give him a suitable \essel. He 
took command of the " ( leorge Washingtiui," a pirivateer, 
and, falling in with a British fleet, \\*as captured, ignomini- 
ously imprisoned in the hold, kept for a time in the Jersey 
]irison-ship, and finally transferred to the L>artmoor Prison, 
in England. After atrocious treatment, endured with 
great heroism, he was exchanged in I7Sl,and returned 
home the same year, broken in liealth by his sufferings, yet 
unbroken in his spirit of jiati iotism. He continued to re- 
side in Providence until 17SI1. He married, in Philailel- 
phia, Rebecca Morris, tlaugliter of Morris Meirris, au'l 
granddaughter of ( 'rovernor Mifflin, and settled in |ohn- 
ston, Fulton County, New \'ork, on the forfeited estate of 
Sir William Johnston. He re|iresented his district in the 
State Assemlily, and afterwards in Congress, in 1793-4, 
when he was appointed by fleneral Washington, cai'tain 
in the reorgani/ed Navy. lie superintended the building 
of " The Constitution " (44 guns) in 1797, of which he was 
captain until his resignation, four )ears after. In iSoo, 
the San I)omingo squadron was untler his orders. Here 
one of his striking projects, the cutting out of the French 
vessel " Sandwitch," was nrinutely carried out iTy his 
lieutenant, afterwards Commodore Hull, of which Cooper 
gives a glowing account in his Naval History. Commodore 
Talbot died in New York, June 30, 1S13. His children 
were Kli/a, born in 177^, and who married fieorge Met- 
calf, March 5, 170I ; Cyuis. lioni in 1774; George Wash- 
ington, born in 1775; Barzilha, who died young; Theodore 
Foster, born in 177') ; .Sallv Mifflin, who was born and died 
in 17S9; anil Heni)-, born in 179I. 



;R.\XK1.IN. J.4MKS, son of Josiah and Abiah ( Fol- 
ger) Franklin, and brother of Benjamin Franklin, 
was born m Boston, February 4, 1697, and was 
,:; '^^^ one of ten children, his mother being the seconil 
iA ^- Ai wife of her husband, who had liai.1 seven children 
by ids first wife. In his early youth he was sent to I-onflon 




^4 





BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



91 



to le.irn the trade of a printer, and returneil to Boston 
in 1717 with types and a pressof his own, and set uplnisi- 
ness as a printer both of paper and calico. In the month 
of December, 1719, was issued the first number of the 
Bos/on Gazelle. Pfe was employed to print the paper, and 
was thus occupied for a year or more, when he was 
superseded by another printer, which so chagrined him 
that on his own responsibility he resolved to start another 
paper. Accordingly, on Monday, August 17, 1721, the 
first number of the A'c-m England Coiiranl, owne<l, printed, 
and conducted by James Franlclin, made its appearance. 
It was the fourth newspaper published in this western 
world. It was on this paper that Benjamin Franklin, then 
about sixteen years of age, liegan his career as a writer. 
From the outset the Courant was what we call a " sensa- 
tion paper," ready to attack anybody or anything by which 
to make capital, and made itself very obnoxious to the 
government. In the issue of June II, 1722, appeared an 
article which seemed to reflect severely on the powers in 
authority. The publisher was summoned before the Coun- 
cil, and, after trial, refusing to give up the name of the 
writer of the article, he was sent to jail and kept there for 
four weeks. During his imprisonment his brother Benja- 
min had charge of the paper. At length James Franklin 
w-as put under the ban so effectually by the government, 
that about the middle of January, 1723, the paper began 
to be published in the name of his brothei*, then seventeen 
years of age, and continued to be so published for several 
months, when, not satisfied with the treatment he received 
from his brother, Benjamin ran away, about the montit of 
September, 1723. It is said that the Couranl began to flag 
when it lost Benjamin Franklin's lively pen, lingered two 
or three years, and at the beginning of 1727 ceased its 
existence. James Franklin continued his business in Bos- 
ton for awhile, and then removed to Newport, where, on 
the 27th of September, 1732, he issued the first number of 
the Rhode Island Gazette, which was the first newspaper 
published in the St.ate. lie had but little to encourage him 
in his project. Of the most valuable source of newspaper 
income — advertisements — he had none. Newport was a 
comparatively quiet, unpretending sort of a place in that 
early period. It had, it is true, .some foreign commerce, and, 
wdth its fine harbor, made some pretensions to be tlie rival 
of New York in the shipping line. Franklin became ilis- 
couraged, the paper ** did not pay," and, after twelve num- 
bers had been published, it died a natural death in Decem- 
ber, 1732. Mr. Franklin .survived the decease of his paper 
but a short time, his death taking place in 1735. His son 
James was more fortunate. The Newport i'J/f/r«r_i', estab- 
lished by him, its first number being issued June 12, 1758, 
is among the few papers of the country which h.is had 
more than a century's existence. This first number, as we 
learn from the IMercury ai June 16, 1866, was about the 
size of a letter-sheet, containing eight columns, three and 
a half inches wide, and twelve inches in length. For a 



frontispiece it showed a ship leavinglhe harbor, a fortifica- 
tion in the rear with the British flag flying, and a figure of 
Mercury flying through the air, holding in his hand a pack- 
age, signifying a news-carrier. The press on which the elder 
James Franklin and his brother Benjamin worked in Bos- 
ton, after being in the oflice of the Netuport Mereiiiy for 
over one hundred years, was sold to John B. Murray, Esq., 
in 1858, and by him, in 1S64, presented to the Massachusetts 
Charitable Mechanics' .Association, on the i5Sth anniver- 
sary of the birthday of Franklin. 



IlLLINGS, Hon. Alpheus, son of Ichaliod and 
Martha Ann Billings, was born in Trovidence, 
March 31, 1772. He received a common English 
education, and at an early age learned the trade of 
a hatter, which he followed for several years, and 
was then appointed constable. After serving for some 
time in that capacity he filled the office of sherift". In i8o8 
he was appointed high sheriff, under Governor Fenner, 
and served until iSii, when he engaged in the grocery 
business with Luther Ainsworth, on Weybossett Street, 
Providence, under the style of Billings & Ainsworth. On 
the dissolution of this partnership he became associated 
with George Weeden, in the same business, the firm name 
being Weeden & Billings. During the war of 1812 their 
trade was unusually large and profitable. This firm was 
dissolved in i8i5,and for two years thereafter Mr. Billings 
continued in business with his son, E. R. Billings, under 
the style of A. Billings & Son. He was soon afterward 
reappointed high sheriff, and served for about six years, 
also acting as coroner and justice of the peace. For 
several years Mr. Billings acted as agent for Brown & 
Ives, for whom he collected rents, and represented them 
in other interests. When Providence was incorporated, 
in 1S32, lie was a candidate for mayor of that city, and 
was defeated by Hon. Samuel W. Bridgham, the first in- 
cumbent of that office, who was elected by a majority of 150 
votes. During the administration of Governor John Brown 
Francis he was elected to represent Providence in the 
Rhode Island .Senate, and served acceptably for several 
years as a member of that body. Mr. Billings was notably 
prompt, faithful, and uniformly courteous in the discharge 
ofthevarinus duties required of him during his official 
career, and by his kindliness, geniality, and integrity won 
and retained the respect and confidence of his fellow-men. 
For several years he was a member of the First Baptist 
Church of Providence, and afterwards he and his wife 
united with the Beneficent Congregational Church, of which 
he was an influential member. He was married, August 
8, 1793, by Rev. Jonathan Maxcy, D.D., to Lydia Mann 
Carpenter, daughter of Oliver and May Carpenter, of 
Providence. She was a half sister of Knight Dexter. Her 
parents resided on High Street, Providence, and during 
the Revolutionary War General Washington was for a short 



BIOGRAnilCAL CVCl OPEDIA. 



time one of theii- ijuests. Mr. Hillings dieil January S, 
iS^I, ageil seveiity-i-iglu yeai^, and liis wife ilieil July 12, 
iSCiS, at the a:^e of ninely-tliiee. lln-y had foui' ehildren, 
three ■.on^ and one daiii;lilcr : rilullierl Rlioik-^, I urn May 
22. 1704. and died liiiie 12, iSSl ; .\l|ilirus ('ar|ienter. I mrn 
May jl, 17117, and died .SepteniI.er S, i8(j2 ; .Maiy Car- 
penter, liorn luly o, iSoS, and ilied November 13, 1^77; 
and Henry Leonard, li<irn AiiyU'-t 22, lSl2,and died April 
1 1, 1S14. 

i'l >I KK, M.WIF.L, Attorney-Cieneral, was horn abont 
the year 16S0. He wa^lhe sun of Lodowiekand 
.)j Catharine (Xewt'jn) L'|i'lil<e. His father died in 

('■;'' '7 i7' leavini; six eluldreii. A dju;;hter. Sarah, mar- 
•v ried 1 ir. ( ;de^ ( '....ddard. the L^randfaiher of Profussor 
Wdliam I i. < ioililard ; she ilied January, 1 770. The sub- 
ject of tlii^ sUfteli ".IS eduialed in his fatlier's ln>use, 
and was well in^trueled in ihe ( Ireek. Lalin, and freneli 
languages by a I'reneh tutor, who also had charge of 
the education of the sisUrs (if Mr. l'pdd<e. (.>ne uf these 
sisters, Sar.di. lo whom reference has just lieen made, is 
said to Inne discovered an extraordinary genius and tasle 
for, and nuade a most surprising ]>rogress in. mo^t kinds of 
useful and polite learning, intbubng languages and several 
branches of mathematics. Hut. as we are told, "her un- 
common attaimnents in lileralure were the least valuable 
parts of her character. Her conduct through all the 
changing, trying scenes of life was not only unlilamable, 
but exemplary; a sincere piety and unaffected humility, an 
easy, agreeable cheerfulness and affability, an entertaining, 
sensible, and edifying conversation, and a prudent attention 
to all tlie duties of domestic life, endeared her to all of her 
acquaintances." f>n completing his studies Mr. L'pdike 
prepared himself f >r ihe legal professi.)n, ,md, having been 
admitted to the bar of Rhode Island, he opened an olfice in 
Newport, and rapidly rose to distinction as a lawyer. In 1 72 2 
he was electeil .\ttorney-tieneral, and for ten successive years 
was re-elected by the voles of his fellow-citi/ens. In 1732 he 
declined longer service, having been nondnated fir Cov- 
ernor of the colony as an ojiposing camlidate lo Wdliam 
Wanton, who was elected to that office. In the adjustment 
of difficult and compbcaled riuestions which grew out of 
what sometiuies were angry controversies resjiecting the 
boundary lines of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and 
Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Mr. Updike took an ac 
live part. ( inc of the trials resiiecting the boundary lines 
of the two latter States was before Judge Lightfoot, who 
spoke of it as one of the most anxious exhibitions th.rt he 
had ever witnessed, and that the argument of Mr. l'pdike 
ill the close was a masteiiv eftort. The Itnal decision es- 
tablished within the limits of Rhode Island no ineonsid- 
eiable part of what, at besl. is her small territory, to wit, 
the lowiishipof Cuinberl.uid, so called in honor of Wil- 
li.iui, I Hike of ( till die I kind, fniious tor the )iail he look in 
Ihe great bailie of Cidlodell, ihe whole of Ihislcd. a ]iarl 



of Swansea, and a great part of Barrington, — these two 
places being consolidated into a township, w hich was called 
Warren, in honor of Sir Peter Warren, Knight of the Path 
and Admiral in the Navy, — and a strip of land within wdiieh 
are compriseil the juesenl towns of Ti\'ertou and l.ittle 
Com|jton. In 1741 and 1742 Mr. l'pdike was appointed 
King's attorney for Kings, snbseciuently Washington, 
C'ounty. When the act was rejiealed ap])ointing an attor- 
ney for each ol the four counties of Rhode Island, and 
there was a return to the former arrangement of having one 
attorney for the whole colony, Mr. Updike was chosen to 
fill the office, and held it from 1743 to 1757. He found 
time amid the jiressure of the professional duties which 
devoUed on him to cultivate his literary tastes. He was 
one of the I'ounders of the Redwooil Librar)' in Newport. 
He was on terms of intimate friendshiji \\ ilh 1 'e.ni llerkelev, 
who, upon his return to England, presented him an ele- 
ganll) wrought silver coffee-pot, and after he reac bed home, 
fijrwarded lo him a copy of his great work, the Minute 
r/iilosophi'i-. Mr. llpdike collected a valuable private 
library, and his wise selection of his books indicates the 
refined character of his tastes. We are told that among 
his professional brethren he was highly respected, and mall 
literary and professional associations of his time his name 
stamls at the head He was twice married, the lusl lime 
to Sarah, d.uighter of (loverncir Benedict .'\rnold, \\ ho died 
childless, and the second timelo Austis Jenkins, ihe grand- 
daughter of Mr. Wilkins, by which connection he came 
into [lossession of considerable pirojiertv. He died in May, 
1757. Two of his children survived him, — Lodo\\'ick and 
Mar)-. 'Ihe fuiner married Abigail, daughter of John 
(iardiner, and the latter, |udge John (_*ole. 



PDIKP', LriDOWICK, only son of Hon. Planiel 
.;J^' Updike, Attorney of the Colony of Rhode Island, 
was born at Newport, Rhode Island, Julv 12, 
(" > 1725. His education was acfjuired under the Uii- 
■' i ti'in of private tutors, his last teacher being Rev. 

John Checkle>, Rector of St. J.ihn's Church, in Prov- 
idence. He studied fiu- the leg.il professiiui, but did not 
practice, having a large estate in North Kingstown, where 
he resided, the care of \\ Inch occupiecl his lime. His death 
occurred June o, i,So4. Mr. Ujidike was an Ejiiscopalian, 
and to his zeal it was largely owing that .St. Paul's, in 
Wiekford, was erected. He married Abigail Gardiner, 
daughter of lohn ( iardiner, of " Iloston Neck." .She was 
a niece of 1 >r. McSjiarran. She outlived her husband several 
years. 'I'hey had a large fimily of chiUlren, eleven in num- 
ber, viz. : Itaniel, lames, ,\ustis, Maiv, -\bigail, .Sarah, 
I.ydia, I.odowick, Alfred, (;ilbert,and Wilkins. Mr. Up- 
dike was regarded in his times as one of the most eminent 
citi.'ens of Rhode Island. It is said of him that " to strong 
intellectual powers, he added an iin['ro\ed taste and great 
acpiiremenls. His i[u.diliealions were such as tilted him 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



93 



to sliine either at the bar, in the Senate, or in the (iehi. 
But he preferred the shade of private life to the din of war, 
the tumult of popular assemblies, or the chicane of law. 
In a word, the name of honest man and peace of con- 
science he preferred to the most pompous or worldly dis- 
tinctions. His hospitality was conspicuous. His door 
was open to the wayworn traveller as well as the more 
wealthy and splendid guest, and all ages and conditions 
were pleased and enlivened with his cheerful, learned, and 
refined conversation." William Goddard, the father of the 
late Professor W. G. Goddard, in a communication to the 
Providence Gazette, thus announces his death : " On Friday, 
the 8th instant, the remains of Lodowick Updike, P'squire, 
who died at his seat at North Kingstown, the preceding Wed- 
nesday (in the eightieth year of his age), were entombed 
among his venerable ancestors with those marks of respect 
due to his exalted merit." 



|PDIKE, Hon. Daniel, grandson of Attorney- 
General Updike, under the Royal Charter of 
!p'*®'°' Charles H., from 1722 to 1 732, was born in North 
W^ Kingstown, in 1761. He was the eldest son of Lo- 
^ V dowick and Abigail (Gardiner) Updike. In accord- 
ance with the custom of the times in which he lived, he 
received his early education under the tuition of private 
instructors, who resided in the family, and were compan- 
ions as well as teachers of their pupil. He studied law 
under the direction of PJon. James M. Varnum, and 
at the time of his death was the oldest member of the bar 
in Rhode Island. He was admitted to the bar in 1 7S4, and 
practiced his profession in Washington County for eleven 
years. For several years he represented his native town in 
the General Assembly, and for a number of sessions was 
the clerk of the House of Representatives. At the con- 
vention of delegates from the dilTerent towns in Rhode 
Island which met at South Kingstown, March I, 1790, to 
ratify the Constitution of the United States, he was chosen 
Secretary. The convention was composed of men of the 
highest talent in the State, and the office to wdiich Mr. 
Updike was elected was one which indicated the rank which 
he held among the distinguished gentlemen with whom he 
was associated. Rhode Island wa.s the last of the thirteen 
original States of the Union that ratified the Constitution, 
It is somewhat remarkable that for a long time it was not 
generally known that there cvisted any record of the pro- 
ceedings of this convention. The Secretary of .State had 
nothing among his records that indicated that such a con- 
vention had ever been in session. There was no direct 
proof in his office that Rhode Island had adopted the Con- 
stitution, although the subsequent action of the General 
Assembly was sufficient evidence that the convention had 
acted upon the questions presented for their consideration. 
Why the secretary, Mr. Updike, did not deposit his min- 
utes in the archives of the State, is not known. As late as 



1S63, Hon. Wilkins Updike, the brother of the subject of 
this sketch, deposited with Hon. J. R. Bartlett, then Sec- 
retary of State, papers and documents and minutes of the 
proceedings of the convention, which had been preserved 
by its secretary (see sketch of Wilkins Updike). These 
papers are full of interest to persons who desire to ac(|uaint 
themselves with matters pertaining to an earlier epoch in 
Rhode Island history. We find that thirty towns were 
represented at the convention, which was composed of 
seventy members. Newport had five delegates, and Prov- 
idence, Portsmouth, and Warwick four each. All the rest 
had two each. Hon. Daniel Owen, of Glocester, was 
elected President, and Daniel Updike, Secretary. We 
find an office held by two gentlemen, which has long since 
gone out of use in deliberative assemblies, to wit, the oflSce 
of monitor. We are told that in the early proceedings of 
the General Assembly this office was held by prominent 
members, and their duty was to see order preserved, and 
that the attention of members was not distracted from the 
business before them. They reported to the speaker or 
president the names of all members seen reading papers, 
conversing with one another, or inattentive to the business 
before the meeting. Unfortunately the minutes of the 
arguments pro and con advanced l)y the members of the 
convention, \vere written down by the secretary in hand- 
writing which it is not easy to decipher, and the curiosity 
of the student of these important discussions must remain 
unsatisfied as he pursues his investigations. What has 
been made out from the imperfect minutes of the secretary 
may be found in Judge Staples's Rhode Is/niiii in the Con- 
tinental Congress, pp. 644-656. Mr. Updike was elected, 
in 1790, Attorney-General, and having served one year, he 
declined a re-election. He was appointed a Presidential 
Elector in 1796 to carry the vote of the State to Philadelphia, 
then the seat of government. This was the last official 
trust placed in the hands of Mr. Updike. He is spoken of 
as having been a gentleman of the old school both in man- 
ners and dress. His urbane and courteous deportment was 
on all occasions remarkable, and he left upon every mind 
the most grateful impression in regard to his character. 
Besides being a well-trained lawyer, he was well versed in 
the literature of his times. He had one of the best private 
libraries in the State, and was familiar with the books that 
were found on its shelves. A long life of over eighty years 
was granted to him, his death occurring at East Green- 
wich, June 15, 1S42. 

|W!S^PDIKE, Hon. Wll.KlNs, son of Lodowick Updike, 

^lll^ and the youngest of eleven children, was born at 

43 North Kingstown, R. I., January 8, 17S4. He 

f'-i)> pursued his early stuilies, as was the practice in 

'i wealthy families of the times in which he lived, 

under tutors, m his father's house. Subsequently he was 

sent to the academy in Plainfield, Conn. On completing 

his academic course, he entered the law office of Hon. 



94 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCL OPEDIA. 



James Lanman, and conimenceil the study cjf the legal pro- 
fession. He wa^ afterwards in the offices o{ Hon. William 
Hunter and Hon. .\shcr Robhins, of .Veuport, and Hon. 
Elisha Potter, of Kingston. He was admitted to the bar 
in iSoS, and soon rose to distinetii.tn in his jirofe^^ion. F-'r 
some time he resided at Tower Hill, tlien ii)r two or tliree 
years at the ohl humeslead in Ni'rth Kingstuwn, antl 
finally removed to Kingston, where he lived during the 
remainder of las life. He wa> f>r many years a memljer 
of the (leneral .\ssembly. Heie lie was an earnest co- 
laborer w itir Hon. Heniy Uarnard. the School Commis- 
sioner, in giving increased efficiency to the cause of popular 
education. He aKo interested himself in securing the re- 
moval of the restricti•>n^ upmi the rights of married women. 
His inlluence in the * leneral .Assembly was felt in many 
tlirectii)ns. Mr. L'pdike was also an author. His Memoirs 
iif //:,■ Rhihii- Im'.iiu/ Bill- is a valuable work. " But fir 
these memoranrla, \\ Inch he iinl)- at th.U tiiLie c-iidd ha\'e 
Collected, many of these men, so disiinguishetl in their 
day, wouhl be now forgotten." He also wrote a J/isloiy 
of the Epii^opal Chufih in .\'ii>-i;ii;tiiisct/. A'. I. To col- 
lect the m.iterials for this work, he carried on an e\tensi\-e 
correspondence, and made use of a large amount of mate- 
rials which came into his hands. The whole of the matter 
thus gathered by him fiijui nianv" ipiarters is compressed 
into a volume of 533 pages. The book, being out of print, 
has become very valuable, and it is not easy to get a co]i\-. 
In Judge Slaides's book, giving an account of the action of 
Rhode Island with reference to the adoi)tion of the Consti- 
tution of the United States, may be found some of the min- 
utes of the proceedings of the convention called to discussthe 
question of the acceptance of the Constitution. These min- 
utes have been for some time in the possession of Mr. Up- 
dike, and it was his jiurpose to ]irepare a full account of 
the comention, with notices uf the prominent person^ who 
took p.irt in its discussions. The state of his health pre- 
vented him iVom carrying out his pmrpose. The wife of 
Mr. Updike, whom he married Seiitember 23, iSoq, was 
Aliby, daughter of Walter \Vatson, Esq., of .South Kings- 
town. The children by this marriage were Thomas 1)., 
who removed to I'ittsbuig, I'a., Mr^. R. K. Randolph, 
Mrs. Samuel Rodman, Mrs. H. A. Hidden, Walter Wat- 
son, Miss A. T. Ujidike, Mrs. John F. Ijreene, Hon. Cesar 
A., at one time .Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
and Mrs. John ICddy. Mrs. U|idike died several years 
before her husliand, whose death occurred at Kingston, 
J.iiuiary 14, 181.17. 



I'DIKF, H..N. C. A., son of Wilkins and Abby 

(Watson) Updike, was born in Kingston, R. I., 

March 7, I.S.'^. He was tilted for college under 

W^ the tuition of Rev. Thomas Vernon, whose classical 

^v school Ii. id a high rejiutation, and graduated from 

Brown University in the class of 1849. -Among lii^ class- 



mates were Rev. Dr. William II. Alden, of Portsmouth, 
N. H. ; President James B. Angell, of the Michigan Uni- 
\ersity ; Hon. Rowland Hazartl, of Peacedale; Rev. r)r. 
Heman L. Wayland, of Philadelphia; and Hon. P. F. 
Thursion, of Providence. Soon alter his graduation, .\Ir. 
Updike commenced the study of law in the office of his 
brother, W. W. Updike, Esq., and was admitted to the bar 
in 1S51. In addition to the discharge of his professional 
duties, he served his fellow-citizens in various offices to 
which he was elected. He was a member of the Common 
Council of the city of Providence from 1S59 to lS6j ; a 
member of the lower house of the General Assembly from 
1S60 to 1S64; and was Speaker of the House from i860 to 
1S62, discharging the duties of the office with dignity, im- 
partiality, antl ability. He is represented as having beeir 
" a fine public speaker, inheriting much of his distinguished 
father's wit and humor, and, like him, was a thorough Rhode 
Islander, attached to the traditii.tns and institution^ of his 
native State and familiar with its history." In the later 
years of his life there were developed sympitoms which 
indicated tlisease of the heart. The forebodings of his 
friends were realized, and he died suddenly, October g, 
1S77. He married, Hecember. iSjS, Elizabeth Bigelow, 
daughter of Seth Adams, of Providence, who, with one 
son. sur\ived the i-lecease of her luisliam.!. A beautiful 
tribute to the memory of Mr. Updike by his classmate 
^xwX friend. President .\ngell, of the Michigan Uni\ersity, 
was published in the riovtclciiiO Journal, C)ctober 25, 1S77, 



.\1\K, Ri:\'. JiisKfll. the only Presbyterian minister 
e\er settled in Westerl)', Kliode Island, and a 
man of note in his times, was born March 12, 
^\^ 1705- After graduating fronr Cambridge College, 
Massachusetts, he was appointed a missionary " to 
the Indians and such English as would attend in West- 
erly, Rhode Island," which field of labor he entered in 
1733, occupiying a meeting-house on a lot of land "given 
by (ieorge Xinigret, chief sachem of the Indians." The 
lot conqirised twenty acres, and was situated near the post- 
road, in the eastern part of the jiresent town. His con- 
gregation came frrun Westerl)', Charlestow n, and Xarra- 
gansett. His work was slow and ililhcult till 1740, when 
the Creat Revi\'al broke upon New England. Ceorge 
Whitefield landed in Newport, September 14, 1740, and 
immediately his influence spread over the country. Gil- 
bert Tennent, on his way to and from Boston, visited West- 
erly and [ireacheil with signal effect. Here, too, was heard 
the voice of Whitefiehl, and the rousing exhortations of 
the eccentric James Davenport. The Presbyterian church 
was organizeil, with Mr. Park as pastor, August 1^, 1742. 
Rev. Nathaniel Eells, of Stoiiington, and Rev. Josejih 
F'ish, of North .Stonington, assisted at the ordination. 
Great religious changes occurred in the tow n, and affairs 



BlOGRAPl/ICAL CYCLOPEDfA. 



95 



drifted in the direction of tlie Bapti«s, so that, in 1751, 
Mr. Park removed and settled at Mattaluck, in Snuthold, 
Long Island. Here he labored till 1756, when he returned 
to Westerly, and was formally settled again, May 23, 1759. 
This church probalily established the first Sahbalh school 
in this country. The church record reafls : " May ye lolh, 
1752. This Society having for some lime practiced hear- 
ing our children read a portion of ye Holy Scriptures, and 
repeat ye Assembly's Catechism puhlickly in our meeting 
on Lord's Day ; judging it to be a happy means of Kdifi- 
cation, and likewise of collecting money for pious uses, 
. . . have this flay passed a vote to have these things 
statedly practiced in this .Society." Mr. Park had three 
sons. Lieutenant Joseph and Sergeants lienjamin and John, 
engaged in the reduction of Crown Point. His son lien- 
jamin " fought and fell with General Warren on Bunker 
Hill." Of the church in Westerly, Mr. Park was the only 
pastor. Changes in religious views in the town and the 
shock of the Revolution scattered the congregation beyond 
the power of recovery, but the good influence of the faith- 
ful minister remained. Mr. Park left a large number of 
influential and honorable descendants. A somewhat 
famous sermon of his, preceded by a narrative, was pub- 
lished in 1 761. He died in honor at his home in West- 
erly, March i, 1777, in the .seventy-second year of his age, 
and forty-fifth of his ministry. His wife, .\l>igail, died 
October 19, 1772, in her sixty-eighth year. 



(|WiiS|te ard Ward, was born at Newport, R. I., May 

ef^^3 1725, and graduated at Cambridge Colle 

yic^*** . _ . ... 



^ARD, Governor S.AMI'EI., son of (Governor Rich- 

27. 

lege, 
<;«»!', - - _ _ & ' 

II Mass., in 1743. In 1745 he married .\nna Ray, of 
j-% Block Island, and removetl to W'esterly, R. L, 
where he began his public career. His excellent character, 
liberal education, and legal attainments soon won for him 
public confidence, and he became a leader in the town and 
in the colony. Fitted to guide in public affairs, he rose to 
the highest seat in the gift of the people, being chosen 



Governor three times — in 



in 1765, and in 1766. At 



this time there was a warm i>olitical contest between what 
was then known as the Ward and Hopkins parties, Ste- 
phen Hopkins being the leader of the latter. It was, also, 
the exciting period when the Stamp Act was agitating the 
whole country, and irreconcilable differences w ith the mother 
country were reaching their culminating point. Governor 
Ward acted a cool, decided, able, noble part in resist- 
ing the aggressions of England. The papers that ema- 
nated from his pen are among the highly cherished records of 
the State. The manifesto composed by him, and adopted 
by Westerly, February 2, 1774, and widely circulated, 
kindled enthusiastic responses. It is a masterly paper, 
both in style and sentiments, and the fifteen resolves lucidly 
set forth the points of comjilaint against Great Britain. 
Associated with him in his patriotic endea\-ors, by appoint- 



ment, were Hon. Joshua Babcock, James Rhodes, George 
Sheffield, and James Babcock. They corresponded with 
committees in other parts of the country, — in Boston, Phil- 
adelphia, and Virginia. Governor Ward was distinguished 
for his penetration, calmness, earnestness, and firmness. 
Very wdsely, at the opening of the Revolutionary struggle 
in 1774, he was chosen by the colony as colleague with 
Stephen Hopkins, to whom he was now jierfectly recon- 
ciled on party grounds, to represent Rhode Island in the 
first Continental Congress at Philadelphia. To this respon- 
sible position he was reappointed in 1775, and while in 
the discharge of his duty, died in Philadelphia, March 
25, 1776, deeply mourned by Congress and by his native 
colony. 

eSKS^.A.RD, Lieuten.\nt-Col(inei, S.\muei,, of the First 
0iI|Sfte Rhode Island Regiment of Infantry in the w-ar 
'?°¥ °'^ ''^^ American Revolution, was born at West- 
erly, Rhode Island, November 17, 1756. He was 
descended from Roger W'illiams, and was the sec- 
ond son of Governor Samuel Ward, a patriot and states- 
man of very noble character, and most enlightened views 
and foresight, who, after being Chief Justice of Rhode 
Island, also distinguished himself when Governor by his 
courageous opposition to the Stamp Act, being the only 
Colonial Governor who refused to take the oath to enforce 
tliat unjust measure, (jovernor Samuel Wartl's career w'as 
a remarkable one, he being three times elected Governor, 
and subsequently leading the war party in Rhode Island, 
besides early advocating Independence when a member of 
the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Ward was educated at the College of Rho<ie 
Island, where he was graduated with honors in 177 1. He 
became a very intim.xte friend of General Nathanael 
Greene, next to Washington the greatest general of the 
Revolution. At the outbreak of the Revolution he raised 
a company in Kings and Kent counties, Rhode Island, re- 
ceiving a commission as captain from the colonial govern- 
ment, signed by his uncle Heniy Ward, the Secretary of 
State. He marched with his company to the siege of Bos- 
ton, forming a part of Colonel Varnum's regiment. Cap- 
tain Ward was stationed first at Roxbury, then at Jamaica 
Plains, and then at Prospect Hill. He subse(|uently joined 
a detachment of Rhode Island troops, two hundred and 
fifty strong, who volunteered under Lieutenant-Colonel 
Christopher Greene to join Arnold's force, nimibering in 
all eleven hundred men, directed to reinforce General 
Montgomery befiire Quebec by way of the Kennebec 
River, in Maine. They marched from Prospect Hill, near 
Cambridge, September 10, reaching Kennebec River the 
following day. The march of the expedition through the 
wilderness of Maine, wading a hundred miles up the Ken- 
nebec, carrying bateaux and kegs of provisions, marching 
a hundred miles on short three-days' provisions, wading 
over three rapid rivers, marching through snow and ice 



96 



BIOGRAPniCAL CYCL OPED/A. 



Ijarefnot, aiifl crossin;^ the Si. Lnwrcncc where it was 
guardetl by the enemy's frignte. wns one of tlie most ter- 
rible on record. On the JOtli of November, 1775, Arnold 
marched his command from (Quebec to Point aux Trem- 
bles, where (General M'>nti^omery joined them, after cap- 
turinj^ Montreal and sailing; down the St. Lawrence. The 
American forces then ]iroceeded to (Juebec. and made a ! 
most darinL; attack on tlie city the morninj^ of the 31st of 
December in three detachment^, under cover of a heavy 
snow-storm. Captain ^Val■l^ with his c<.>mpany, forming 
]iart of Lieutenant-Colonel Greene's command, foUL^ht his 
way f.ir into the city, reaching the second barrier. After a 
desperate struggle, in wliich one hundred and twenty of the 
command were killed ai}d wounded, the remainder were 
all made prisoners, (.'aptain Ward reni.iined a prisoner 
until Angu-.t I I, 177*'. w lien he was paroled with the others 
and sent to New Vork by sea. After his exchange he was 
promoted major in the Kir-l Rhode Island Infantry, and 
after ser\ ing at Morristoun, with General Washington's 
army, was next sent with his regiment to I'eekskill, during 
General Burgoyne's movements. Major Ward with his 
regiment, Commanded by Colonel Greene, was next stationed 
at Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, on the Delaware, wliere on 
the 22'\ of October, 1777, he took j-art in liie brilliant de- 
fence of the fort and the rej)uUe of llie Hessians under 
Count Donop. At the rc'juest of Colonel Greene he 
wrote the oftaial report of the battle, preserved in Wash- 
ington's correspondence. With his regiment he was next 
statitined at Valley Korge, and, receiving a sin n't furlough, 
was married in Rhmle Island, March S, 1778. returning to 
cani]) soon after. His regiment I'eing now consolidated. 
Major Ward went h<tme with Colonel Greene to Rhoile 
Island, where they were very active in raising a new regi- 
ment, partly composed of colored men. This was attached 
to General Sullivan's command, and took part in the bat- 
tles on Rhode Island, in which Major Ward ablv com- 
manded his regiment. He wa-. now promoted lieutenant- 
colonel , was detached to command a Light Corps of 
troops near Providence, and subsequently stationed at North 
Kingston ami Newjiort. At the commencement of 1781 
a large number of ollicers of the Rhode Island line retired 
on half pay, Lieutenant-Colonel Ward being among the 
number. He now went into business as a merchant, ma<le 
a voyage to China, and then removed to New York, also 
making two \i)yages to Europe. He remained settled in 
New \'ork unld 1S04, when he returned to Rhode Island 
for many years, but tinally removed to Long Island in 1S16, 
and died in New York, August 16, 1S32. after a nolde and 
useful life. His eldest son, Henry, inherited his member- 
ship of the Cincinnati, and was an intelligent man of 
business. His si.-cond son, Samuel Ward, became a mem- 
ber of the celebr.Ued In ni of Prime, Ward v'v: Sand^, and 
was the father of Mr-. Julia Ward I b»we, the authoress and 
jioetess. Richaid K W.ud w.i- a lau yer and antiquarian. 
Two other sons, jotin and Wiliiam G.. established the tirm 



of Ward &: Co., liankers, and also maintained the honoralilc 
record of their ancestors. 



KXF.DICT. Ri-.v. David. D.D., the "venerable 
historian of the Ba]>tists," was born in Norwalk, 
Fairfield County. Conn., on the lOth of ( )ctober, 
4'fe 1779. being the oldest of a numerous family of chil- 
k' dren. His parents were Thomas and Martha (Scud- 
der) Benedict. His father, who served as a soldier in the 
war of the Revolution, was an enterprising farmer and a 
man of gentlemanly bearing. He removed from Ntn-walk 
to Saratoga County, New York, afterwards to New Lisbon, 
Otsego County, and m 1S33 to Rhode Lkind, where he 
died. The mother, who was a woman of rare worth, died 
in 1786, wdiile her eldest son was a mere lad of seven 
years. The subject of this sketch was early taught to 
work, with such seant o])])orlunilies for education as a 
country school of the last century afforded. At the age 
of fourteen he left home, and was apprenticed to a shoe- 
maker in the town of New Canaan, adjoining Norwalk. 
For seven years he applied himself diligently to his trade, 
working always with a book on a shelf within reach, and 
devoting his spare moments to reaiiing. for which he had 
a remarkable fondness. While here he became interested 
in religious truth, and on the 8th of De-^ember. 1709. was 
baptized by the Rev. Stephen Royce, and united with the 
Stratfield Baptist Church. At the exjiiration of his appren- 
ticeship he engaged himself as a j'jurneyman in a large 
shc)e establishment in the city of New York, where he re- 
mained one year. Having decided on a collegiate course, 
he. in 1S02, relinquished llattering business ])n.'spects, and 
entered the academy of Rev. Stephen S. Nelson, at Mount 
Pleasant, now the seat of Sing Sing Prison. Here he re- 
mained two years; during which time he defrayed his ex- 
penses in p.irt by teaching the younger pupils. (.)iic of the 
lads whom he thus instructed in the rudiments was Francis 
Wayland, afterwards the distinguished president of Brown 
University- By the most intense application he was not 
only enabled to prepare himstdf for college while with Mr. 
Nelson, but also to enter an advanced class. He thus 
overtaxed his mental and }ih\'sical powers, in consequence 
of wdnch he injure*! his eyes, and impaired for the time 
being his liealth. In the f.ill of 1804 he entered the junior 
class of Brown University, under the presidency of the 
Rev. Dr. Messer. (hie of his instructors was Calvin Park, 
father of the distingui->hed Andover professor and divine. 
Another was the Hon. [udge Howell, wdio, for more than 
a quarter of a century, gave lectures on jurisprudence in 
the Univcr--ity. He was graduated in 1S06 in a class of 
nineteen nuanbtr-'. tielivering at coinmcncement an oration 
on " Keclesiastical History." whicli attracted much atten- 
tion at the time. Immediately after his grailuation he was 
ordained as pastor of a Baptist Church in Pawtucket, which 











Let' I ( 



-t' >\^<-\ 



BIO GKA PJIICAL C YCL OPEDIA. 



97 



had been gathered through the instrumentality of his lalmrs 
while a student in college. Here he continued in the 
ministry a quarter of a century. Numerous and ])o\verful 
revivals were the result of his faithful preaching, and the 
infant church grew to be large and flourishing. It is to- 
day one of the strongest Baptist churches in the .'^tate. In 
the early part of his ministry Dr. Benedict began to col- 
lect materials for his Hisiory of the Baptist Denomination 
in Atnerica. Had he realized in the outset all the difficul- 
ties of this great undertaking, it is doubtful whether he 
would ever have commenced it. He soon found that if 
he persevered he must travel extensively, and gather facts 
from fireside conversations with aged people, as did Mor- 
gan Edwards and Isaac Backus of precious memory, col- 
lecting here and there what few pamphlets and documents 
were to be had. In journeys made for this purpose he 
travelled on horseback nearly four thousand miles, through 
' all the States and Territories of the Union. In the work 
of final revision he was assisted by Rev. George H. Hough, 
afterwards missionary to India. It was published by sub- 
scription in 1813, making two octavo volumes of nearly 
1200 pages. It is now a scarce book, and commands a 
high price. An abridgment was published in 1S20. Dr. 
Benedict also published the following : The ITateiy liar, 
a poem ; Confeienee Hymn Book ; an abridgment of Rob- 
inson's History of Baftism ; History of all Relii;ions ; 
General History of the Baptists Continued, a royal octavo 
of 1000 pages; fifty Years Among; the Baptists ; History 
of the Donaiists. This last work, upon which he was en- 
gaged almost at the time of his decease, was published by 
his only surviving daughter, Miss Maria M. Benedict, as a 
memorial of her honored and revered father. In addition 
to all these publications he was during his protracted life 
a frequent contributor to various papers and periodicals, 
some of which he edited. He was an active member of 
the corporation of Brown University, having been elected 
a trustee in 181S. From that time until his death, with 
the exception of a single year, he attended all the annual and 
special meetings, affording an instance of long-continued 
punctuality and zeal truly remarkable. He was a sincere 
and faithful member of the Masonic fraternity, as was also 
his father-in-law. Dr. Gano, Bishop Griswold, the late Dr. 
Taft, and others of that school. During the Antimasonic 
excitement which so convulsed society in New England 
and the Middle States he remained true to his convictions, 
regarding the institution as the oldest and best of all human 
organizations, not as Christianity itself, but as her hand- 
maid and helper. He died in peace, Saturday afternoon, 
December 5, 1874, in the ninety-sixth year of his age. His 
funeral was on Wednesday following, and the Baptist 
church was filled with mourners, friends, and fellow- 
citizens, among whom he had so long dwelt. Dr. Bene- 
dict married. May 4, 1808, Margaret Hubbel Gano, daugh- 
ter of the celebrated Dr. Stephen Gano, for thirty-six years 
pastor of the First Baptist Church in Providence. She 
>3 



died November 28, 1S6S, in the eighty-fourth year of her 
age. Twelve children were the fruits of this marriage, of 
wdiom three sons and a daughter are now (iSSi) living. 



rV'JVNDON, Governor Josi.\s, was born in Newport, 
'jj^^ March 10, 1704. He came from a worthy ancestry, 
•"••i"' and his own immediate family was so situated that 

Hhe enjoyed such privileges for acquiringan education 
as were furnished in what was, at that time, one of the 
wealthiest and most honored places in the country. He 
was chosen clerk of the Lower House of the General As- 
sembly when he w.as a little over twenty years of age, and 
also clerk of the Superior Court of the County of New- 
port. For many years of a long life he discharged the 
clerical duties which devolved on him with great fidelity. 
The great controversy between Samuel Ward and Stephen 
Hopkins, the han<l-shaking signer of the Declaration of 
Inilependence, was a memorable one in its day. It was a 
bitter strife of political partisanship in the struggle for the 
election of one or the other of these gentlemen to the 
Gubernatorial chair, a ]>Iace of the highest honor in those 
colonial days. The fight went on with varying fortunes 
for ten years, when the parties in interest consented to 
withdraw their names, and the name of Josias Lyndon w-as 
presented for the votes of his fellow-citizens, and he was 
chosen Governor. He held the office one year, from May 
I, 1768, to May I, 1769. It was an exciting period in 
New England history. The British Parliament, in its 
perplexity to raise funds to meet the nation's pecuniary 
liabilities, determined to tax the American colonies, 
although they were not represented in the legislative halls 
of England. The colonies, while in all projjer ways de- 
claring their allegiance to the Crown and their attachment 
to the person and the family of the King, protested in the 
most solemn manner against taxation without representa- 
tion. The c»irrespondence of (jovernor Lyndon, at this 
time, and the st.ate papers which bore his signature, will 
show where stood the Executive of the plucky State of 
Rhode Island. Some of the sentences of the paper, " The 
Governor of Rhode Island to the King," have the true 
ring of the old Revolutionary times. The communication 
is respectful, loyal, but in a manly way it protests against 
the grievances which have been heajjed upon the colonies. 
" Transplanted from Britain, subjects of the same King, 
partakers of the blessings of the same happy Constitution, 
supported and protected by her power, united with her in 
religion, laws, manners, and language, and animated with 
the same love of freedom, we esteem our connection with 
and dependence upon her as of the last importance to our 
happiness and well-being, and it will ever be our greatest 
solicitude to maintain and preserve to the latest posterity 
this invaluable blessing, replete with so many advantages." 
He proceeds to ilwell upon the circumstances which led 



98 



BKiUKArillCAL CYCLOrEDlA. 



to the c>tal>lislm)L-nt ..f tin; colduiis ; h..w tlic Inst settlers 
were ilrivcn forth lioni their native laiul hy the liornl of 
persecutinn; hnw,thruu[;h iiiiiunier.ililr ihllKullirs, ihey 
settled in tills 1,111(1. .iii'l at leiii;tli, "hy the t;o(iilne=.s of 
Goil, \\ ithoui .my ex|ieiiHe to the ( 'mw n, .ilih.iiiL;h at imich 
expense of their .n\ n hlood andof their ehildirn's, they 
settleil this, ycinr Maje^ty^ eol.uiy." Ilie lioveiimr then 
refers to the eluirter i;ianted to l<h..de Maud l.y Charles 
II., whieh pledged to the inlialiitaiits uf the colony all the 
lil)erties and immunities of iVee ami natural sulijeets beirn 
within the realms uf l-:ni;land, .un.Mig whieh was the ex- 
clusive right of giving and granting their own money by 
themselves or hy their re|iresenlatives. In res|ieetful but 
firm tones, the Governor pleads in behalf eif his fellow- 
citi/ens, and prays his Majesty not to oppress his subjects. 
In the same -Irniii he .iddresses the E.irl of 1 lillshoiough, 
through uli..iii the letter to the King i> sent, and begs him 
to interp.ise in tlieii beh.ilf He urges that it is not the 
ri'dit 1 if the eoloiiii-s to be inele]K'ndent ol the mother conn - 
trv. Tliev .ire lii iiily attached, he assures his loidship, to 
his Majesty's ]ier>oii, lainily, and government. They es- 
teem their clo^e e'lnneetion with ami dependeiue upiui 
Great Ihitain as the source of their greatest happiness. 
All they ask is to he treated as free subjects, and not as 
slaves. \o mine loyal and yet earnest and frank com- 
munications were sent tei the authorities across the ocean, 
freun the accomplished statesmen ot old Massachusetts 
itself, than those which bore the signature of josias Lyn- 
don, Governea- nf Klinde hdand ; and. unavailing though all 
these communications iriay have been, they have gone ujion 
the pages of history as the protests uf a suffering people 
against the o[i]tiessions which they were called u|ion to en- 
dure. When the Ihitidi teiok ])ossession of Newport, the 
th)\eiiior, feeling that one who h.ul sheiw n himself so con- 
siiicuously a "rebel" would hardly be safe there, lelt the 
pl.aee and tnok up his abode in W.irren, where he lived lor 
several years, dying at la^t of the small-iiox, M.ircli jo, 
177S. 



'IjrW'^ K iKE, Gtivl'RNOR NICH11I.AS, third ehilil of r>aniel 
SjSj and Mary { Power) Cooke, was born in I'rovidence, 
\J^^ I'ebruary 3, 1717. In his early life he engaged 
0.h in seafaring business, and was successful as a ship- 
* mastei. (tnietiiiiig from the sea he was occupied in 
mercantile pursuits, in which he acfpiireel a handseune 
pro|ierty. lie was an extensive landowner in Rhode 
Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. He also carried 
on the ropemaking and distilling Imsiness, and was, in a 
special sense. " a man of affairs." lipon the displacement 
of tiovcrnor Joseph Wanton by the vote of the General 
Assembly, < ictober ;1, 1775, Ml. Cooke, who had twice 
hehl the ofhce of I >eputy lioveiiinr, wasehosen to take the 
plai e of the obnoxious chief magistrate of the .'^tate. lie 
lemaiiied in otiice until -May, 177N, anel then declined a re- 



election. The circumstances connected with his election 
are full of interest. There could be but little doubt that if 
the liritish sluaild lie succe-sful. the chief magistrate of 
the St. lie. called, as was believeil. in an illegal way to take 
1 the place of the loyal Governor Wanton, woulil forfeit his 
life as a |iunishment for his rashness. The eyes of the 
j nicinl-iers uf the Geneial Assembly were fixed upon Nicho- 
las Cooke as the man of their choice. It is related that 
" Stephen I lopkins. then preparing for his journey to Like 
his seat in Congress, and losliua Ixrbcock, the oldest mem- 
ber of the House, were rei|uested to wait on him and, if 
; |)ossible, to obtain his consent. IJoih Houses were waiting 
in solicitude for the return of their messengers. They 
stated the urgency of the case. Mr. Cooke pleaded his 
advanced age and the retired habits which unfitted him 
hir meeting the expectations o,{ the j\sseinbly. They re- 
plied that they considered his duty re'iuired him to make 
a favorable repeat. He llnally consented, though nothing 
liutllieeritii.il state of the country would have induced 
him so to do." The event fully justified the wisdom of the 
! choice of Governor Cooke. He at once entered upon the 
discharge of his duties, and in a ]iractical w ay began to show 
how' sincere was the interest he felt in the welfare of his 
country. ^Vs early as November 27, 1775, we find him 
urging the Rhoile Island delegates in Congress, Messrs. 
Hopkins and Ward, to propose to Congress to encour.age 
the manufictine of saltpetre, to sup|ily the lamentable want 
<d" gunpeiwdei" in the army. Already the attention of the 
tleneial .Vsseinbly h.rel been directeel to the sulijcct, and in 
August. 1775. they otTereel "a bounty of three shillings per 
' pound for every pound of saltpetre that should lie made in 
Rhode Island by the 26th of August. 1776, and three shil- 
lings a pound for the saltpetre." A long letter, addressed 
to the Rliode Island delegates in (_'ongress, written by 
Governor Cooke on the subject, may be found in Slaples's 
Rlu'Jc h'litul in the Ci'iitiiunt,i/ G';;;';,.(.v, pp. 47, 4S, in 
which he alludes to his own successlul attempts in a small 
wa\' to iii.uuiftctuie saltpetre. ( itlicr letter^ eif ( lovernor 
Cooke's, whieh may be lound in the volume relerred te>, in- 
dic.ite the p.ttiiotic spirit by which lu' w.is gtiverned, and 
the \\ isdoin with which he discharged the res|ionsible 
duties of his ofhce. Inleiesting letters also from Stephen 
Hopkins, William Ellery. and Henry Marchant, written 
from I'liiladclphia in the earlier years of the Ixevolulionary 
struggle, may be huind iu judge Staples's instructive veil- 
uiiie. The w hole coirespimdence between thetioveinor 
of Rhoile Island and the (/ongressiiuial delegates is worthy 
of perusal, and gives us a high conception of the excellent 
Common sense and good judgment of the Go\'ernor. P.oth 
t lovernor t.'ooke and Heputy Governor i>ratlford declined 
a re-election in May, 177S, and the General Assembly 
]iassed the followdng resolution: " His Excellency Nichu- 
1,1s Cooke, l-'.s. |., late Governor, and his Honor William 
I'.radford. I!si|., late 1 leputy Govei nor of this State, having 
entered upon their saiel olhcesat a tune of great public dan- 



BrOCKAriflCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



99 



gcr. flifficulU', and di^trc^s, and dischargt'd tlie duties of 
their stations with patriotic zeal, firmness, and intrepidity, 
it is voted and resolved. That the thanks of this Assembly 
be given them in behalf of this State for their aforesaid 
services, and that the Secretary deliver a copy hereof to 
each of them;"' "A compliment," says Judge Staples, 
" that was well deserved." The venerable John Howland 
says that " Rhode Island history, if faithfully written, will 
hantl his name down to posterity in connection with the 
most eminent public characters of which our country can 
boast." Governor Cooke lived two or three years after he 
retired to private life, his death occurring November 14, 
17S2. His widow died March 21, 1792. Nicholas CooUe 
was appointed a trustee of Brown University in 17(16, and 
continued in office until his death. He represented in the 
corporation the Congregational Church, of which he was a 
member. He married, September 23, 1740, Hannah, 
daughter of Hezekiah Sabin, and was the father of twelve 
children. He has his representatives in men and women 
who have reason to be proud of an ancestry so honor.able. 
His ninth child, Jesse, was the father of Joseph S., who was 
the father of nine children, among whom were the Rev. 
James Welsh Cooke, Joseph J. Cooke, Esfp, of Providence, 
Albert R. Cooke, Esq., of Providence, Hon. George 
Lewis Cooke, of Warren, and Dr. Nicholas Francis Cooke, 
of Chicago, Illinois. 



^^W^nPKINS, Governor STmiEN, one of the signers 

^RN^ of the Declaration of Indejiendence, was born in 

Tp"" Scituate, Rhode Island, March 7, 1707. He left 

'"- his native place early in life and took up his residence 



in Providence. His abilities soon won for him the 
esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and he was 
sent as their representative to the General Assembly in 
1733. Si.\ years later, in 1739, he was chosen Chief Jus- 
tice of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1755 was elected 
Governor of the colony. With the exception of four years 
he held this office till 176S. At a special meeting of the 
citizens of Providence, held in 1765, he was appointed 
chairman of a committee to draw up instructions to be pre- 
sented to the General Assembly, relative to the Stamp Act. 
The resolutions wdiich the committee prepared were simi- 
lar to those which Patrick Henry had laid before the House 
of Burgesses in Virginia, with the added one, which that 
body had declined to pass, to wit : " We are not bound to 
yield obedience to any law or ordinance designed to im- 
pose any internal taxation whatever upon us, other than the 
laws and ordinances of Riiode Island," — the words Rhode 
Island being substituted for Virginia. The General .Assem- 
bly passed the resolutions. With (_iovernor Samuel Ward 
he was chosen to represent his native State in the General 
Congress at Philadelphia, and was a member of that body 
in 1774, 1775, and 1 776. His name is always noticed 
among the signers of the Declaration, as the signature is so 



peculiar as to attract attention, (roodrich states that he 
had for .some time been afilicted with a ]iaralytic affection 
which compelledhim, when he wrote, to guide his right hand 
with his lelt. But the tremulous signature is not indicative 
of the spirit of the man, who, says the same author, knew 
no fear in a case wdiere life and liberty were at hazard. 
(.)n signing the Declaration he remarked, "My hand trem- 
bles, but my heart does not." He was one of the import- 
ant committee which drafted the Articles of Confederation. 
John Adams makes the following pleasant allusion to his 
personal connection with Governor Hopkins : " Governor 
Hopkins, of Rhode Island, above seventy years of age, kept- 
us," — that is, the members of the naval committee, Messrs. 
Lee and Gadsden and himself, — " all alive. Upon business 
his experience and judgment were very useful. But when 
the business of the evening was over he kept us in conversa- 
tion till II, and sometimes till 12 o'clock. His custom was 
to drink nothing all day until 8 in the evening, and then his 
beverage was Jamaica spirits and water. It gave him wit, 
humor, anecdotes, science, and learning. He had read 
Greek, Roman, and British history, and was familiar with 
English poetry, particularly Pope, Thomson, and Milton; 
and the flow of his soul made all his reading his own. and 
seemed to l)ring in recollection in all of us all we hatl ever 
read. I could neither eat nor drink in those d.ays ; the 
other gentlemen were very temperate. Hopkins never 
drank to excess, but all he drank was immediately not only 
converted into wit, sense, knowledge, and good humor, but 
inspired us with similar qualities." Governor Hopkins 
died at his resirlence in North Providence, July 13, 1785. 
His name, says Greene, '■ is closely interwoven with all 
that is greatest and best in Rhode Island history ; an as- 
tronomer of no mean pretensions, a statesman of broad 
views and dee|> penetration, a supreme executive, prompt, 
energetic and fearless, a genial companion when wise men 
relax from care, and a trusty counsellor when the duties 
of life bear heaviest on the scrupulous conscience.'' 



SLLERY, WllI.IAM, one of the signers of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was born in Newport, 
t.ln" R. I., December 22, 1727. His father, William 
|fe:> Ellery, was assistant from 1742 to 1745, and Deputy- 
l''^ Governor of Rhode Island in 1748 and 1749; and 
his grandfather. Captain Benjamin Ellery, removed from 
Gloucester, Mass., to Newport, and was assistant in 1 74 1, 
under the administration of Governor Richard Ward. Mr. 
Ellery graduated at Harvard College in 1747, in a class of 
twenty-eight, and was early distinguished for his scholarly 
attainments. He became a merchant in Newport, and 
naval officer of the colony ; was one of the original cor- 
porators of Rhode Island College, in 1764; and clerk of 
the General Assembly in 1769 and 1770. In the latter 
year he commenced the practice of law, in which formally 
years he engaged successfully. At the outbreak of the 



BlOGKAnilC.il. CVCLOPED/A. 



Ri-volution.iiy War lie \va<; a mcmlicv of the ('ommittei- of 
Salcly, .if lliL- Committee of Investigation, of the ( nnimit- 
Ice of In^preliun, of tile Committee of Miiilarv Defences, 
anil of a Committee to bear a memorial lo Washington, 
tlien at Camlniilge. This memirrial may he seen in the 
Rhode Ishuiil Colonial Records, vol. vii., 471. i;|>on the 
(lealh of Com rnor Samuel Ward, delegate to Congress, at 
I'hiladelphia, March 26, 1770, Mr, h'.llery was immediately 
chosen to fill his j.laee as colleague of (Jovcrnor Ste|ihen 
lloiikins, then the most experienced statesman in Rhode 
Maud, lie mimedialely entered npon his duties, and was 
soon recognized as one of the ablest and most inllueiuial 
members of that memorable body. He was forty-nine years 
of age at the time he affixed his name to the Declaration of 
Independence, the great event of his life, ami remained in 
Congress till 17S6, with the exception of i7Soand 17S2. 
He rendered efficient service as a memlier of the Marine 
Committee, and subsei"iuei)tly as a member of the I'.oard of 
Admiralty. The plan of fitting out fire-sliiiis at Newport 
is attributed to him. In A|iril, 17S0, he was elected by 
Congress Commissioner of the Continental Loan ( )lfice 
for the .State of Rhode Island ; and upon the organization 
of the Federal government, and the adopition of the Con- 
stitution by Rhode Islanil, in June, 1790, he was a|iprnnted 
collector of Newport liy Washington, which oftice he re- 
tained till his death, February 15, 1S20, at which time he 
was in the ninety-third year of his age. He was buried in 
the Coggeshall family cemetery, corner of Coggeshall and 
Victoria avenues, Xew|)orl, one and a half miles from the 
State House. Mr. Ellery was twice married. His first 
wife was .\nii Remington, daughter of Hon. Jonathan 
Remington, of Cambridge. She died Seiitember 7, I7l"i4, 
aged thirty-nine, but we do not know (he place of her 
sepulchre. His second wife, Abigail, died July 27, 1793, 
aged fifty-one years, and was buried in the (.'oggeshall fam- 
ily cemetery. There may also be found the graves ot four 
of Mr. Fllery's children : Susanna, who died .\pril 14, 
l82,S, aged hfty-three ; Nathaniel C.. who died October iS, 
1S34, aged seventy, Philadelphia, who died April 24, 1S50, 
aged eighty ; anil Edmund T., who died M.irch 24,1847, 
aged eighty-four. The Kllerys were distantly related to 
the Coggeshalls, which will proliably account for these in- 
terments having lieen made in this cemetery. Mr. Ellery's 
daughter Eucy, the mother of Dr. William Ellery Chan- 
ning, who died about iNjo, was buried elsewhere. 



t?l )1 ,1 ,1 NS, John, a ]ireacher in the Society of Friends, 
son of |cihii and .Susann.ih (Dagate) Collins, was 
born in Charlestown (then a part of Westerly), R. 

I V ' 1., Deccinber 12, 1716. His father was a recog- 

II ni^ed minister in the Friends' .Society. His mother, 
when a small girl, losing her way in the wild, slept in an 
Indian c.diin, and overheard a conversatnm rel.itive to an 
uprising of the n.^tives against the settlers, the divulging of 



which preventeil the iilanneil slaughter. John was care- 
fully educated ill the principles of the Friends and publicly 
espoused them near 1736. Among his early advisers and 
teachers were Peter Davis, 1st, Peter Davis, 2d, and the 
gifted but eccentric James Scribbens. 

John Collins became a distinguished preacher, and for 
many years sat at the head of the New England Yearly 
Meeting. It was said of him that he knew more about dis- 
ciplinary affairs than any other in the meeting; that "he 
was much engaged, and took much pains in endeavoring 
to have the Africans, or negroes, freed from slavery, and 
often testified again-t that wicked practice." He ilied in 
Stonington, Conn.. ( Ictober i, 177S. He married Mehit.i- 
liel Bowen, of Voluntown, Conn., and had four children, 
John, .Stephen, Ainos, and .Sarah. Amos had eight chil- 
dren, one of whom, Abel, became a noted preacher, and 
died September 15, 1S34. 



SHER, Ri.v. JiiKN, son of I.ieutenant-Governor 
John bishci, of New Hampshire, was bcirn not 
far from the year 1700, and was a graduate of 
( > Harvard College in the class of 1719. He went to 
'' 9 England ami took orders in the Episcopal Church 
not long after his graduation, and in 1722, was sent by the 
Society for the Propagation of the thjspel in Foreign Parts 
to lirislol, to take charge of the infant parish of St. 
Michael's, which had been formed in 1719. The success 
which attended his ministry appears from the circumstance 
that iluring the lirst year and a half of his ministry he bap- 
tized thirty-six, among whom was his son of the same 
name, w ho afterwards became the successor of his father 
as the minister of the piarish. The church was conipelled 
not only to raise from eighty to one hundred and thirty 
jiounds toward the salary of their own clergyman, Init until 
1746 they were also taxed by the court for the support of 
the (.'oiigregational minister. Under the ministry of Mr. 
L'sher, the congregation increased so much that in 1731 it 
became necessary to add galleries to the church, and there 
was no difficulty in disposing of the new pievvs. A some- 
what remarkable vote was passed this year which made it 
the duty of the Rector to support all the widows of the 
church at his own expense ! Whether this was owing to 
the increase of income from the new pews, making it possi- 
ble to add to the ability of the minister to take upon him- 
self this burilen, iloes not ajipcar. Mr. Usher filled the 
ollice of Rector of St. Michael's Church until he was nearly 
eighty years of age. During his long ministry, he baptized 
713 persons, performed the marriage ceremony 1S5 times, 
attended 274 funerals. Updike says of him: " He made 
the welfare of the church the whole business of his life. 
In the early settlement of the town he suffered depriva- 
tions, hardships, and mortitications that few of the clergy 
are called upon tu endure at the present day." In 1793 




•^ ^^^^^/v^^.^^^ 




BIOCKAPIIJCAL CYCL OPED/A. 



his son John was ordained, and for seven years, 1793-1800, 
officiated as the rector of the ]iarish. He died in 1804, 
aged 82 years, and his remains, with those of his father, 

are intorrc<l under the chancel of the cliiiicli. 



apKARDNER, John, was admitted a freeman of the 
iS'ffjte town of Newport in 1722. Frona 1752 to 1757 he 
Sf' was an assistant, and while so engaged, was one of 
Hjj^ a committee appointed by New York, New Jersey, 
'\ Rhode Island, and Nova Scotia, in 1737, to devise a 
plan to settle the dispute between New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts, in regard to portions of tlieir boundary 
lines. In 1741 he was a committee, with John Cranston 
and Hezekiah Carpenter, appointed by the General As- 
sembly to ascertain if two additional companies could be 
raised for the defence of the colony, and to put the fort on 
Goat Island in a proper condition for the defence of the 
port. He had the rank of Colonel, and in 1744 was ap- 
pointed Commissary-General. In 1743 he was elected Gen- 
eral Treasurer, which office he held till 1748, when he was 
again chosen assistant. In 1754 he was deputy-governor 
for one year. The next year Jonathan Nichols, Jr., was 
chosen deputy-governor, but he died before the year was 
out, and John Gardner was elected in his place, which 
office he held during the remainder of his life. In 1757 
he was made Chief Justice of the .Supreme Court of Judi- 
cature, to which was added that of assizes and general jail 
deliveiy. John Gardner died January, 1764, at the age of 
69 years. 



i'l'X'KWITH, Truman, Merchant and Manufacturer, 
son of Amos and .Susan (Truman) Beckwith, was 
born in Lynn, Conn., October 15, 1783. He had 

a twin-brother Daniel, who died November, 1854. 

During his childhood his parents removed to Mar- 
low, N. H., and subsequently to Putney, Vt. He came to 
Providence in the summer of 1792, and was placed under 
the care of his uncle. Dr. Nathan Truman, with whom he 
remained until he was twenty-two years of age. He ob- 
tained a -somewhat limited education in the schools of 
Providence, and w'as employed for sev :ral years in his un- 
cle's apothecai7 shop, and acquired considerable know ledge 
of medicine. Subsequently, for about a year, he followed 
the trade of a saddler, and then turned his attention to 
mercantile pursuits. In the fall of 1806 he went to Sa- 
vannah, Ga., where he spent from eight to nine months 
each year, for nine years, in business, chiefly purchasing 
cotton for Providence parties, and part of the timekeeping 
a general country store, having for his partner Elienezer 
Jenckes. In November, 1817, he formed a partnership with 
Mr. I.uther Pearson, under the name of " Beckwith & Pear- 
son," for the purpose of carrying on the cotton business. 
This partnership continue<^l for about twelve years, being 



dissolved September, 1829. Mr. Beckwith had qualities of 
mind and character which fitted him in a special manner 
for the kind of business in w hich he embarked. Sagacious, 
prompt, and as it may have sometimes seemed to others, 
bold almost to rashness, he saw what was likely to prove a 
.success in his peculiar department of mercantile life, and 
with characteristic energy gave himself to the accomplish- 
ment of his ends. He became known in the community 
as one earnestly devoted to his calling, faithful to his 
promise, and expecting other men to be equally faithful to 
theirs. In the prosperity of the city which was liis 
adopted home he took a deep interest. South Water Street, 
on which, in 1S17, he built the cotton warehouse in which 
for so many years he had his counting-room, was greatly 
indebted to him for many improvements which were made 
upon it. For forty-five years he was one of the directors 
of the Blackstone Canal Bank. He was also a director in 
the People's Saving Bank, the Providence Gas Company, 
and of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, from 
the commencement of the existence of these corporations. 
He liad a taste for architecture. He was one of the build- 
ing committee for the erection of the Dexter Asylum, 
1827-28, and of the What Cheer building, in 1851. He 
retired from business in i85i, having dealt in cotton, more 
or less, for the long period of fifty-five years, and having 
been, at one time, for a number of years, the largest dealer 
in that article in Providence. The bulk of the large 
property which he left was acquired after he was seventy 
years old, and that, not from active business, though that 
had laid the foundation of it, but from the successful man- 
agement of his estate and by judicious investments. Mr. 
Beckwith died May 2, 1878. He was twice married, his 
first wife, whom he married August 15, 1814, being Alice 
D. Brown, daughter of Captain Isaac Brown. She died 
August 19, 1837. Their children were Susan T., Amey 
B., Henry T., Abby G., Amos N., and Isaac B. Mr. Beck- 
with's second wife was Mrs. Aliliy M. Cooke, who survives 
her husband. 



if^.VLLENDF.R, Rev. John, was born in Boston, about 
SmK the year 1700, and was agraduate of Harvard Col- 
'' ip" lege in the class of 1723. He was educated on 
I what was known as the " Hollis foundation," estab- 
s^ lished by an eminent Baptist, a London merchant, 
Thomas Hollis. The interest of nearly ;^5000, the value 
in 1727 of his gifts to the College, Mr. Hollis directed to 
he appropriated to the sujiport of two professors, one of 
divinity and the other of mathematics, to the treasurer of 
the College, and to ten poor students of divinity. Mr. Cal- 
lender was the nephew of Rev. Elisha Callender, who was 
for twenty years the pastor of the First Baptist Church in 
Boston, whose ordination was made memorable by the cir- 
cumstance that although a Baptist, and of the sect which 
in those days " was everywhere sjif)ken against," several of 



PIOCRAPlirCAI. CYCI OPEDIA. 



\\k most prciiiiinont of llio Conyivyation.il minister'- of Bos- 
ton took pait in the services. Dr. Cotton M.itlier preached 
the sermon, ami I ir. Increase Mather f;a\ e tlie right hand of 
fellowship. We are t'dd Ih It •■ the report of this expression 
of eatholieism in lar.;l,ind ilidmed Tlnaiias H..llis, Esip, 
a wealthy merchant of the H.iptist ]iersuasion, to become 
one of the most llheral henefnt'irs to t'amliridye College 
that It ever enjoyed." .\Uer the gradnation of Jolui Cal- 
lender, the sidijecl of tilis sketili, he was ordained col- 
leagtie with l-lev. Wdliam IVcKliam. as |iastor of the Bap- 
tist Church in Newport, ( )ctoher 1',, ly;,!, and cmtinued 
in office a little oversisleen years. He was a man of more 
than ordinary powers of mind. Fond of historical research, 
he collected a large amount of matter pertaining to the his- 
tory 'if the Baptist demunination in this country, which was 
sid>serniently very scrvieealile to the Baptist historian, Rev. 
Isaac Backus. I !e delivered at Newport. March 24, 173S, 
w hieh w as the anni\crsary of tin- day w hen a century before 
the deed of Khoile Island was obtained from the Narra- 
gansett Indians, a discourse on the history of the cohiny 
during the preceding hundred years. This discourse has 
been found to be invaluable to all writers of Rhode Island 
hisiorv, and has been republished by the Rhode Island Mis- 
loric.il .Society, of whose colleetions it forms vol. iv. It 
was edited with notes by Rev. Rr)meo Eltrui, Ii.Ib Mr. 
Callemler died in Newport, January 1(1. 174S, leaving a 
wife and several children. lie w.is 111 irried, February 15, 
I7;o, to Kli/abeth Hardin, of Suaiisey, Massachusetts, by 
whom he h.td six children : Kli/abeth, Mary, John, Elias^ 
S.iiali. and Josias. His daughter Mary, who was born in 
New port, 1 lecemlK-r I 2, 1731, was a distingvnshed preacher 
of the Society of Friends. Her connection with that so- I 
ciety t(.)ok place in 17(12, and she became a preacherin the 1 
thirty-seventh year of her age. .She was iriarried in Provi- 
dence, November II, 1778,10 Joseph Mitchell, a worthy 
mend'cr of the Society of Friends, and died June 26, iSlo. 
The following description of the jieisonal apj^earance of 
.Mr. (.\illender has crmie down to us from those earl)' times. 
He was about the middle si/e. graceful, and well propor- 
tioned. His complexion was f.tir, his features were regu- 
lar, his forehead was high and prominenl, and in his coun- 
tenance there was an admirable mixture of gravity and 
sweetness. His eyes were of a d.irk blue, and said to be 
remarkalile for their intelligence and biilliancy. 



asked for tin- kind ofhces of the Karl of Bellamoni, in aid- 
ing them to iibi.iina minister for Trinity (_'luireli in New - 
pent. I )aiiiel, the iinly son cd'Kr. .\yrault. was bom about 
the year l()7<', and settled in Newport, where he married, 
Mav 1), 170;, Mary Robineaii. He died June 25, 17114. 
He was twiee married, his lirst wile, Mary, <lying January 
5, 1720. Ills secoml wife was Rebecca, widow of Fdward 
Neargrass. \ family of twelve children was the issue of 
this marriage. Among them we fmd Mary, w ho married 
James Cranston ; Haniel.who married a Brenton ; Samuel, 
described on his lonibstone as a merchant ; and Judith, who 
married losepicrdlinghast. His granddaughter, I'lanees, 
married in 1707 i-idward Wanton, s.m of ( iovernor ( iideon 
Wanton. .\iioihei descendant, Mary, married in 1754 
Benjamin M.ison, whose son Benjamin married Margaret 
Champlin. George C. Mason, t^s.p, of Newport, is their 
grandson. 



^"">7:VR.-\ULT, Daniki., a descendant of Pierre Ayrault, 
M.I)., a native of .\ngers, in France. We find 
t :jr4 the ii.ime of Peter or Pierre -Ayrault among the 

^\^ early Huguenot settlers of " Freiichtown,'' in that 
k' part of wh.it w.is oiue N.ii ragansett, now East 
(;reenwii.h. He renio\eil to N.-wport, it is supposecl, ncit 
far from the year 171 1 or 17 12, although his name is found 
several years earlier th.in ihi- among the j'eiitioners w ho 



(ZF.MvKF', Rfv. JosiitA, second son of Tluimas 
Clarke, was born in Westerly, in I7I7,and wasuii- 
nsually w ell educateil for his times. He was chosen 
311^ a deacon of the Sabbatarian Church, .August 24, 1756, 
and tn-dained an elder in that body in May, 176S. He 
was a ]iarticipani in the colonial wars, and nobly stood by 
his counlrv in the Revolution. In 1773 he succeeded 
Rev. d'hiunas Iliscox in the |)astorate of the church. I'or 
a luimlier of years he was a member of the legislature of 
the State, and was one of the first trustees of Brown L'ni- 
versity. He was a m.in of marked ability, great ilevotioii, 
and was justly held in liigil esleem. Three hundred and 
ninetv-five were added to the church during his mini-try. 
He died. March S, 1703, in the seventy-sixth year of his 
ai'e. 



I-Sr. BrNJ\MiN, LI,.I>., son of John West, was 
. born in Kchobotli. Mas,., in March, 1730. His 
earlv voutli, w liuh was spent on his father's farm, 
V j ' was marked with but few opportunities for obtain- 
A ing an education. Three months covered the whole 

period of his sclioid life. He developed, however, re- 
markalile talents, especially in the department of mathe- 
matics, and early showed that he was forming origin d and 
independent habits of thinking. His friends in liristol, 
whither his father had removed, Messrs. Usher, Burt, and 
Parsons, loaned him books, and he learned navigation from 
Captain Woodbury, of the same place, who taught him the 
art without any expense of tuition. He found, also, some 
books in the line of his t.iste which had been brought to 
Newport by liishop Berkeley. In 1753 he married I'di/a- 
beth, daughter of Mr. Benjamin Smith, of Bristol, and 
soon after look up his residence in Providence, where he 
ojiened a school. He taught for a few years, but not Ihid- 
ing the business very profitable he opened a store lor the 
sale of drygoods, connecting « ith this business that of a 



BIO GRA PHICA L C YCL OPED /A. 



I03 



bookseller. The Revolutionary War broke up his estab- 
lishment, antl he engaged in the manufacture of clothes 
for the soldiers of the army, and continued in this occupa- 
tion during the war. After the strtiggle was ended he 
returned to his former employment of teaching until 1/86, 
when he was chosen Professor of Mathematics and As- 
tronomy in Rhode Island College, now Brown University. 
Many years before this he had appeared before the public 
in what some persons might regard as a humble capacity, 
the maker of almanacs. His first almanac was pul)lished 
in 1763, by Mr. Goddard, the father of the late Professor 
William Goddard, who had then just erected the first print- 
ing press in Providence. He continued to make almanacs 
calculated for the meridian of Providence till about the 
year 1 793. He also prepared almanacs fitted to the me- 
ridian of Halifax, which, with the exception of the inter- 
val covered by the i)erioii of the Revolutionary War, \\ ere 
issued until 1S12. His taste for astronomical studies was 
of the most decided character, and brought him into rela- 
tions of intimate friendship with some of the ablest philos- 
ophers and scientific men of his time. On the 3d of June, 
1769, occurred the transit of \'enus. Judge Staples in his 
Annah of Prozndeitce thus alludes to the interesting event : 
" In prospect of its near approach, all the necessary instru- 
ments were obtained. No expense was spared in procur- 
ing them, or in making the necessary arrangements. Dr. 
West states, in an account of the proceedings \\hich he 
afterwards published, that Mr. Brown" (Professor Joseph 
Brown) " expended more than ;f loosterling in making these 
preparations. A temporary observatory was erected in the 
street, since then, and from this circumstance, called Tran- 
sit Street, about one hundred feet east of Benefit Street. 
Here, on the morning of the 3d of June, were collecte<I 
not only the gentlemen before named" (the gentlemen re- 
ferred to were Benjamin West, Joseph lirown, Stephen 
Hopkins, Moses Brown, Jabez Bo\\en, Joseph Nash, and 
John Borrough), " l)ut many others; some attracted by 
curiosity merely, and some by their love of science. The 
day proved calm and serene. Not a cloud intervened to 
obstruct their observation, but every circumstance contrib- 
uted to facilitate it. The account published by Dr. West 
bore ample testimony to his science as an astronomer. 
Compared with other observations, even with those made 
under the patronage of crowned heads in Europe, it main- 
tains a high place for its accuracy." The result of this 
observation of the transit of Venus was to make the latitude 
of Providence 41° 50' 41" and the longitude 71° 16' west 
of Greenwich. In July, 1770, Dr. West made observations 
on a comet which appeared at that time. His reputation 
as a man of science was now established, and Rhode Island 
College and Harvard College conferred on him the degree 
of Master of Aits in 1 770, and Dartmouth College did the 
same in 17S2. He was elected, January 31, 1781, a mem- 
ber of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As 
has already been intimated, lie was chosen Professor in 



Rhode Island College in 17S6. He did not, however, 
enter upon his duties till 1788. The year jirevious, 1787, 
he spent in Pliilailelphia as Vrofessor of Mathematics in 
the Protestant Kjiiscopal Academy in that i>lace, and en- 
joyed the friendship of the distinguished Rittcnhouse and 
Benjamin Franklin. He entered upon his duties as Pro- 
fessor in Rhode Island College in 1788, with the meagre 
salary at the outset of three hundred and seventy-five dol- 
lars a year, and was in ofifice until 1798. The College 
conferred on him that year the degree of Doctor of Laws. 
After his retirement from his college duties, he opened a 
school for navigation in his own house. "This employ- 
ment," we are told, " proved more lucrative than his pro- 
fessorship ; while at the same time he had the honor of 
bestowing upun his country some of its ablest navigators 
and seamen." In 1802 he was appointed under Jefl'erson's 
administration postmaster of Providence, in place of Wil- 
liam Wilkinson, and held the office eleven years, /. £-., until 
his death, when he was succeeded by his son-in-law, (Ja- 
brie! Allen, who also held it until his death in 1824. Dr. 
West died August 26, 1S13. His wife died in 1810. He 
had eight children, four of wliom survived the death of 
their father. "Thus ended the life and services of this 
mathematician ; a man who, had he received patronage 
proportioned to his merits, would perhaps have rivalleil 
the greatest of his age; lait charged with a numerous fam- 
ily, and doomed by his devotion to science to struggle 
through life against the tide of fortune, he retired from the 
world with nothing but the apjilause of mankind for his 
labors." 



^KARDINER, Sylvester, M.D., fourth son of Wil- 
S^r liam and Abigail (Remington) ( lanliner. was bnrn 
>"■ in South Kingstown, in 1717. His lieallh in early 
f'ii')> life was feeble, and there was but little reason to sup- 
'\ pose he would be able to follow the business of his 
father, who was a farmer. \X the suggestion of his brother- 
in-law. Rev. Dr. McSparran, he was sent to Boston, where 
he was placed under the charge of competent instructors, 
who taught him the rudiments of knowledge, and subse- 
quently he .studied medicine, spending eight years in Eng- 
land and France, where he availed himself of every facility 
to perfect himself in his chosen profession. He returned 
to his native country an accomplished physician and sur- 
geon, and commenced practice in Boston. He is said to 
have been among the most distinguished of his profession 
in the day in which he lived. By his professional success, 
and by the means of a large establishment for the importa- 
tion and sale of drugs, he accumulated an immense estate, 
and purchased large tracts of land in Maine. His sympa- 
thies were with the Tory party in the Revolutionary War. 
When the British evacuated Boston he went to Nova Scotia 
and finally to England. His large estate, including 100,000 
acres in Maine, was confiscated and sold. Soon after the 



104 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



clo-^c of tlic war. Dr. Car.liiK-r rL-tiirncil tu tlii^ country am! 
^t-tllc.l in NV-wjiDrt, whrrt lir practice. I lii^ |lr.Jfc^^ion until 
lu> ^lccc•a^c, which occurrcil AuLju^t 14, ly.Si). lie was a 
warm fricnil of the K|ii^ro|,al L'luncli. '{'■< the church 
which wLii c-.tal)lislicil in (ianliner, Maine, a jilacc, we be- 
lieve, nauieil in honor of liiui, he gave ten acres of lan<l for • 
a glebe, and twenty-eiylit pounds sterling for the salary of \ 
the minister forever. The income thus i)er|ietually secured j 
to the parish has enabled them to sustain the church in that 
city for more than a century, t If this church liishop Bur- 
■jess, a Rhode Islander, was the rectr.r for many years. Dr. 
(Jariliner was marrieil three times, his fust wife being 
Anne, daughter of Dr. Ciblions, of IJosion. They had six 
children: ( I ) John ; (2) William, who had no issue; (3) 
Anne, who was the wife of John Brown, afterwards cre- 
ated Mar.piis of Sli'40: their first son marrieil a daughter 
of bold Howe; (41 1 laniiah, married kolicrt Hallowell, 
from whom the town of llallowell, Maine, takes its name. 
They had liut one son, Robert Hallow ell, w ho changed 
his name to Roliert Hallowell (jardiner: he married 
Emma Tudor; (5) Rebecca, who married I'liili]) iJuma- 
risijue; thev had four children; (t'l) .\bigail, who mar- 
ried ( iliver Whipple, of Cumberland, and subsequently a 
lawyer in I'lirtsinoulh, New Hampshire: they had three 
cliilibcii, one of whom, Hannah, liecame the wife of Kred- 
eric .Mien, INq., a lawyer of distinction in ( iardiner, Maine. 
The second w ifc of I Ir- t iardmer was Miss F.ppes, of Salem, 
Massachusetts; and his third wife was Catharine Gold- 
tliwail. 



'1 SPARR.VN, Rkv. J.\mes, D.D., .an early and 
^ eminent Episcopal divine of Rhoile Island, 
f.,iv graduated at the L'niversity of ( llasgow, in 

-Jj-i'''S- I70tJ, and received ordination as a priest by the 
'3*2' Hishop of London, September 25, 1720. Prior to 
his becoming an Ejiiscopalian he was a I'lesbyterian, and 
was unfortunate in his negotiations with the people of 
liristol, Rhode Island, A|i|ioinled a missionary of the 
celebrated Society lor the I 'ropagatioii of the (iosjielin 
Eoreign Parts, he returned to this country in the spring of 
1721, and had for his field the Xarragansett country. At 
tirsi his parish embraced liristol, Krcctow n, Swauscy, and 
Elide (Joinplon, He was married to Hannah < ianliner, of 
Host. Ill Neck, May 1:1, 1722. (^'hoosing his residence in 
South Kingstown, the centre of his field of labor, he presided 
in a special manner over the once famous body known as 
the T.iwerHiU Church, also called St. Paul's. The first 
church edilice was built here in 1707, under the missionary 
cflorts of Rev, James Honyman, of New jiiut, then a mis- 
sionary of the Propagation Society. In 1725 Dr, McSpar- 
ran had an iinpoilant agency in the e-.|ablisliment ol an 
lC|iiscopal (_'hurch (St. James] in New- l.onilon, (_'onnecli- 
cut, ;llld is supposed to be the hrst pers(Ul w ho oiticiated 
there according to the forms of the Clinieh of England. 



He was also largely instrumental, in connection with Rev. 
Mr. Honyman, anil the celebrated layman, Gabriel lieriuin 
(the Huguenot), in estaiilishing St. John's Church, in I'rov- 
iileni-e, and the election of their house in 1722. In 1731 
the University of (Ixford conferred on him the honorary 
degree of l)oc tor of Divinity. He visited England in 1736 
and returned in 1737. In 1752 he wrote his remarkable 
work entitled, Aiiitiua Disscitdl, in which he took a 
gloomy view of the countrv. The work contains much 
valualile historical information, and some of his pictures of 
old Narragansett life have great worth. He made a second 
visit to England in 1754, and returned in 1756. His wife 
died in England, June 24, 1755, and was liuried in West- 
minster. His health now rapidly failed, and he died in 
South Kingstown, December I, 1757," having been minister 
of ,St. Paul's (Tower Hill), in Nantigansett, thirty-seven 
years," "the nio,t able ili\ine that was ever sent over to 
this country by the .Society for the Propagation of the ( ios- 
pel." His remains were buried beneath the communion 
talile of the church. Portraits of Doctorand Mrs. McSpar- 
ran \\<i\t executed by the famous painter, John Smibert, of 
Ilal)', wdio visited this country with Pisliop tlerkeley. 



'i^^f^M iW, Rh\-. Iiisi-:pn, the first pastor of what is now 
sMjMj the Peneticeiit Congregational (diuich, in I'rovi- 
<i^C'' deuce, was born in ISridgewater, Massachusetts, 
! April 6, 171 s- He learned tlie trade of a carpenter, 
J" at which he worked in Providence, During the min- 
istry of Rev. John Cotton, pastor of the First Congrega- 
tional (now Unitarian) Society, a part of his church and 
congregation becoming dissatished u itii the character of his 
preaching, which they did not regard as orthoihix, sejia- 
raled from his pastoral charge, the final act of secession 
taking place March 7, 1743. Mr. Snow was at the time 
ileacou of the church. The seceders ccmstituted a large 
part, if not a m.ijority, of Mr. Cotton's church. They held 
their religious services on the west side of the river, their 
meetings being the first that were statedly attended and kept 
up in that section of the tow n. Judge Staples quotes from 
the records of the First Church the following, which indi- 
cates the spirit of the church from which these Christian 
people had seceded: "They set up a separate meeting, 
where they attended to the exhortations of a lay brother 
who had been brought up in the business of house-carpen- 
tering." And again : " Every method f..ir healing the un- 
easiness that had arose proved fruitless and vain ; enthusi- 
asm raged with the utmost impetiiosjiy. These held sepa- 
rate meetings at a jirivate house, w here they were enter- 
tained on the Lord's day with loud and vociferous decla- 
mation on tile dow iifall of Babylon, and on the necessity of 
coming out .Old being separate, not touching the unclean 
thing, and such like exhortations were liberally held out." 
d'he records on the other side might present a different pic- 



BIO GRA nilCA L C } VL OPED I A . 



105 



ture. Joseph Snow, Jr., was the carpenter " lay brother" 
referred to. So acceptable were his services, that he was 
urged by his brethren to consent to be ordained as pastor 
of the seceding flock. The service of ordination took place 
February 12, 1747. Having decided to build a house of 
worship, the tradition is that their minister turned his trade 
to good account, and led " some of his principal members 
into the woods, and there cut down and hewed limber for 
that purpose." The lot of land on which the meeting-house 
was erected was deeded to the society by Daniel Abbott, 
May 29, 1744, two months after the Separatists had been 
suspended from Mr. Cotton's church. The edifice built on 
this lot, the same now occupied by the Beneficent Church, 
was built of wood, and originally measured thirty-six by 
forty feet. It was enlarged three times. At length it was 
removed, to make place, in lSo8, for the present house. .Mr. 
Snow continued to act as pastor of the church until 1793. 
It may be noticed in passing that in 17S3, after nearly forty 
years, the church which had suspended so large a number 
of its members in 1744, rescinded the act of suspension on 
account of the " fair character and exemplary lives" of those 
suspended. The proposition by members of his churcli antl 
society to settle Rev. James Wilson as colleague pastor, was 
so unsatisfactory to Mr. Snow and a large number of 
his friends, that he resigned his pastorate in October, 1793. 
Meetings were held for a time in his house liy those who 
sympathized wdth him. At length the wooden structure 
known as " The Old Tin Top," on the corner of i'ine and 
Richmond .Streets, was erected and dedicated August 16, 
'795' Of the church which worshipped in this meeting- 
house, Mr. Snow was the pastor until his death, which oc- 
curred April 10, 1803, in the eighty-ninth year of his age, 
and the fifty-eighth of his ministry. His funeral sermon 
was preached by Rev. Dr. (iano, pastor of fhe First Baptist 
Church, who bestowed the highest praise on his departed 
friend. " Few men," says Judge .Staples, " receive, and 
fewer deserve, such a character," as Dr. Oano gave to his 
brother in the ministry. 



5EKE, Robert, the artist, was of the second genera- 
tion of a Dutch family that in the early coloniza- 
tion of Long Island, New York, settled at the 
head of Oyster Bay. He was born in Newjiort, Rhode 
Island, in the early part of the last century. His 
father being a zealous Quaker, was highly displeased that 
Robert should be a Baptist, and followed him to the water 
" and forbade the administering of the rite," on penalty of 
disinheriting him. This opposition of the father induced 
Robert to embark in voyages abroad, in one of which, dur- 
ing a time of war, he was made a prisoner and conveyed to 
.Spain. While there in prison he obtained paints and 
brushes, and whiled away his prison hours in painting rude 
sketches, that finally sold for enough to defray his expenses 
14 



on his home passage. Returning to Newport, he married 
an estimable lady, of English parentage. Though she was 
a Quakeress, he ever remained firm in the faith and prac- 
tice of Baptist princij^les. It is said that he would accom- 
pany his wife to the door of her meeting-house, and there 
leaving her, pass on to his own. He continued his career 
as an artist in Newport for about a quarter of a century, 
having but little opportunity to study his art from others, on 
account of the imperfect condition of art culture in the 
country at that time. In 1746 he visited I'hiladelphia, 
wdiere he painted several portraits that won great praise, 
and established his rejnitalion as one of the celebrated 
artists of his time. The portrait of the wife of Governor 
Wanton, executed by him, is in the Redwood Library, at 
Newport, a line evidence of his skill. Portraits of himself 
and wife are in the possession of the Bullock family in Provi- 
dence, l)ut these are incomplete. lie died in Bermuda, 
about forly-five years of age, leaving three sons and two 
daugliters. His son John became a shi|>master, and w-as 
finally lost, with all on board, in the English Channel. 
Charles, another son, became a physician and druggist, and 
was so benevolent as to be called " Rhode Island's Philan- 
thropist." He died in 1822, in the seventy-second year of 
his age. 



OBINSON, M.\TTHEw, Lawyer, only son of Robert 
Robinson, was born in Newport, in 1709. His 
js>| ' father w-as a man of considerable distinction in 
colonial times. He was a]ipointed .Searcher of the 
Customs, by Queen .\nne, and is said to have sustained 
many honorable posts under the reigns of this Queen, and 
also of those of King George I. and George II. The sub- 
ject of this sketch received the best education of the times 
in which he lived, and is said to have been an apt and 
ready Latin and Greek scholar. He pursued his law 
studies in Boston, and opened an oft'ice in Newport when 
he was not far from twenty-six years of age. He gained 
a high reputation as a lawyer, his business not being con- 
fined to Newport, but being considerable on the circuits. 
About the year 1750 he moved to Narragansett, where he 
purchased a landed estate, which, after various additions 
had been made to it from lime tu time, contained eight 
hundred acres. On this estate, which was near the spot 
where now stands the railroad station in Kingston, he built 
an elegant mansion, after the style of the English lodge, 
which he called " Hopewell." Mr. Robinson was a man 
of more than ordinary literary and professional attain- 
ments. He had one of the largest and best-selected pri- 
vate libraries in the colony. He had a ]iassion for collecting 
rare and valuable pamphlets, and it is said that the size 
and worth of this collection ]>laced it in atlvance of any 
similar one in the cdony. perhai)s in New England. He 
was very fond of English history, and prided himself on 
the accuracy of his knowleilge in this department of learn- 



Io6 



P/OCKAPIIIC.IL CVCL OPED/A. 



iiif;. lie knew more in ilet.iil. ali.iut malte^^ ]icrtainin,' to 
Khiide Nland liist'iiw than any person of hi^ time. The 
notes wliieli he ma^ie on tlie Iiooks ami |iam|ililets he read. 
wouM make many qood-si/eil \olnmes. lie kept a very 
minnte journal of all the events of the day, said to have 
been full of the most curious ami entertaining; matter. His 
biographer says that this journal was in existence in 1806, 
lint it has disappeared lievond all hope of recovery. His 
house was the scene of many a social festi\iiy. The most 
intelligent and hi^jhly-cullivated gentlemen ol the colony 
were wont to meet there, and wit and wisdom ruled many 
a ilelightful hour. The wife of .Mr. Robinson was Mrs. 
Johnson, the niolher of Aui^u .tus Johnson, afterwards 
Attorney-General. .She was the diuyhler i.»f .Mr. Lucas, 
a French Huguenot, of wealth and good social standing, 
who had become an e-\ile from France upon the revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes. She died soon after her removal 
t.i .N'air.igaTisett. She was a lady of rare accomplishnienis. 
and her death w .is a sore bereavement to her husband. 
He died in ()ctidier, 1705, and was interred in the family 
burial-ground on his f.irm. 




j^il^ERNON, Wii,i.i.\M, second son of Samuel Vernon, 
£;,'^.^ and grandson of Daniel Vernon, was btirn January 
17, 1719. His grandfather, Daniel Vernon, born 
!-..>- in London, September I, 1 643, came to America 
^^ about l6t"»6; resided at Narragansett, where he 
married Ann Dyre, w iflow of (.'aptain Edward Hutchin- 
son and granddaughter of Anne Hutchinson; she died 
January 10, I7I(). Samuel Vernon, son of Ijaniel, born 
December fi, ibSj, married Elizabeth I leet, of Long Island, 
April 10, 1703. He resideit at Newport, held the office of 
Assistant from 17^9 to 1737, and was Judge of the Superior 
Court of Judicature. He died bleiendier 5. 1737, and his 
wife died March 5, 1722. William \'erncui, the subject 
of this sketch, was the second son of the above Samuel. 
In early life he entered njion a mercantile career, and smm 
became punuineut as a merchant ; his name ap])earing as 
early as 1740, as an imjiorter from Lomlon, where he soon 
had an cxtenrled correspondence. In 1744 he was asso- 
ciated with his elder brother, Samuel, under the hrnr name 
of Sanuiel & William Vernon, and together they were 
acti\ely engaged in business up to the breaking out of the 
war. In 1 750 their trade extended to the leading ports in 
Europe, the West Indies, and the co.ist of Afiica They were 
also interested in pri\ateering, and were part owners, with 
Godfrey Malbone, of the privateer Dii/:f of Muylhorotigh. 
The prize ship E.xperimoit, ca|)tured by the Dnkt of Mtirl- 
bcyoiii^h,\SA', taken to Charleston, S. C, where, when sold, 
she was bought by L)avid Manigaidt, of Gharlcston, Gaji- 
tain Robert Morris ami Wdliam \'ernon, when her name 
was changed to the I'ciiion Gatli-y, and she was Ireighted 
for London. The privateer Molly was owned by the Ver- 



nons, wdio scitt her to Louisbourg when a fleet was raised 
to attack that place. The extent of Mr. Vernon's shipping 
interest at that time cannot now be ascertained, but in one 
of his letters, under date of 175's, he speaks of having lost 
seven vessels by capture, and he feared that one other would 
l)e added to the nunif)er. In various other ways Mr. Ver- 
non showed himself to be public-spirited. He was one of 
the incorporators of the Newport Artillery Comiiany. In 
1773 the ( ienei.d As^endil)- appointed hnu, with .Aart)n 
Lope/ and George ( dbbs, a committee to address a letter 
to the Ring, touchnig the interest of Rhode Islaml in the 
cod-fishery, in and near the (.lulf of .St. Lawrence, then 
endangered by a lidl pending in the House of Com- 
mons. This was followed by his appointment, May 20, 
1774, with John Collins, Samuel Fowder, and Henry Ward, 
a committee of correspondence, on the subject of the shutting 
up of Boston harbor; and, ^\*ith William Ellery ami others, 
in 1775, he was instructed to collect the facts connected 
wdth losses inllictetl upon the Colonies by the British forces 
then in the country. May (>, 1777, Congress elected Wil- 
liam Vernon, of Rhode Island, and Jairies Warren and 
John Deshon, of Massachusetts, members of the Eastern 
Navy Board, at Boston ; of which Boartl, Mr. Vernon was 
President during the w hole time that its services were re- 
(luired by the country, and this without emoluments of 
any kind. While so engaged, he repeatedly advanced 
considerable sums of money to meet inniiediate demands 
upon the government, and for which no interest was 
charged. During the^e years he gave his whole time un- 
sparingly to public business, and brought to the aid of the 
gc.>vernmentmuch experience in the building, equijiping, and 
sailing of vessels, at the time that the American Navy was 
first organized. He was acijuainted with many of the 
prominent men of the day, — Adams, Jefferson, Lafayette, 
and others, — and he left a large family correspondence 
with the Wards, EUerys, and Vernons. He was fond of 
reading, was coinersant with a number of languages, and 
w^as one of the origin.il coip.orators ol the Redwood Li- 
brary, of which iiistiiutii)!! he became the President, after 
the death of .Alirali.im Reihvood. Many |iublic works in 
and out of Newp'irt recei\ed aid at his hand. He was 
active in raising funds for the erection of the F^reemasons' 
Hall, Newport, the Long Wharf, the bridge that connects 
Rhode Island with the mainland, and for Princeton College, 
where his son William H. Vernon was educated. He was 
one of the underwriters of the Newport Insurance (Company, 
was instrumental in establishing the Rhode Island Insur- 
ance Comj>any. of which Samuel Vernon was President; 
and in iSo3,he was the founder of the Newport Bank, at 
which time he was eighty-four years of age. Mr. Vernon 
lived in the house on the corner of Mary and Clarke streets, 
New pint, long known as the Vernon House, and which 
was placed by him at the disposal of Rochambeau, who 
made it his headijuarters during the time that the French 
troops were in Newport. He died December 22, 1S06. 





// 11 



B/OGRA PHICA L C ) CL OPED/A. 



107 



Mr. Vernon married Judith, daui;hter of Pliili|i Ilarwood, 
and greal-granddaugliter of Governor Waller Clarke and 
Governor John Cranston. .She died August 29, 1762, aged 
thirty-eight years. They had three children, Samuel, 
William H.,and Philip Harwood. 



l^jHAMPLIN, CHRIST01.11F.R, the first Grand Master 
of the Masonic Fraternity in Rhode Island, son of 
'f'%ff Colonel Christopher and Hannah (Hill) Champ- 
lin, was born in Charlestown, R. I., in 1731. His 
father, a prominent farmer in his day, possessed one 
tract of land of over one thousand acres ; and the entire 
Champlin estate embraced two thousand acres. Colonel 
Christopher's sons, Christopher, George, and Robert, in 
early life removed from Charlestown to Newport, and be- 
came eminent men. Christopher was an enterprising and 
succe>sful merchant, and was chosen Presitlent of the Bank 
of Rhode Island. He was a prominent member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and in 1791 became the first Grand 
Master of that order in the .State, which position he filled 
for three years, and was followed by Hon. Jabez Bowen, 
LI,.D. He left three children, one son and two daughters. 
His son, Christopher Grant Champlin, who graduated at 
Harvard University, married Mehetabel Redwood (daugh- 
ter of Abraham Redwood), was elected a Representative 
to Congress in 1796, United States Senator to Congress in 
1809, and died in Newport, aljout the 1st of April, 1840. 
One of his daughters married John Coffin Jones, of Boston ; 
the other married Benjamin Mason, M.D., of Newport, and 
had a son, George C. Mason, now residing in Newport, and 
a daughter, who married Commodore Perry. Mr. Champ- 
lin lived a pure and useful life, and died April 25, iSo5,in 
the seventy-fifth year of his age. Ilis remains were in- 
terred in the North Burial Ground at Newjiort. His 
brother, George Champlin, bon: in 1739, became an enter- 
prising shipmaster, and in 1775 was chosen Lieutenant- 
Colonel Commandant of the First Regiment of Militia. 
After the Revolution, he was a Representative from New- 
port, and in 17S5 and 1786 was a member of the Conti- 
nental Congress. In the State Legislature he held a seat 
for si-xteen years, by a semi-annual election, exerting a large 
influence in that body and in the State. He was three 
times successively an elector of President and Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States. Meantime he carried on an 
extensive commercial business. He was President of the 
Bank of Rhode Island. As a member of the .State Con- 
vention, he used his influence for the adoption of the Fed- 
eral Constitution. He was greatly esteemed for his en- 
dowments, public services, and Christian character. He 
died November i6, 1S09, in his seventy-first year. His 
brother, Robert Champlin, also became a shipmaster. He 
married Lydia Gardiner, daughter of John Gardiner, and 
granddaughter of William Gardiner, of Boston Neck, Nar- 
ragansett, and had a daughter, Mary, who married Colonel 



McRea, of the United States Army. Robert dietl in the 
meridian of life. 



^r3|RANST0N, Hon. Henry V., son of I'eleg and 
S^K Elizabeth Cranston, was born in Newport, Rhode 
VffI* Island, October 9, 1789, and was a descendant of 
ffiA Governor Samuel Cranston. He learned a trade at 
* an early age, and at seventeen opened a store in New 
Bedford, Massachusetts, where he remained a few years, 
and then returned to Newport to engage in the commission 
business, in which he continued with success until 1815. 
About this time his attention was turned to the study of 
law, and in due time he was admitted to the bar. He 
pursued his profession in his native city, where he actiuired 
a lucrative practice. From 181S to 1833 he held the office 
of Clerk of the Court of Contmon Pleas; was a member 
of the House of Representatives from 1827 to 1843, and 
served several years in the same capacity from 1847 to 
1854, being frequently chosen Speaker. During the trou- 
blous times of 1S42, Mr. Cranston was a' stanch advocate 
of law and order. From 1843 to 1847 he was a Repre- 
sentative in Congress, where he was " distinguished for 
his urbanity, integrity and industry." He was a member 
and Vice-President of the Convention which framed the 
Constitution of the State of Rhode Island, and presided 
over a great part of the deliberations of that body. For 
many years he was Moderator of all the town meetings of 
Newport, and for a long time was Colonel of the Ancient 
and Honorable Artillery of that city. He married, July 
15, 1813, Mary, daughter of Nathan and Catharine Ham- 
mett, of Newport. She was born August 2, 17S4, and 
died November 24, 1S57. Tlieir chihiren were Elizabeth 
Young, Narcissa Young, William Henry, who died in in- 
fancy, William Henry, who was for nine years Mayor of 
Newport, and died October 10, 1871, Catharine, and Julia 
Ann, of whom only llie two last-named are living. Mr. 
Cranston died in Newport, Feljruary 12, 1864, aged sev- 
enty-four years. The confidence reposed in him by the 
community was attested by the various trusts committed to 
his care. He was a self-m.tde man, and in appearance, 
costume, and TUanner, a true gentleman of the old school. 
At the time of his death, one of the Newport papers said 
of him : " Possessed of great frankness, strict integrity, 
perfect genlility of manners, ever ready to aid and accom- 
modate all those who souglit his kindne>s, he made friends 
of all who thus knew him." 



jILES, Rev. S.\muei„ oldest child of Nathaniel 
and Sarah (Sands) Niles, was born on Block 
Island, May I, 1674. He was the first graduate 
of Harvard College from Rhode Island, taking his 
J'L diploma in 1699. Immediately after graduation 
he settled as a minister on his native island, where he con- 




loS 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



liiuiL<l two years. Frnni 1702 to 1710 lie ju'eaehcil in I (icl tlienisel\-cs liy takiiii; tlie oath prescribetl I'y tlie cliar- 

Kini^stown. i lis formal ordiiKUioii ooeuneil ill ilraintrec, tcr. In lliat cliaitcr he, therefore, took a special interest. 

Mass., ill 17TI. His lii^t wife was a daughter of IVter In July of 170;, there liail been a meeting in New]>ort of 

Thacher, of Milton, M.i^s., whom he iii.iriiefl in 1716. ] liaptisl gentlemen, called by I'resiclenl Manning, to lake 

He married his second wife. .\nn (.'oddiiigton, in 1732. into consideration the desiralileness of starting a literary 

His cliicf writings were ./ Ih-uf and SoyroicfK/ Aiiotint \ institute of a high character in Rhode Island, which should 

of the C/niiiAifS in .W;,.' /■'.ii;^/,ni,/. |iubli^hed in 1745; be snliject to the Iia|itists, and at the same time should 



.7 \'iiiili,ittion •'f Dii-t-rsi- I)n/>oi(iint L\htriHiS of Scri/^- 
tittc, isMied in 1752; S^ripliirc DoAriiws of Orii^iual 
.?//;. written in 1757; Iliitory of the French and Ineiian 
//'(/;,;, written in 17I-1O, and afterwards puliiished in the 
Tliird Series of Manae/iinetts Ilistorieal Co/leetions. \\>\. 
VI. In his latter years Mr. Niles returned to Rhoile 
Island and became " |ia~tor of a church in Charlestown 



allow gentlemen of other denominations to become mem- 
liers t)f the corporation. The jiroposition being favorably en- 
tertained, Hon. losias Lyndon and Colonel Job Bennet were 
reijuested to draw tip a charter to be laid before the Gen- 
eral .\sseinbly, accompanied with a petition that it pass into 
a law. These gentlemen, urging that they hardly had the 
proper skill to draw up such a charter, suggested that the 



composed chielly of Indians." This was the so-called i' matter be placed in the hands of Rev. Ezra Stiles, an ac- 



liidian church, made up largely of the Xiantics, and was 
a fruit of the I Ireal Ke\i\al. The church still maintains 
its visibility. Mr. Xiles was understood to be a I'resbyte- 
riaii, but as^iinud some latitude of practice, as this last 
church has always been counted among the Baptists. His 
son, Hon. S.iniucl Niles, liccaine distingiii-lud in Ih'ain- 
tree, .Mas^. Rev. .Samuel Xiles, of Abington, Mass., was 



coniplished scholar and a leading Congregational minister 
of Newjiort. Accordingly, Mr. Stiles drew up a charter. 
When it was brought before the Assembly for action, Mr. 
Jenckes protested against the immediate taking uf the \-ote 
on the passage of the bill granting the charter, which was 
.strongly urged by some of the members. In listening to 
the reatling of the instrument, it seemed to him that the 



his grandson. 1 if this family was Hon. .\allianiel Niles, [ governing power was not to be with the Baptists, as was 



born in South Kingstown in 174I,who was a linlge, a 
member of <_'ongress, and the author of "The American 
Hero," a pojiiilar war siiuig of the Revolution. 



7'i 



(.: w TNCKES, D.VNIEI., Merchant, sop of Rev. Ebenezer 
Jenckes, was born in 1710. His father was an 
associate pastor of Rev James Brow 11, in the First I 
f^j^-> Baptist Church in rrovideiice. He early embarked 
'v in business, and became a man of weallli, and of 
distinction on account of the civil offices w Inch he held. 
For forty years he was a member of the Rhode Island 
(leiieral Assembly, and for thirty years Chief |u-tice of 
the County Court. His name apjieais prominent in the 
transactions of the Ceneral .\ssembly during the exciting 
times which preceded the Revolutionary War. At a special I 
meeting of the body in the summer of 1764, called to take 
action with reference to the " Sugar" and " .Stamp" Acts, 
he was clK.seii a committee, with (iovernor Hopkins and 
Nicholas Brow n, to remonstrate with the linglisii govern- 
ment against these aUs. .\|so, at the session of the Gene- 
ral .\ssembly, in 17O5. he was on a committee which, while 
it declared the sentiments of loyalty which it felt for the 
King and the Parliament, was authorized to announce to 
the British authorities that the peoiile of Rhode Island 
meant " to assert their rights and [uivileges w ith becoming 
freedom and sjiirit." Mr. Jenckes was, fr,,ni the outset, 
mainly iiileie-te'l in the establishment of the new College 



originally contemplated, but placed in the hands of the 
" Fellows" of the corjioration, a majority of whom were 
not Bajitists. The necled alteration was made, and in 
February, 1764. the charter, as it now stands, was granted. 
Judge Jenckes was a trustee of the College from 1764 until 
his death, ten years later. He was a liberal contributor 
towards the erection of the meeting-house of the First 
Baptist Church. One purpose for building .so spacious and 
elegant a church being, that there might be a suitable 
|ilace "to hold commencements in." He also gave liber- 
ally towards the erection of " University Hall." Fie was 
a member of the First Baptist Church for forty-eight years. 
The lecoid speaks of his relation estending through this 
long i)eri<)d "without censure." The wife i>f ludge Jenckes, 
whom he married May 10. 17J4. was Joanna Scott, a 
daughter of Rithard Scott, who came to this country in 
lO^S. and was one i-if the tliiiteen original [irojirietors of 
Providence. They had several children, among whom 
was Rhoda, their lifth daughter, who married, M.iy 2, 
1762, Xicholas Brown, the eldest of the " hour Brothers," 
au'-l the father of Hon. Xicholas Brown, front whom the 
University takes its name. 



REEXE, GoviiRNciK Wiiijam. Second, son of Gov- 
ernor William and Catharine Greene, was born in 
Warwick, .August 16. 17.1I. When he had passed 

his m.ijority a {^w months, lie was admitted a free- 



e I ': man of the colony, in May. 1753. Twenty years 
in Rhode Island. He was present at the first meeting of 1 later he was Deputy from Warwick, and was re-elected in 
tile corpoi.ition held in Xewpoit. the first Wednesdiiy in 1 1774, '76. and '77. In August, 1776, he was chosen P'irst 
September, 1 704, w here he. with twenty-three others, quali- Associate Justice in the Superior Court, the Chief Justice 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



log 



l)eing Hon. Metcalf Bowler. The enemy having taken 
possession of Rhode Island, he was appointed, Decemlaer 
lo, 1776, one of the Council of War. The following May 
he was elected Speaker of the House, and in October of 
the same year, was appointed, a second time, one of the 
Council of War. In February, 1778, he was chosen Chief 
Justice of the Superior Court, and in May, he was chosen 
Governor of the .State, to succeed Governor Nicholas 
Cooke. Jabez Bowen was at the same time elected 
Deputy-Governor. " It illustrates," says Governor Arnold, 
"the simple manners, as well as the physical vigor of the 
men of Revolutionary times, that Governor Greene, although 
possessed of an ample fortune, was accustomed, two or 
three times a week, during the sessions of the Assembly, 
at Providence, to walk up from Warwick, or we might say 
from Greenwich, as he resided on the dividing line of the 
two towns, and home again in the afternoon." The post 
of Governor was tilled by him for eight years — 1778-86. 
They were among the most eventful years in American 
history, and the office of governor was anything hut a 
sinecure. The correspondence which Governor Greene 
carried on with different persons during this stirring period 
may be found, in part, in Vol. V. of the Collections of the 
Rhode Island Ilistoricul Society, in Vols. VII., VIII., and 
IX. of Rhode Island Colonial Records, and in Staples's 
Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, edited by Dr. 
Reuben A. Guild, Librarian of Brown University. "All 
this correspondence," says Dr. H. E. Turner, " is charac- 
terized by unwavering patriotism and by eminent ability. 
The bow, constantly strung during that trying period, never 
relaxed; how trying, we can hardly now conceive." "The 
most vivid imagination can hardly form an adeijuate pic- 
ture of the distresses of the people, all of wliich must of 
necessity have constantly wrung the heart of him to whom, 
as head of the goverimient, all looked for succor. Calm, 
strong, immovable, he pas^etl through that cruel ordeal 
with a reputation for wisdom and integrity accorded to 
but few men, even in that period of exceptional superi- 
ority." After retiring from pulilic life, he continued to 
reside in Warwick, where he died November 29, 1809. 
His wife was Catharine, daughter of Simon and Deborah 
(Greene) Ray, of Block Island. Their chddren were Ray, 
who married Mary M., daughter of George Flagg, Esq., 
of Charleston, S. C. ; Samuel, who married Mary, daughter 
of Colonel Joseph Nightingale, of Providence; Phcrbe, 
who married Colonel Samuel Ward, son of Governor 
Ward; and Celia, who married Colonel William Greene, 
her cousin. 



k'RADFORD, Hon. William, a Senator of the 
United States, son of Samuel Bradford, was born 
in Plympton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, in 
November, 1729. His early-developed tastes in- 
clined him to the study of medicine, which lie pur- 



sued under the tuiti<m of Dr. E/ekiel Ilersey, of Iliugham, 
Massachusetts, distinguished as a generous benefactor of 
Harvard College. Having completed his preparatory 
studies, he commenced the practice of his profession in 
Warren, where he was eminently successful, especially as 
a surgeon. Several years w-ere spent in Warren, and then 
he removed to Bristol, where he erected an elegant man- 
sion at Mount Hope. For what appeared to him good 
reasons, he decided to abandon the profession of medicine, 
and to enter that of law. After fitting himself for his new 
vocation, he threw himself, with great enthusiasm, into 
civil life, and soon acquired distinction both as a lawyer 
and a politician. When the war of the Revolution com- 
menced, he was a prominent member of the Committee 
of Correspondence, and a warm, devoted friend of his 
country. During the evening of October 7, 1775, the 
village of Bristol was cannonaded by the British vessels 
of w^ar, the Rose, Glasgow, and .Siren. Mr. Bradford 
risked his life by going on board the Rose, on behalf of 
the inhabitants, and Captain Wallace was induced to put 
a stop to the bombardment. In this conflagration his own 
house was burned. From November, 1775, to May, 1778, he 
was Deputy-Governor of the State. For many years he 
was Speaker of the General Assembly. He was elected 
a Senator to Congress in 1792. He did not long hold the 
position, but resigned to return to the coveted retirement 
and quiet comfort of his pleasant home in Bristol. Gov- 
ernor Bradford was a lineal descendant in the fourth gen- 
eration from Governor William Bradford, the second gov- 
ernor of the Plymouth colony. He married, in 1751, Mary 
I.e Baron, of Plymouth. She died October 2, 1775. He 
lived a widower thirty-three years. One of his sons, the 
eldest, Major William Bradford, was Aid to General 
Charles Lee of the army. Governor Bradford was a 
Trustee of Brown University from 17S5 to his death. He 
died July 6, 1808. He was the possessor of an independ- 
ent fortune, acquired by industry and economy, a portion 
of which he was always ready to share with the needy and 
the destitute. It was his practice, for many years, to place 
in the hands of his clergyman a liberal sum, which he was 
authorized to distribute among the poor, at his discretion. 
His habits were simple, and to his temperance and mod- 
eration in the enjoyment of the good things of life, was 
due the long life to which he attained. 



^fa^OMER, Rev. John, the eldest son of John and Mary 
ft/jB Comer, was born in Boston, August I, 1704. 
\S^ When he was but two years of age he lost his 

fb father, who died at Charleston, S. C, being on his 
way to England to vi>it his relatives there. The 
child was thus left to the care of a widowed mother and 
his grandfather of the same name. He early manifested a 
devout spirit, and an earnest love of books. By his graml- 



no BJOCKAl'HIC.lL CYCLOPEDIA. 

fatlier's direction, H'lio nclcd as liii giuiilian, he was ImjuikI ami faithful minister of the Gos|iel. His wife was Sarah 

as an apprentire for se\cn years to learn the glover's trade. Ku'^ers, of Newport. He left one son and two daughters, 

For two years he yieldeil to the wishes of his guardian, hut John, Sarali, and Mary. A few years since some of his 

his lieart was nut in liiswi>rk. The only C'im|>l,\ints his descendants were li\ ing in Warren, and possibly may now 

master maile of him was that he "rend t'm inntli fur his be residents of that town. 

business." In his diary, written when lie was but htteen 

years of age, he made at the eluse of the year this entry: , 

" This year I composed a set L)iscourse fri:)nr Eceles. xii. 1 

I — Remendjcr tliy Creator, etc." It is clear that he I ISS^ONYMAN, I I"Ni ir.^di.e James, Attorney-General 

thought nit;>re of preaching than he did of m.dving ght\es. . ^T^ft^ <'f" RlH>de Islaiid, the son of the Rev. James 

The celebrated Rev. Dr. Increase .Mather liecame so much , ■C,£-":j> Hnnyman, reclnr i>f Trinity (.'hiuch, Newport, 

interested in this promising ) nutii, tliat lie y.ersuaded his ' !| was born in 1711. It is not known with wdiom 

grandfather to obtain his release iiian his empli)\er, and i -.rl he studied his profession. His legal abilities must 

he was placed at his studies, whith he pursued jiartly at I have been of a marked character, for we Hnd, that at the 

Cambridge and jnirtly al Vale (.'■■liege. Ill-health pre- ! early age of twenty-one, he was elected Attorney-Cieneral, 

\'entei| him frum taking such a cuursc as woubl ha\e se- ! anil liUed the ■■ffice for nine successive years — 1732-1741. 

cured for him a Ilaehelor's Degree. While m <.'ambridge I He was elecled King's Attorney fir the years 1741, 1742. 

he became a memlier iif the Congregaliiinal Church, but He was one of the Committee ■■n the Eastern ll^iuuilary 

. . I . . . 

subsei|uentl\- change^l his sentiments, and j^iined the hirst Contro\ersy, anil argued the cause in behall ■■f Rhode 

Baptist Church in IJustun. He began to jireach in I7-;5, | Island bef^ire the Cumniissioners appointed by the Iviiig, 

ami after supplying the pulpit uf the \enerable liajitist j at Providence, in June, 1741. The Commissioners having 

Clnirih in S\\ au/ey, Mass., for a slmrt lime, he was in- brought in a decision ailverse to Rhode Island, he was 

vited to become co-pastor of the First Baptist Church in one of the cmiiniittee apjiointed by the Legislature tu ilr.iw 

New|iort, the pastor being Rev. William Peckham. He up an appeal against this decision, and to prepare the 

acecpted the call, and was or^lained May 10, 1726, being proper |iapers relating to the subject, to be laid befure the 

then iMt ■]uite twenty-two years of age. •' He entered," i King in council. For eight years { 1756-17(141, he was a 

says Rev. Mr. Harrow, in his Hi.,torical Discourse, "into ! Senator in the Legislature of the colony. ( >ii his wilh- 

his work with all the ardor of youth, and gave a deciileil | drawal frum the Senate, he received the ap|ioiiUment of 

imiietus to the climcli life. Singing, which seems to have Advucale-I leneral of the (^'ourt I'f Vice-.A^lmirally in the 

fallen into disuse, was reintroduced inio the p.ulilic wor- I cuhmy, an^l held tliis otl'ice fur some ten years, wdicn, in 

shi|i." The records of the church also were kept with i deference to a resululi.m uf the General Assembly, that 

regularity, and much m.iterial was gathereil up by the ! he should gi\e it up, as it was a cruwn office, he resigned. 

youthful |iasiur, which was tu be of great service tu future ! The resolutiun sliuw s what was the tune of public feeling 

Compilers. .\t length, after having been the ]la^l■■r uf the | at the time. It was as fulluws: "That James Honyman, 

Church mure ih.in two years, his miml was ■lirecled to a ! Esipiire, .\dvuc.ile-( ieneral in the Court of Vice-Admiralty 

subject, which in those early colonial limes was one of in this culuny, umlei the Cr^iwn of Cheat Britain, having 

much ilisLussion, namely, the (hiclrine ^A tlie " laying ■m a]ipeared before and iiifurnied this .Assembly that if his 

of hands;" and he came t^i the c^uiclusiun that the rile was ' holding sai^l oFlice be ilisagrecable t^i the coluny, he would 

as much enjoined, and was of the same perpetual obligation, I deliver up his commission, // is 7't<f<-J and rr^oh't'J, that his 

as the rites of Baptism and the Lord's Sujiper. Having holding the same is disagreeable tu this ci^lony, and that 

preacheil un the subject in November, 177S, the strong I the sheriff of the c^iuiily of Newp^ut call upon the sai^l 

position \vliiih he t^i^ik offended some of his members, James Ilonyman, ti> receive said commission, and that he 

who opposed their jiastor's determination to enforce the ; deliver it to His Ibuiur. the Governor, to be lodgeil in the 

observance of the ceremony referred to, ami the result was Secretary's ■iflice." "The ileportment of Mr. H^.nyman 

that he felt it his duty to resign, and was acconlingly dis- | in iliis inst.incc," says Mr. Updike. " feeling himself bound, 

niisse^l in January, 1729. F^ir two years he supplied the , as he 11111, by his oath uf allegiance to the (frown, un the 

]>ulpit uf the SecumI Baptist Church, w hull mure nearly one hami, and cunscientiuusly refusing to ofleiid the feel- 

symp.ithii'ed with him in his \iews. Subsei|uently, and I ings of his native State, on the uther, reflects a rich lustre 

for a short lime, he was pastor o| a " Six Principle Baptist | on die cliar.icter of the Christian, the gentleman, an, I the 

Church" in Rehoboih. He ilie^l May 25, I7U- Mc- ] devoteil lover of his country." In a little more than a 

Comer was a most caiehil ami iiidu^iious culhctn of facts | year after the British took possession of the island of 

Conmctcd with the history of the Bapti4 ■h noiuinatii m m 1 Rhode Island, Mr. Ibuiyman ■lied, his ■leath taking place 

this c^iuntry, which have been utili/eil by lii-iurians uf a January 15, 177.S. In the inscription on the slone which 

later date. I luring his brie I niiiiisiry ul unlj nine years, he covers his gia\e, on the side of the entrance by the north 

reached a ci-iminenikible rank as an iiiilustriuiis, zealous, ' gate, we hml that he w.is " eminent in his profession as an 




/ 



/ 



/ 



/ / 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



attoniey-at law, anil was cm|iliiyed many years in tlie most 
important oiTices of government." He is represented as 
having been, in his deportment, dignified, always dressed 
in the best fashions of the times, scrupulously formal in 
manners, domestic, yet social, in his habits. The wife of 
Mr. Honyman was a daughter of Mr. George Golding, a 
merchant of Newport, by whom he had two sons and six 
rlaughters. Several of his daughters and granddaughters 
married British oflficers, or T017 Americans, and when 
Newport was evacuated, they left with their husbands. 
The estates devised to them by Mr. Honyman, of course, 
were confiscated. When peace was restored, the heirs pe- 
titioned for a restoration of these estates, and their petitions 
were granted, as there was found to be some illegality in 
the acts by which they were confiscated. It is referred to 
as a matter of pride to the citizens of Rhode Island, that 
in no instance, after the revolutionary conflict was decided, 
ilid the Legislature refuse, upon application, to restore 
confiscated property in their possession. 



Iji^IGHTFOOT, Judge Robert, was born in London, 
^Ky in 1716, of wealthy and highly respectable parents, 
^^^ and was a graduate of the University of Oxford. 
M^ He pursued his law-studies in the Inner Temple. 
^ In the reign of George II. he was appointed Judge 
of Vice-Admiralty in the southern colonies. After dis- 
charging the duties of his office for some time, he 
found a southerly climate prejudicial to his health, and 
sought a residence in Newport, where he spent his 
life in literary ease, and in the enjoyment of the social 
pleasures of his pleasant home. Dr. Waterhouse thus 
speaks of him : " I knew Judge Lightfoot very well ; he 
was a Judge of Admiralty, a very well-educated, idle man ; 
I knew his sisters in London, single and opulent. He 
first taught me to value and study Lord Bacon, and from 
him I learned to value Locke an<l Newton and Boerhaave. 
He was the oracle of literary men in Newport, a perfect 
encyclopedia, and welcome to every table of the first char- 
acter, and constantly dined from home. He was not a 
buffoon or mimic, but a fine relater of apt anecdote. He 
informed everybody and contradicted no one, but had a 
happy Socratic method of teaching. I am not certain that 
he ever read law as a profession, yet he was master of it, 
as well as of the science of medicine. During thirty years 
that I gave lectures in the University of Cambridge, I en- 
deavored to display the pages of Locke, Bacon, and Lin- 
nceus, but I should hardly have been able to have done 
what little I have, had I never known Lightfoot." The 
record of what Newport was in those ante-revolutionary 
days presents to us a bright picture of the social status of that 
charming place. Among the most brilliant ornaments of 
a society, which was hardly surpa-ssed, if equalled, by that 
of any town of similar size in this country, fudge Light- 



foot took one of the foremost ]ilaces. He died at Plain- 
field, Connecticut, in 1794, to which place he removed 
from Newport, not long before his decease. 



hW|S5IGNERON, Dr. NoRnf^NX Ff.i.ici.\n (sometimes 
^j|M written Wigneron), was a native of Province 
g - .y ' T . ^ d'Artois, in France. He came to this country in 
ll l6go, settled in Newport, and died here in 1764, 
•ri* at the age of ninety-five years. His gravestone, 
and that of his wife, Susanna, are standing in the old 
Inirying-ground in Newport. Dr. Vigneron left two sons. 
The oldest, Charles Antonio, died in New "N'ork, Novem- 
ber 10, 1772, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, after having 
been inoculated. Stephen, the second son, sailed on a 
cruise with Captain Benillard, as surgeon, at the time of 
the war with France. Nothing was ever after heard of 
the vessel. Dr. Stephen Vigneron, son of Dr. Charles 
Anthony Vigneron, was born at Newport, November 25, 
1748, where he practiced medicine as the successor of his 
father. On the breaking out of the Revolution, he entered 
the service of the country, and held the appointment of 
surgeon in the regiment raised in November, 1776, under 
Colonel John Sayles, Jr. This regiment was stationed on 
Rhode Island. He was also a surgeon in the army in 
1779. When the British landed on Rhode Island, he left 
Newport on horseback, abandoning his books, instruments, 
etc. He died on board the hospital ship, in New York, 
August 24, 17S1, of putrid fever, in the fifty-third year of 
his age. He never married. The late Commodore Wil- 
liam Vigneron Taylor, of Newport, was descended from 
Dr. Norbent Felician Vigneron. A silver bodkin, picked 
up by Dr. Vigneron at the capture of Cape Breton, is now 
in the possession of one of his tlescemlants, Mrs. Hill, of 
Charlestown, Massachusetts. 



g;AVIS, Pf.rrv, widely celebrated as the discoverer 
and manufacturer of the proprietary medicine 



known as " Pain Killer," was born 



Dart- 



-mouth, Mass., July 7, 1791, and was the son of 
Edmund and Sarah Davis, being the eldest of 
three children. When he was four years of age his 
parents removed to Westport, Mass., where the family 
resided for many years. His educational advantages were 
very limited, and his early life was a cc)nstant struggle 
with poverty. .At the age of fourteen he met with an 
accident, w hich injured one of his hips, and not only made 
him a cripple for life, but so impaired his general health 
that for many years after he was a great sufferer. In con- 
sequence of this disability, he was obliged to choose a call- 
ing which would afford him a sedentary employment, and 
therefore learned the trade of a shoemaker, which he fol- 
lowed for many years. His feeble health prevented close 



BIOGR.irinCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



application to bu>inc« and greatly intcrfL-rt-d with his 
])htiis in life, yet lie was of a cheerfid. Iiopeful disjmsition, 
and exhibited i^reat mental acti\'ity. Having an ingenious 
mind, he deviated mueh time to inventing machinery for 
\aiii'Us purposes, and procured patents fir several of hi-^ 
in\'entions, some of which possessed superior merit. In 
18^7 he reutfised to I'autucket. K. I., and during tliat year 
invented a mill for grinding grain, in the manufacture of 
which he w .IS for some lime afterward engagid. In order 
to secure increased facilities for carrying (.)n this branch of 
business, he removed to Taunton, Mass., in iSjJi. iJiuing 
his residence in Tattntrin, he resorted to the compounding 
of medicines, with a view to tin<Iing a remedy from the re- 
lief of p.dn in hi^ i.iwn ca^e, and thus discovered the well- 
known medicinal compnund, I'ain Killer, from the sale and 
manufacture rd" v\hich he subsequently acquired a fortune 
and Litl.iined w'i>i Id-wide celebrity. In 1.S40 he reinove<l 
to h.di Ki\er, M.iss., and engaged in business there until 
July 3, 1S43, when his establishment was destroyed bv the 
gre.xt fire of that year. Receiving aid from the fund con- 
tributed for the sufferers by benevolent people of Boston, 
Providence, and other places, he removed to I'rovidence 
July 27, 1S43, ^"fl resumed business there. Here he 
established the extensive manufactory of Perry Plavis cS; 
Sc»n on High Street, near the sanre location where the 
Ijusiness is now carried on. Hi-, son F.dmuml, who at an 
early age f)ecaine associated as partner with his fithei, ami 
wdiose energy and business tact greatly conlrdjuted t" the 
success and jirosperity of the fnan, died in Piuvidence 
October 30, iSSo. They early established an enviable 
reputation for integrity, pnmiptness, and faillifidness in 
the fuUilmenlof their obligations, which gave them a high 
standing in commercial circles throughout the country ; and \ 
their business iuLreased to such an extent as to necessitate 
the estalilishniciit of firanch houses in various cities in this 
country and laiio|ie. Mr. 1 ),iv is eimliiuied in activ e business 
until hisdeath, which occurred .May s, iNo2, in his seventy- 
hist year. Ills wile was Ruth I)a\ol, d.iughler of Pardon 
anil Piiscilla Davol, of Tiverton, R. L, to whom he was 
mail led (.>ito|}cr .S, I.S13. They had nine children, only 
one of wliMin.a daughter, Sarah, widow of the late \V. 
liennis, is living. Mr. Itavis was prominently identified 
with the business inteiests of Providence, and was noted 
for his benevolence and Christian zeal. In the midst of 
his liusincss avtivitv and prosperity he devoted much time 
to religious vviuk, and was especially active and efficient 
in promoting the causc of temperance. He embraced 
Christianity at an early age, and in iSlo united with the 
First Haptist Church at Tiverton, R. I. ( )n his removal 
to Providence, he united with the I'dflli llajitist Church of 
tli.it lily, to the support of wlinh he w.is a generous con- 
liibuliii. When .111 enlargement uf the church edifice be- 
came TU-cessary, Ik- built .ind furnished a teuqu'iarv ihapel, 
which was dedicated December 25, 1.S5.S, the dedicatory 
sermim being jireachcl by Mr. I>avis, vvho w.is a licenseil 



preacher. In this chapel a church was formed February 
3, 1S51, and was known as the High Street liaptist Church, 
of which Mr. Davis became a member. Later, at an ex- 
pense of $36,000, he bought a lot at the corner of Stewart 
and Pond Streets, and erected thereon a substantial house 
ol worship, which was dedicateil January 11, I.S53, and 
occupied liy the High Street Baptist Church. Mr. Ilavis 
not only allowed the use of the house, but took an active 
interest in the cliuich work. In 1S53 he was ordained as 
an evangelist, and in that capacity labored with great earn- 
estness and /eal until his death. His frankacss, sincerity, 
and uprightness wcm for him universal respect, and his 
sympathetic nature and benevolent s|iirit brought him into 
intimate relations w ith his fellow-men, and endeared him 
to a host of friends. 




^\B(?nCK, Rev. Stei'HEN, a distinguished minister 
of Westerly, and New Light leader, born October 
. , r. ^ 12, 1706, first aiipeared in public reliijious 
11 movements in August, 1742, when, as the records 
J'L read, " Justice Stejihen B,ibcock and his wife Anna" 
ajipear among the constituent members of the Presbyterian 
church under Rev. losejih Park. He married, in 1762, 
.\nna Thompson, daughter of Ca|itain Isaac Thompson. 
While a deacon in the Presbyterian clunxh, he accepted the 
New Light doctrines iluring the great revival movement, 
accelerated by Whitetield, Tcnnent, l>avenpoit, Morse, and 
others, and, " on the 5th of April, 1750, the ' Church of 
Christ in Westerly and Stonington in Union,' was formed 
through his influeuce." ( >n the same day he was ordained 
as jiasior, which oflice he filled till his ileath. 1 his was a 
Bajitisi (_'liuich located on Rhodes Hill ( nciw i^iuarry Hill), 
and was usuallv called the" Hill ChurLli." The first dea- 
cons were William Worden and Simeon Brown; (he latter 
liecame a famous liaptist minister in North Stonington, 
Coimecticut. The ministers assisting in the ordination 
were David Sprague and Solomon Paine, both New Light 
preachers of note. The first meeting-house, erected in 17S6, 
was unroufed in the .September gale of 1S15. The lot was 
a gilt from James Rhodes. The great religious awakening 
of that time led to large separations from the clinrches of 
the .Standing order in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and 
the seceding parties were styled .Separatists and New Lights. 
Stephen Babcock sympathized wdth these and aided them 
by his counsel. He and Solomon Paine called a council 
of "elders and brethren from forty churches," that met 
May 29, I7vv. "'til Simeon Brown, in North Stonington, 
Connecticut, to discuss and adjust aflairs. Similar c.iuucils 
had been held in Middleborough, Massachusetts, and 
Exeter, Rhode Isl.ind. Umler his own liainl, at ihe request 
of fiffecn churches, Mr. B.ibeock issued a call "To the 
United Churches scattered abroad in New F'ngland," to 
nicel " at Fxeter, on the second Tuesday of September, 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



"3 



'754'" " '" coiiMill the aff.iirs of Christ's Kingdom, and to 
see what further may be done to the settlement between 
the two denominations," — the Baptists and the Separatists. 
Gradually most of the Separatists became Baptists. Stephen 
Babcock was a man of .superior talents, good education, 
deep piety, discriminating judgment, and executive tnut. 
In the excitement that shook all the churches of the laml, 
he rather leaned to conservatism than to rashness, but he 
remained a Baptist. He and the Hill Church stood hrm 
in the centre of the great agitation. He died December 22, 
1775- 



sons \\'ho were graduates of Vale College. He died, full 
of honors, April i, 17S3, aged seventy-five years. 




^^ABCOCK, Hon. Joshu.v, known also as Dr. Bab- 
cock, and widely recognized as a leading man and 
scholar of his day, was born in Westerly, R. I., in 
1707. He graduated at Vale College in 1725, and 
soon after commenced the study of medicine and 
-surgery in Boston, completing his education in England. 
Settling finally in his native town, he secured an extensive 
practice. It is written of him that he daily read the Scrip- 
tures in their original tongue, and kept himself informed 
in every department of literature. Religiously he was en- 
rolled as a Seventh-Day Baptist, but his Christian charity 
and labors were not restricted to sectarian limits. His 
abilities and character gave him great jirommence. The 
large and costly mansion he built on Rhode's Hill, near 
the present quarries, is still standing in its strength and 
beauty, a historical landmark in the town. Its Dutch tiles, 
the elaborate cujiboard, the ceilings, the carved staircase, 
the secret closets, and the deep wine cellar, still attract the 
attention of visitors. For some time he carried on a retail 
store near his house, on Queen Anne's Road, which was as 
extensive as any between New York and Boston. In the 
Revolutionary War no man exceeded him in patriotism 
and public devotion. In 1776 he was M.ijor-General of 
the State Militia. In the same year he was a Deputy in 
the General .Assembly, when. May 4th, the colony " passed 
an act discharging the inhabitants of the colony from alle- 
giance to the King of Great Britain," thus preceding, by two 
months, the Declaration of Independence by Congress. He 
always stood firmly by the side of Governor Samuel Ward ; 
was often the Moderator of the town meetings, and also a 
member of the State's Council of War. He was elected 
one of, the first Corporators of Brown University, in 1764, 
and was one of the Board of Fellows in 1770. Benjamin 
Franklin, while Postmaster-General, in his official tours 
through the country, was accustomed to make Dr. Bab- 
cock's house one of his resting-places, and we are told that 
he attached lightning rods to the doctor's residence. When 
he established the post-office in the town, in 1 776, he made 
the doctor the Post-Master. As Chief Justice of the .Su- 
preme Court of the State Dr. Babcock pronounced the 
sentence of death on the notorious Thomas Carter for the 
murtler of Jackson. He had two half-brothers and three 
"5 



^?.\BCOCK, Coi.dNix Henky, eldest son of Hon. 
Joshua Babcock, was born in Westerly, R. I., April 
„l.X 26,1736. He graduated at Vale College at the age 
V of sixteen, at the head of his class. In 1 754 he was 
9 commissioned Captain of a company, composing one 
ofa regiment raised in Rhode Island, and marched to Albany, 
from thence to Lake George, antl joined the army corps in 
the campaign of 1756, to dislodge the French from Canada. 
When Sir William Johnson, Commander-in-chief, detached 
four hundred men, under Colonel Williams, to reconnoitre. 
Captain Babcock, with sixty men, constituted a part of the 
force. They were attacked by the enemy, under Baron 
D'Kskau, antl defeated. Colonel Williams and Captain 
Babcock had nineteen men killed and woimded,but Baron 
D'Eskau was taken prisoner. In 1757 Captain Babcock 
rose to the rank of Major, and at the age of twenty-two was 
commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel, and commanded the 
Rhode Island regiment of a thousand men. In July, 1758, 
he marched five hundred of his men with the British army 
against Ticonderoga. He had one hundred and ten men 
killed and wounded, and was wounded himself by a musket- 
ball in the knee. The loss of the army was one thousand 
nine hundred and forty killeil and wounded. The next 
year he helped to lake the fort under General ."Vmher^t, 
without the loss of a man. He had then sei-ved five cam- 
paigns in the Old French War with great reputation. Col- 
onel Babcock subsequently spent a year in Englantl, chiefly 
in London, where he was received with great respect by 
the nobility and gentry. His bravery, accomplishments, 
and services won him a fiattering introduction U^ the Queen. 
Soon after his return from England, he married and settled 
just across the Pawcatuck, in Stonington, Conn., and com- 
menced the practice of law. When the Revolution began, 
he was a stanch Whig and patriot. In 1776 he was ap- 
pointed by the Legislature Commander of the forces at 
Newport, and while serving there, had an o])portunity to 
display his wonted readiness and courage. On an open 
beach, with an eighteen-pounder, he drove off the British 
man-of-war Rose, by his own firing, having practiced as an 
engineer and artillerist at Woolwich, in England. The 
following winter his health became seriously impaired, and 
he never entirely recovered. He died October 7, 1800, 
after a military and public career of twenty-two years. He 
was a man of fine personal appearance, accomplished man- 
ners, and liberal attainments, and an eloquent speaker. 



-IXOLD, Hon. Oliver, Attorney-General of 
Rhode Island from 1766 to 1771, son of Israel 
'ftf?^ Arnold, was born in Glocester, Rhode Island, 
^jE in 1726. His father was a wealthy landholder, 

eL and was nnich in pulilic life. Desirous that his 



114 



LUOCRArHICAL CYCI.OrEDlA. 



sun slii.iilil jLCi'iNe a gnm! eiliualion, lie pKn-cil him uiicler 
I 1r- care of Rl-v. Nathan NW-lih, ihc hr>l ministfr i>f LIx- 
briilge, Massachusetts. Lanka his liainiiiL;, he made gn.id 
pri)s;ress in liis studies. We have nnt l)een aide to ascei- 
tain llie exact date of liis admission to the liar. That he 
.soon aei|uired eminence in his prolession, is eviilent from 
the ftdlowing anecdote reliled by lion. I,e\i Lincoln. 
" When at the 11. ir, a cause of consider. ihle interest was in- ; 
trusted to me ; an. I, iir return, I was informed, by my { 
client, that 1 should be ii]i|)osed only by a younj; man, by 
the name of .\rnold. from (Uocester, Khoile Island. .\ol 
expecliui^ uiulIi di^|ilay of t.deiil iVorn any one In that 
region, I was slovenly prepared hir ar^juing the case ; nor 
was my caution increased by the aj'pearance of my ant.ag- j 
onist — a tall, green looking youth, w ho. awkwardly seating 
himself at the liar, im|Messed me that I had nothing but a 
stripling tu contend uilh. 1 m.ide my speech with very 
little expectation of being auswercil ; and ciuiducted my 
argument lliroughout with less skill and arrangement than 
usual, and awaited the reply of my youthful opponent. 
Hut what was mv amazement to see him rise with the mc)st 
perfect self-possessujn, and state his defence, and .argue his 
cause, with an ability that would have dime honor to Tem- 
ple liar. He went on calmly, leading the reason of the 1 
jury and audience capti\e, and leaving myself in the back- 
ground, as far as 1 confideiUly expected to have left him." 
In 1762, Mr. ,\rnold moved to rrovidence and opened a 
law-ofiice ; and, in M.i\. ij^t), he was electetl .*\ttorney- 
Cicneral of Rhode Island, ami remained in ofllce six years 
(lyOt)-"!). Se\eral cases, of more than u>ual imporlance, 
were tried by him while he was .\ttorney-( ieiieral, and 
\\'ere said to ha\ e been conducted with great ability. lie 
was a diligent student of his profession, and was blessed 
with a most retentive memory. So well disciplined were 
his mental faculties, that it is recorded of him that he 
could stutly " Coke upon Littleton,'' by the family hreside, 
or amid the discursive argumentations of a ta\ern bar- 
room, with jierfect ciiuiposure. He was niticli interested 
in the cause of education, ami took an aclive part in ]iro- 
curing the charter for the establishment of what is now 
Brown University, and in the welfalre of the College he 
alw.iys felt a lively concern. His death was sudden, and 
occurred Dctolier 9, 1770. In 1754 he married T.li/abelh, 
the ilaughter of I)aniel Hrown, of Sandisfield, Massacliu 
setts; several cliihlren were the fruit of this union. Mrs. 
Arnold lived twenty-nine years after the decease of hj.T 
husband, and dii-il in 1799. 



ordination September 3, 179,1. Mr. Fiurdick was an able, 
eloquent, anti faithful minister, loved aiul veneratetl liy his 
own people, and ap]ireciated abroail. He received into 
the church over two hundred members in one year. He 
was incessant in his ]al>ors, and assisted in the organiza- 
tion of several churches. His death occurred March 27, 
1S02. 



I'URIiIt K, Rl.v. John, son of Samuel H. Ilurdick, 

was b.,rn in Westerly, now Hopkinton, in 1732. 

Ill 1772 he was chosen deacon of the Sabbatarian 

I ? J CluirLh, and in 1774 onlained to the oftice of an 

t w L elder, as associate with Rev. Josluia Clarke, u|ion 

who-e death he \\as elected to the ]iastorale, and received 



.]•", r.L'iIS, .Stephen, the first of the Newport fam- 
F, ily of that name, was born in (^)xfortl, England, 
in I73v \'isiting Newport in a man-of-war, m- 
' ': ' tending only a brief slay, lie was finally induced 
J-L to choose Newport as his permanent abode. He 
was a nephew to .Stephen De Blois of Boston, a merchant 
of note in those early times. Mr. De Blois began business 
in Newport as an importer of hardware, anil was remark- 
alily successful. He was also quite widely concerned in 
maritime enterprises. t)uring the French War the com- 
pany of which he was a member lost several valuable ves- 
sels, among which was the ( tlive Branch, the lirig Ldysses, 
the ship .Xnn, and the ship .Severn. His residence was on 
Thames Street, opposite the old Ruggles House. He ilied 
February 15, 1S05, in the seventieth year of his age. He 
was a generous, ciiterj^rising. and ]niblic-s]-tirite<l citizen, 
*' foremost in e\ery nunenieiit for the prosperity and wel- 
fare ol his [own." 



nW.VRDS, Rev. Mcircxn, was born in Trevethin 
I'aiish, Monmouthshire, in the Principality of 

,,,, Wales, May 9, 1722. He pursued his studies at 

'T^^-*r the Baptist Semin.iiv in Bri~tcd, I'"iigl.iiid, and be- 

i'a gan to p.reach at the early age of sixteen years, tor 
seven years lie was pastor of a small congregation in 
Bostott, Engl.rnd, and for nine years v\as a pastor in Cork, 
Ireland. He came to this country in the spring of 1761, 
and, for several years, w as an acceptable minister of the 
First Baptist Church, in Philadelphia. In 1772, he re- 
moved to Newark, Delaware. During the war of the Revo- 
lution, he sympathized with the Tories, although, it is said, 
"his Toiyisiii was rather a matter of principle than of 
action." .\fter the war, he gave lectures on I)i\inity, in 
different sections of the North. He was never settled 
again as a pastor. His death occurred at a ptlace then 
called Pencader, Delaware, January 28, 1795. He was 
twice married ; first to Mary Nunn, originally of Cork, 
Ireland, by wliom he had several children, and afterwards 
to Mrs. Singleton, of Delaware, w ho ilied before him. One 
of his sons was an officer in the British army. The name 
of Mr. Edwards is intimately associated with the early his- 
tory of Brown Cniversity. He was the Moderator of the 
Philadelphia Baptist Association, which, at its session Oc- 
tober 12, 1762, discussed the matter of " erecting a college 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED 1. 1. 



"5 



in the C\»Iony of Rliode Island, nnilcr the chief direction 
of the Baptist^; wherein education miglit be promoted, nnd 
superior learning obtained, free of any sectarian religious 
tests." Mr. Edwards was authorized to make collections 
for the new institution, and for this purpose went to En.g- 
land, leaving this country in February, 1767. He was fa- 
vorably received, and his errand approved by the Baiitist 
ministers and churches. It was, however, no easy task 
which he had undertaken. In a letter to President Man- 
ning, under date of London, April 26, 176S, he writes: 
"There have been no less than six cases of charity pushed 
about town this winter, viz., two from Ciermany, two frora 
the country of England, and two from America. The un- 
wearied beneficence of the City of London is amaz- 
ing ! ^'our newspapers, and letters from your govern- 
ment, have hurt me much, — your boast of the many 
yards of clolh you manufacture, etc. This raises 
the indignation of the merchants and manufacturers. I 
have been not only denied by hundreds, but also abused 
on that score. My patience, my feet, and my assurance are 
much impaired. I took a cold in November, which stuck 
to me all winter, owing to my tramping the streets in 
all weather." During the latter part of 1768 he returned 
to America, the net proceeds of the subscriptions which he 
had obtained for the College having been ^SSS lo,r. 2tf. 
sterling, which he thought was doing " pretty well, con* 
sidering how angry the mother country then was with the 
Colonies for opposing the Stamp Act." By a vote of the 
corporation at its annual meeting, September 7, 1769, 
the interest of the money obtained by Mr. Edwards was 
** forever to go to pay the salary of the president." The 
original subscription-book of Morgan Edwards is now in 
the archives of Brown University, having been presented 
to the College in 1849, '^y ^^''- Joshua Edwards, his son. 
Rev. Dr. William Rodgers, in his funeral sermon, says of 
him : " Honor, Mr. Edwards certamly had, both in Europe 
and America. The College and Academy of Philadelphia, 
at a very early period, honored him, as a man of learning 
and a popular preacher, with a diploma, constituting him 
Master of Arts. This was followed by a degree (?^ eu/u/t-w, 
in the year 1769, from the College of Rhode Island, being 
the first commencement in that institution. In this semi- 
nary he held a Fellowship, and filled it with reputation, till 
he voluntarily resigned it in 1789, age and <listance having 
rendered him incajiable of attending the meetings of the 
corporation." One of his sons, William, is thus referred 
U) in the Providence Gazette^ in its account of Conmience- 
ment, 1S70: "The business of the day being concluded, 
and before the assembly broke up, a piece from Homer 
was pronounced by Master Billy Edwards, one of the 
grammar-school boys, not nine years old." A large num- 
ber of the manuscripts of Mr. Edwards are in the archives 
of the Rhode Island Historical Society, one of which, 
" Materials for a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island," 
is published in vol. vi of the Society's ColUclions. 



5l^yOPEZ, AariiN, a Portuguese Jew, was Imrn in 1731. 
M|m| Soon after the great earthqu.ike at Lisbon he came 
'jpig*' to this country, and, in comnanv with a large num- 
_jH5. ber of persons of the Hebiew faith, took up his 
"" residence in Newport. Many branches of industry 
were introduced into the town by these Jews, which were 
pursued with such zeal and success as to add very materi- 
ally to the prosperity of the place. In 1753 we find that 
the General Assembly granted to Moses Lopez, a nephew 
of Aaron, a patent for ten years upon an improved method 
of making potash. A year or two previous to this he had 
been excused from all other civil duties, " on account of 
his gratuitous services to the government in translating 
Spanish documents." In 1763 the numtier, wealth, and 
social position of the Jews in Newport had become such 
as to render them an important element in the poj-iidation 
of Newport. At this period there were more than sixty 
Hebrew families in the to\\ n, " many of whom \\'ere dis- 
tinguished for their wealth and commercial enterprise." 
On the 3d of December of this year they dedicated their 
beautiful synagogue, which is still kept in a high state of 
preservation, to the worship of the God of their fathers. 
The war of the Revolution was attended with most disas- 
trous results to the Jews of Newport. Aaron and Moses 
Lopez, owners at one time of twenty-seven square-rigged 
vessels, several of which v\'ere whale-shijis, lost neaily all 
of them during the war. All the Jews left the town. 
Lopez removed to Providence, and subsequently to Leices- 
ter, Mass., where he resided nearly to the close of the 
war. It was his intention to return to Newport after the 
war, and was carrying out his purpose, but, unfortunately, 
riding along the edge of Scott's Pond, in Smithfield, his 
sulky was overturned and he was drowned. The event 
occurred May 28, 17S2. The inscription on his tombstone 
states that "he was drawn from this transitory existence to 
eternal rest the 14 of Sivan, .\.u 5542 " (May 28, 1782). 
He was a merchant of eminence, of polite and amiable 
manners. Hospitality, liberality, and benevolence were 
his true characteristics ; an ornament and valuable pillar 
to the Jewish society of which he was a member. His 
knowledge in commerce w'as unbounded, and liis integrity 
irreproachable. Thus he lived, and died much regretteti, 
esteemed and loved of all. The son of Aaron, Joseph 
Lopez, was almost the only one of the Jews who engaged 
in business in Newport, After the war, and a few years 
before his death, he removed to New \'ork. After his 
decease, his body was brought to Newport, and buried in 
the Jewish cemetery. 



S^^(JLE, Judge John, son of Elisha Cole, of North 
W^B Kingstown, R. I., was born al>out the year 1720. 
His father was one of the largest landholders in 
Having acquired the rudiments of a 
looil education, being instructed in the Greek and 



T the county. 
J- 



u6 



BIOCRAPniCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



Latin Iaii^ua(];es l>y a foreign tutor, lie communccd tlie 
stu'ly of law in the office of Danirl I'lulike, Ks<|., at that 
time Atliinicy-dL-neral of tlie Statr, wliose ilaiij^HiI(.*|- he 
sul)^et|llL■nlIy nian-ici.!. On l>ein_^ ntlniitted to the liar. lie 
began the jjiactiee of iiis pnjfe^siuu in Providence, where 
he secured a good share of U-nal Inisines'^. lie was elected 
Associate Justice of tlie Supreme Court of tlie cnhmy in 
1763, and in 1764 the tieneral Assembly appointed him to 
the chair of Chief Justice, in the place of Judge Bannis- 
ter, who hail rcsii^ned. The resistance of Rhode Island 
to the infamous ''Stamp Act " was, from the outset, posi- 
tive, and c\L-n violent. The ('.encral Assembly, at their 
session in 1764, appointed Judge Cole a committee to re- 
pair to llo^tun, and to express to the Massachusetts Legis- 
lature their sympathy with them in their pronounced hos- 
tility to the act, and to ubtain Ironi them a copy of their 
spirited remonstiance to the olmoxioiu doings of the home 
government. Subse([uently, Mr. Cole was placed upon a 
committee " to act and correspond, during the recess, with 
the committees of the legislatures of the other colonies, 
and to remonstrate against the jnesent burthens, and espe- 
cially against the Stamp Act." It is a matter of well- 
known historic record, that the remonstrances of the colo- 
nial legislatures were unavailing, and the Stamp Act bill 
was passed in the House of Cummons, bv a vote of tuo 
hundred and fifty to fifty, and adopted almost unanimously 
in the House of Lords, and the royal sanction given to it 
March 22, 1765. Judge Cole, who had resigned the office 
of Chief Justice, was elected a Representative from Provi- 
dence to the (ieneral Assembly, and in all the discussions 
having reference to the alleged grievances with the mother 
Country, took a most decided and jtatiiotic slaml. He was 
appointed to act on imjiortant CMiiimitlees, w liose duty it 
was to prepare such papers and ret-oinniend such actions 
as were belitliiig the emergencies of the times in wdiich 
they had fallen. At the May session, 1765, of the ( !en- 
cral Assembly lie was elected Speaker of the House. In 
1775 he was appointed Advocate-General of the Mari- 
time or Vice-Admiralty Ctuirt lor the State, whicli <)frice 
he held during the remainder of his life. Judge Cule is 
spoken of as an advocate of resj^ectable talents, a sound 
lawyer, and a ])crson of fair ami honorable character. He 
was a man of large stature, six feet in height, inclined to 
corjudency, and troubled for some time with the gout. 
Having entered a hospital to be inoculated for the small- 
pox, the disease proved fatal, and he tlied in October, 1777, 
and was buried in the hospital grounds. 



^/o^ARDXER, Cai EH.an active and energetic Merchant 
>^K '" Newport during the latter half of the eighteenth 
I 'i century, was born at Newport, T^uuary 24, 1730. 
\ T He entered into business early in life, and soon 
aJ J gained a pruiiiineiit position. He was a skillul 



navigator, having at one time followed the seas. June 
3' 1770, he married Sarah Ann Robinson, daughter of 
1 n-. fames Robinson, by wliom he had five children. 
Alter the death of his first wile he married Sarah 
Fowler, daughter of Samuel Fowler, by whom he also 
had tive children. His third wife was Mary, daughter 
of (Governor J"hn Collins, who bore him four chihlren. 
At the time of his death he owned and occupied the house 
on the corner of lohn and Spring streets, now owned by 
the heirs of the late Dr. Daniel Watson. During the Rev- 
olution Captain Gardner had the confidence of the leaders 
of the American and French forces, ami for some years 
after peace was declared he was recognized as the French 
Consul at this port. At his house he entertained Washing- 
ton, Lafayette, RochamVieau, and other French and Amer- 
ican officers, and wdien the French ileet. under the Che- 
valier de Ternay, sought to enter Newport harbor, he went 
out to meet them, and acted as pilot. This service was 
fittingly acknowledged by the French government, as is 
shown by the following letter: *• Versailles, November 3, 
17S1. Sir: M. Le Comte de Barras, commander of the 
King's squadron in North America, informs me, sir, of the 
distinguished ]>roofs you have given of your zeal and at- 
tachment to the common cause, and of the service you 
have rendered, as well to the Sipunirtin as to the army of 
M. de Rocham])eau, and formerly to the squadron com- 
manded by M. le Comte D'Fstainge. I have given an 
account of it to the King, and his Majesty hath ordere<l his 
ambassador at the United States to send to you with this 
letter a present from him, as a particular testimonial of his 
satisfaction. It is with |>leasure that I inform you of it. 
I am, sir. wholly yours, Castries."' This letter was ac- 
companied by one from the Chevalier de la Lu/erne, who 
presented to Captain ( lardiier, in behalf of the King, the 
sum of three thousand livres. The tollow ing letter of in- 
troduction, addressed to Governor Blanchard at Tobago, may 
be taken as further evidence of the high esteem in which 
Captain (.iardner was held by the French in America: 
" Philadelphia, ( )ctober 9. 17S3. Permit me, sir, to rec- 
ommend to your kindness ("apiain Gardner, who will 
have the honor lo deliver to you this letter. The service 
that he hath rendered to the French tleet and army have 
given him a well-founded title to the protection of govern- 
ment. I have been charged by M. de Castries to make 
him a present 'Ui the part of his Majesty, and to make 
known to him how much the Court were satisfied with his 
services. A very interesting affair for his fortune leads 
him to the island wdiere you command. I dare hope that 
you will do everything that law and justice will permit. 
I dare assure you that he is worthy of it, liy the sentiments 
that he has possessed since the commencement of the Rev- 
olution, and stdl more by the real ser\ ice that he has ren- 
dered to France. I shall have a particular acknowledg- 
ment of it, and 1 pray you to be convinced of it, as well as 
of the sentiments of very sincere and very perfect attach- 




^f- r^ </'' 



^v/ 



BIO GKA PIIJCA L CYCL OPEDIA . 



'17 



mcnt v;\(\\ wliicli I have the lienor to be, sir, your very 
humble and very obedient servant, Le ChevaHcr de la Lu- 
zerne." 



^AIL, George, son of l^arnard, and grandson of 
Deacon Amos Hail, was born in Warren, R. I., 
. June 12, 1793. In his childhood and early youth 
he attended the village school, but his opportuni- 
5 ties for study and mental improvement were very 
limited. At twelve years of age he left home, and for 
some time worked on a farm in the adjoining town of 
Bristol. Thence he removed to Providence, where he se- 
cured employment as a grocer's clerk, and soon won the 
con6dence of his employers by his integrity and habits of 
industry. He subsequently carried on the grocery business 
successfully for many years in Providence. In the course 
of his business transactions he came into possession of a 
few shares of stock of the Eagle Screw Company, which 
proved so profitable an investment that he finally turned 
his attention to the development of that branch of industry. 
On the consolidation of that company with several others 
of a similar character, under the name of the American 
Screw Company, Mr. Hail became one of the largest stock- 
holders, and thereafter devoted much time to advancing 
the interests of the company. To his foresight, tenacity 
of purpose, and ability to inspire confidence, may be at- 
tributed, in a large measure, the wonderful success of that 
corporation, which has a world-wide reputation. He was 
prominently identified with the religious interests of the 
community. For some time after his removal to Provi- 
dence he attended the First Congregational (Unitarian) 
Church, on Benefit Street. About 1832 he united with the 
First Baptist Church, of wliich for many years he was an 
active and devoted member. In 1S55 he, with others, 
unitetl in the formation of the Brown Street (now the 
Union) Baptist Church. He was Chairman of the Build- 
ing Committee for the erection of a house of worship, to- 
ward which, and for the payment of current expenses, he 
contributed liberally. At his decease he left twenty thou- 
sand dollars as a fund, with the provision that the income 
tlierefrom should be expended for the support of preaching 
in the Brown Street Church. Mr. Hail's first wife was 
Mary Ann Gibbs, daughter of John and Mary Gibbs, of 
Newport. She died August 6, 1857. They had several 
children, most of whom are now living. On the 20th of 
August, l86r, Mr. Hail married Mrs. Martha N. Arnold, 
of Warwick, daughter of Robert and Mary Perry, of South 
Kingstown, who survives him. During his last years Mr. 
Hail returned to his native \g\\\\ to live, and here, in the 
retirement of a quiet village, surrounded by his family and 
friends, he died December 6, 1873. 



^w|S^OWRY, Judge Daniel, son of Captain Daniel 
" T®*f? Mowry, was born at Sniithfield, Rhode Island, 



17, 1729. 



•itpf August 

J 6 trade of a cooper. 



In early life he learned the 
and his educational advan- 
tages were limited to an attendance of three 
months at a district school. He supplied the deficiency, 
however, by private study, and thus succeeded in acquiring 
a valuable fund of knowledge. Being possessed of supe- 
rior intellectual ability and strong common-sense, his worth 
was soon appreciated, and in his early manhood he was 
called upon to act in various public capacities. He rep- 
resented his native town in the General Assembly most of 
the time from May, 1766, until October, 1776, when he 
was chosen Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He 
discharged the duties of his judicial office with great effi- 
ciency, and was re-elected to that position in 1777, 1778, 
1779, and 17S0. He was a member of the General As- 
sembly in May, 1776, when that body passed the famous 
"Independence Act," just two months before the adoption 
by Congress of the Declaration of Independence. While 
a member of the General Assembly he served on some of 
the most important committees. He was one of Ihc fore- 
most men of Northern Rhode Island during the Revolu- 
tionary War, and the years immediately preceding. His 
well-known ability and experience caused him frequently 
to be called upon to act as advocate for parties having 
cases before the courts. In 1780 he was elected, with 
James M. Varnum, Ezekiel Cornell, and John Collins, to 
represent the State in Congress. In May, 1781, he was 
re-elected, and at the expiration of his second term was 
again solicited to be a candidate for re-election, but de- 
clined the nomination. For twenty years he held the oftice 
of town clerk, and his son Daniel contiimed to serve in 
the same capacity for thirty-five years, father and son hold- 
ing that office for fifty-five years. He was thrice married, 
first to Anne Phillips, daughter of Richard and Anne 
Phillips. She died September iS, 1753. August 19, 1756, 
he married Nancy, widow of Thomas Ariiold. His third 
wife was Catharine Steere, daughter of Antliony and Ra- 
chel Steere. She died April 4, 1827. Seven chddren 
were the issue of these marriages. Judge Mowry died 
July 6, 1806. He is described as tall and thin in person, 
with blue eyes, remarkably sharp and piercing, and a light 
complexion. He was a clear and forcible speaker, and the 
sincerity and earnestness with which he uttered his con- 
victions enabled him to wield a great influence over his 
auditors. 




iHlPPLE, Commodore Apraiiam, U. S. N., was 

born in Providence, September 16, 1733, and 

rendered most acceptable service to his country 

y'lMitK during the war of the Revolution. Bred early in 

v° life as a seaman, he became the Captain of a 

merchant vessel in the West India trade. Towards the 



nS 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



close of tJu' i'lench ami Imliaii \Var he was placed in 
coninianLl of a )iii\ ateer, w iiK !i lunc liic e\|ires^ive name 
of " (Gamecock." rwciily three FmiLh i>ri/es were caji- 
tiirc<l by him in a sin^de ciuiso. He hcaileil tlie expedition 
\vliich,in 1772, attacked and l>inned. in Xarratjaiisett May, 
His Majesty's schooner Gas|je. His enol emn'acjc and 
entcr])risin!T s])irit pt>inled him tuit as a most suilalile per- 
son, at the openini; of the I\e\ olutionary War, to conduct 
tliose enterprises which called into exercise the pecidiar 
qualities of his cliaracler. It has licen said that he fired the 
first authorized ii^iin which was fired on the water durin;^ 
that strugi^Ie. With the lille ol Commodore he cr)mmantled, 
in 1775, two armed vesscU and two war galleys, titte<l out 
by Riiode Island. This s(juadn:'n captured one of the 
tenders to ihe Ilritish Frigate Rose, oft' Newport. From 
1775 to 1770 he had command of the schooner Providence. 
In this vessel he took ami destroyed more prizes than any 
other commander in the navy. The I'r'jvidence havin;^ 
been taken at leni;lh by tlie iJritish, her loss was more than 
made up by the Construetion of a new frigate, which bore 
tlie same name, and was placed in the command of (.'oni- 
modore Whipple, who was commissioned to be bearer of 
dispalehes to France. Her passage out of Xarragansett 
Hay to the ocean, evading the wateli of the Ihilish nnal 
force on the lookout to cajiture her, was one of the most 
brilliant exploits of the Revolution. He accomplished his 
mission to France, and returne<! in safety. He had com- 
mand ^f a s<|uadron during the remainder of the war. 
*' Some of his achievements," w e are told, " were so singu- 
lar and extraordinary as to appear more like romance than 
reality, and on one occasion the jirize-moncy from his cap- 
tures iimounled to more than 5l,ooo,ooo. Perhaps the most 
eccentric an<l daring of his exploits was performed in July, 
177O1 when he encountered the homewardd)ounfl Jamaica 
fleet, of nearly one hundre<l and fifty sail, convoyed by a 
seventy-four gunship and some smaller vessels. He c<in- 
cealed his own guns, hoisted British cidors, and joined the 
fleet as one of their number. Thus he saile<l in their com- 
pany several days, and eaeh night he captured a vesscd, 
whicli he manned froui his own crew anrj sent to Ameriean 
])orts." ICight out of ten richly laden nierchanlmen thus 
taken were brought to this country. While endeavoiing to 
save <_"harlestr)n, South Carolina, in i7So,his s<]uadronwas 
captured, and he was held as a prisiuier of war until the 
end of the Revolutionary struggle. After the war he re- 
tired to hi-, farm m Cranston. He removed subseipiently 
to ()hio, and on his little farm of twelve acres, near Mari- 
etta, spent the last years of his life. The government al- 
loweii him a pension of thirty dollars a month from iSii 
to ihe time of his death, which occuired May J9, 181S. 
A full length i)ortrait of Commodtire Whipple may be seen 
in the picture gallery of Rhode Island Hall, Brown Uni- 
versity. It w.is L^tjiied iiy the artist Heade from an origi- 
nal in the possL-ssion of hisgrandsun, I.)r. Wdliam Whipple 
Comstock, of Midtilctow n, Mass. 



•,.I-VTCRN. WiLi lAM, Merchant, a name disiin- 
guislKil in mercantile circles, was born in South 
Kingstown, about the year I7.H- Karly in life he 
I •'- ■><-^;'- develoiied those (lualities wdiich rive him distinc- 
I a' r^ lion, and led to his future great success in his vo- 
cation as a merchant. Not content to remain at home on 
I his iailier's farm, he made several voyages from Newport 
in a ship of wdiieh he soon became mate. I luring the 
i French War the vessel in which he sailed was taken by the 
j French and carried to a French port. The commander of 
ihe ship which liad captureil her offered to ransom her on 
the payment of a certain sum. Mr. Minturn was allowed 
I to procceil to London, where he found the lirm from whiuii 
' lie hoped to procure tlie ransom -monev, %\ as success fu 1, 
! and having recrossed the Channel, he paid the stipulated 
j sum ; the vessel was released, and brought back in safety 
I to New [.lut. The ov\ ners of the ship were so much pleased 
with the course pursued bv Mr. Minturn, that they placed 
him in command of the ship which he had saved, anil he 
was so fortun.ite as to meet with such success in his voyages 
that he soon became an owner of ships himself, and a lead- 
ing merchant in Newport. He was selected by some of 
the first citizens of Rhode Islaml and Massachusetts to 
lead off in the founding of a citv on the Hudson River. 
The sIk- selected was w liere now is the city of Hudson. 
Mr. Minturn sailed wilh his family from Xewjiort in one of 
' his own \essels fiir the appointed locality. It sounds tii us 
I a little strange in these days of rajud locomotiim to be told 
j that it took hnn thirteen days to go fnim NewjRirt to 
Hudson. He dill not remain long there, satisfied that in a 
commercial ]H.)int of view New York city was a more 
advantageous place for him to take uji his residence in 
than a place so far fnmi the sea as the proposed city was. 
Accordingly, he e-tablished himself in 1791 in New York, 
where, as the result of his skill and sagacity as a merchant, 
he amassed a large fortune. In 1799. Mr. Minturn finding 
hi^ health failing, felt a strong desire to return to the home 
of his earlier life. A Commodious liouse was secured tor 
him m Newport, in which he re--ided, however, but a short 
time, his death occurring in August. His wife was Pe- 
nelope, daughter of Benjamin Crecne, and a near relative of 
( leneral Nathanael Creene. Mrs. Minturn returned to New 
York, where she died, much respected for her many virtues, 
in 1S21. Tiiey ha«l ten children: (I) Penelope, wife of 
John T. Chamjilin ; [2) Benjamin (ireene, husband of 
Mary Bowne; (3) Hannah, died in 1S17; (4) \Yilliam, 
the husbaiul of a sister of Marv Bowne; (5) Jonas, hus- 
band of Esther, daughter of Wdliam T. Robinson; (6) 
Mary, wife of Henry Post; (7) Deborah, wife of Robert 
Harris, Jr.; (S) Nathaniel C, husl)and of Lydia, daughter 
of Samuel C.iates, of Philadelphia; (9) Niolte; (10) John, 
w ho. in I Si 7, removed to New (Orleans ; his w ife was Lydia, 
daughter of James Clements, of Philadelphia. Uj^dike tells 
us that at one tnne the descendants of William Minturn 
numbered one hundred and forty-six persons. 



nroGRA ri/ic.i i. c j xl orEDiA. 



119 



IjOTTER FAMILY, of Totter Hii.l. T'otter, 
1^^^ Martin, is reported to have been a son of one of 
~?r^) the Regicides — ^judges that condemned Charles I. 
(s fs On the restoration of the monarchy he fled to this 
» y country, and took shelter with his cousins in South 
Kingstown, R. I., where he lived till his death, leaving a 
large estate in North Shields, on the banks of the Tyne, 
in England, in the coal region, having leased it for ninety 
nine years, and w hich was valued, in 1S35, at nine million 
dollars, but has not been recovered by his heirs. He was 
always reticent in regard to his history. Potter, GeorgI';, 
son of Manin Potter, purchased, January 10, 1775, of 
John and Wdliam Davis, the grist-mill, saw-mill, fulling- 
mill, two houses, and sixteen acres of land, at I'otter Hill, 
on the Pawcatuck, for three hundred pounds, and was 
known as '* the honest miller." He also opened a store, 
which was continued by his son, and afterwards by his 
grandsons. He here built several small vessels. His son, 
Captain George, engaged in shipbuilding and cod-fishing, 
and is said to have been the first man from the United 
States, after the Revolution, to go to (ircen Island, in l!ie 
Bay of St. Lawrence. All his sons became useful and in- 
fluential citizens. He died August 29, 1794, in his sixty- 
third year, leaving three sons, George, Jr., |osei>h, and 
Nathan. Captain George died October 25, 1801, in his 
forty-lifth year. PoTTEK, Joseph, son of George Potter, 
1st, was born in 1759. For several years he engaged in 
foreign trade, and sent vessels to the West Indies and to 
Barcelona, in .Spain. In 1810 he began the fir^t manu- 
facture of cotton in Westerly, His factory, built in 1S12, 
cost nine thousand dollars. His l)usiness was damaged 
by the embargo. With his brother Nathan he built boats 
for the Green Island fishery, constructing from ten to fifteen 
per year. The brothers also built sloops, schooners, anti, 
at one time, a ship, framing them at Potter Hill and put- 
ting them together at Westerly. During the War of 1812 
they built the sloop-rigged gunboats No. 91 and No. 92, 
under the superintendence of Captain Phipps. Joseph 
was also engaged in mercantile business, and about the 
year 1791 his store, in a wing of his dwelling, was broken 
open by Thomas Mount, William Stanton, and James 
Williams, for which Thomas Mount was trieil and hung 
at Kingston. Burglary of that sort was then a ca|iital 
crime, and this was the last instance of capital punishment 
in Washington County. He left five sons, Thomas W., 
Joseph, Henry, Robert T., and William, all men of char- 
acter and note, to whom he left his property, and by wdium 
the Potter Hill mills were operated till 1S43, when they 
sold the mills and privilege to Messrs. Edwin and Horace 
Babcock. He was a member of the old Sabbatarian 
Church when it numbered nearly a thousand members. 
Mr. Potter was noted for his industry, integrity, gener- 
osity, and piety. He died December 14, 1822, at the age 
of sixty-three. Thomas Wells Potter died July 10, 1S54, 
in his seventieth vear. Colonel Henrv Potter died No- 



vember 12, 1864, aged seventy-four years. Joseph Potter 
died March 4, iSSo, aged ninety-two years. He was a 
man of rare judgment, great probity and piety. He was 
in the military service in the War of 1S12. For very 
many years he was a director in the Phenix Bank of 
W^esterly, and held a high rank among men oi business. 
He united with the Hopkinton Seventh-Day Baptist 
Church, in 1S03, under the preaching of Revs. Abram 
Coon and Matthew Stillinan, when two hundred and 
thirty-f<tur were a<ldetl to the church. For thirty-six 
years he was treasurer of the church, and at his death 
was the oldest, as he was the most honored member. His 
wife and his only child, a son, passed away before him. 
A conspicuous and gifted member of the Potter family, 
Maria L. Potter, has, by her pen and pure character, con- 
tributed to their reputation, and to the good deeds and 
character of the community. 



^^TILES, Ezra, D.D., LL.D., an eminent Rhode 
H^^ Island scholar and divine, son of Isaac Stiles, was 
L'p' born in North Haven. Connecticut, December 10, 
f'ag» 1727. His ancestor, on his father's side, was John 
^ V Stiles, of Bedfordshire, England, who came to this 
country in 1634, and in 1635 settled in Windsor, Connecti- 
cut. The sui-iject of this sketch displayed remarkable pre- 
cocity in his youth. He began the study of Latin when 
he was nine years of age, and at twelve, under the tuition 
of his father, was fitted for Yale College. Very wisely, 
however, he was kept out of college until he was fifteen 
years of age, and graduated in the class of 1746 with the 
reputation of being one of the most accomplished scholars 
that had ever left the institution. He continued his 
studies, as a post-graduate in Yale College, for two years, 
and was there appointed tutor, in which office he distin- 
guished himself by the performance of some brilliant ex- 
periments in electricity, said to have been the first ever 
m.ade in New England. Having made up his mind to 
enter the Christian ministry, he was licensed by the New 
Haven Association of Ministers, and preached his first 
sermon at West Haven in June, 1749. He preached as 
opportunity presented for several years, but the state of his 
health was such that he doubted whether he would be 
able to perform the duties of the ministry, and he turned 
his attention to the study of law. He was admitted to the 
bar of Connecticut in 1753, and for two years practiced 
the profession of law. Having been invited to become 
the pastor of the .Second Congregational Church in New- 
port, he accepted the call, and was ordained October 
22, 1755. While not neglecting his ministerial duties, 
he devoted himself to those scientific and literary pur- 
suits which for him had so great a charm. His corre- 
spondence was very extensive, reaching to almost every 
known quarter of the globe. Three institutions of learn- 



BlOChWrillCAL CVCL OPEDIA. 



ini; confL'irtil 0)i liiiii llu' limioraiy ik'gii-L- of T>oclor uf 
l)ivinity, — the College of F.iliiil)iii>;li in 1765, Daitmoiilh 
CollegL- in 17S0, ami the College of New Jersey in 17S4, 
besides at the same coinniencement confeniny on him llie 
degree of I)octor of I.aw^. The great facility with whieh 
he aciiuired langnages is show 11 fmiii the circumstance that 
in 1767 he began the study of the Hebrew language, and 
in a single ninilh was able to ri-ad the wlmle book of 
I'salms. He began, too. at tliis lime, the study of other 
Oriental languages. When the liiitish otcupied .\ew])iirt, 
Iir. Stiles left tlie pl.ice. He accepted a call to Ports- 
mouth, N. H., in 1777, in the month of April, but remained 
there but a short time, being chosen President of Vale Col- 
lege and Professor of Ecclesiastical History. His inaugura- 
tion occurred July S, 177S. His administration brought new 
prosperity to this institution. His own laliors were varied 
and arduous. How pionounied was his scholarsiiii) ap- 
pears from the fict tliat at tlie annual commencement of 
17.S1, which \\as the fn^t at which he presiilcd, none 
having been hehl f'r two or three years on account o{ the 
unsettled state of the country, he deluered, in the morn- 
ing, an oration in Hebrew out )riental literature, and in the 
afternoon introduced the usual i)erformances with an ora- 
tion in Latin. His relation to the College as its President 
continue<l until it was terminated by his death, which oc- 
curred May i::, I7')5- I 'r. Slileswas tuice married — hrst 
to p.li/abelh, .laughter of Colonel John Hubbard, of New 
Haven, in I'Vbruary, 1757. who dieil >biy 25, 1775 ; and the 
second time to Mis. Mary Checkley, widow of William 
Checkley, of I'rovidence, in 17S2. He publi-.lied seeeral 
discourses, orations, sernnjus, etc., and left an unfinished 
ecclesiastical history of Xew England, and more than forty 
volumes of mamiscripls. In the extent and variety of his 
ac(|uirements he was jirobably the most accomplished 
scholar in this country in the times in wliiLh he lived. 



Union, while the agricullur.al interests clung to the Con- 
feileration. The former jiarty contended for specie cur- 
rency, and the latter for paper. In 17S5 a petiti(m, numer- 
ously signed, was presented to the Cjeneral Assembly, 
praying that a new bank of paper-money might be estab- 
lished. The petition was rejected by a large majority. 
The friends of a i)a]ier currency all over the State, organ- 
ized in opposition to secure an election of State officers 
\\\\o sh'.iuld favc)r their views. Anticipating the presenta- 
tion of another jietition to the General Assembly, a memo- 
rial and remonNtrance, numerously signed, was drawn up 
and presented tt.i that bod\' at the Eebruary session, in 
17S6. It may be found m Stajilcs's Annals of Providt:nit\ 
pp. 297-jJoS. The evds of a paper currency not founded 
upon a specie basis are in this paper set forth with remark- 
able vigor antl pertinency. In sjiite of strong opposition 
the " Cbeenbackers" of those ilays rallied all their forces, 
and, at the spring election in I 7S6, succeeded in choosing 
John Collins as (governor, and a Senate which harnionizeil 

! with them in their views. Thus was inaugurated a system 
" more destructive," says (.lovernor .Vrnold, " in its eftects 
upon the peace and prosperity of the State than any v\ hich 
had yet been atlem])ted, and whose baleful influence was 
to evtend far bevonil the |ienod wdien its name and objects 
passed away." Those w ho \\ ish to see w hat was the prac- 
tical re^ulf^ wliiih folloued this attempt to force a paper 
i.ui"i'cnL}" on the people, will do well to read Ariudd's ///y- 
torv, vol. ii., p. 520, etc., antl Stajiles's AnnaL\ of J^ro-oi- 
(/c;/. C-, p«. 204, etc. Cine of the last acts of Ciovernor Col- 

I lins was the casting <if his \ote, when there was a tie in 
the .Sen.ite, w hich secured the calling of a convention to 
decide upon the acccjitance of the Constitution of the 
United Stales. '1 his vote of Governor Collins made him 
un[)opular w ill) his part;', and lie was not re-elected. Snb- 
sei|uent]y, he was chosen as a representative to Congress, 
but did not take his seat. He died at Newport, March S, 
■795- 



,^Vjpi ilddXS, GoVERXoR |ciiiN, wa> born in Newport, 
)1S/^; lune .S, 1717. He comes into spt-cial notice in the 
'^V* annals <if Rhode Island history as an active cham- 
jV pion in the cause of .\merican Independence. He 
'"r-/ was one of a committee which was sent to Cicneral 
Wa^iington, by the General Assembly, in .Septend.er, 1776, 
to inform him of the condition of the colony, and olaain 
his views upon the liest method to adopt for Us defence. 
In 177.S he was chosen, with three other gentlemen, to 
represent the .State in Congress. At different times, until 
17S2, he represented liis native State at the seat of national 
government. .At the close of the war there was in exist- 
ence an embittered state of feeling in Rhode Island, o« ing 
to differences of ojiinion, w hicli have pievailed throughout 
the country to this day. One |iarty advocated Slate sover- 
eignty ; the other urged the importance of the closer 
union of the Slates under a geiuial head. The seajiort 
towns uf the Slate and die nuiiailtile cla-ses favored the 



^"^riWEN, J.\nF,7., I, I.. I)., Lieutenant-Governor of 
5>1 Rhode Island, son of E| hiaim and ^b^ry (Fenner) 
Powen, was I'orn in Providence, June 2, 1739. 
j 4;'"j He received his preparatory education in his 
^ native town, and was a graduate of Vale Col- 
lege in the class of 1757. Returning to Providence, 
he made it his residence during life, becoming a lead- 
ing citi/en, and occupying positions of honor and trust. 
1 When the (|uestion of the estalilishment of a college in 
Rhode Island was agitated, he took a deep interest in 
carrying out the plans of President Manning, In 17(18, 
while the infant institution was still in Warren, he was 
elected a member of the board of Fellows, and continued 
in lliat ofliee until 17.S5, He then passed into the Roard 
of Tru-tees, and was ciioscn ( liancellor rif the Ihiiycisity 



lUOGR. IPHICAL C VCl OPEDIA. 



in the place of Stephen Hopkins, deceased, Mr. Bowen 
was Chancellor for thirty years, his term of office closin;; 
with his death. In the affairs of the Slate he took a prom- 
inent part. At the election in May, 177S, he was chosen 
Deputy Governor, to succeed Hon. William Bradford, 
and held this office until May, 17S0. He was elected the 
second lime, and remained in office until 17S6. He \\"as 
also a Judge of the .Superior or Supreme Court. He took 
an active part in securing the vote of Rhode Island for the 
adoption of the Constitution of the United .States, being a 
prominent member of the convention which met in Prov- 
idence in March, and in Newport in May. 1 790, to dis- 
cuss and act ujion the important (.piestion, which was de- 
cided in the affirmative by a close vote, there being thirty- 
four in the affirmative and thirty-two in the negative. The 
news of the action of the convention was hailed in Prov- 
idence with demonstrations of great joy. During the ad- 
ministration of Washington, Mr. Howcn held the position 
of Commissioner of Loans for Rhode Island. He was for 
some time President of the Rhode Island Pjible Society, 
and an active member of the Congregational church of 
which Rev. Dr. Hitchcock was pastor. He was also 
a zealous and influential Mason, being one of the early 
members of St. John's Lodge, Providence, where the first 
meeting was held February 18, 1757. After a prosperous 
career of several years, the interest in Masonry in a meas- 
ure ceased until, at a meeting of the lodge of which Mr. 
Bowen was a member, held June 7, 1769, it was voted "to 
close the lodge, shut up the books, and seal up the jewels." 
There was an interregnum of nine years. A commission 
was given, July 15, 177S, to Mr. Bowen by John Rowe, 
Grand Master of Massachusetts, to act as Master, and 
under this commission Masonry revived in Providence. 
He was Worshipful Master from 1778 to 1740. On the 
formation of the Grand Lodge, April 6, 179 1, he was 
chosen to fill the office of Deputy Grand Master, which 
he held in 1791 and 1792, and th.at of Grand Master 
from 1794 to 1799. In addition to all his other honors, he 
received from Brown University the degree of Doctor of 
Laws in 1769, the same degree being conferred upon him 
by Dartmouth College in 1800. " His great capacity for 
public business, joined to his unquestioned integrity, gave 
him an elevated character and great influence in society." 
He died in Providence, May 7, 1S15, and was buried with 
Masonic honors. Mr. Bowen was twice marrieil. His 
first \\'ife was Sarah, daughter of Obadiah Brown, of Provi- 
dence. With her he livetl most happily thirty-eight years, 
she dying on March 17, 1800. A most e.Ncellent and life- 
like portrait of herself, and also that of her husband, 
taken by the artist Copley, grace the parlors of their grand- 
son, Wm. H. Bowen. .Seven sons and a daughter were the 
issue of this marriage. Of these, Jabez was graduated at 
Brown University, in the class of 1788; Horatio Gates, 
for seventeen years Librarian of the University, was grad- 
uated in 1797; and Henry, the youngest, w'ho for thirty 
16 



successive years was the honored Secretary of State, was 
graduated in 1S02. Mr. Bowen's second wife, w-ho sur- 
vived him, was a daughter of Judge Leonard, of Raynham, 
Massachusetts. 




ILCOX, Rev. Is.\iah, a Separatist preacher, 
was born in Westerly, in 1740. He was bap- 
tized in 1766, an<I ordained February 14, 1771, 
over the " Third Church of Christ in Westerly," 
better known as the " Wilcox Church," organized 
in 1765, a New Light body, com))Osed of Separatists from 
other churches, but which finally became a Baptist church. 
The constituent members were Isaiah WMlcox, Elisha Sis- 
son, David Wilcox, Valentine Wilcox, James Babcock, 
Mary Lewis, and Austris Dunbar. The first meetings were 
held in the house of Mr. Wilcox, the pastor. The meeting- 
house was built after the Revolutionary War, in 17S6, on 
land given by Nathan Bliven. The church became large 
and powerful for the time, and was embraced in the nota- 
ble Groton Union Conference of Churches, in which the 
pastor was a leading character. Mr. Wilcox was a man of 
full halMt, broad features, dignified bearing, and weighed 
nearly three hundred pounds. Being an able preacher, 
zealously devoted to his work, and possessing superior 
powers of song, he always made a deep impression in his 
ministrations, and was widely known. Under his minis- 
try, in 1785, occurred a great revival, which continued for 
nearly three years, during which more than two hundred 
persons were added to the church. He died March 3, 
1795, at the age of fifty-fi\'e. 



S2py(?.VMrBELL, IIo.v. Archib.M.D, sprang from a Scotch 
ivjil ancestry, and was the .son of Archibald Campbell, 
%:l'".% of N'oluntowii, Connecticut, where he was born in 
iSijb 172S. He was a grandson of a distinguished Scotch 
^ divine. Rev. Daniel Campbell. His uncle, the Rev. 
John Campbell, was the president, at one time, of the Col- 
lege of Glasgow, in Scotland. From a letter written by 
D. Campbell, of Voluntown, a relative of the subject of 
this sketch, we learn that a colony of Scotch emigrants, 
embracing names well known in Scotland and in this 
country — the Campbells, Stewarts, Kennedys, Wylies and 
Hunters, with others — settled in Voluntown, Connecticut, 
in the early ilays of the history of Connecticut. The ob- 
ject of their leaving their native land was that they might 
enjoy larger religious liberty than they could find in Scot- 
land. They were said to be persons well educated and 
pious. Opposed to a hierarchy and to a liturgical church, 
they formed a Congregational church, which was, and, for 
aught we know, still is, in a prosperous condition. They 
brought with them considerable property, wdiich, by their 
Scotch thrift and industry, was sure to increase. Many of 
the posterity of these early Scotch emigrants arc to be 
found scattered through different sections of New York 



JUOGKAPHli. \1L CVCL OPED /A. 



aii.l Ohio. K.iiiy in life, llic sul.jcct of this vliU li left lii^ 
native place, aii'l '•etlled in Kast Greenuieli, aliout tlie 
year 175". line he conmienced the practice uf law in 
Kent Cdunty, " here he was succe^^ful. For nearly twenty 
years he carried <in his lej^al luisiness in his adi>pteil home, ; 
and often had cases « Idi h Ik- nianat;ed in other cants, not 
in his immediate nei;,;hliorlioud. The esteem « ilh w hicli , 
he was regarded is shown from the eiieiimstance that, in I 
the year 176S, the town of l^ast (ireenwich elected him 
as their rejiresentative to the let;islalure of the Slate. Tn 
tliis position he clisplayeil marked aliility, ami w.rs placed 
on some \ery important committees. ( Ine ol these com- 
mittees was a])poinled to draw up an .\ct of Bankruptcy 
for tile colony. lie was chairman of a committee, the 1 
other meniljers of which uere Mr. Georije Jackson, and 
lion. Oliver Arnold, the Attirrney-t ieneral of the colony, 
to draft ■' .\n .\et to Limit and Restrain the Issuing of 
ll'rili of l-.ir,n , to Carry Cases t.i Ent;lan.l for Trial." 
This was a bold stand taken hy the lef,nslalure, and was I 
indicative of the s|-iii-it which at leni^th liroui,du about an 
open rupture wilh the home t^overnment. The evidence 
is very clear that Mr. Campbell was the outspoken friend j 
uf the rights of the colonists, and ready to speak and act | 
as the ailvocate of freedom. As huig as his health per- 
mitted he served his fellow-citi/ens as their representative 
in the Oeiieral .\sseiiilily. He clied Oelober 10, 17(19. J'"^' 
left one son, Jacob, and three daughters. He is reported 
to have been an excellent gentleman, »if handsome adrlress, 
a good counsellor, plain speaker, but nt.t an eloquent ad- 
vocate, liis remjins were placed in the llapiti^t I'urial- 
ground in East fjieenwieh, \\ here a handsome stone was 
erected to his memory. I'lom the inscription on this stone 
have been gleaned some of the facts which have been 
used in this sketch. 



of ihe doctia- has also been |ireserved. Tn I75Shewas 
appointed l.iy the General .Assembly Physician and Surgeon- 
General of the Rhode Islanil troops, liefore the Revolu- 
tion broke out I >r. Hunter had so far overcome his jireju- 
dice agaiitst the house of Hanover as to he a warm sup- 
porter of the King and his ministers, and in consequence 
of this he was removed from Newport, with many other 
[lersons who were obnoxious to the Government, by the 
Cieneral .\sseinbly. ,Sul.)sei[Uenlly he was pemtitted t<T re- 
turn tn Xewjiort, and here he resided till his death, January 
30, 1777, which was caused by a pulriil fever contracted 
while attending some sick prisoners. l.)r. Hunter married, 
1761, iJeborah Mallione, and had issue. His children 
were Eli/a, born July 20, 1702, died at Paris, 1S49; Ann, 
l>orn Ajiril 20. 1766, married John Earconnet, banker, 
Naples, ilied at Paris, 1859 ; William, born .\pril 20, 1768, 
died Xoveniber i.S, I 7/2 ; Catharine, born January S, 1770, 
died October I, 1770; Catharine, born February 2S, 1773, 
married the Cointe de Pourt.iles, died at Paris, iSoo; Wil- 
liam, born November 20, 1774, married Mary Robinson 
July 15, 1804, died at Newport llecemlier 3, 1849. 



^K;^1'NT1-~.R, Hk. Wiiil.VM, a Scotch physician of 
0j|V^^ great lespectabilitv, was educated in I{dinburgh, 
^jT"""" came to .\nuaica in 1752. and settled in New- 
f''^ ]>ort. It is said that he was one of the devoted 
^ V band of .Sccitclinu n w ho adhered to the hou^e of the 
Stuarts, and that his emigration to .\merica grew out of 
his participation in the rebellion of 1 745. His talents, 
when made known in the colony, were appreciated, and 
in 1755 he received the a]ipointinent of Surgeon to the 
troops raised in Rhode Island for the expedition against 
Crown point ; a position fu' v\ liicli he was eminently fitted, 
fr.r he h.id serveil as a .Surgeon in the Urilish .\rmy before 
he came to .\merica. It w .is in fir. Hunter's tent that 
the br.ive Baron Dieskau bve.ithed his last. In 1756 Dr. 
Hunter delivered in Newport the hist course of anatomical 
lectures delivered in the country. The tickets to the course 
were printed upiui the backs of playing cards. One of 
these c.irds is now in the possession of one of his descend- 
ants. In. Willi, im 11. Birckhead, of Newp.ort. .\ portrait 



^!jURROWS, Jnsi Pit, was born in Warwick, R. I., 
July 14, 1793, and was the son of Joseph and Amy 
(Williams) Burrows. About 1(^43 Robert Burrov\s 
with others formed a permanent settlement of w hat is 
^ iitiw New London, C"onn. lie was the jirogenitor of 

the Burrows family in America, and is said to have been 
one of a company that removed from the vicinity of Boston 
and founded Wethersfield, Conn. He there married Mary 
Ireland, widow of Samuel Ireland, who died in Groton, 
t^onn., in iJecemlier, 1672. Roliert Burrov\-s died in Gro- 
ton, in 1682 Many members of this family have been dis- 
tinguished for patriotism and moral and intellecUial wurth. 
Josejih Burrows receiveil a very limitcl education, and at 
an early age was aj^prenticed to a carpenter. In 1836 he 
engaged in the lumber business, in Prov itlence, wilh hks 
son Caleb ((., under the firm-name \j{ Joseph Burrows tV 
Son, which business he carried on successfully until 1854, 
w hen he sohi out to his son Joseph R. Burrows, Mr. Bur- 
rows was for several years a member of the Common 
Council of Pro\ iilence, and also represented Prc)vidence in 
the t_>eneral .Assembly. He was for tifty years an lionored 
member of the Central Ikiptist Church in Providence. ( )n 
the I sth of October, 181^, he married Maria Gerauhl, w ho 
dieil in Providence, May 8, 1847. He married, [uly IQ, 
lS49,Rlioda Know Itnn, \\ ho died in Providence, l-'ebruaiy 
22, 1865. ( in Ihe 30th of May, l86i>, he married Isabella 
R. H. Sullivan, who is still living. .-\11 of his children 
were the issue of the fust marriage. They were Caleb G., 
Henrietta R., Julia .'\nn G., Maria fi., Reibey, deceased, 
Almira, deceased, Joseph R., v\ho died in 1862 from dis- 
ease cimtracteil while serving in the Union army during 
the war of the Rebellion, ilaiiiel, and CJeoige, who died m 





L^ c"^ ^ V CC J 



BIO GRA PIIICA L C i XL OPED/A . 



123 



cliiMhood. It was saitl (jf Mr. Ijuitows by one w lict knew 
Iiiin well that " lie was a man of the olden type, hardy, 
honest, brave ; he knew not how to resort to the tricks of 
trade, or to the numerous conlrivances for becoming sud- 
denly rich, and yet he was blesset! with a competency of 
this world's goods, and with the spirit of contentment. He 
saw Providence grow from a village to a city of a hundred 
thousand inhabitants, and delighted to tell of scenes that 
had been enacted there for three-quarters of a century." He 
died in Providence, October 15, 1S79, in his eighty-seventh 
vcar. 



I^OPHAM, CoLONni, John, was born in Newport, 
in 173.S. Of his early history we have been un- 
able to gain any information. (_)ur first distinct 
notice of him is as an officer in the " Army of 
Observation," raised by the General Assembly of 
Rhode Island, in May, 1775. When the news of the bat- 
tle of Lexington readied Newport, he at once raised a 
company .and marched to Cambridge and joined the Con- 
tinental Army under Washington. He subsefjuently was 
attached to Arnold's expedition to Quebec, where he was 
taken prisoner. Before obtaining his release, and while 
negotiations with reference to it were pending, he was 
among the officers recommended by Washington to take 
command of a company in one of the new regiments about 
to be raised in Rhode Island. Accordingly, in February, 
1777, he was chosen captain in the fir.st Continental battal- 
ion, under Major Ward, and in June following, lieuten- 
ant-colonel in a brigade raised to serve fifteen months. 
In February, 1 778, he was chosen colonel in place of 
Colonel William Barton, transferred ; and, a year later, 
colonel of the second battalion of infantry. Me received 
the thanks of the General Assembly in 17S0, "for the 
great fidelity and ability with which he had discharged his 
military duties." When the war was ended. Colonel Top- 
ham engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected, in 
1780, a Deputy to the General Assembly from Newport, 
and also served in this capacity during the years 17S3, 
178S, 1 79 1, and 1792. He died in Newport, September 
26, 1793, and was buried with Masonic honors. 



flrflf IIURSTON, Rev. Gardiner, a son of Edward and 
^^ Elizabeth Thurston, was born in Newport, No- 
vember 14, 1721, anfl became a member of the 
M'h Second Baptist Church in that place April 4, 174I. 
* He soon gave evidence that he had talents which, if 
improved, would qualify him for usefulness as a minister 
of the Gospel. In I74<S he received a license from the 
church of which he was a member, and was appointed as 
an assistant to their pastor. Rev. Nicholas Eyres. Mr. 
Eyres wa* an Englishman by birth, who, in 173 1, became 



co-]-)astor with Rev. Mr. Wightman, in New[>ort. lie is 
represented as having been a man of groat intelligence, 
benevolence, and piety. The relation which Mr. Thurston 
sustained to Mr. Eyres was mutually pleasant. He preached 
once on the Sabbath and once during the week, meanwdiile 
prosecuting his theological studies with great industry, 
aided by the counsel and guidance of his venerable asso- 
ciate in office. Upon the death of the senior pastor, in 
1759, he was chosen to be his successor, and continued in 
office until his decease, which occurred May 23,1802. He 
hail outlived his wife eighteen years. Only one daughter 
survived him. Mr. Thurston is spoken of as a man of 
■agreeable and winning manners. " 1 [e mingled with great 
ease and familiarity in the social circle, and had tlie faculty 
of making all around him feel perfectly at home; but he 
never did anything or said anything that was of even ques- 
tionable propriety. He never forgot, in any circumstances, 
his high calling as a minister of Christ. He was a person 
of a remarkably benevolent disposition, and was always 
rendered happy by seeing others so." 



jw^|y5HAYER, Gen'er,\l Simeon, son of David and Jane 
%lSS (Keith) Thayer, was born in Meriden, Mass., April 
.f. 30, 1737. At an early age he was apprenticed to 
^° a peruke-maker in Providence. Being of an active, 
bold turn of mind, and governed by a love of adven- 
ture, he became a member of a Rhode Island regiment, in 
1756, serving in the French War. In August, 1757, he 
was among the soldiers of Fort William Henry w-hen it 
was taken by Montcalm. The excessive fatigue he endured 
in the hairbreadth escapes he had in fleeing from Fort 
William Henry to Fort Edward, so affected his health, that 
he w.as compelled to retire from active service during the 
remainder of the war. It is computed that fifteen hundred 
persons were killed or wounded by tlie Indians on the day 
of the surrender of F'ort William Henry. Young Thayer 
returned to Pfovidence and entered upon the business for 
which he had been trained, — that of a periwig-maker. The 
events which transpired just before the declaration of war 
with Great Britain stirred his martial blood. In May, 1775, 
he was appointed by the General Assembly captain of a 
military company, every soUlier in which had been raised 
by himself. His men were marched to Roxbury, Mass., 
which place they reached eight days before the arrival of 
any other Rhode Island troops. He accompanied General 
Benedict Arnold in his famous expedition to Quebec, where 
he was taken prisoner, and kept in close confinement, a 
part of the time in irons, for nine months, on board a 
prisonship. Being at length paroled, he returned to Provi- 
dence. He was exchanged July I, 1777. The General 
Assembly presented to him, about this time, " a genteel 
silver-hilted sword," in testimony of their appreciation of 
his services. He had already been appointed major in a 
Rhode Island regiment, and, having joined the army, he 



124 



lUiHihwriiicAL cycLorEP/.i. 



\v;i> nrdnril, with one liuinlri-d nml Hflv iiiL-n. to i-'ml Mif- 
tliii, limit nil I lie luwcr i-iul nt M lul I-.l;in(l in t!u- I >c I a ware, 
lie rem.iineil here a ■'h'irt time. .in<i then wa-. orileiei.l by 
{.ieneral tireene to hasten to Re<l lian'-:. to defend the iurl 
from an attaek by the lIes-.i.ln^. Operation^ went on for 
severa) weeks, and the iiesieL;ers re--<ii-led lo e\ery p'lssilile 
means to reduce the forts on the ishinds in the J)elas\are. 
< )n one of the days Itetween tlie \2\\\ and tlie lOth of No- 
venilier, 1777, it is said that inuie than tine thousand and 
lliirly dischaiL^'cs of cannon were made liy the enemy in 
twenty minutes. After the mo^l lieroie defence, Major 
Thaver alKUuhnieii the loit which he Iiad Jield h.irsu many 
days, and without the hiss \\i a man arrived at Red Hank. 
( leneral Knox thus alludes to the braverv of Major TluiNer : 
" d1ie defence of I-oit Milllin was as i^aUant as i-, to he 
h.iund in history. The luave little i;arrison, then com- 
manded hy Major Tliayer, of the Rhode Island troops, had 
hut tw(t cannon hut what were dismounted. These soon 
shared lite fate ol the others. Evervbodv who apjieared on 
the platlorm was killed or wounded hv the musketry from 
the tops I. if tiie ships, whose yards almost liung over tlic 
liatleiy. 1."1\l; beh^re night there was not a higli jialisade 
left. All the embrasures were ruined, ami the w hole para- 
[let le\elled. All llie Idoekdiou^cs ha<i been l.iattered down 
some days before."" In the battle of ^bmlnollth, lune 2^, 
177S, Major 'i'hayer took an important part. In one of the 
TUuvements of that memoralde day he experienced in his 
head a w ind-concussion, by the near passai^e of a cannon- 
ball, which caused the blood, as we are told, to gush from 
both his eves. IIl- w*iuld not, however, thoui^h suffering 
feavlul jiaiu, retire honi the po>t assigned him until tlie 
end of the battle. The loss of his right eye followe<l as 
the result of the crjncussion. It was five weeks before he 
was able to pert'orni military duty, lie thus hailed to be 
w ith his regiment, which was under the command of ( iene- 
ral Sullivan, in the battle of Rhode Island. Durini^ the 
remainder of the war he continued in the army, and more 
than once did good service for the cause which was so dear 
to him. He was everywhere known as the ** Hero of Fort 
Mittlin."' Major Thayer retired bom tlie scr\i(.e January 
1, 17S1. The General Assembly sul")se<iuently, for three 
successive years, chose him brigadier-general <'f the mi- 
litia of RroNideuce (_"ounty. Altei" his retirement Irom the 
nrniv. he built, near the head of " C<_institution Hiil," in 
i'rovidence, what was known for sc\eral years as the 
*• Montgomery Hotel." < )f this public house he was the 
keei»er for some time, and then rem')ved to a farm which 
he had purchased at Cumberland. Here he resided until 
his ileath, whicli occurred ( )ctober 14, iScxD. On the H-th 
his body was luought to i'rovideuce and interred in tile 
North iJurial-grouiul. He was married three times. His 
tirsl wife was Huhiah fackson, rkuighter of Stephen jack- 
son, Es<p, of Providence, who di-.d ;\piil 2.S. 1771. His 
second w ife was Mrs. Mary Tourtellot. Uj^on lier decease, 
he married the sister of his first wife. She was a Mrs. 



j Angell, and «.ui]ived her husband, marrvmg for her thiril 
i husband Iiarius 1 tanieK. General Thaver had nine chil- 
dren. Nancy, William Tourtellot. Susan. Ste]ihen Tourtel- 
lot, Hannah Tourtellot, Simeon. I'olly, Richard Montgom- 
cr\', and 1 lenrw 



-^OPKINS, S.AMt'F.L, D.D., a distinguished divine of 
Rhode Island, was born in Walerbury, Connecti- 

,,*, x-.-jTd '^'■t't Sejitendicr I", 17JI. Until he was hfleen 
j years {j\ age he b\ ed with his parents, engaged 
I9 in agricultural pursuits on his father's farm. He 
was htted for college under the tuition of .Mr. (baham, of 
Waterbury, and w as a graduate of Vale College in the class 
ol 1741. Iiuring his college Course he became a Chris- 
tian, and decided to enter the ministry. In December of 
this year he placed himself under the tuition of the cele- 
brated lonathan Edwards, of Northampton, and was or- 
' dained at Housat'mic. now Great Harrington, December 
i 2S, 1743. It was a small hamlet of only thirty families, 
of which he was the minister until he was dismissed by an 
I ecclesiastical council, January 18. i/bg. He remained 
[ w itlmut a regular settlement for a few months only, and 
I then was called t(j Newport, April ii, 1770. *' There 
I were some circumstances," says the historian, ** atteu'Iing 
I hisestablishment in this place wdiieh were remarkalde, and 
j which prove that the hearts of all men are in the hands of 
I God. and may be lurneil as the rivers of water are turned. 
I After he had been with his people some time, a meeting 
was called, and it was voted not to give hinr an invitation 
to settle among them. Many were dissatisfied with his 
sentiments. He accordingly ma<le his preparations to 
leave them, and on the Sabbath preached a farewell dis- 
course. This sermon was so interesting and impressive 
that a different vote was innnediately and almost unani- 
mously jiassed. and he consented to remain." He con- 
' tinned to perform his ministerial duties until the IJritish 
took possession of New|u)rt in Hecember. 177''. when he 
. returned to the place of his former residence, Great Bar- 
rington, M.issacluisetts, whither he had sent his family. 
He preached during the summer of 1777 in New burypoit, 
Massachusetts, to what was regarded as the largest con- 
, gregation in America. He returned to his church in New- 
I jioit in the spring of 17S0, the Rritisli having evacuatetl 
\ the place. He found everything in a sad state of con- 
I fusion. The soldiers had used the meeting-house for a 
barrack. Those ol his people who had remained in the 
town while it was ciccupied by the Rritish had lost almost 
I everything, and the ]>ros]>ect of being supported by his 
I church was a very doubtful one. He determined, how- 
' ever, to remain with them and share the liardships of their 
lot. His ministry continued until his death, which oc- 
I eurrcd Hecember 20, 1S03. Dr. Hopkins was a profound 
theologian and a most diligent student. His rule was lo 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



125 



devote eighteen hours a day to study. He was one of the 
earliest and most outspoken opponents of the system of 
domestic slavery, and took the deepest interest in the tem- 
poral and spiritual welfare of the Africans who were 
brought to Newport. In Mrs. Stowe's Minister s Wooing 
he was one of the most prominent characters. He was 
the father of that system of theology which bears his name, 
called the " Hopktnsian " system. He was a somewhat 
voluminous writer, and many of his works were published 
by the New England Doctrinal Tract Society, in three vol- 
umes octavo, to which was prefixed a memoir of his life, 
by Professor Edwards A. Park, of Andover. He was twice 
married, first to Joanna, daughter of Moses Ingersoll, of 
Great Harrington, Massachusetts, January 13, 174S, and 
the second time to Elizabeth West, of Hoston, the principal 
of a celebrated boarding-school for females. She is spoken 
of as ** a lady of remarkable endowments, a thoroughly 
read theologian, and not only understood well her hus- 
band's system, but was scarcely less able to defend it than 
himself." She died in Taunton, Massachusetts, April 9, 
1814. 



^^^OUTHWICK, Solomon, was born at Newport, of 
s|^5f humble parents, in 1731. His father was a fisher- 
{'"'^^"i man, and the boy had but ^^s\ advantages until he 
i X was brought under the notice of Henry Collins, who 
e) I J was a man of large heart and liberal means, and 
who took pleasure in helping the young and enterprising. 
With the aid of Mr. Collins, Southwick obtained the rudi- 
*ments of learning, and made such progress that at one 
time he employed himself in leaching. His bent, how- 
ever, was a mercantile life, and to this calling he gave his 
attention until 1768, when he bought out Samuel Hall, 
w^ho at that time offered the Newport Mercury for sale. 
He at once entered upon the duties of the office, all of 
which were new to him. At the outset he espoused the 
cause of liberty, nor did he hesitate to express his views 
clearly; for as early as December iS. 1769. he had for the 
motto of his paper. *' Undaunte<l by tyrants — we'll 
DIE or be free!" and this he followed up with sturdy 
blows. But Southwick did not devote himself exclusively 
to the Mercury^ for he brought out many pamphlets and 
small volumes, that are now sought after by collectors: 
Churches Entertaining History of King Philip's War; 
Nathaniel Morton's AVw England Memorial ; the Tryal 
of a False Prophet^ a sermon preached in Newport, at the 
synagogue, by '* the venerable Hocham, the learned Rabbi 
Haign Isaac Karigal, of the city of Hebron, near Jerusa- 
lem ;" and many other works. A Discourse on Saving 
Knowledge, delivered at the installation of the Rev. Samuel 
Hopkins, l)y the Rev. Dr. Stiles, was printed by Southwick 
in 1770, on a press and on paper made in the colony. 
Some of the types were made in Connecticut. Southwick 



gave most of his lime to the [udjlication of papers bearing 
on the questions between England and the Colonies. In 
1774 he issued a reprint of The Whole of the Celebrated 
Speech of Heth'rend Jonathan Shipley^ Lord Bishop of 
Asaph ^ on the Bill for Altering the Charter of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay, which was prefaced with the remark : " It is 
allowed to be one of the best pieces w-rote on the present 
dispute between North America and (ireat Britain." The 
same year Southwick printed from the Boston edition An 
Oration delivered March ^, 1774- <^l the Bet/nest of the 
In habitants of Boston, to Commemorate the Bloody Tragedy 
on the ^th of March, by the Honorable fohn Hancock, Esq. 
With the above all the exciting circumstances connected 
with the delivery of the oration were given, and place was 
found in the "poet's corner" for some daring verses that 
grew out of the aft'air. While so engaged, in 1774, South- 
wick turned aside for a moment to give .some aid and sup- 
port to the anli-slavery movement, which was then be- 
ginning to take shape. Among other papers of this char- 
acter he printed an address to the public, signed by Drs. 
Stiles and Hopkins, concerning the sending of black free- 
men to the coast of Africa. On the approach of the British 
troops Southwick beat a hasty retreat, for the Loyalists 
were anxious that he should fall into the hands of the 
enemy. The last number of the Neicport Mercury was 
dated December 2, 1776, and on the 5th of January, 17S0, 
its publication was resumed. Henry Barber was then at 
its head. When forced to leave Newport, Southwick went 
to Providence, where he bought a press and types of John 
Carter, and began printing. From Providence he removed 
to Rehoboth, a few miles from that city, and before he re- 
turned to Newport he resided for a time at Bridgew'ater. 
After his return to Newport he was associated for a short 
time with Barber in the management of the Mercury .■ but 
in March, 17S7, his name alone appeared as owner of the 
paper; and in the issue for March igth it was stated that 
Barber had nothing to do with the paper, directly or indi- 
rectly. Shortly after that it passed again into the hands of 
Barber, and was brought down bv his descendants to 1S51, 
when the last publisher of the family died. South\\ick 
held the office of Postmaster in Newport under the Con- 
federation. He died at Newport, December l}^, \~i^ly 
aged 66 years. 



pHROOP, Amos, M.D., the first President of the 
l^^^g Rhode Island Medical Society, was born in Wood- 
stock, Conn., in 1738. His early advantages were 
e(ff>j very limited, and when he came to Providence he 
cr was without means and without friends. His skill 
as a physician soon brought him an extensive practice. 
Not long after his arrival in Providence he married Mary 
Bernon Crawford, daughter of Joseph and Susanna (Ber- 
non) Crawford. Her father, Inse]>h, was a descendant 



126 



BIOGRAPHICAL C\CLOrEDIA. 



fniiii (iiiK-on ("i.^wfoi^l. wlm enii_L;ratc(I fium I.imaik. in 
SfutlaiKi. ami sctllnl in l'in\ i,I<_-iuc alHuu i()70. The wife 
of I.)r. Thro(i|i scenis In tiavc iiihrritLMl the iin>vt,-vlii,i! llirilt 
and s.ii^acily of Ikt Scnlcli piuLj'nili'rs, for we arc toM that 
1k' was mainly iiiilehtL-d t'l hur skill and sa;,'. icily in tlic 
sale and puiLhase of driiL;s and nieilieines. A[>otliecarics 
were rare in those early ooluniai times, and no small i»art 
of the income of a ])hysician was received from the sale of 
doses which lie jneiiared from his (iwn dniL;^s. At the com- 
mencement of the Revolutionary War Mrs. '["hroo]). antiei- 
patin^; tlie diffienity of iniporling medicines and the hitj^h 
]niee at which they woidd sell after importation ha<l ceased, 
per-.uaded her luishand to emliark a consideral>le jiart »d 
all he was worth in the pnrehase of ftireiL^n drugs. Kor 
fear that there niii^ht lie some miscarriaL^e, hv the verv ne\t 
vessel a duplicate order was sent out, so that if the first 
failef.l to reach its de^tinalion. the secoml prdiaMy would 
be received, (^uite to the dismay of the L;ood .loctor, n<'t 
one order, but both orders were fdled, and m due time he 
found himself in possession ^^\ a marvellously lari^e stock 
of goods in his special department. It turned out, how- 
ever, to l)e an excellent investment, and proved ihat Airs. 
Throop well understood how to "turn an Imnesl penny." 
The jiersiinal appearance of 1 )r. Throop was somewhat 
striking:;. He is said to have been tall .md ereet, with 
a commanding deportment, and displ,i\ed tlie ehai'ac- 
teristics of a gentleman " of the old school." In accord- 
ance with the fashion of his day, he wore a powtlcred 
wig, with several stiff tiers of curls, imported direct from 
London. During several sessions of the Oeneral .\ssend)ly 
he represented Providence in that body. He was President 
of the Kxchange P. ink for a number of years. He die<l, 
without issue, .Ajuil, 1.S14. 



14, 17.^4. In the summer of 17S:; he returned to the 
United .Slates and settled in New I,ondt)n, as rector in his 
father's parish, at the same time performing the (.luties of 
Hishop in the T)iocese of Connecticut. At this period there 
were several P'piscopd chmclies in Rhode Kland, among 
them, Triniiy, at Newport, St. Paul's, at Narragansett. St. 
John's, at Providence, and St. Michael's, at liristol. In 1700 
the churches of Newport, Providence, and Bristol met in 
convention and declared the Rt. Rev. Samuel Sealiury, 
n.l)., Bishop of the Church in Connecticut, Bishop of the 
Church in Rhode Island. The functions of his sacred office 
hecontmued to perform for nearly six years. We hnd that 
in 1701 he contirmetl twenly-l'ive persons m St. MitiiaePs 
Church, Bristol ; and the records of the other Rhode Island 
parishes make similar rcjiorts during the years 1700-96. 
He tlied in New London, Pebru.iry 25, 1796, and the in- 
scn[ilion on hi•^ tomb^tone refers to him as Bishop of 
Rhode Kland. His son. Rev. Samuel Seabury, H.H., of 
New Viirk. says that tlie death of his father was a heavy 
loss to his infant communion; yet he had lived long 
enough to leave a marked impress of his character upon 
its institution. His inlluence was most im|iortanI wliil-t 
the foundations of the ecclesiastical fabric were being laid." 
It is an interesting coincidence that the first Bishop of 
Rhode Inland was the ilrst American citi/en who attained 
to that title. The validity of his ordination by Scutrh 
bishops was at one time ipiestioned. but it was afterward 
admitted to be canonical. 




-KABURV, Rt. Ri-v.SAMurci., D.n., Bishop of Rhode 
l-.land, son of Sanniel and Abigail (Mumfordj 
Ip"" Seabury, was born in New I.ondi >n, (.'onnecticut, 
Vl-iy in 172.S. Hi- nu.ther died in I731, an-I he was 
■' '*' br<.>uglit upliy his >tepmotluT, wlir)ni lii-> fither mar- 
ried in I7,>v She was l-^Ii/abeth Powell, daui^hter of 
Adam Puwdba merchant of Newport, and granddaughter 
of ( labriel lU-rnon. Her sister was tlie wife of ludge 
Heluie. of Tow er Hill, Narragansett. In l^pdike's Ili^torv, 
pp. IJ4, ijS, may be found an interesting correspondence 
between Mrs. Seabury and Judge Helme. The subject of 
this sketch was a graduate of V.ile College in the class of 
174S, and pursued the study of medicine in Scotland ; but 
having dreidi<l tn enter the ministry, he took orders in the 
Church of lur^land. Returning to tins country, he was 
for several years rector in two or three churches, an<l in 
17S4 was proposed as a candidate for Bishop in the State 
of < 'iinni'Lliciil. Having expei'ienced some difhcnltv in 
being ordained in Kngland as Bishop, he went to Scotland, 
where the service of consecration was performed November 



iaiILLIPS, Hon. PiTi R, son of Charles and Mary 
Phillii)S, was born in North Kingstown, Rhode 
»| Island^ in lyjl. Like (jlher members of his 
family, he was an earnest patriot, ainl warmh em- 
braced the cause of his ciuutrv in her conllict 
with Great Britain. A short time ]ire\ious to the com- 
mencement of the Re\ olulionai v War, he represented his 
native town in the Ciciieral Assembly, and in 1775 was 
promoted t" the Senate. He was elected Commissary of 
the '• .Xnny of f )bser\aUi'n," a body of hfteen hundred 
men, of which General Nathanael Greene was chosen 
brigadier-general. Mi'. Phillips was in the Senate of 
Rhode Island five years. In i7Sohe was electci one of 
the Judges of the Su[ireme Cuuit of the Slate, and held 
this ofiice for hve consecutive years. He was chosen to 
represent his native State in the Confederated Congress, in 
17S5, but dill not take his scat. In 1795 he was chosen 
Chief lusiice of the Court of Common Pleas. He did 
not remain in ihu olfue long, preferring the (piiet of a 
more retired life. He died in 1807. Mr. Phillips, accord- 
in'4 to the testimony of Mr. Updike, was a man of con-.id- 
erable property. He owned the handsomest estate in 
Wickf Mil ; his house was neat and pleasantly situated, and 
his gardens and grounds tastefully arranged. He was a 
gentleman of polished manners, very spare in person, wore 



y 




^ ^ 






/ Yy / / ^ y 



BIOGRAPHICAL C 1 XL OPED I A. 



127 



a bagged wig. and always dressed with great neatness. He 
lived a single life and died at an advanced age, and was 
interred near his residence, in Wickford, on a spot which 
he had jireviuusly selected. 



|TANT0N, H(in. Joskpii was born in Charles- 
town, Rhode Island, July 19, 1739. He was of a 
conspicuous and lionorable family. He bore the 
name of his father, his grandfather, and his great- 
3 grandfather. His great-great-grandfather was the 
celebrated colonial trader and Indian interpreter, Thomas 
Stanton, from whom the family inherited large lands in 
Rhode Island. His mother, Mary (Champlin) Stanton, 
was also of a distinguished family, owning a large estate. 
At the age of twenty, the subject of this sketch was com- 
missioned as Second Lieutenant in one of the Rhode 
Island regiments in the Old French War operating against 
Canada. In the command was also Ensign Arthur Fen- 
ner, afterwards Governor. Mr. Stanton w.as elected to the 
General Assembly in 176S and served till 1775. On the 
opening of the Revolution he was one of the Committee 
of Safety, and entered the service in 1776 as Colonel of 
one of the Rhode Island regiments, his lieutenant-colonel 
being the brave William Barton, who captured General 
Prescott. Well-educated, accomplished in manners, and 
possessed of wealth, he was a man of note and influence. 
It was said that " he owned a lordship in Charlestown." 
He " owned one tract of four and a half miles long and 
two miles wide ; kept forty horses, as many slaves, and 
made a great dairy." He lived on the farm at the Cove. 
In 1790 he was a Delegate to the State Convention that 
accepted the Constitution of the United Slates, but he op- 
posed the acceptance. In the same year he was elected 
by the General Assembly as Senator to the United States 
Congress, then meeting in New York, and served till 1793. 
His colleague was Hon. Theodore Foster. From 1793 to 
1801 he was almost continuously in the General Assembly 
of the .State. In 1801 he was elected a Representative to 
Congress, his rival being Thomas Noyes, Esq. In 1802 
he was returned to Congress, defeating the distinguished 
citizen, Hon. Elisha Potter. In 1804 he was elected to 
the Ninth Congress, and served till March 4, 1S07. Near 
the close of his life his estates declined, forms of business 
having greatly changed. His son Lodowick succeeded 
him as a farmer. 



gILLIAMS, Rev. Willum. The name of Mr. 
Williams appears so often in this volume, as the 
^y instructor of several persons who have occupied 
conspicuous positions in Rhode Island history, that 
a brief sketch of him may not be deemed out of 
place. He was born in Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1752. Hi- father came from Wales, and settled 



as a farmer in Hilltown, where he accumulated a hand- 
some property. Mr. Williams pursued his preparatory 
studies at the Hopewell Academy, under the tuition of 
Rev. Isaac Eaton. He entered Rhode Island College, 
then in Warren, and was a graduate in the first class that 
secured the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1769. In the 
autumn of 1767 he was married to Patience, daughter of 
Colonel Nathan Miller, of Warren. He resided for some 
time in Warren, and then removed to Wrentham, Massa- 
chusetts, a few miles from Rhode Island. He opened an 
academy in this place, which became very popular. Not 
far from two hundred young men enjoyed the benefits of 
his instruction, about eighty of whom were fitted by him 
for Brown University. He also conducted the theological 
studies of quite a number of young men who subsequently 
entered the Christian niinistry. '* Few men," says Dr. 
Guild, the Librarian of Brown University, '* have con- 
tributed more th,in he to the intellectual improvement of 
the Baptist denomination in New England." From 17S9 
to 1818 he was a F'ellow of Brown University. When 
"University Hall" was occupied by the army, in 1777, 
the College library was sent to Wrentham, and placed 
under his care until sueh time as it might seem proper to 
bring it back to Providence. Mr. Williams, whose first 
wife died, was married, in 1804, to Mrs. Dolly Hancock, 
of Wrentham, daughter of Mr. Titus. He had seven chil- 
dren, several of whom outlived their father, who died at 
Wrenthant, September zz, 1S23. 



JsDLMES, George B., 

^^ Kingston, Massachusetts, April 16, 1794. 



Manufacturer, was born in 
He 
was the son of Ileman Holmes, a descendant of 
the Puritans, wdio married Mercy B.ass, of Hanover, 
Massachusetts. His mother died in his early infancy, 
and after her death his father removed with his family to 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, where Mr. Holmes remained 
until twelve years of age. From that time until his mar- 
riage he resided in Kingston, in the family of his father's 
brother. Colonel Charles Holmes, whose daughter Maria 
he married October 22, 1S22. His education, obtained in 
Plymouth and Kingston, was such as the best schools of 
that day affortled. It was the desire of his uncle that he 
should enter Harvard College, but his busy, energetic dis- 
position required some inunediate, active occupation ; and 
when he was sixteen years of age, his uncle procured him 
a situation in a store connected with a factory in Kingston. 
He next served as clerk in a blast furnace; and was after- 
wards employed in the same capacity at the Anchor Forge, 
situated at the foot of Jones River Pond, now well known 
to excursionists as Silver Lake. Here he subsequently be- 
came associated w ith his uncle Charles as partner in the 
manufacture of anchors. In the summer of 1S24 he removed 
to Providence, Rhode Island, and on the 22d of July of 
that year entered upon his duties as agent of the Providence 



IJS 



BJOGRAJ'IIICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



Inm Knun-liy, owiicl \\\ N.uhl \\ ill^inson, Saiiuicl Slater, 
Dr. Henjamiii Dyer, ami (."iiarlcs Dyer. In iS:>o the greater 
purtiun of tlie on^iiiil owuL-rs uT tiie f<niinlry withilrcw ; 
an.l with JmIhi H, ri.nk. Mr. Il..!ivie^, an-l others l,uiU the 
l»re^eiil l'ii<iiii\ I run FMiimh y. r)n it^ eoiiipleliori Mr. 
lI')hiie-> hee.uiie its a^eut and treasurer, hotii uf which 
oilices he cuiitiiuieil tu lill until the year l868, when he 
ceased to act as ai^ent, hut retainetl the position of treasurer, 
conlinuini.; to serve in tliat capacity until the time of his 
deatii. I'"or a period of over fifty years his life was devoted 
to the interests of tliis concern. I'ntil the last year of his 
life he visited the otilce every morning; i)efore lireakfast. and 
through the day was constantly eiiijiloytd. bodily and 
mentally, in a<lvancini^f the interests of the corj-oration he 
so well represented, selduiu allowing; himself absence for 
reereatimi. liis j^radnally failing health tlie last year of 
his hfe prevenleil him froni entering fully into the details 
of the business, but he cnntiiuied to manifest the deepest 
interest therein until llie ia>t mument of consciousness. 
Naturally of a relirini; disposition, he did net seek public 
position; yet in his (piiet, unostentatious way, was ever 
ready to serve his tVdlow-men. freely -^ivin;.^. when desired, 
the benelit of his sound judgment and business experience. 
In the report ul the procecdin;^'s at the celebration of tlie 
line hundred and lifueih anni\ersary of the incoriioralion of 
his native town of Kingston, is found the following ref- 
erence to his first public service, contained in his remarks 
in response to a toast In honor of Rhode Island : " I re- 
member, with a feeling of gratitude, that when only twenty- 
six years of age I was elected from this town as a member 
of the State Cuiivention fur the revision of the Constitution 
in 1S20. and had the privilege of listening to the debates 
of the eminent men who belonged to that body upon the 
fuiidainriital law. My election was rather singular; I was 
not nominated or e\en asked; neither did 1 know 1 was to 
l;ie voted b >r ; nor did I attend the tow n meeting, but a friend 
called on me in the evening and gave nic the information. 
I atleiided the convention, and it was a very great help to 
me. My political course was then changed, au'l 1 have 
not entered into the jiolitical tield since very strongly. 
During the altendance of the convention I became fully 
convinced that all governments are contrtdled by a Divine 
Providence, and my duty was to vote for the best man " 
Ml- Holmes was elected a Representative from Providence 
to the tieneral Assemlily in the years 1S45-46, and again 
in 1S60, and the two following terms. During the last 
three terms he served as Chairman of the Finance Com- 
mittee. During the Civil War he was appointed Allot- 
ment Commissioner for the State of Rhode Island. To a 
man of his kind, benevolent nature, the duties of this 
ortice were particularly gratifying, and he enjoyed them 
exceedingly, but the demands of his business ob|ige<l him 
to resign the oftice. He served as trustee in some of the 
savings banks of Providence, and also as director in sev- 
eral insurance companies and in banks of discount. By 



one of the latter, the Rhode Island National, formerly the 
Arcade Bank, he was cdected, in 1S41, a member of the 
board of tlirectors, and hlled the office for two vears. At 
a special meeting of the stockholders, in iS^^ he was 
again elected a <_lirector, and during the remainder of liis 
life fa jieriod of twenty-four years) was thus associated 
with thisl)ank. For more than half a century Mr. Holmes 
had been a firm l)eliever in the teachings of Emanuel Swe- 
denborg, which, in all his dealings with mankind, he en- 
deavored to exemplify. On Monday, March 3, 1879, as 
he was Hearing his eighty-tifth birthday, his earthly life 
of active usefulness came to a close, and on the following 
Friday, March 7, his remains were consigned to their final 
resting-place in the North Burial-grouml, in Providence. 
The following tribute to the businsss and social relations 
of Mr. Hfdmes ajipeared in an obituary from the pen of 
E. H, Hazard, P!s(|., published in the Providtnce J'-uynul 
of March 24, 1.S79 : "If you would learn something of 
what has been tlone by the foundry under Mr. Holmes's 
management, go through the great building in which the 
patterns are kept. There you will find every one which 
has been used in the last fifty-four years carefully preserved, 
and such another collection of gear patterns is not to be 
found in the United States. If you wtniid learn some- 
thing ol the manner in which Mr. Holmes made and exe- 
cuted contracts and fulfdled his business obligations, go to 
the banks, the manufacturers, the merchants, the mechan- 
ics, and the laboring men, whose fathers and grandfathers 
dealt with him for the last fifty years. Search the whole 
of New England as with a lighted candle, and you will 
not "ixw^ one murmur against him. But it is not to his in- 
fluence and examjile as a business man alone that this 
generation is so much in<.lelited, but to every good work in 
our city — politic. d, educational, social, religious. (Juiet 
and noiseless as the stream of a great river did his works 
continually Iknv ; and thousands of men and women in 
Providence to-day hold the memory of his kind words and 
good deeds to them in sacred remembrance." Mr. Holmes 
had seven children, only three of whom survive him, Ma- 
ria W. Holmes, Rebecca B. Dow, widow of Charles J. 
P)ow, and Lucy A. Eiswald, widow of Adolph Eiswald. 



'^r^*K)KE, CoLoNKi. John, was born in October, 1744, 
i™/%g at Puncatest Neck, Tiverton, Rhi)de Island, on an 
estate settled by his ancest<ir, before the incorpora- 
He married Sarah, 



'^^ 



•''daughter of Thomas Gray, who was a grandson of 
Edward Gray, of Plymouth, one of the original purchasers 
of Pocasset. Colonel Cuoke during the prosperous years 
of his life owned and occupied, a jxirtion of the year, a 
mansion al Xeu port, on Sell 00 1 Street, in the vicinity of the 
old Masonic Hall, which stands on the corner of Church 
and School streets. He was one of the most enterprising 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED /A. 



129 



merchants in Rho<le Island in his ilay, ami was at the 
same time largely engaged in agricultural pursuits. He 
imported from the West India islands cargoes of sugar 
and molasses in his own vessels, and returned to those 
tropical ports the products of our northern soil. He was 
famous as a farmer, or as an old Newport paper expresses 
his excellence in this regard, '* he was unequalled as an 
agriculturist in our State." His broad acres comprised Pun- 
catest Neck, which in his day was the most highly cultivated 
and productive land in Rhode Island. He is said to have 
been a man of commanding personal appearance and capti- 
vating manners, much given to deeds of hospitality, and 
was, withal, a most delightful host. His personal appearance 
must indeed have been striking, as may be inferred from 
an anecdote traditional in the family, and of undoubted 
authenticity. During the War of the Revolution a gentle- 
man called at Colonel Cooke's residence, desiring to see him 
without delay on important public business, and not find- 
ing him at home, on being told that he was on parade with 
the troops, asked one of his household to go with him to 
the military station and point him out, as he did not know 
him. "There is no need of that," was the response; 
" when you reach the field, single out the most command- 
ing and soldierly officer in view." With these directions 
he found Colonel Cooke at once and without mistake. 
Colonel Cooke's chief claim to remembrance, however, is 
not on account of his honorable career as an enterprising 
man of business, nor to the excellence of his social quali- 
ties, but to his patriotic .services in the cause of his country, 
both in the legislative hall and in the tented field. He 
was a member of that Colonial General Assembly which, 
on May 4, 1776, passed the "Rhode Island Declaration 
of Independence." Previous to this date the records of this 
Assembly had always closed with the loyal motto, " God 
save the King." At the close of this memorable .session 
they were changed to this new motto, inspired by the love 
of liberty, " God save the United Colonies." History should 
preserve and posterity honor the name of every member of 
this legislature, which had the spirit to shake ofif British 
allegiance and declare Rhode Island's independence two 
months before the Declaration of the United Colonies. At 
the breakmg out of the Revolutionary War, Colonel Cooke 
was Lieutenant-Colonel of a regiment of militia in New- 
port County, of which William Channing, father of the 
eminent divine, William Ellery Channing, was Major. 
Being then in llie prime of life, and already a trained 
soldier, he did not stop to count the cost, but entered at 
once with zeal into the military service, where his conduct 
was alike honorable to himself and beneficial to his coun- 
try. He was appointed Colonel of the Second Regiment 
of the Rhode Island Colonial Brigade, and held the posi- 
tion from September, 1776, to May, 17S0. The authentic 
records of the war show that he was almost continuously 
engaged in the public service until the close of hostdities. 
He served, for a time, as one of the Committee of Safety. 
17 



In [anunry, 1777, he was ordered to take command i>^ the 
troops at Howland's Ferry, to discipline them, as they had 
been reported to the general in command " as under no 
kind of soldierly regulations." In the battle of Rhode 
Island, August 29, 177S, Colonel Cooke had command of 
the trocjps on Tiverton Heights. Though most of the 
soldiers on the American side, in this famous battle, were 
raw recruits, having never before been under fire, they be- 
haved so well, and faced the British veterans so bravely, 
that General Lafayette is .said to have pronounced it " the 
best fought action of the war." Colonel Cooke proved 
himself a brave and competent officer, and deserves to be 
enrolled and remembered among the heroes of our strug- 
gle for national independence. He resigned the command 
of his regiment after hostilities had ceased in Rhode 
Island, but before the close of the war, only to take his 
seat as a Senator in the colonial government, at a season 
when there was need of great wisdom and discretion in 
conducting the affairs of the colony. In time of peace 
he took an active part in affairs of state, and was for 
twenty-one years a member of the Rhode Island Senate, 
having served some time previously in the lower house, 
where " he was regarded as a well-informed, prudent, and 
useful member." He was an enterprising, public-spirited 
citizen, and originated and advocated many measures pro- 
motive of general good. He is said to have been a lead- 
ing spirit in building the first bridge betw'een the i.sland 
upon which Newport is situated and the main land, which 
was in those early days regarded as a great undertaking. 
This bridge was destroyed in September, 1795, by a gale, 
ever memorable in that part of the country by the destruc- 
tion which it occasioned. From all that can now be learned 
of Colonel Cooke's career, from authentic sources, he must 
have been an extraordinary man. He conducted success- 
fully, for many years, a large mercantile and agricultural 
establishment, was regarded as a wise and prudent legis- 
lator, and proved himself to have been a good and true 
soldier. He brought to his large undertakings intelli- 
gence, energy, industry, and perseverance, and was re- 
warded by the accumulation of wealth, and the attain- 
ment of a prominent position in political, business, and 
social circles. Though prosperity antl happiness had for 
the most part crowned his days, when in advanced life, 
during a season of great financial depression, through gen- 
erous efforts to aid others, his fortune was broken and he 
descended from wealth to comparative poverty, — a trying 
reverse at his time of life, which, however, diil not embitter, 
but only clouded, his remaining years. As he had not been 
elated by his long career of prosperity, he was not crushed 
by the sudden and unexpected stroke of adversity. For- 
tune's favors he had received with a thankful spirit and 
bestowed with a liberal hand ; her buffets he met with 
dignity and resignation. Colonel Cooke did not long sur- 
vive his misfortunes. He ilied at Newport, Rhode Island, 
December 17, I Si 2, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His 



JUOGRA PIIICA L C 1 XL OPE DLL 



remains were interrctl in the i^rcunils nf the uM c--tate in 
Tiverton, wliere lie p;^^sell ihe ha]'pic^t ainl most useful 
years (if liis lite. He ha^l seven Liiildren: Sanuiel, w lio 
married a dau-^Iiter of Ju'li^e Padelfurd. nt Tauntdn, Mas- 
sachusetts; [ohn, wlio married a daughter ("f William Ar- 
nold, of Ka-t ( ireenwieh, Rhode Island ; Riioda, who 
married I'disjia Jirown. of 'i"i\ ertrm, Rhode Island; Sarah 
( i., w ho married Judi^e Samuel Kales, of Taunton ; Phehe, 
who married Andrew McCorrie, of I'ortsmoulh, Rhode 
Island ; Patience, who married, first, Xallianiel Brii^gs. and, 
second. na\id 1 lurfee, both of Tiverton ; and I'ri-^cilla, who 
married I'eiry < i. Arnold, of East Greenwich. Many of 
the numerou-- de.-'f.endants of Colonel Cooke have emu- 
lated llie patriiilie example of tlieir ancestor in devoting; a 
laiL;e part -I their time and talent t" the service of their 
countrv. AmcUL; ihe most noteworthv tif these descendants 
may be mentioned \hn\. Nathaniel l'>. Ihirfee. a L^rands-.m 
of Colunel Cooke. Mr. L)urfee served twelve years in the 
Rhode Island Ceneral Assembly, and was subsequently 
twice elected as a rejiresentative of Rhode Island to the 
National Conp;ress. Hon. Nathaniel 'Hazard, who died 
at \Vashini;t<in while a member of Congress from Rhode 
Island, married a gran<ldauglUer of Colonel Cooke, and his 
son. <.'apiain Sanuu.l lale-- Hazard, wln) died in IS()7.wa^a 
well-known ,\w^\ gallant oflicer of the I'nited .States Navy. 
Captain Hazaid niariied a daughter of the late George De 
Wolfe; he left one cliiid, a daugliter, now the wife of Dr. 
I-re'i. R. Sturgis, of New V.)rk. The late Hr. Daniel 
Walson, of Newport, whose son. Dr. William Argyle Wat- 
son, served as a medical officer in the United States Navy 
throughout the War o{ the Rebellion, married a grand- 
daughter of Colonel Cooke. The late Judge Sylvester Ci. 
Shearman married a gianddaughler of (.'olonel Cooke, as 
ditl the late iJr. George Leiuiard, of Taunl(.in. whose son. 
Samuel Leonard, renioved to rhdadeiphia, where lie mar- 
ried a daugliter of James Biddle, Esq.. and is now in the 
midst of a prosperous business career. The Lue Judge 
J'.uias I,. Cutting, of tlie Supreme Court of Maine, and 
Rev. Dr. S. 1,. I'omroy both married gianddaughters of 
Cidonel (_"ooke. There vire no male memiiers of tiie family 
now living, and but one feinfile bearing the name, so far 
as can be ascertained, Miss I'aiiencc Couke, of East 
(Greenwich, a lady now advaiiced iji years, of most 
l)enevolent dispo-.itit>n, and happily blessetl with ample 
means. 



►) >WI KR, Miii.MK, was an acti\ e. weaUliy, and 
enterprising merchant in Xewiioit. in the middle 
^,- ' ol the last century. In ilie war with Erance ami 
(.'■■'■'"ii Siiain lie employed liis eapilal v\ ith the Malbones, 
* Wantons, Champlin-^, and oihui meuhants of New- 
])Oit, in titling out ]>rivaleers — private armed vessels, as 
they were then called. They were very successful, and 
added greatly to their gains. Mr. Bowler, in common 
with the Wealthy men of his day, had bolli his town and 



conntry residence. His town hou-e was the dwelling now 
known as the Vernon House, on the corner of Mary and 
Clarke streets, and his country-seat was a farm in Ports- 
mouth. ( 'onneeted with the latter was an elegant garden, 
stocked with all kinds uf flowers then cultivated, and 
every variety of fruil. Here Mr. Bowler spent nuich time 
during a ]i(;>rtion of the year, till the trying times came on, 
after the peace of 17^3. when he and his associates were 
.subjected to vexatious suits in England from Dutch and 
other neutrals, whose vessels had been captured and con- 
demned for covering property Ijelonging to the enemy. 
The confidence felt in Mr. Bowler by his fellow-townsmen 
was veiy marked. He was a Representative from New- 
port to the Cieneral Assembly. As a further mark of re- 
spect, he anil Henry Ward were apfiointcd Commissioners 
to the Congress at New Yoik, in 1765. to express "the 
lovally of the Asscnibly to the King and Parliament,"' and 
at the same time ** to assert their rights and privileges in a 
becoming manner." Mr. Bowder's views in opposition 
to the Stamp Act were clearly dehned, and on the anni- 
vcrsai-y of the repeal of that act, in 1767, he gave an ele- 
gant entertainment to the friends of liberty in Newport. 
In 1768 Metcalf Bi.twler was appointed one of the Judges 
of the Sujiieme Conrt, and served for one year. In lune, 
1770. he was again elected to the same otl'ice, which he 
lield till .\ugu-t, 1770. when he was made Chief Justice. 
It was while Judge Bowler was on the bench, in March, 
1772, ex-Governor Stephen Hopkins being Chief Justice, 
that the '* unpopular but righteous judgment," in the case 
brought by I_)avid Hill to recover for property destroyed 
by a mob. was declared by the Court. In a calmer mo- 
ment the justness of this decision was recognized. In 
( )ctober. 1767, Mr. Bowler was elected .Speaker of the 
House <)f Rei'resentatives, and held the oft'ice till Novem- 
ber. 1776. In 1773 he was aj^ipointetl one of the com- 
mittee to obtain the earliest information in regard ti> Mas- 
sachusetts of the British Parliament, and projected meas- 
ures of the Ministry as related to, or were likely to afTect, 
the American cohuiies, and to maintain a correspondence 
with the other colonies on all otiier matters of general in- 
terest. After the return of iieacc. Mr. Bowler, tinding his 
atTairs greatlv embarrassed, ow ing to the depreciation in 
the value of his propertv and from other causes, removed 
to Pro\idence. where he kept a boarding house during the 
remainder of his days. He died September 19, 17S9, at 
an advanced age. His wife, to whom he was married in 
1750, was Ann Eairehild, of Newport. He lelt a number 
of descendants. 



f;RN()LD, Hon. W'Fi'i.MK, the hfth child of Jon- 
^il#i(%^^ athan an 1 Abigail Arnold, was born in Smith- 
(iehl, Rhode Island, Eebruary 5, 1745. He re- 
^IjT ceived a good common-school education, taught 
school for a time, and at the outbet of his busi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED 1 A. 



I3« 



ness career engaged, in an humble way, in the sale of 
lime burnt in Providence. He commenced business for 
himself when he was about twenty-four years of age, with 
a capital of only a few hundretl dollars. For about four 
years he was alone, but in the spring of 1 773 he entered 
into partner>hip with Caleb Green, under the iirm of Cireen 
& Arnold, the connection continuing until February, 1776, 
when the partnership was dissolved. In 1776, Mr. Ar- 
nold embarked alone in mercantile business, and became 
extensively concerned in navigation. It is said that during 
the course of the Revolutionary War thirty vessels were 
lost by capture, in each of which he was part owner. 
Notwithstanding these reverses Mr. Arnold achieved great 
success, especially from his connection with the West India 
trade. His political life commenced with his election in 
August, 1778, as a Representative to the General Assembly. 
Here, in the councils of the State, his talents as a business 
man were called into requisition. Rhode Island felt the 
burden of the war as much, and perhaps more, than any 
of the other States. The possession of Newport and the 
adjoining country on the island by the British entailed 
great suffering, directly and indirectly, on the whole com- 
monwealth. In 1778, Mr, Arnold enlisted as a volunteer 
in the forces which were raised in Providence to join in 
the famous expedition of General Sullivan. On account 
of the many hardships to which he was e.\posed, Mr. Ar- 
nold was completely prostrated by sickness, and barely 
escaped with his life. He continued to represent the 
town of Providence in the General Assembly, and in the 
darkest period of the Revolutionary struggle he was fertile 
in devising means to meet the depressing enrergencies of 
the times. He was Speaker of the House from June to 
July, 1780; from October, 1789, to May, 1790; from Oc- 
tober, 1790, to May, 1791 ; from May, 1793, to June, 
1793; and from October, 1793, to May, 1795. During all 
the agitation which for years existed in the State in con- 
nection with the paper money question, Mr. Arnold was 
unflinchingly a " hard currency man." He was one of a 
High Court of Commissioners to sit in judgment on cer- 
tain matters in dispute between the States of Connecticut 
and Pennsylvania, in which the former claimed large tracts 
of land in the latter. The court decided against the claims 
of Connecticut. The fact of his receiving the appointment 
to which reference has been made, is an evidence how ex- 
tended was his reputation and how great was the con- 
fidence in his wisdom and integrity. Mr. Arnold took an 
active part in the adoption by the State of the Federal 
Constitution. The last years of his life were among his 
busiest and most prosperous. All interests which tendd 
to promote the welfare of his native State found in 
him a friend. From 1783 to his death he was a Trustee 
of Brown University. He was liberal to the First Baptist 
Society, with which he worshipped. His death occurred 
September 30, 179S. His descendants are among well- 
known and honored citizens of F^rovidence, among whom 



may be mentioned the late Hon. S. G. .Arnold, who was 
his grandson. 



I^HANNING, Hon. Wili.i.\m, Attorney-General of 
M^^ Rhode Island, was the grandson of John Channing, 
,-jT" of Dorsetshire, England, who came to this countiy 
[■: ;n. about the year 17 15, and landed at Boston. He 
'h was born in Newport May 31, 1751, and was a 
graduate of the College of New Jersey, Princeton, in the 
class of 1769. He alw.ays cherished a warm affection for 
his alma mater, and thought of sending his son, the cele- 
brated Dr. W. E. Channing, to be educated tliere. The 
Rev. Dr. Samuel S. Smith was his classmate and friend, 
afterwards an eminent theologian and President of the 
College. He came under the instructions of the distin- 
guished Rev. Dr. Witherspoon in the latter part of his 
college course. Mr. Channing read law with Oliver .Ar- 
nold at Providence, and began the practice of his profes- 
sion in 1 77 1. He married, in 1773, in the twenty-third 
year of his age, Lucy Ellery, the daughter of William 
EUery, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, by whom he had eleven children, nine of whom 
were living at his death. He was chosen Attorney- 
General of Rhode Island in 1777, and, upon the adop- 
tion of the Federal Constitution, he was appointed Dis- 
trict Attorney for the district of Rhode Island. In the 
faithful discharge of these two offices, and of those of his 
profession, he spent his life. The reminiscences which 
Dr. W. E. Channing has left us of his honored father, are 
full of interest, and may be found somewhat at length in 
Updike's Bio^raphita! Skclihes. A few extracts are here 
given. " My recollection-i of my father are imperfect, as 
he died when I was thirteen years of age. His early mar- 
riage, and the rapid increase of his family, obliged him to 
confine himself rigidly to his profession. He was too 
busy to give much lime to general reading, or even 
to his family. Still I have distinct im])ressiuns of his 
excellence in his social relations. He was the delight of 
the circle in which he moved. I often went into courts, 
but was too young to underst.ind my father's merits in the 
profession, but I had always heard of him as standing at 
its head. Judge Dawes used to speak of his style and 
manner as ' mellifluous,' but at limes he w.is vehement ; for 
I well recollect that I left the court-house in fear at hear- 
ing him indignantly reply to what seemed to him unworthy 
language in the opjxisite counsel. His parents were re- 
ligious, and the impressions made upon his mind were 
never lost. He was the main pillar of the religious society 
to which he belonged. The house of worship had suf- 
fered much from the occupation of Newport liy the British 
Army, so as to be unfit for use; and I recollect few things 
in my childhood more distinctly than his zeal in restoring 
it to its destination and in settling a minister. My grand- 
father, like most respectalile merchants of that place, pos- 



132 



BIOGRAPniCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



sossed shivcs imiKirlt'"! from Africa. Tlioy were the do- 
motics of the family, aixl my father had no sen^ibility to 
tlie evil. 1 remember, however, witli plea^^urc. the affec- 
tionate rehition which subsisted l)etween him an<l the 
Africans [most of them aged), who continued to live with 
my i^randfatlier. These were liherated after the Revolu- 
tion ; hut noihini:; could remove them from their old home, 
where they ratlier ruled than ^ervetl. One of the females 
U'-ed to sjieak of herself as the tlaui;hter of an African 
l>rince, and she certainiv had much of the l.)earin;^ of roy- 
alty. The dignitv <y^ her aspect and manner bespoke an 
unct.)mmon woman. She was called Duchess, probably 
tm account of the rank she had held in her own country. 
T knew her only after she was free, and had an establish- 
ment of her own. Now .md then she invited all the chil- 
dren of the various families to which she was coniieeled to 
a parly, and we w ere liberally feasted under her hospitable 
roof." Tiie lion. Asher Robbins says that " Mr. Chan- 
nini; wa-> very well read in the law, especially in the forms 
of [ileadini^ ; law cases were his favorite reading. e\ en for 
amusement. He had a large library, and one verv well 
selected. He interested himself much in Stale politics, 
and his office was the central point of rendezvous where 
the leading men congregated for their consul[ati':ins. In 
person he was of the middle stature, erect, and of an open 
Countenance. His agreeable manners was one great source 
of his general popularity." Mr. Channing died at Xew- 
poit. after an illness of three months, Sejjtember 21, l/yj. 



a'RXER.Pi-.TER, M.D.,son of Dr. William Turner, 
\i' of Newark, New Jersey, and grandson of Captain 
J [^ \Villiam Turner, of Newport, was born Seplem- 
'*"x ber J, 1751. Wh^n he was <[uUe young he lost 
J J his father, and was placed under the care of his 
half brother, Dr. Jabez Canfield, of Morristown. New ler- 
sev. His medical studies were carried on under the direc- 
tion of Dr. CanfieUl, and were completed not far from the 
commencement of the Revolutionary war. So much was 
he interested in the cause of his country th.it he i_.ffered his 
seivK'es as a surgetm. served for three years, and was 
attached to Colonel C.reene's Rhode Island regiment. 
Having foi med many aeijuaintances among ofllcers and 
siddiers who had come fniin Kast ( ireenwich, and influ- 
enced by the persuasions of his brother in law, Cieneral 
James M. \'arnum, he decided to take up his residence in 
that place. He was the first surgeon of any note who had 
established himself in that i)art of the State, and we are told 
that " coming from the army, the good [leople t)f the neigh- 
huring country looked upon him with no little distrust, fear- 
ing that he might take off an arm or a leg w ithoul even so 
much as saying, 'by yout leave.' Rut this feeling of*appre- 
hension soon wore oif, and he was engaged in a very large 
])ractice, cNtending ten miles or more in every direction." 



lie made a specialty of surgery, and had a high reputa- 
tion as a successiul ojierator, while at the same time he 
was regarded as a skilful physician. As there was no 
medical school estalilished in Rhode Island when he was 
in the full career of his practice, it was his custom to re- 
ceive into his oftice young men who pursued \\ ith him their 
professional studies. Among these were physicians who 
became eminent in their profession, his nephew and son- 
in-law. Dr. William Turner, being among the number. 
Kor several years pre\ i'jus to his death he was contined to 
his room, and for a long time was helpless, in consequence 
of a stroke of paralysis. His death occurred February 14, 
1822. in 177I) he married a daughter of Cromwell Childs, 
of Warren, by whom he had several children, among whom 
were three son^, who studied medicine with their father. 
Daniel, wIki removed to St. Mary's, Georgia, in which 
place he fell a victim to the yellow fever; Henry, who did 
not practice, and Dr. James \'. Turner, of Newport. 



►^ tWEN, WiLijAM, M.D., an eminent physician, the 
third sun of Dr. Ephraim Rowen, and brother of 
Dr. Pardon P»o\\ en, was born in Providence, 
March S. 1747. He spent the first two years of his 
college-life in Harvard University, and the last two 
in Vale College, where he was graduated in the class of 
I'jbb. He stuibed his profession with his father, and at- 
tended also the lectures ^^i the Medical School, in Phila- 
delphia. Having received the customary diplomas from 
his instructors, he returned to Providence, where he com- 
menced the practice of his professsion, which, without in- 
terruption, he kept up until within a short time before his 
deatli — covering a period of more than sixty years. *' His 
person and manners," we are told, " were most felicitously 
adapteil to the circumstances of a physician." His very 
presence inspired hope, ancl chased away the clouds of 
gloom. I le coml.iined, in a remarkable degree, affability and 
dignity in iiis intercourse with others. In social life he was 
singularly easy and perfectly at liome. Possessing the charac- 
teristics which distinguisiied him, he was welcomed as a 
friend full of tenderness and sympathy in the families where 
he practiced. He was married in I 7O9, to Sarah Corliss. The 
death of his only son, Dr. W illiam Corliss P>owen, was a 
severe blow to his father. He was a most accomplished 
man in his profession, liaving enjoyed the advantages of 
the best medical schools in Europe, and was stricken down 
at the early age of twenly-nine, when life was full of liright 
hopes and fair prospects. The subject of this sketch died 
January, 1S32. The following were the children of Dr. 
William and Sarah (CorlissJ Bowen : (i) Elizabeth, who 
married Thomas Amory in 1799. Their children were, 
Mary; Harriet, married Robrrt H Ives; John; Julia, 
marrietl Rt. Rev. .Maik A. D. W. Howe; Eouise ; Anna; 
Helen, marned William Raymond Lee ; Thomas. (2J 



BIO GRAPHIC A L C \ TI. OPED I A. 



'33 



Sarah, married William S. Skinner, in 1816. (3) Maria, 
married Hon. John \\'hipi>le Tlieir children were John ; 
Maria, married Rev. Dr. Francis Vinton ; Elizabeth, mar- 
ried Professor William Gammell as his first wife ; Sarah 
C, married, first, Robert P. Swann, of Virginia — second, 
William \i. Potter; .Samuel, died young; Harriet, married 
William S. Slater; William. (4) Harriet, married, 1815, 
Commodore Charles Morris, U. S. N., whose children 
were : Charles ; Harriet, married Rev. Ur. Coolidge ; 
Louise, married W. W. Corcoran, of Washington ; Eliza- 
beth, married Dr. John L. Fox; Helen; R. Murray; Dr. 
William B. ; Maria, married Rev. Mr. Duncan; George; 
Julia, married Dr. Addison. (5) Dr. W. C. Bowen, to 
whom reference has already been made, married Rebecca 
Olney, in 1S12: they had one son, William, 



gOWEN, Pariion, M.D., an eminent physician, tlie 
fifth son of Dr. Ephraim Bowen, was born in 
^j Providence, March 22, 1757. The ancestor of 

^|f)j the family from which he sprang, Richard Bowen, 
came to America not far from the year 16401 Dr. 
Bowen was a graduate of what was Rhode Island Col- 
lege, now Brown University, in 1775, bearing the 
honors of his class. Having pursued the study of medi- 
cine under the direction of his brother, Dr. William 
Bowen, he accepted an appointment, in 1779, as a surgeon 
on board a privateer, which had been fitted out to prey on 
British commerce. The vessel was taken, and he was a 
prisoner in Halifax for several months, when, having been 
exchanged, he returned to his native town. In a short 
time he embarked in other enterprises of a similar character, 
with the same experience of capture and imprisonment, of 
which he was the subject more than once. In 1783, he 
went to Philadelphia to perfect himself in his chosen pro- 
fession by attendance on medical lectures in that city, and 
returned to Providence after he had accomplished the pur- 
pose which took him from home. His rise in his profes- 
sion was slow but healthy, and not many years elapsed 
before he was in the full tide of successful practice. The 
details of the life of a physician present but little of interest 
to the general reader. Dr. Bowen devoted himself with 
assiduity to the routine of his professional duties. He was 
a skilful surgeon as well as a good physician, and held 
himself rtady to minister in all possible ways to the physi- 
cal comfort and relief of his patients. He kept himself 
well informed with reference to the literature of his pro- 
fession, and occasionally prepared articles for the medical 
journals of the day. Among these was an elaborate ac- 
count of the yellow fever, which prevailed in Providence 
in 1805. For some time he was the President of the 
Rhode Island Medical Society, of which, for many years, 
he was an active member. He was chosen a meralier of 
the Board of Trustees of Brown Universitv in 1S17, and 



was in office until his death. In 1S20 he had an attack of 
hemiplegia, or palsy on one side of his body, which disabled 
him from the practice of his profession. He passed the 
last few years of his life with Franklin Greene, his son-in- 
law, at Potowomut, Warwick. Amid scenes he loved, 
and surrounded by those who most tenderly cared for him, 
he passed to the world beyond. His death took place Oc- 
tober 25, 1826. Dr. Bowen was twice married, first to 
Mary, daughter of Thomas Fenner, February 9, 1738. 
His second wife was Lydia, daughter of Colonel Peter 
Mawney, whom he married June 10, 1746. The children by 
his first wife were ( I ) Governor Jabez Bowen, who married 
Sarah, daughter of Obadiah Brown. They had eight chil- 
dren. Among them were Horatio Gates, born in 1779, 
and for many years Librarian of Brown University, of which 
institution he was a graduate in the class of 1797, and 
Henry, for thirty years Secretary of the State of Rhode Isl- 
and. (2) Oliver, born November 17, 1742. The chil- 
dren by his .second wife were (i) Dr. William (see sketch 
of his life). (2) Mary, unmarried. (3) Sarah, born 1750, 
married Thomas Lloyd Hal.sey. (4) Lydia, married John 
Jones Clarke. Their daughter Harriet married, 181 1, 
Dr. Robert Hare, of Philadelphia; and their daughter 
Anna E., married, 1803, Oliver Kane. (5) Colonel Ephraim, 
married, for his first wife, Sally Angell. He was in the 
Revolutionary army, and formed one of the expeditions 
which captured and burnt the Gaspfi. One of his daughters, 
Elizabeth, married Hon. J. H. Clarke (.see sketch of his 
life), whose son, Hon. James M. Clarke, a graduate of 
Brown University in the class of 1S3S, was for several 
years U. S. District Attorney in Rhode Island. The second 
wife of Colonel Bowen was Sarah W^hipple, by whom he 
had four children. (6) Benjamin. (7) Dr. Pardon Bowen, 
who married Elizabeth Ward. They had two sons and three 
daughters. (8) Benjamin, 2d. (9) Ann, who married Ed- 
ward Mitchell. (10) Betsy, married John Ward. (II) 
Fanny, married John E. Moore. 



^Ijl^ACKSON, Hon. Charles, was born in Providence, 
fjlil^ March 3, 1797. He was the son of Richard and 
\^^ Nabby ( Wheaton) Jackson, and the eldest of eight 
S^ children. Hisearly education was obtained at the Pub- 
4'* lie School on Meeting Street, in Providence, where in 
spite of many obstacles and through much patient and per- 
.severing labor he was fitted for college, and entered Brown 
University in 1813, while in his sixteenth year, graduating 
four years later in the class of 1817. He was ever a fa- 
vorite with his classmates, among whom were Dr. Lewis 
Miller, Judge Staples, and Governor Greene; and even at 
that early age manifested a strength of character and suavity 
of manner that made him an ornament to society and gave 
much promise for his future. Immediately upon leaving 
college he commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. 
James Burrill, and was subsequently admitted to the bar in 



134 



BIOCRAPIIICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



iSjo, luit after praiiticiiij^ a vlu'ii lime wearied oftlii-^ prn- 
fe^viuii, tiiuliiiL; it il!y adapted to lii^ enterprise and en- 
tiiiisiasm, and turned lii^ .itti'nti"n to the manulaetiire of 
eotti-n ^'Dod--, in ^\lli^_h Iiu--iness be continued until his i 
death. His llr^t attenijit at spinning; was in a small mill ' 
in Seiluate, in the year iSjj;. Cotton nianiifaauvinL^ in 
New i'JiL;Iand was vet in its infaney, and hi-,, uiie ol i 
the five mills in the L'nited States where powerdijunis \ 
were u^ed. From the lirst he was deejily interested ■ 
in this pursuit, anrl under his eare the villages of Jack- , 
son and Ki>keville, Utile more tlian a wihlerness wdien he | 
came to them, ^rew to he thri\in;^ and imjtortant seats I 
of nianufai turniL; lalior. I.aier he entered the Cromplon I 
L'(.>mpan\', heint^' one ot it^ aetive memhers for over twenty ' 
years, l-ut sold liis interest a short time previous to liis 
death. He wa-- the iir^t to commence the rubber business i 
in Proviilence. havin;^ olitained a patent from Mr. (Joodyear, , 
wliieh he afterwards sold to I >r. Isaac Hartshorn. He \\ as 
also intereste<l in the manufacture of fire-arms, w IiilIi he 
liegan in Bristol. Khude Island, and afterward remost-d to 
Providence, w here it was continuei.l on a much larger scale : 
under llie name of the " Ihirnside Rillc Wi-rks." Large 
and costlv bud<hngs w ere erected, an inlluential and w eallhy 
comoany formed, and for a lime the business was carried on 
successfully. The demand, however, for ritles becoming i 
limited another change was effected, by which in the same , 
building>, w ith many additions, the manufacture of locomo- 
tives was engaged in under the name of the Rhode Island 
Loenmi.aive Works. \ Ine Mr, Jackson remained an active 
mendicr ol the corporation until increasing years and 
fading strength bade hnn lessen his business cares, when 
he sold ijut his interest. I'rum his L-arlie>t manhood he 
was the entlnisia-tie patron and Iriend of inventors and 
patentees; ever ready with advice and money, offering 
hel[) and encouragement to the timi'l ami scarcely formed 
ideas of inventive genius; giving unlimited time and pa- 
tience to experiments w ith often but little hope of success. 
There was never a subject brought under hi^ personal su- 
pervision that he did not master, whether mechanical or sci- 
cntihe.and being gifted with unusnal conversntional ability 
and rare intelligence. Ids opinions were sought and \alued. 
In the politics of Rhode b-land (.'Iiarles Jackson figured nutst 
conspicuously. He was often a memlier oflhe State Legisla- 
ture, was Speaker of the Houseof Reiuesentatives, and ( iov- 
ernor during the term iS45-4(_). At no time in the 
]H.liiical history of Rhode Island did party feeling run 
so high as during a few years previous to his election, 
which included the memorable Itoir war. Mr. Jackson 
was upon (he side of the gt.vernment from the fir^t. 
and hi-, nomination for (iuvernor was u]ion the issue of 
liberating TIumiasDorr from ]»rison,to which lie ha<l been 
sentenced for life upon a charge of Ireast.n. Mr. Jackson 
was eletted. and Mr. Lorr releas^-d, for which the former 
received much blame, and alienated manv friends, both 
personal and juduical. His administration was hoilv as- 



sailed, as, indeed, was his jjersonal character; but he was 
upheld by his firm belief in the moral right of his contluct, 
and successfully lived down the calumnies that were so 
freelv circulated, standing at last fully vindicated befi)re the 
peoj'le. Governor Jackson was blessed with an amiable, 
and, at limes, jovial disposition, and an almost marvellous 
power in relating anecdotes, of which he possessed an in- 
exhaustible fund. He was tw ice married ; first to Cath- 
arine L)exter, daughter of -Samuel Dexter, of Providence, 
to w hum he was united November 20, 1S27, and who died 
at Jackson, Scituate, in June, 1832. His second marriage 
was to Phebe Tisdale, the daughter of Josepli Tisdale, of 
North Kingstown, and occurred November 24, 1836, which 
union was bles•^ed with seven children, three of whom, w ith 
their mother, survive hiin. He died in Providence, Janu- 
ary 21, iSyii. in his seventy-ninth year, and was buried in 
the family lot in the North Purying-ground, with his parents 
and children. During the latter years of his life many 
hours were devoted to theological research and study. His 
family had ever lieen consjncuous in the Baptist Church, 
Init he was never a member of anv, nor an acknowledged 
belie\er in any particular failh. He expressed the utmost 
res]>ect for religion, however, and often dwelt upon the 
jnirity and beauty of Christ's teachings. Almost his last 
sentence was the acknowledgment of a belief in a future 
state, and a firm confidence in the Creative I'ower to do 
all things wisely an<l well. 



•"t iPI^S, Rkv. Pi:Rr./., LL.D.. son of Jonah and 
Lreelove ( PMson ) Foltes. was born in Bridgewaler, 
Massachusetts, September 21. I742. !">eing a de- 
!' > scendant in the fourth generation from Jolin Fobes, 
••v' one of the original proprietors of the town of Bridge- 
water. Having completeil his prei)aratory stuvlies, he en- 
tered Harvard College, where he was graduated in the 
class of 17O2, having among his classmates I )r. lielknap. 
Governor Gerry, and Chief Justice Dana. He sjient a year 
or two in teaching and in the study of theology, and in 
17(16 he was ordained ]\astor of the Congregational church 
in Raynham. Massachusetts. In 1786 Dr. Fobes was 
chosen Vice-President of Brown laiiversity, to lake the 
jjhice of President ^Llnning, who had been elected a mem- 
ber of Congress. The same year he was chosen Professor 
of Natural Philosophy, and held this office until 179S. 
The University conferred upon him, in 1792, the honorary 
degree of L>octor of Laws. He was elected one of the 
Fellows in 1705, and was in this office seventeen years. 
He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences. He died in Raynham, February 21, l<Si2. He 
was married to Prudence, the eldest daughter of Rev. John 
Wales, of Raynham. i)r. h'obes bears the rejiutation of 
having been an excellent scholar. Hon. David Daggett 
speaks ol hini as "an uncommonly successful teacher, pos- 



lilOGRAPinCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



135 



sessing the two essential tjualifications of great familiarity 
with the various branches of study and a rare talent at 
communicating knowledge. My recollections of him," he 
adds, " are exceedingly pleasant as one of the guides of my 
earlier years, to whom I was indebted for an important 
part of my intellectual training, and it gives me pleasure 
to testify my sense of obligation to him, and my high esti- 
mate of his intellectual and moral w oitli." 



^*51i|EATLY, SUETON Grant, son of Andrew Ileatly, 
was born at Newport in June, 1751. Andrew 
Heatly married Mary Grant, second daughter of 
£;j) Sueton and Temperance Grant, by whom he had 
* issue — Sueton Grant, Patrick, Jeanette, Mary, and 
Temperance. Andrew Heatly was born November 16, 
1725, died July 17, 1 77 1. His widow subsequently married 
John Bell, a major in the British army, who, with his wife 
and her children, went to England, and died in the parish 
of St. Mary's, Islington, county of Middlesex. Bell's chil- 
dren, who were born in England, all died young. On the 
death of Andrew Heatly, Jacob Wilkinson, his warm friend, 
and a director in the East India Company, .sent for Sueton 
Grant Heatly to come to England, and gave him a situa- 
tion in the office of the East India Company, where he 
developed qualities that led the company to send him t» 
India. There he rapidly rose to distinction. In 1793 he 
was appointed Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals at 
Dacca, where he enjoyed a princely income. He lived in 
great state, spent his money freely, antl when he died, so 
lavish had he been, that he left but ;^2500. His death 
occurred in Bengal, June 4, J 794, after an illness of but 
two davs. 



eWjiW^ARNUM, Gener.\l J,\mes Mitciiem,, a distin- 
^^M^ guished officer in the Revolutionary War, was 
-=^^^ born in Dracut, Massachusetts, in 1749. Hisgrand- 
\ father, Samuel, came from Wales to Boston in 1649, 
« and having purchased a large tract of land in the 
town of Dracut, he took possession of it in 1664. The 
subject of this sketch was a graduate of Brown University, 
then Rhode Island College, being located in Warren, 
Rhode Island, in 1769, taking the highest honors in the 
first class that went forth from that institution. After 
teaching a classical school for a brief period, he com- 
menced the study of law with Hon. Oliver Arnold, at that 
time the Attorney-General of the colony, and was admit- 
ted to the bar in 177 1. He opened an office in East 
Greenwich, and soon found himself in the midst of a large 
and successful practice. His taste for military pursuits 
early developed itself. In 1774 he was chosen Com- 
mander of the " Kentish Guards," from which company 
of soldiers some thirty two commissioned otfioers were at 



one time ami another in the Revolutionary Army. How the 
news of the battle of Lexington stirred the patriotic blood 
of the " Kentish Guards" we learn from a communication 
from John Howland, the honored President of the Rhode 
Island Historical Society, who says that " when the news 
of the Lexington battle reached East Greenwich, Varnum's 
company mustered and marched to Providence, on their 
way to the scene of action. I recollect seeing them on 
their arrival. Nathanael Greene, of Coventry, afterwards 
the General, was a private with a musket on his shoulder, 
and Christopher Greene, afterwards Colonel Greene, was 
also there, a private in the same company." When, in 
1776, Rhode Island raised two regiments, Varnum was ap- 
pointed to the command of the first, and it made one of five 
regiments which constituted a brigade under the command 
of General John Nixon. In February, 1777, General 
Varnum was appointed Brigadier-CJeneral in the Conti- 
nental Army by Congress. His services under this ap- 
pointment are thus briefly summed up by Mr. Howland : 
" He commanded all that body of troops on the Jersey 
side of the Delaware when the British and Hessians took 
possession of Philadelphia. General Washington's pur- 
pose was to prevent the passage of the enemy's shipping 
up the river, and for this jnirpose a strong fort was erected 
on Red Bank and a liattery on .Mud Island. The two 
Rhode Island regiments were stationed at Red Bank, and 
a regiment of Marylanders on Mud Island. (.'olonel 
Christopher Greene commanded the two Rhode Island 
regiments, Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Smith on Mud 
Island, and Varnum the whole line of the coast in New 
Jersey." The object which General Washington had in 
view was secured, and his confidence in the military skill 
of General Varnum was amply rewarded by the results 
which followed. General Varnum, in 1 778, commanded 
a brigade in Sullivan's expedition on Rhode Island. He 
resigned his commission in the army in 1779, and was aj^- 
pointed, at once, Major-General of the Militia of the 
State, in May, 1779. He was unanimously re elected to 
this office every year during the rest of his life. He was 
chosen, in 1780, a Delegate to Congress from Rhode 
Island. He saw the evils of confeileration, and keenly 
felt the mortifying position in which Congress found itself 
in its relations to so many independent States. " They are 
authorized," he said, *' to make war or peace, but they are 
not competent to the means of supporting either. Suppose 
they call upon the States for money or su])iilies, and some 
of them neglect or refuse, as they invariably do, where is 
the powder of compulsion ? And without that, it is evident 
the best measures may be frustrated. We have stumbled 
upon expedients too long ; we have too long trifled with 
objects of the greatest magnitude; we have trusted to 
Heaven for success to our arms, while we have neglected 
to improve the means with wdiich the God of nature has 
blessed us.'' It was thus that some of the ablest men in 
Congress reasoned, and, as is well known, it was not many 



'36 



BIOCRAl'lUCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



years liL-foie llic Artick's of ('Diifi-deratiiiii were disjilnceil 
liy the Constitution of the I'niteil States. On retiring from 
military life, (lenera! Varniini retiirned to his professional 
work, and tmiK a |ironiinrnl |xrrl in the jiolitieal move- 
ments of his inne. lie was eleetetl a niemWer of ('on_t;res5 
in lyNt). The |.ers.inal a|'|'earanee of tlie I General at this 
time may he thoULjht worthy of mention. Hon. Asher 
Kohliins left on reeord tliis deseriplion of liim as he ap- 
peared in court on a certain occasion. After describing 
Dr. lohnson, of Connecticut, his ojiponent, he continues : 
"On the other hand appeared (leneral Varnum, with liis 
brick-colored coat trimmed with gold lace, buckskin small 
clothes, with gold lace knee-bands, silk stockings, and boots 
((General Ilarton ami himself lieing the cmly gentlemen 
Uiat wore 1. ts all day at that period) ; with a high, deli- 
cate, and white h.irehead. with a cowlick on the right side; 
e)'es jironrinent and rif a dark hue; his complexion ratlier 
florid; somewhat corpulent; well-pro]iortioned and finely 
formed f<u- sirength and agilily ; large e)et'rows; in.se 
straight and rather broad ; teeth jierfectly w hite ; a profuse 
head of hair, short on the forehead, turnetl ujj some, and 
deeply powdere.i and clubbed. When he took off his 
Cockeil hat he would lightly brush up his hair forward ; with 
a fasc'in.il ing smile lighting ujihis countenance, he took his 
seat in court ojijiosite his opponent. Then imagine the 
movements, attack, defence, and mental ghnliature of these 
distinguished jurists, blended with the courtesy of knights, 
and )ou have some tame conception ol the reality." (ieii- 
cral X'arnum was appointed one of die Juilgcs of the 
Northwestern Territory, estalili-hed by the Ordinance of 
1787. In May, 17ISS, he left Rhoile Island to enter upon 
his duties, fixing his residence at Marietta, Ohio. He was 
not in good health when lie left home, and the change of 
climate and association with a kind of life to which he 
was not accustcuiicd, proved fatal to him. He died at 
Marietta, January ro. 17S9. In Updike's /I'/e;;-,;^///, i;/ 
.S'/v/,7/,-(, pp. i2i-iz(i, may be found a nujst touching let- 
ter which he wrote to his wife, in which he expresses the 
teuderest sentiineiits cif alTeetion lor her, ami his sincere 
belief in the (.'tiii^tian religiim and his personal trust in 
the ,Sa\ lour. 



Yfl^lb">MPSOX, Rkv. Cii.\ki,i:s, was burn in .Xmwell, 
Ito^^ New Jersey, April 14, 1748. His |ire|iaraloi-y 
f'SfTi studies were pursued at the Hopewell .-Vcademv, 
&:(> New Jersey, under the tuiticui of Rev. Isaac Eaton. 
<}> Having formed the acjuaintance of Rev. James Man- 
ning, wdio w as about to commence the collegiate institution, 
now Brown University, in Warren, he was induced to con- 
nect himself with the infant college as a member of its fhst 
regular class, and graduated with the highest honors Sep- 
temlier 7, 17(11). 1 luring his college comse the allention of 
Mr. Thom|is(in had ln-eii directed to the siudv of iheologv, 
and he had commenced preaching. L pon the removal of 



the college from Warren to Providence, President Maniiiug, 
who had been the jiastor of the Baptist church in Warren, 
resigned, and Mr. Thomiison was chosen to succeed him, 
being ordained in .March, 1771. I'or four years he sus- 
tained the |)ositioii to which he had been called, and his 
mini-tr\' was so successful that ttie uiembership of the 
church was doubled. The end of the four years' service 
referred to found the young ]iasfor in the midst uf the 
stirring scenes of the Revtilutionary War. He resignei.1 his 
pastorate and accepted an appointment as Chaplain in the 
army, and held this ofifice for three years, meanwhile his 
family continuing to reside in Warren. (Jn the morning 
of May 25, 1778, while he was on a visit to his family, the 
British troops came up to Warren, burned the meeting- 
house, parsonage, arsenal, and several private houses, and 
Mr. Thompson was taken prisoner to Newport. He svas 
releascil in about a month, but through w hat in-trumentality 
he iie\cr cinild learn. At the close of his service as Chap- 
lain he preached for a short time in .\sliford. Massacliu- 
setts, and then returned to the neighborhood of his (dd 
church in Warren, wdiich, being unable, on account of the 
heavy losses it had sustained by the burning of its house of 
worshi]), to support a minister, united with the first Bap- 
tist (.'liuieh in Swaiisey, and Mr. Thompson became the 
minister of the combined congregations. He remained 
tweiit\--tliree years in this position, lluringthis period the 
church enjoyed several pow crful reviwiK uf religion, which 
resulted in the addition of a large numlier to its member- 
ship. The last year or two of his life were siient in Charl- 
ton, Massachusetts, where he died May 4, 1S03. Besides 
his ministerial duties, Mr. Thompson was engaged at dif- 
ferent times in the work of educating young men. He was 
an accomj.lislied scholar, as w ell as a devout Christian, and 
an able and successful preacher, liis descendants reside 
in Rhode Island. 



pji^ENNER, lhi\i;RNOK Ai<tiii:r, son of Arthur and 
T^fl Mary (Olney) Fenner, was born in Pro\idence, in 
1745. The ancestor whose name hrst appears in 
{-•^ Rhode Island history was .Vrthiir, born in England in 
^^ 1(122. He was among the earl) and most prominent 
citii^cn^ of Providence, and was chosen to fill many im- 
[lortaiit posts of honiu- and trust. He was aiipointed a " Com- 
missioner " for i'rox ideiice in 1050, which office he held for 
several years. In 1(159, ^'*^ ^^'^s chosen a member of the 
Town Council, his associates being Roger Williams and 
John Sa)des. He was actively engagetl in Ring Philip's 
War, and was among those, according to Judge Staples, 
"that st.iyed, and went not awa\'," fVom Pro\i(lence, when 
inosi of the inhabitants of tlie tow 11 fled to the island of 
Rhode Island, as a place of safety from the Indians. He 
was appointed captain of w hat was called the " Ring's (lar- 
rison." Some time previous to this Roger Williams had 



BlOGKArillCAI. CVCI. OPEDI. I. 



137 



petitioned tlie town for the establishment of sueh a gar- 
rison, praying that the house of William Field mi^ht be 
fortified for a security to women an<l ehildren, and that 
"some defence might be put on the hill, between the mill 
and the highw.-iy," for a like purpose. The hill is that 
over which Stampers Street now passes, and the house of 
William Field was situated where the Providence Bank 
now is. Judge Staples says that " the remains of the gar- 
rison-house were still standing within the recollection of 
some persons living in 1836." It is an interesting coinci- 
dence that the new Light Infantry Armory, on South 
Main Street, stands upon almost, if not quite, the exact 
spot on which stood that early garrison-house. When the 
distribution of Indian captives was made, to which allu- 
sion is made in the sketch of John Smith, the miller. 
Captain Fenner had a whole share in the product. The 
October following the close of the w-ar, he was honorably 
discharged from his duties, as captain, by the General As- 
sembly. We find his name, in subsequent years, as con- 
nected with attempts to settle boundary and other ques- 
tions. He was, in all respects, a leading man of his lime. 
It is also to be said that the father of the subject of this 
sketch, known in the history of the State as Arthur Fen- 
ner, Jr , was a [irominent citi/en of his time. His son, 
Arthur, was appointed by the town of Providence one of 
the " Committee of Inspection," recommended by the 
Continental Congress, which held its first meeting m the 
Chamber of the Town Council, December 24, 1774. This 
circumstance indicates the position which the future gov- 
ernor took in the contest which eniled with the establish- 
ment of the independence of the United States. For 
many years he was clerk of the Court of Common Pleas 
in Providence. At the spring election for State officers, 
in 1790, Governor Collins having made himself unpopu- 
lar W'ith his party, the Anti-Federal, because, by his cast- 
ing vote, a convention was called to discuss the question 
of the acceptance or rejection of the Constitution, a Co- 
alition party was formed, and Arthur Fenner was nomi- 
nated as an Anti-Federal candidate for governor, and 
Samuel J. Potter, a Federalist, as deputy-governor, and 
they were elected. Governor Fenner was so po]niIar in 
the State that he was chosen chief magistrate every year 
during the remainder of his life, and was in office at the 
time of his death. The following are some of the leading 
events which took place during his administration. The 
visit of Washington to Rhode Island in August, 1790. 
The establishment of the "Providence Bank" in 1791. 
The rebuilding of Weyliosset Bridge in 1792. The first 
movement towards the construction of the Blackstone 
Canal, made by incorporating a company, in February, 
1796, the project having originated with John Brown, 
merchant, who subscribed $40,000 towards the stock. The 
visit of President Adams, with his family, to Providence, 
ill 1797. The "great fire" of January 21, iSoi, in Provi- 
dence, on the west side of South Main Street, nearly op- 
Ig 



posite the foot of Plane! .Street, in which dwelling houses, 
etc., to the value of 8300,000, were destroyed. The death 
of Governor Fenner occurred at Proviilence, October 15, 
1S05, and he was succeeded in office by his .son. Governor 
James Fenner, who was the first regularly elected governor 
after the decease of his father, being chosen to office in 
the s]iring of 1807. 



ATERHOUSE, Dr. Benj.aMi.n, was born at New- 
port, Rhode Island, in 1754, and died at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, October 2, 1846, aged 
ninety-two years. He was the son of Timothy 
Waterhouse, who was Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas for Newport County, and who died at 
Newport March 20, 1 792, aged 78 years. Dr. Waterhouse 
studied medicine in Newport for several years, but in 1775, 
just at the breaking out of the war, he went to England, 
where he was placed under the care of Dr. Fothergill, 
who was a relative of his mother, and who took the deep- 
est interest in his welf.ire. He also had a letter to John 
Wilkes, of \\-h(jm he wiote freely in after years in his essay 
on Junius. Under the roof of Dr. Fothergill he remained 
three years, closely attending to his studies, wdiich he pur- 
sued also at Edinburgh, and finally in Leyden, where he 
graduated in 17S0. Leyden was then a place of educa- 
tion in great repute. Charles Townsend, the Duke of 
Richmond, Akensitie, Dyson, and several German and 
Russian princes had been educated there, and the diploma 
of the University Was a prize coveted by students. While 
pursuing his .studies there he spent his vacations in travel- 
ling through different parts of Europe, and when his course 
was completed he returned to America, prepared to follow 
his profession. Three years later, 1783, he received the 
appointment of Professor of the Theory and Practice of 
Medicine in (he University at Cambridge. At that time 
there was but one medical school in America, — the one 
in Philadelphia. His position was not a very comfort- 
able one in the early years of his connection with the Uni 
versity, for, real or imaginary, he felt that he was looked 
upon with jealous eyes by the medical profession in Bos- 
ton, and that slights were put upon him, — a feeling that 
probably could be traced to his own sensitive nature 
rather than to any real cause for complaint. While en- 
gaged in his duties as Professor at Harvard College, Dr. 
W'aterhouse found time to write a number of books, among 
others, Nemh of a Coiirse of Lectures on Natural History^ 
iSlo; The Botanist, 181 1; and a Journal of a Young 
Man of Massachusetts, a novel founded on fact, 1816. 
In 1799 his attention was drawn to inoculation for kine 
pock by the discovery of Jenner, and it at once became 
with him an absorbing study. With a zeal that knew no 
bounds he labored with pen and voice to make known the 
advantages to be derived from inoculation, and he was the 



liS 



BIOGRAPIIICAL C ] 'CL OPE DLL 



fir^t physician in America to resort to it in his prnclice. 
Thw w,t^ in iSdo. Ill iSlo, wliun ihc inrjinlice ai^ainst 
inoeuhitioii Iiad l)ecn overcome, ami the advantage nf re- 
sorting^ to il as a means of protection from the >niall-pox 
was y;cnerally recognized, Dr. Watcrlioiise pelitioneU the 
Le^isiaturu of Massachusetts to ^rant him some remunera- 
tion fur t!ie ser\ ices he had rendered llie ]>ulilic in hrint;- 
ing it into notice. In iSl^he severed his connection \vith 
tlie l'ni\crsity, and in I Si 3 was appointed by President Jef- 
ferson Medical Superintendent of the nine I'nited States 
Medical I'orts in New Enghuid. which office he lield 
tdl 1S20, when he wholly withdrew Irom professional 
life. From that tune he <.;ave his attention — ^save when 
drawn aside t'ur the moment hy peculiar ami extraordinary 
cases — to literary matters, and chiellv to the Letters of 
Junius. The^e letters, he held, were written by Lord 
Lhatham. To lliis end he wrote a lony; treatise, in whicii 
he demoted fpiile as much sjiace to anecdotes, biograph- 
ical :^ketches, and historical dissertations as to the sub- 
ject in ipie-tion. He was very fi.md of writing f"r the 
press, and liad an cNten^ive correspondence with numerous 
learned societies of wliiLh he was a member. He was a 
Fellow of the American Aca<lemy of Arts and Sciences, 
tile Lhilosophical S'iciety of I'hiladelphia, and of similar 
societies in Bath and Manehester, Fngland. Li tlie Reil- 
wood Library there is a [lortrait of 1 )r. Waterhousc at the 
age of twenty-two years, painted by (iilbert Stuart, and 
presented to the Ldirary by Mr-.. Waterhouse. 



iroSTFR. Hn\. TUt'ODoRi-,, son of Hon. Jedediah 

"^l and Dorotliy 1 1 )wight I Foster. wasb(U-n in Brook- 

'fi^^ field, Massachusetts, May 10, 1752. (.Hd Style. 

9'"s>:.^ He received a classical education, and was a 

G-;;i-'' graduate of lirown University in the class of 1770, 
his class being the second wdiose names appear in the gene- 
ral catalogue. Such was his proficiency i[i his studies, 
although but a few months over eighteen years of age, that 
the University conferred on him the degree of ^Llsler of 
Arts, which ilegree he received also fr'jm bJartmouth Col- 
lege in 17S0. He stu-lied law^ and commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession in Providence. For six years. 1776- 
Sj, he represented Provirlence in the (_leneral Assembly. 
Por many years he was Tow n-(.lerk. In May, 17S5, he was 
appointed Judge of the ( "uurt of Ailmiraltv. He was elected 
Senator from Rhode Lland to Congress, and twice re- 
elected, ser\ ing the State in this capacity from iJeceniber 
7, 1790, until March 3, 1S03. During this period also, 
his brother, P)wight Foster, was a mcml^er of Congress 
frc>m Massachusetts, ser\ ing m the Ibmseof Representa- 
tives from i7i_)3 to 1799, and in tlie Senate from iSoo to 

1803; and Abiel Foster, a third cousin of his father, wa^ a 
member of the House of Representatives from New Hamp- 
shire, from 178910 I79I, and from 1705 to 1803. From 

iSiJ to 1S16 Mr. Foster represented, m the General As- 



scmbly 'T Rhode Island, the town of Foster, which bore 
his name. Mr. Foster hail the ta-tcs of an antifpiarian, 
and collected a vast amount of material for a " History of 
Rhode Island." He did not live to complete this work. 
In Governor S. C. Arnold's History there are several allu- 
sions to the manuscripts of Mr. P'oster. He died in 
Proviilence, January 13, iSjS, He was twice married, 
first, (jctober :i7, 1771. to Lydia Fenner, of Providence, 
daughter of Attluii Fenner, and sister of Governor James 
Fenner, of.Rhode Lland. Mrs. Foster died in June, iSoi. 
'Phey had three cliildren : Theodosia, w ho married Stephen 
Tillinghast; Augusta, Sophia, and Theodore Dwight. Mr. 
Foster married (second), June iS, 1803, Esther Bowen 
Millard, daughter of Rev. Noah and Hannah (Eowen) 
Millard, of h'oster, Riiode Island. Ily this marriage there 
were live children: Maxwell Stewart, Samuel U'illis, 
I )w ight (."'ranston, Theodore, and Lu/elia Sarah, wdio 
married p>seph Wdlard Seymour. Mr. P'oster was a 
trustee of ihown University twenty-eiglit years, — 1794- 
i8j2. 



Fr)ODWIN, Henry, a lawyer of distinction and At- 
fc torney-Generai of Rhode Lland, was born in P.oston, 
as is supi"i<)sed, not far bom ihe \ear 17=^0, and was 
''', 'P educated at Harvard University. He was the son of 
9) Lj Penjainin Goodwin, Ids mother being Hannah Le 
P>aron, of Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 17S2 he married 
Mary Bradfnrd. the daughter of Governor Bradford, of 
Bristol. Having studied for the profession of law, he 
opened an office in Taunt-in, Massaehusetts, and removed 
subse(|Ueiitlv to Newiiort, wdiere he remained during the 
rest of hi^ life. He was chosen Attorney-(.;eneral in 1787, 
in the place of William Channing, and held the oflrce for 
two years. Pie is represented as a man of brilliant but 
erivitic genius. His eloquence, we are told, was at times 
overpowering ; his rhajjsodies of expression overflowing. 
He wrote some fine poetry and a number of tragedies, in 
which were said to have been some higliwrought scenes 
and beautiful and touching descriptions. President Man- 
ning said of him "that such a rare genius was not born 
once in a century." Some of the peculiarly marked features 
of his charactei have led to the conclusion that he prol.)a- 
bly, at times, was the victim of mental derangement. *' Un- 
fortunately," remarks Updike, ** the treatment of mental 
disease was but imperfectly understood at that period, even 
by physicians. Had it been, jirobaldy this splendid and 
eloquent man might have been restored to public useful- 
ness." Mr. Goodwin in person was somewhat above the 
middle >tature and well proportioned. " His dress," says 
Hon. Asher Rubbins, " was at the top of the 'mode,' 
rich and showy; it was an objeel of jiarticular attention 
w ith liim. Not one of the bar vied with him in this par- 
ticular. He was patroiii/ed by the pajier money party, and 
they made him Attorney General of the Slate; l>ut he 




'/J 



/ 



/: .< 



/ 



y 



'J ' ^ r , f' c- /^ r^ 



lUOGRAPI/U AL C YCL OPED /A. 



139 



would not go all lengths with them, anil they withdrew 
their patronage." He died at Bristol, while visiting his 
father-in-law, Governor Bradford, May 31, 1789. 



IJIipRESSENDEN, Hon. Benj.\min, son of William and 
^^j g Martha (Freeman) Fessenden, was born in Sand- 
»7y' wich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, June 13, 
T 1797. His father, a man of excellent character, 
J" learned the art of printing in New York and Phila- 
delphia, married and settled in Sandwich, and engaged in 
mercantile business. His grandfather and great-grand- 
father, of the same name with himself, were graduates of 
Harvard University, and his great-grandfather was a Con- 
gregational minister. His mother was a daughter of General 
Nathaniel Freeman, a Colonel in the Revolution, and after- 
wards a Brigadier-tieneral of militia. She died at the age 
of eighty-one. His mother's brother, Nathaniel, was a 
graduate of Harvard University, and became a Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas, and finally a member of Congress 
as colleague of John Quincy Adams. William Fessenden 
had nine children, Stephen, Benjamin, Nancy (who mar- 
ried Captain Ezra Nye), Martha, William Joshua, Na- 
thaniel, Tryphosa, Charles, and Henry. Benjamin en- 
joyed superior home advantages. He was fitted for col- 
lege at the Barnstalile Academy, under Elisha Clapp and 
others. Entering Harvard College in 1813 he graduated 
with honor in 1S17. Among his classmates were Hon. 
George Bancroft, Hon. Caleb Cushing, and Dr. Stephen 
H. Tyng. In scholarship and character he was not un- 
worthy of the distinguished class to which he belonged. 
As a candidate for the ministry in the Unitarian denomina- 
tion he studied three years in the Cambridge Theological 
.School, from which he graduated in 1820. His first ser- 
mon was preached in Lexington. For a time he preached 
in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, for the venerable Timothy 
Alden. In 1821 he settled with the Unitarian church in 
East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, as -uccessor to Rev. 
James Flint, D.D., and received ordination September 19, 
1821, the sermon of the occasion being preaciied by the 
gifted Henry Ware. Here he labored with marked favor 
for four years, until impaired health compelled him to re- 
sign his pulpit. In 1S25 he removed to Pawtucket, Rhode 
Island, where he engaged, with Edward Mason, in mer- 
cantile affairs. While in Pawtucket, his religious views 
and feelings underwent that great change termed conver- 
sion or regeneration, and renouncing some of his old points 
of faith, he became an evangelical Christian, and took de- 
cided ground in favor of temperance, anti-ma:.onry and 
anti-slavery principles. From this new era in his religious 
life he associated with the regular Baptists, though not as 
yet becoming a church member. In 1833 he settled in Val- 
ley Falls, Rhode Island, and was connected with the Ab- 



bott's Run Company in the manufacture of cotton goods, and 
had good success so far as his own exertions controlled the 
affairs. Herehelaljored for thirty-two years, retiring from the 
business in 1865. In 1855, and again in 1856, he was chosen 
a member of the General Assembly of the State, and .Speaker 
of the House of Representatives. In 1869 and in 1870 he 
was elected a member of the State Senate. Originally a 
Whig, he became a Republican on the formation of the lat- 
ter party, and always maintained a deep interest in public 
affairs. During the Rebellion he was one of the committee 
of the town of Cumberland to provide for the families of 
the soldiers. In 1870, though seventy-three years of age, he 
was appointed Postmaster of Valley Falls, and filled the 
office for eight years. For twenty-five years he was the 
Superintendent of the Valley Falls Baptist Sabbath-school. 
In his eightieth year he was baptized by Rev. E. S. 
Wheeler, pastor of the Valley Falls Baptist Church, and 
heartily united with that body, to which other inembers of 
the family lielonged. He married, December 13, 1821, 
Mary Wilkinson (burn October 11, 1804), daughter of 
Isaac Wilkinson, of P.nvtucket, of the distinguished Wil- 
kinson famil), that gave to Rhode Island so many men of 
mechanical skill, enterprise, and stanch virtues. Mrs. 
Fessenden inherited the strong family traits of intelligence, 
kindness, and decision of character. She had no brothers, 
and but one sister, Nancy, who married Henry Marchant. 
Mr. Fessenden died January 6, 1S81. He had nine chil- 
dren : Benjamin (who died young) ; Oziel W. (who died at 
the age of sixteen) ; Benjamin (who died young); Mary W., 
now wife of Hon. William F. Sayles ; William (who died 
at the age of twenty-four); Charles H. (machinist, engi- 
neer, soldier, accidentally killed, April 10, 1865, at Rolla, 
Mo., while a member of the 29th Wisconsin Regiment); 
Robert, a prominent military officer and merchant; Benja- 
min (who died young); and Russell F. Robert entered 
the Union Army May 2, 1S61, as a private in the 1st 
R. I. I). M. ; joined the glh R. I. Volunteers, as .Ser- 
geant-Major, May 26, 1S62; became Lieutenant of the 
1st R. I. Volunteers, October i, 1862; after leaving the 
national service w-as commissioned Lieiitenant-Colunel 
of the Pawtucket Light Guard, August i, 1865; was 
appointed, July 4, 1866, Brigade Major and Inspector of 
Second Brigade State Militia, and serveil till April 20, 
1869, when he was appointed L)i\'ision Inspector on the 
.staff of the Major-General, with the rank of colonel, 
which, (jn account of the pressure of private business, he 
resigned, .September II, 1869. Colonel Fessenden is now 
a member of the large wholesale house of '* Fidler Brothers 
& Fessenden," in Providence. Alike in his domestic and 
pultlic life, Benjamin Fessenden was beloved and honored. 
His attainments, virtues, and activities wereof a noble order. 
Everywhere he w-as true, gentlemanly, generous, and schol- 
arly, delighting in the society of the wise and good. Com- 
prehending the common weal, he counted all public inter- 
ests as dear as his own. While his strength continued, he 



I40 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



stooJ forlh liiavely .iii'l f.iilhfully for all yocul service. As 
a titling tormin.ition to his worthy life, hi^ diath was a 
Christian triumph, full of serene hope, eoiifulence, ami joy. 



Slf;,'Wj( JWEI.I,, ri.w III, Juil^e, T.1,.1)., was liorn in New 
IJMlj Jersey, January I, 1747, ami was a graduate of 
"'Z'^'-" the College of Xew Jersey in the class of 1766. 
'it .Soon after leaving college, at the urgent rei|uest 
J^ of I'resiilent Manning, he liecanie his associate in 
the new college, now lirow n L'niversity, which had com- 
menced its existence in Warren the year previous. He 
was tutor in the institution three years; and then, in 17(19, 
wasappointed Profe--sorof Mathematics and Natural Philos- 
ophy, holding that ofl'ice until the suspension of college 
exercises in consei|UeiKe of the Revolution, iry War. He- 
sides giving in-,truction in the studies which lieloiiged ti;i 
his sj-iecial deparliiient, he also taught the French, I jeiinan, 
and Ilelirew languages. He was Professor of Law for 
thirty lour years, although it does not appear that he gave 
lectures in that deijartment. He was a nieuilier of the 
Board of I'ellow's of the Corporation of Urtivvn L'niversity 
for lil'ty tw o year-,, and lor many yeai's the Secretary cif the 
corporation, Upon the decease of President Manning, 
July 24, 1791, he was rec|uested to preside at the approach- 
ing commencement in .September, and also at the com- 
nieneemeiit follo\\ing, on which occasion, says p'rofessor 
tioddard. "he ilelivered to the gra<luating class Piaccalau- 
reale Adilre--^cs, which, as specimens of nndefded English 
and excellent counsel, were deservedly admireil." For 
many years he practiced law in Providence, and held a 
high rank among the members of the Rhode Island bar. 
}le was a member of Congress under the Confederation, 
from Rhode IslamI, and snbseiiuently was called to fill 
offices of trust and responsibility of the highest character in 
the State. He was appointed Plnited States Judge for the 
llistrict of Rhode Island in 1S12, and tilled that important 
position until his dealh. He married .Mary, daughter of 
Jeremiah and Waitstill I'.rown, one of the early jiastors of 
the Fir^t I!a|iti^t ( hiircli m Providence. She died in the 
sixty-first year of her age, July 6, iSoi. They had live 
children : ( I ) Jeremiah, who graduated from the University 
in the class of 17S9, and was for some time a member of 
the United States Senate; (2) Roger Williams, who died 
at the age of twenty, just as he was about to graduate from 
college; (3) Waitsiill, the wife of Ebenezer Knight Ilexter, 
who left to Providence the " Dexter Training (Ironnds," 
the " Ilexter .Asylum Crounds," and a large portion of his 
great estate; (4) M.iiy, wife of Mason Shaw, Esq., of 
Castiiie, Maine; (5) S.iiah, wife of (.Gamaliel Lyman 
Ilwight,and afterwanU wife of Hon. Samuel Eddy, LL.L). 
" ludge Howell," says Professor iio.ldard, " was endowed 
with extraordinary talents, and he superadded to his en- 



di.iwments extensive and accurate learning. As an able 
jurist he established for himself a solid reputation. He 
was, however, vet more distinguished as a keen and bril- 
liant w it, anil as a scholar extensively acijuainted, not only 
with the ancient, but with sexeral of the modern languages. 
As a pungent and effective public writer he was almost un- 
rivalled ; and in conver.-,ation, whatever chanced to be the 
theme, w liether politics or law, literature or theology, gram- 
mar or criticism, a Creek tragedy or a difficult problem in 
mathematics, Judge Howell was never found wanting. 
I'pon all occasions which made any demands u])on him 
he gave the mo>t convincing e\-idcnce of the vigor of his 
powers, and of the variety anti extent of his erudition." 
He died in Providence, July 21, 1S24. 




ILLEK, Gfnf.r.\i. X.vtu.vn, son of Colonel Na- 
than Miller, was born in Warien, Rhode Island, 
L^'^^ March 26, 1743. C)f his early history we have 
i: been unable to obtain any information, except that 
J'L he was a ship carpenter by trade. Early in the 
Re\(dutionary War he ajipeais ujicui the stage of action. 
In C)ctober, 177s, the (.ieiieral .Vssembly appointed him 
Commissar)- to the troops, under the couunand of Brigadier- 
General E^ek Hopkins, who were stationed on Rhode 
Island. By a vole of the General Assemlily, passed May 
S, 1779, the militia of the several counties were formed 
into brigades, and General J. M. Varnum was elected 
M.ijor-General of these forces, and Mr. Miller was chosen 
Brigadier-General for the county of Newport. The .-Assem- 
bly, February 26, 1781, viricd to supply the place of the 
I-'iench army, soon to lie withdrawn from Newport, and 
to call out 1200 militia to ^erve for one month, under 
Brigadier-General Miller. At the F'ebruary session, 17S6, 
he was elected, with President James Manning, to repre- 
sent the State of Rhode Island in the Continental Con- 
gress. Mr. Manning was p.roinpt to take his seat at the 
appointed tinre in New ^'ork, but for some reason (ieneral 
Miller delayetl joining him for several weeks, ['resident 
Manning writes to Governor Collins, under date of May 26, 
I7,S6: " 1 look iny seat in Congress the 2tl of this instant, 
in full e\])ectation that Cleneral Miller would follow me 
in a few- days, with the necessary supply of money to sup- 
port us. But, to my surprise, I have not heard from the 
General since my departure from Rhode Island. Destitute 
of money to defr.ty my necessary expenses, and at a loss to 
Conjecture the reasons of the General's delay, vou must 
naturally conclude that my situation is far from being 
agreeable." In a similar strain he writes two letters to 
General Miller, in which he speaks of being "reduced to 
■ the vei\' ki--t guinea and a trille of change, my lotlging, 
' washing, barber's, hatter's, tailor's bills, etc., ntjt paid." 
I The probable explanation of the unhappy slate of things 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



141 



is to be found in the fact that the Slate treasury was so low 
in funds that it could not or would not i^ay the expenses 
of its delegation. The history of the whole affair is not 
very creditable to the honor and inteLH'ity of the General 
Assembly. Dr. Manning, we have supi)OsefI, was a man 
of very gentle and amiable spirit, but in view of the fact 
that when he was finally paid for his services it was in tiie 
paper money of the State, which had run down from six 
to one, we can hardly wonder that he writes, " A more in- 
famous set of men, under the character of a legislature, 
never, I believe, disgraced the annals of the world." 
General Miller finally took his .seat in Congress, July 14, 
1786. Up to this time Rhode Island had no vote on any 
question before Congress. At the General Election in May, 
1786, he was elected member of Congress, from the first 
Monday in November, 1786, for one year, but neither he 
nor his colleague, George Champlin. took their seats dur- 
ing the session for which they were elected. The truth is 
that, under the Articles of Confederation, some of the States 
felt but little interested in being represented in Congress. 
It may be that the experience which General Miller 
had already had of the dilatoriness of the State in paying 
the necessary expenses of its delegation may have led him 
to decline to enter upon what, probably, might prove a 
thankless task. Rhode Island refused to send a delega- 
tion to the Convention held in Philadelphia, in 1787, to 
revise the Articles of Confederation, and when the question 
of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States was 
presented to the legal voters of the .State, the vote stood 
2^7 yeas and 2708 nays. We do not find the name of Gen- 
eral Miller among the recorded voters of Warren. Judge 
Staples says that the friends of the Constitution refused to 
vote in most of the towns. It was generally understood 
that they would not attend the meetings. How strong was 
the opposition to the Constitution may be inferred from the 
circumstance that seven times the General Assembly had 
negatived acts proposing to call a convention to see what 
steps should be taken towards securing its ratification, and 
so close was the final vote that it was decided by the cast- 
ing vote of Governor John Collins. The act was passed 
Sunday, January 17, 1790; the time for holding the con- 
vention was appointed the first Monday in March, and the 
place. South Kingstown. The number of delegates chosen 
was seventy. General Miller and Mr. Samuel Pearce rep- 
resented the town of Warren. In the Ijrief minutes of the 
convention which have come down to us his name appears 
several times among the speakers as an earnest advocate for 
the adoption of the Constitution, and it must Ire confessed 
he was a little pro-slavery in his sentiments. This session 
of the convention adjourned on the 6th of March, to meet 
at Newport, on the fourth Monday in May. It was ex- 
pected that the dilTerent towns would, meanwhile, act upon 
a ** Bill of Rights " and " Amendments '' proposed to the 
United States Constitution. When the time specified ar- 
rived, May 25, 1790, General Miller was no longer liv- 



ing, his death having occurred May 20. The wife of 
General Miller was Rebecca liarton, who died August 21, 
1817. Their children were Patience, who, in 1767, mar- 
ried Rev. William Williams; Abigail, who was born De- 
cember 26, 1766; and Nathan, who died comparatively a 
young man. We close this sketch of General Miller by 
recording the fact that Rhode Island ratified the Constitu- 
tion of the United States (a step which would have greatly 
rejoiced General Miller had he lived) May 29, 1790. 



^ITCHCOCK, Enos, D.D., was born in Springfield, 
\k Massachusetts, in 1744, and was a graduate of 
^^zfv^. Harvard College, in the class of 1767. Imme- 
j diately on his graduation he commenced his theo- 
1 logical studies, and in about two years was licensed 
to preach. He was ordained in 1771, and became a col- 
league with Rev. Mr. Chipman, pastor of the Second Con- 
gregational Church, in Beverly, Massachusetts. Early in 
the Revolutionary War he offered his services as a Chap- 
lain in the army, and received an appointment to act in 
this capacity. " In this situation," says his biographer, 
"his social qualities and engaging deportment made him 
highly acceptable, while his nice regard to decorum and 
dignity of character commanded respect, and added weight 
to his efforts on the side of order and virtue, of patriotic 
bravery, zeal, and perseverance." His jiastoral relation 
with the church in Beverly continued for some time while 
he was in the army, but was amicably dissolved in 1780. 
He first preached in Providence not long after his dismis- 
sion from the Beverly church, and during a period of one 
or two years performed occasional services in that tow"n. 
In 17S3, on the 3d of October, he was installed as pastor 
of the Benevolent Congregational Church and Society of 
Providence, in which office he continueil for nineteen 
years. As a good citizen, as well as a religious teacher, 
he endeavored to promote the social and moral welfare of 
the town, making himself especially conspicuous for the 
deep interest he took in the cause of popular education, 
working not only in person, but by his pen endeavoring to 
form and control public sentiment on a matter of such 
vital importance to the welfare of the community. To his 
efforts it was largely owing that the elegant house of wor- 
ship on Benefit Street was erected. Towards the estab- 
lishment of a fund for the support of the ministry in this 
church lie bequeathed the sum of twenty-five hundred 
dollars. Brown University conferre<l upon him, in 1788, 
the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was 
chosen a Fellow of the University in 17S5, and remained 
in office until his death, which occurred February 27, 1803. 
A inarlile tablet in the church, which was built during his 
ministry, commemorates his virtues and keeps alive the 
memory of an honored and beloved pa>tor. 



142 



lUOGKAPlUCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



!\K'r(l\. CiviKM. \Vii,ii\M, Mill of Hfiijaiiiiii 
^ IJaitiin. was born in W.urcn. Ixhoilr Isl.inil. M.iv 
"'\^' 2(j, 174S. lie icici\(-d a cunininn-st. lujul cduca- 
\^Wr* tioM, aiiil at an uarlv a^^f was apprenticed to 
*y iuarn liie trade ol a liatter, uliicli he pursued for 
several years. In 1770 lie mat tied i'liioda Carver, daugli- 
ter of Josepli Carver, In December, 1775, lie entered the 
Revolutionary army as ( "orporal, and was rapidly advanced 
until he attaineil the rank of Captain, Wliile in service in 
the neighburhood of Uoston he ol-tained a su[)erior knowl- 
edi;e of military tactics, Rc-eiihsting on returnint; home. 
he was app-ainted Colonel of the militia fjr the defence of 
Rhode Island, and being stationed near Tiverton, he ren- 
dered signal service in protecting the channel, and in keep- 
ing open coninuinication with Newport, even after the 
British look possession of that place. In 1777, Colonel 
Barton conceived and carried into execution the plan of 
the d.uing exploit which made his name so illustrious in 
Kliode Island hisioiy, — the capture of 1 leiieral I'rescott, 
whose headquarters were tm the island of Rhode Island, 
Colonel Barton w as accompanied by five officers and forty 
volunteers. They passed over in five boats, by the way of 
Bristol, to Warwick Neck, p'rom this point they crossed, 
on the 9th of July, between the islands of Prudence and 
Patience, eluding the vigilant sentinels on the enemy's 
ships, and reaching the point nearest the house of General 
Prescott, about one mile distant, in the dead of night. 
Marching in hve divisions, w ith cautious tread, they ile- 
ceived and secured the sentinel guarding the house, and 
hastily removed the startled general, his major, and the 
sentinel from the niitbtol the ample guard stationed close 
by, gainiii,; the bo.its before the signals could a|ipri/'e the } 
troo]is of the capture. Safely passing the line of British 
ships, General Prescott was landed in Warwick and sent 
to Providence. t)n the 27th of July, Congress voted Colo- 
nel Barton an elegant sword, and resolutions of thanks for 
his skilful manieuvre. He soon afterwards recei\ei.l a com- 
mission as Brevet Colonel from the same body while 
he was a General of militia. He was subseipieiitly en- 
gaged in a skirmish with the British when they burnt 
Bristol, and conducted himself w ith the greatest bravery. 
Being severely wounded, he was thereafter prevented from 
doing military duty, lie was elected from Providence to 
the (ieiieral Assembly, where he rendereil good service to 
his country. He also held an oftice in the custom-house, 
.'\liout fifteen years before his death he became involved 
in a lawsuit in Vermont, in consequence of his ]nirchase 
of a township, since called Barton. The whole cost of the 
suit was thrown upontleneral Barton, which, on principle, 
he refused to pay, as he deemed it unjust. For this small 
amount he was detaineil in Danville, Vermont, for four- 
teen years, though permifled to board at the hotel. When 
I.afayrtte visited this country in 1S24, he learned of the 
circumstance with astonishment, and failing to shake the 
resolution of his old friend, he discharged the debt him- 



self, and General Barton was set at liberty, and returned 
to his wife and f,iniily. In early life he was a member of 
the Calvinistic Congregational Church in Providence, and 
in later years attended the First Baptist Church in that city. 
He died October 22, 1S31, at the age of eighty-five. His 
children were William, Benjamin, George Washington, 
Daniel, Henry, Robert, John, .Vnna, and Sarah. 



,^^I.XFV, C.MT.MN Stephen, was born in North 

jJK^jIjB Providence, September 17, 1756. He was a de- 

.=) .^ scendant, in the fifth generation, of Thomas OIney, 

fl^ 'S 

\\ ,'j a joint proprietor with Roger Williams and others 
8 5 in the " Providence Purchase." It is spoken of as 
a remarkable circumstance that in New P'ngland there 
should be a spot of ground which was occupied by one 
family in regular succession, for a period of nearly two 
hundred years. Before the subject of this sketch had 
reached his majority he found himself in the midst of the 
e,\eiting scenes which culminated in the declaration of w ar 
with England. .-Vs early as 1774, when he was eighteen 
years of age, we find him a private in a chartered military 
comjiany, called the " North Pro\'idence Rangers." In 
May, 1775, he received an Fliisign's commission in the Sec- 
ond Rhode Island Regiment. He says, in the modest esti- 
mate which he makes of his own aliilities, " Perhaps they 
chose me because they could get no better, so many were 
deterred from embarking in the cause for fear they might 
be hanged up for rebels, by order of our then gracious 
sovereign, George HI." The regiment with which Mr. 
(Jlney was connected marched to Jamaica Plain, near 
Roxbury, Massachusetts, w here they were drilled to mili- 
tary and camp duty until the battle of Bunker Hill, after 
which they were slatiimed at Prospect Hill, doing fatigue 
and garrison duty. The winter of 1775-76 having passed, 
the .Seconrl Rhode Isl.md Regiment was ordered to New 
\'ork. Mr, ( tliiey. now hoMiiig a l.ieutenant's commission, 
accomiianied the regiment, w Inch was stationed at Brook- 
lyn Heights, on Long Island, where they were engaged in 
erecting fortifications, which were taken in .-Vugust by the 
British forces under Clinton, Percy, and Coriiwallis, in the 
famous battle of Long Isl.md, In the retreat of the 
.\mericans frt.un Long Island, \vhicli, in consequence of a 
thick fog, w liicli enveloped the river, was so successfully 
accoini>lis]ied, Lieutenant (dney performed his jiart in a 
manner wortliv of all [iraise. In due time New \'ork was 
e\acuated by the .American forces, and it fell into the 
hands of the enemy. After various movements, familiar 
to the reader of American history, we find Lieutenant 
OIney, with his regiment, in their march to Princeton. In 
the liattle in that village he took a conspicuous part, it 
being his good fortune to save the life of Colonel, after- 
warils President, Monroe, who fell, in endeavoring to rally 
the affrighted militia of Pennsylvania, in the beginning of 




-oiv cor- 



V/ //. 



y , - 



/ -? z-r't ? t 



/■ / c 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



"43 



tlie battle. Lieutenant Olney raised tlie fallen ofBcer and 
carried him to a place of safety. Soon after the battle of 
Princeton, Lieutenant Olney's term of service having ex- 
pired, he returned home, leaving his regiment early in 
February, 1 779. He found, on reaching home, that he had 
been appointed Captain in the Second Rhode Island Regi- 
ment. After a few weeks' rest Captain Olney returned to 
the army, then stationed at Peekskill, on the Hudson 
River, which place was soon left, and the army took pos- 
session of the country along Middle Brook, on the left 
bank of the Raritan. For several w'eeks he was en- 
gaged in the most arduous military duty and passing 
through various adventures, until we find hfm with 
his regiment, which had been ordered to the defence 
of Fort Mercer, or Red Bank, as it was usually called. 
The attempt of the British to take the fort at this 
first attack, which was on the 22d and 23d of October, 
proved a fruitless one. The attack on Fort Mifflin was 
renewed on the 15th of November. The fort was in the 
command of Major Thayer (see sketch of Simeon Thayer), 
who, finding it useless to attempt to hold the fort against 
such overwhelming odds, secretly conveyed all his stores 
and baggage in the night to Fort Mercer. Shortly after- 
wards the Americans who had defended the fort evacuated 
it and escaped to New Jersey, and rejoined the army of 
Washington. In all these exploits Captain Olney bore a 
brave part, and the Rhode Island regiments especially dis- 
tinguished themselves for their courage and heroic resist- 
ance to the enemy. He was with the army during a part 
of the memorable winter it spent at Valley Forge. About 
the 1st of January, 177S, he obtained a furlough and re- 
turned to Rhode Island, where he remained until it was 
time for him to rejoin his regiment. He was in the battle of 
Monmouth, which was fought on the 28th of June, 1778, 
one of the hottest days that had ever been known in that 
region. Shortly after the battle he was ordered, wdth his 
regiment, to his native State, to co-operate with the French 
fleet in driving the British out of Rhode Island. The 
failure of the plan to dislodge the British from Newport is 
well known. The regiment subsequently returned to New 
Jersey. In what was called the liattle of Spiringfield he 
was wounded by a rifle-ball, which passed through his left 
arm, and was in the hospital for several weeks. Passing 
over various incidents in the experience of Captain Olney, 
we bring our sketch down to the year i7St. In July .of 
this year he was at Yorktown, Virginia, ami was an eye- 
witness of the events which resulted in the capture of Lord 
Cornwallis. He was in the detachment commanded liy 
Lafayette, which attacked one of the two advanced redoubts 
of the enemy. In this attack he received two bayonet 
wounds, and was removed, after the redoubt was taken, to 
the hospital at Williamsburgh, twelve mdes distant. In 
three weeks his wounds were so far healed that he was 
able to rejoin his regiment. His military career ende<l 
\\ ith the termination of the siege of Yorktown, and he laid 



down his commission in March, 17S2. He was welcomed 
home by his fellow-citizens, who testified the regard they 
had for him by electing him as their representative to the 
Genera! Assembly for several years, and President of the 
Town Council. It is related that when, in 1824, General 
Lafayette visited Providence, "he was triumphantly es- 
corted through the streets of the city, and upon alighting at 
the State House he was met on the steps by Caj^tain Olney, 
whom he instantly recognized, and with all the \\'armth 
of French feeling folded him in his arms, kissing him 
on each cheek ; and so melting was the scene, that among 
the many hundreds who witnessed this honest and patriotic 
effusion of tenderness scarce a dry eye was to be seen." 
The last few years of Captain Olney's life were passed in 
Johnston, whither he had removed in 1S26. His death 
occurred November 23, 1832. His first wife, whom he 
married about the year 1775, died December 13, 1S13. 
His first two children were born between the years 1775 
and 1 780; his third child, a daughter, was born in March, 
1782; his son Alfred in 1784; another daughter in 1787; 
and April 25, 17S9, another son, whom he named George 
Washington; and another, John, born October 12, 1791 ; 
and still another, his last child, r_)avid Adams, born in 
1798. Many of his descendants are residing in Rhode 
Island. 



'ELCH, Deacon Stillman, was born in Bolton, 
Jfj^^^f] Massachusetts, in October, 1797. He was the 
^ y^^ °> son of Thomas Welch and Lovica Hastings. 
It His father, a native of Massachusetts, was a stern 
oMs man of the okl school, who trained his five sons 
with a rigorous hand. The services of his sons were re- 
quired upon his lanfis until the age of twenty-one, or a 
suitable compensation was demanded. The three winter 
months were allowed them for study at a country school, 
the curriculum consisting of reading, writing, arithmetic, 
and geography. Under this regimen Stillman Welch 
passed his childhood and early youth, and developed the 
sturdy manhood and persistent moral courage that charac- 
terized him in after years. Six months previous to his 
majority he negotiated for his time, and left the ])aternal 
roof. After learning a trade he found employment in the 
forests of Florida and in voyaging to the West Indies. 
He thus acquired a small capital, and afterwards settled as 
master mechanic in Warren, Rhode Island. There, in 
1825, he married Betsy Hail, a native of Warren. Al)Out 
this time his convictions led him to unite with the Baptist 
Church, although trained a strict Presbyterian. During a 
period of twenty-eight years, seven of which (from 1844 
to 1851) he resitled in the adjoining town of Barrington, 
the cares and burdens of business life rested upon him. 
He accumulated slowly, yet he gained in lofty purpose 
and wealth of scTil, thus securing the confidence of tile 



144 



BIOGRAPinCAL CYCI.OrEDIA. 



clnirch an^l comnuinily. He liccamo n Icailcr in tlie 
cluiri;li, and was one of tlic riiDst earnc-t adv.jcatfs of ^ 
Baptist iirinci]ik-s. With liim priiicipK- was nut sacrificcil 
to polify iitlui ill reli_L;ious or political intcrfsts. He en- 
tered into [nililic alVuirs with spirit. As a eiti/eii of Llar- 
riiv^toii lie ol"teii served the town in an olf'icial capaeity. He 
was a nieinber of the 'Town rouiicil from lS4(jto 1S50. In 
1847 and 1S48 he represented Barriiigton in the State lei;- I 
islaiure. In middle life fniancial prosperity hegan to at- 
tend him; hilt his love of aeiiuisition, always stron", couKl 

1 
not control him. and the wealth that he aci|nired became ' 

an exponent of a heart rich in love to God and sympathy I 

for bis fellow-men. " '1 he canse he knew not he searched 

ont;"' while individuals, school organizations, churches, j 

and missionary eiiter])rises alike resorted to him for aid. 

He bestowed upon all with a princely hand, regardless of 

the proportion remaining. The extent of these benefac 

tions, which marked the la-t twenty years of his life, can 

not lie easily estimated. ] )eacon Welch was endowed by 

nature w itli a jdivsical and moral strength and intellectual 

acnnicn that made him, in service to (rod and mankind, 

the peer of many whom later years ha\e gi\en the ad\aii- 

tages of liberal education and culture. In person he was 

tall, measuring six feel two inches. Rea.ling and observa- \ 

tion gave him a fund of information, w ith lluencv and cor- ; 

rectness of language. His manner was genial and defer- 

enti.il, while it impressed his superior worth. As a faith- j 

ful steward of (iod's gifts, lioth personal and material, he 

was a light and blessing to many. The last ten years of 1 

his life were sj»ent in the cit\' of Piovidence, where he | 

died I>eceniber 10, 1878. His children were Ciei'ige, 

James, Ch.iiles (deceased), M.try L., Elizabeth I!., and 

John (deceased). 



^'I'SSF.I.L, Majcir Thomas, son of Thomas and 
\jy\.-- Ili-inora (Loud) Russell, was Ixirn September 28, 
^^C,?* 1758. He \\as a descendant, in the sixth genera- 
' ^i lion, cjf John Russell, one of the earliest inhabitants 
J"* of Woburn, Massachusetts, being a subscriber ti) the 
tow n orders draw 11 up for it at (Charleston, in 1640. Thomas 
Russell was jairsuing his studies in Iloston at the tune of 
the occupation of that city by the I'.riti-li, in 1775. Alter 
the battle of Runker Hill, he and his sister Elizabeth came 
to I'ldvidence and took up their residence with their 
brother, Jonathan Russell, a merchant of prominence there, 
whose clerk he became. At this time Jonathan Russell 
was Captain of the well-known " l'ro\]dence Cadet Com- 
pany," which was calleil into active service, and of which 
Thomas was Ensign. In ( ictolier, 1777, the young En- 
sign, then but eighteen years of age, received a commission 
fri>m (k-ncral Wasliington as Ensign in Colonel Sherburne's 
regiment of Continental troops, then being formed. The 
regiment w.is then oidereil to garri-on the Highlands of 



the Hudson, and passed several months at Fishkill and 
various places on that river. In March following the regi- 
ment proceeded to West Point, where they erected what was 
afterward known as ••Sherburne's Redoulit," after which 
thev went into garrison at I*"ort Arnold (nr>w Fort (_'linton, 
No. 2). (In June J4, 1778, ('oli'iiel Sherburne's regiment 
set out fir \\ liite Pl.Tms, whence it jiroceeded with (ieneral 
\"arnum's brigade to Rhode Island, and went into camp 
near Providence. In .'\ugust, 177S, General Sullivan as- 
sembled his forces at Porlsmcnith, Rhode Island, for the 
campaign against the British troops ni Xewport. In the 
memorable battle which followed on the 2nth of August, 
(.ieneral X'anium's |jiigade,to which Russell (who had been 
promoted) was attached, was on the right and bore a 
prominent jiart in what (ieneral Lafayette characterizes as 
" the best fought action of (he war." General Washington, 
in a communication to (^jeneral Sullivan, ofiicially expressed 
his thanks for the " gallant liehavior" of the American 
forces, and Congress, on the 19th of September, presented 
thanks to the officers and troojis for the " fortitude and 
bravery displayed." On the jlst of August, Colonel Sher- 
burne's regiment took [lost at I!ri-loI, Rhode Island, where 
it remained until Jul)', I77(). It then proceeded to Provi- 
dence, where it was inspected by Majiir-( ieneral Baron 
Steulicn. (ieneral \'arnum lia\ing resigned his commis- 
sion, Ihigadier (General .Stark assumed command of the 
brigade, which in November joine<l the main army, then 
with General Washington in New Jersey. Russell's sol- 
dierly ijualilies having attracted the attention of his com- 
mander, the following brigade order apjoeared on November 
20, 1779: •' Adj't Thos. Russell, of Col. Sherburne's 
Regt., is appointed .\. II. (Camp to H. tieiil. Stark. 
He is to be res|iected accordingly." After which he 
was known as M.ijor Russell. He remaineil with the 
main army at Morristrtwn until June, 1780, anil was 
w ith (ieneral Stark's brigade in the affair at " Connecticut 
Farms," and r.n duty at various (losts until (October 6, wdien 
the brigade marcheti to West Point. In (.)ctober, 17S0, 
(Congress resolved on a retluction in the army. Under this 
resobe nine (Continental regiments were consolitlated into 
h\e, the juniin' ollicers in each regiment, becoming supier- 
nunieraiy, retired on half jiay. I'nder this arrangement 
Russell was retired on January I, 1781, after a faithlul and 
honorable service. Repairing to Newport, he married, 
Novemlier 29, 1783, a daughter of (Charles Handy, of that 
tow n, and with his wife removed to Philadelphia, where he 
embarked in mercantile business, in which he continued 
until 1785; returning again to Newport, he entered into 
foreign commerce, which led him abroad in voy.ages to 
London, Canton, and other distant parts. He became a 
member of the .-Artillery Company at New port, and one of 
its commissioned officers ; subsequently he was in ciunmand 
there of a Miluiileer company of cavalry. Major Russell 
died in the city of New York, February 19, 1801. His 
children were Ann Brown Russell, Mary Russell, Thomas 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



•45 



ILuuly Russell, who married Anna P. ]!i)s\v()rlh, of liristol, 
Rhode Island; Charles Handy Russell, who married, first, 
Ann Rodman, second, Caroline Howland ; and William 
Henry Russell, who married, first, Mary Alice Crapo. and 
second, Anna Kane. 




ARCHANT, Hon. Henry, Attorney-General of 
Rhode Island, the son of Captain Hexford Mar- 
chant, was born at Martha's Vineyard, Massa- 
chusetts, in April, 1741. The second wife of 
Captain Marchant was intimately connected with 
the Ward family, so distinguished in the annals of Rhode 
Island history, and, on his decease, Henry received from his 
mother-in-law and her friends the utmost care, and no 
pains were spared to secure for him the best education 
which could be obtained. He w-as placed in the best 
schools in Newport, to w'hich place his father had removed 
not long before his death. He was sent to Philadelphia to 
complete his education, and received his training in the 
institution wdiich subsequently became the University of 
Pennsylvania. On leaving Philadel])hia he became a 
student in the law office of Judge Trowbridge, of Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, and remained there five years, at 
the entl of which time he was admitted to the bar, and 
commenced practice in Newport. At this time, as he ever 
afterwards continued to be, he was a warm friend of lib- 
erty, and bitterly opposed to what he considered to be the 
unjust encroachments of the Crown. In 1766 he wrote 
the deed by which William Read conveyed to William 
EUery and others w hat is known as the " Liberty Tree 
Lot," at the north end of Thanres Street, Newport. The 
deed closes with these significant words : " And in general, 
said TREE is hereby set apart for such other purposes as 
they, the true-born sons of liberty, shall from time to time, 
from age to age, and in all times and ages hereafter, ap- 
prehend, judge, and resolve, may subserve the glorious 
cause of PUBLIC LIBERTY." Mr. Marchant was elected 
Attorney-General of the State at the October session of the 
General Assembly, 1770, and remained in office until May, 
1777. In the discharge of his official duties he went to 
England, in 1771. He hail letters of introduction to gen- 
tlemen in the various walks of political and literary life, 
especially in the Whig party, to whom he felt drawn by 
common sympathy, as the friends of freedom in America. 
He returned to his home in 1772, at a time when he could 
forecast the speedy coming of the events which plunged 
the two countries into the conflicts of the Revolutionary 
War. Like " a prudent man who foresees the evil and 
passes on," having reason to believe that the British would 
in time take possession of Newport, he purchased an estate 
in Narraganselt, whither he moved his family. For three 
years (1777-1779) he was a delegate to the Continental 
Congress, and was one of the signers of the -Articles of 
■9 



Confederation, the signing going on " while," as he said, 
" the guns of the battle of Brandyw ine were roaring in our 
ears." Mr. .Marchant was an imjMirtant member in the 
Continental Congress, and took an active part in the deliates 
w hich were carried on in that body. After the war he re- 
turned to Newport. Asa member of the General Assembly, 
he was most active and influential, advocating with great 
ability the adoption of the P'ederal Constitution. Soon after 
the organization of the government under the new Consti- 
tution he was nominated by General, then President, Wash- 
ington, Judge of the District Court for Rhode Island, which 
nomination was unanimously confirmed. He occupied this 
position until his death, which occurred August 30, 1796. 



jfjISKE, Calkb, M.D., son of John Fiske, and a de- 
"^[j scendant of Roger Williams, was born in Scituate, 
fj Rhode Island, in the year 1753. His professional 
;/> studies were pursued under the direction of Dr. 
't William Bowen, one of the most e.Ntensive and 
successful practitioners of his time, and the instructor of a 
numl)er of tile ablest physicians of Rhode Island. Hav- 
ing received his certificate of qualification as a physician, 
he offered his services to the government, to act as a sur- 
geon in the army. In this cpp^city he served at the time 
of (Jeneral Sullivan's expedition against the British on 
Rhode Island. On the completioii of his term of service 
he returned to his native place, where he practiced his 
profession during his long life, being, at the time of his 
death, the oldest practitioner in the State. For a time he 
held the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. 
In the cause of medical education in Kbode Island he 
took a deep interest. Previous to the organization of the 
Medical Society in 1S12, it was the general practice in 
the education of physicians for pupils to enter their names 
as apprentices ip some physician's office, apd Dr. Fiske 
thus became the teacher of some of the most distinguished 
doctors of the Slate. The Medical School of Brown Uni- 
versity was commenced in iSlO. The rapk which Dr. 
Fiske held among the physicians of the State led the Uni- 
versity, in 1821, to confer op hi)n llie honorary degree of 
Doctor of Medicine. He is named, in the Act of Incor- 
poration of the Rhode Islapd .Medical Society, as one of 
its original members. He was its .Second Vice-President 
from 1815 to 1818, its First Vice-President from 1818 to 
1S23, apd w-as the successor of Dr. Pardon Bowen as its 
President, fioldirig the office during the year 1823-24. 
The best service which he rendered to his profession was 
the donation of $2000 to constitute what is known as the 
" Fiske Fund." The trustees of this fund, which has in 
various ways been largely increased, are empowered to 
offer premiums for dissertations on subjects of interest to 
the profession, the topics having been previously .assigned. 
A large number of very able papers have been presented 



1 40 



/:/(ii;a\U-//JC.II CYC/. uJ'EOIJ. 



lo \\\v Society, afjoi'lin^ ;i v;ilualile coiilributi'in to niedkal 
science. As a furlhrr tesiimoiiial (jf his interest in the 
|jr<>s|ierity, an<l to a-i'l to tlic usefulness of the Society, he 
left to it a lar;;e ]KiTlioti ';f iiis me'Iical llhiajy. lie dieij 
September, 1SJ5, in the ei;^lily-secon<i year of liis a^e, 
]ea\in;^ a larj^e jjroj.erly and many higlily res|>cclefl (le- 
sceii'lants. 



^\\ MAN, Ki V. J..ii\,so)M,f John and Mary (lilower) 
*;; I'lljnan, was horn in Jioston, A|.ril 26, 1751. His 
j»'^'"^ fatiier reniove'l to iJeaufort, South f'arohna, when 
J he uas ahoul lliicn < n years of a};e, and died aliout llie 

•^,—% year 1765. '1 he family then returned to lioston, ami 
younj; I'itman uas a|i|,renliced \<> a ro|.e maker. He 
seems to liave hved a thouj^htlcs life for several year-., hut 
in 1771 he passed ihroii^dj a radical chanj.;e, hecfjmin^ a 
hopehd I hriilian. He was h.i|/li/c'l hy Kev, l)r. Samuel 
Slillmaii Oil the 2.)|1] of I'l-hruary, 1771. 'ihe passage of 
li.e " I'.o ton I'orl liill " in 1774. was followed hy the fjen- 
eral suspinion of husijiess, aiid he removed to I'hiladel- 
phi. I, where, in 177O, lie j<;ijied a vcdunteer military company, 
wliii h loriiied a part of the I'lrsl liallalioli of I'ennsyl vania 
.Milili.i, under the command c,f (:.,|onel iJickin-oii. When 
he liejjaii lo pi.-.ich is noi e.\actly known, hut it could not 
ha\(: been l.ir Irom 1777. ile was enj^aged in ministerial 
work for sever.il years, preaching; for no one church for a 
lon^ time, lull supplying the jailpil of several churches in 
.New Jersey. '1 owanls the close of the ne nlli of .May, 
17X.1, he lame to I'rovidence, and hecanie a ini inhi r of the 
III I li.ipii I fliiiM h. 'I he nee.ls of his (aniily i ompi II, d 
liiiii to re ,or( to hi- etular c.dliji;^ to sujipoil them, io.r 
(Uie year he held the position of Slew.iid of the ( o|lrj;e. 
At tile end of this ye.ir of service lie u as invited lo hecome 
the I'astor of llie l!a|,iiit Church in Warren, w hii h |ioaiion 
he ocilipied Iimih ijKj lo July, [790, a| ulji.h lime hi 
relurned lo I'rovidence, coiUinuill;.;, however, lo -.upply ihe 
|iulpit ol ihe Warren church hu several nionlhs. On the 
20tli ol .M.ilch, 171,1, he- acc.epled .1 lall to l.eeruile the 
I'asioi of the li iptisi ( IiukIi III I'awtiixel. I i is connection 
with this chilli h lonliniied a little over ^ix years, during 
which lime he resided 111 I'l'ivldcm e. IiiiIm inonlh ol 
Apiil, 1707, he hec.imir r.it.,r r,I th,. Rehoholli ( luinli, 
and loi iiio,l of the lime diiiin.i. Ihe rem. under ol his life 
occupied this po-ilion. Mis de.illi occuried alter a very 
l.rief illness July 2.}, 1K22. .Mr. I'ilman was tu ice married ; 
his hrt wife was Kehecca, daughter of Richard (ox, id 
Upper hreehohl, w horn he m.irried Seplemher 21, 177S; 
and his secoijd was .Mrs. Susaiin.di Oreeie-,!/! I'rovidenie. 
lie had six eliihhen, one son and live d.iiinhlcrs. Hon. 
John I'll m, 111, j lid;.;.- ol the Idiited Stales Itisliic t (ourl, was 
Ihe s'Ui, JudjM- rilm.in p.iys a luihle Iriliiile lo ihe memory 
of his faliier, whom he spe.iks ol "as a m.iii ol i.inail. 

al'h Iniii s and ol (Me.it iolira;;e, physn al and imu.il." 

ill. poachin;; wa- addressed more to the underslandmy 



than to the j^assioiis. " I reniemher," continues the son, ** lo 
have heard a (jentleinan of much intellij^ence and learning 
say that he was the liest expounder of the liihle to whom 
he ever li-tened." His relative. Rev. Benjamin H. I'itman, 
of Alljany, says that " he had a eooil voice for public speak- 
ing, sufficiently loud to fill a large house, and yet hlanil and 
agreeable; his manner was not ]>arlieularly impassioned, 
lull it was dignified and solemn and natural withal, and 
made you feel that he po.ssessed the true spirit of an ambas- 
sador of God." 



i'ii<;KRS, K'liiKHl , son of William and Sarah Rogers, 
was born in Newport, Rhode Island, April iS, 
. ,.^ ^ 175S, and graduated Ironi liiow n L'niversily in 
&'•& the class of 1775, at ihe early age of seventeen 
* years. Among his classmates were Hr. I'ardon 
liowen and l-",/ekiel Hopkins, names distinguished in 
Rhode Island history. On graduating Mr. Rogers found 
himself in the midst of the excitements connected with the 
War of Ihe Revolution, and immediately offered Ins ser- 
vices lo aid his tounlry in her struggle Un' freedom. As a 
Lieutenant in one of the Rhode Island regiments he hon- 
orably discharged his duties. Returning to his native 
town he devoletl himself lo liierary pursuil-, and for many 
yeiii> had ch.irge of a chissiial school ot a \er\ high older, 
in w liich some of the most einineiit and useful citizens of 
Newjfort received [heir early Ir. lining. The poet-painter, 
Washington .\llsion, was one of hu pupils. His love of 
learning and good books led liini to Like great interest in 
the prosperity of the ** Redwood Library." h"or a perioil 
of t\s'eiity years he served as Secret.ary, Tre.-isurer, and Li- 
brarian ol the in-lil uti'Ul. His religious char.irter was of 
ihe most di cided Ivpe. Al llie age of sixUen, while a 
sliideiil ill I'.iown L'nivi-isily, he joined the I'irst IJaplist 
* hull h ill I'lov idence. Subsei|iiently he became a member 
ol Mile ol llie llai)tist churches in .\ev\porl, and for several 
years beloie his dealh w.is the clerk ol the ihilich, l-*or 
ne:irly lifty jeais he was a member of the ( 01 piu .ilion of 
I Urown l'niversily, for two years as a Truslee, and hir four 
j years as a 1-ellow. He died August 5, 1835. The wife 
j of Robert Rogers was Mary Rhodes. William Saldord 
Rogers, a distiiiguishi-d lall/en ol Newport, whose sketch 
appears i|t this volume, was then son. 



OITIN, ( III ciNi-;i. litNJAMIN, was born in .^llle- 
borough, .Mass.ichllsells, May 12,1747. ^^ ''"= 
age ol ninilei n he i-nteied tin- Re\ ollltioliai y 
IT. Army, being made a c.iptain in the Rhode island 
( I I .ine by commission fiom the t 'onlinenl.il ( 'ongress, 
and served ihroilghoul the war, participating in the battles 
ot Red liaiik, White I'l.iins, Monmoulh and I'rincelon. 
Allei ihe war he- was engaged in the auctioneering com- 
mission business ill I'rovidence, wliere he passed his life 



BIOGKAnilCAL CYCL OFEDIA. 



'47 



uncommonly respected and beloved — a man of blameless 
character, of whom it was declared that " nothing had 
ever been said against him."' He served for many years 
in the Rhode Island Legislature, and in other civil and 
town offices. For some time he commanded the Senior 
Class regiment of militia of the County of Providence, 
with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was elected a 
member of the " Cincinnati Society," and continued, 
during his life, to be a stanch Federalist. He married 
Annie Rawson, a lineal descendant of Secretary Edward 
Rawson, of Massachusetts, by whom he had eight chil- 
dren, — Uavis Ward, Candace, l.orania, Benjamin, Ceorge, 
Thomas Cole, Levi and Henry. He tiled in Trovideuce, 
November 30, 1S09, aged siNty-three. 



^REVETT, CXPTAIN John, was born at Newport, 
in 1757, and died there very suddenly November 
cJ 5. tSjj, aged seventy-si.\ years. In earlv life he 
B was in the merchant service, and made a number of 
S 5 voyages from Newport ; but on the breaking out of 
the Revolution he entered the navy. In November, 1775, 
he accepted the position of Midshipman on board the ship 
" Columbia," Captain Whipple, where he was speedily 
promoted, and as a Lieutenant he also served under Com- 
modore Hopkins. In 1776 he was attached to the brig' 
" Andre Doria," Captain Biddle, from which vessel he 
was transferred, as Commander of Marines, to the United 
States sloop " Providence," of twelve guns, under the com- 
mand of Captain John Rathbone. Early in February, 
1778, a party of men, thirty in number, landed at New 
Providence at night, under Lieutenant Trevett, and while 
fifteen of the men scaled the walls and took the fort, the 
remainder of the party got possession of a small island, 
known as Hog Island, directly opposite the town. In 
taking the island some assistance was rendered by a num- 
ber of prisoners who had been released by the scaling 
parly. They held possession of the place for three days. 
In that time they captured six vessels in the harbor, drove 
off a British sloop-of-war that tried to enter, and after 
spiking the guns of the fort they retired, taking with them 
a quantity of military stores. In this raid Trevett did not 
lose a man. Previous to the capture of New Providence, 
while cruising oflf Halifax, the sloop took several valuable 
prizes and got them safely into port. One of the vessels, 
a ship, was a transport bound to Quebec, with ten thou- 
sand suits of clothing for General Burgoyne's army. This 
was looked upon as an extremely valuable prize, and Lieu- 
tenant Trevett was selected to bring her into port, which 
he did successfully. There was no time to dye the garments 
blue, and they were at once sent otT to the American .-Vrmy, 
then literally in rags. The sight of a picket dressed in 
these red coats so deceived a spy, one Daniel Taylor, then 
on his way to Burgoyne, as to lead to his arrest and exe- 



cution. In 17S0 Lieutenant Trevett joined the frigate 
" Trumbull," Commodore Nicholson, and during a cruise 
took part in an action with the ship " Walter," of six guns. 
The " Trumbull" had three men killed, and Trevett, who 
lost an eye, was also wounded in the foot. After that he 
joined the ship " Dcane," Captain Henman, which vessel 
took a number of prizes. Trevett, in command of one of 
these prizes, was captured and carried into St. Johns, 
where he was held a prisoner for more than two years. 
When liberated he returned to Newport, and while resid- 
ing here, in 17S6, tested the validity and constitutionality 
of the law touching the issue and circulation of paper 
money. He was owing a butcher, named Weeden, and 
brought an action against him for refusing to take paper 
money at par in payment of the claim. The case attracted 
a great deal of attention, and some of the best talent in 
the Stale was engaged on both sides. William Channing 
was the .\tlorney-t;eneral, and the opinion of the court 
declaring the acts to be unconstitutional and void, was 
given by Judge Howell, in a crowded court-house. The 
decision was received with shouts of applause. During 
the last four years of his life Captain Trevett was totally 
blind. He had many excellent traits of character which 
caused him to be greatly respected. 



F.NTFR. Isaac, M.D., was born in Londonderry, 
N. H., in 1753. His medical studies were pur- 
sued under Dr. MotTatt, of Newport. While en- 
I'j^o gaged in these studies, tidinsrs of the battle of Lex- 
* k itigton reached Newport. The excitement which 
stirred the citizens of that place, fired the heart of the 
young physician, and at once he joined the Rhode Island 
troops and marched to Cambridge. When the army 
was organized under Washington, he received a commis- 
sion as surgeon. His experience in his early connection 
with the .-Xmericah forces was a trying one. He was with 
General Benedict .-Krnold in his inarch through the dense 
wilderness of Maine, which occupied thirty-two days in 
the dreary months of November and December. Before 
reaching the river Chaiidiere, the soldiers sutVereil incred- 
ible privations. When the assault was made on Quebec, 
great slaughter was made of Arnold's men — a large part 
of them were killed, and among the captured was Dr. 
Senter. He was kept a prisoner for some time, and had 
the care of the sick and wounded. He was allowed, after 
a time, to return home to Rhode Island, and, in 1779, he 
took up his residence in Pawtuxet, which place he repre- 
sented in the General .-\sscmbly. He was appointed, in 
17S0, Surgeon and Physician-General of the State, and 
removed to Newport, where he had a good practice in his 
profession. In matters pertaining to his special vocation 
he look great interest, and contributed some valuable pa- 
pers to medical journals in Europe. He died, December 



14$ 



RIOCKAnilCAL C\ CLOPF.DIA. 



lo, 1799. Pr. I'-'licr i^arsons ^ay-^ that " ho was tall, erect 
and nolilc-looking in ixr^on, ami his dii^nified step and 
bearin" often arrested the atientiim iif siiaiii^ers he passed 
in tlio street. He was undonhtetll)' a man of liigh endow- 
ments, and well educated for his d.iy." Dr. Senter mar- 
ried Eli/'a Arnold, ilaugliter of ('aptain Rhodes Arnold, 
of Pawtucket. He had four sons and two daugliters. 
Tile eldest son, 1 loraee ( iates, wa^ a jihysician of eminence, 
and was, for st»me time, in (he hospitals in London. His 
second son, Nathan. lel Greene, was several years in the 
East Inilia Ser\ice. Hi^ third son, Ed\\'ard, was alsci a 
student of medicine. His fourth son, Charles CImrchill, 
died at the age of seventeen yi-ars. His eldest daughter, 
Eli/a Antoinette, nuirried l\e\ . Nathan Bourne Crocker, 
l).l)., for more than half a century the honorei-1 Rector of 
St. John's Cluirch, Providence. His second daughter, 
,Sar.di .\iHi, marrieil Clement L. [lunt of the U. .S. Xavv. 



^()\\T AXIi. John, son of Joseph and Sarah ( I'.ar- 
fjlfyij lier) Howland, was horn in Newport October 31, 
■4':^^:';'- 1757, and was a descendant in the fifth gencra- 
Y '?' tion from John Howland, of riymouth, Massachu- 
e) J setts, one of the early settlers of the old colony. 
His childhood education w.as chiefly under the direction 
of his parents at home. The opportunities which he had 
of attending school were verv few, but such was his love 
for knowledge, th.it he improved these to the best of his 
ability. He was aided in his reading by his ]>astor. Rev. 
Wdliam \inal, an^l by Rev. ('lardiner Thurston, pastor of 
the Kust r.aplist Cluirch in his native town. When he 
was about thirteen years of age he removed to Providence, 
where he became an apjirentice to Mr. Benjamin Gladiling, 
a relative r)f his father, in the business of hair-dressing. 
The shop of Mr. Cladiling was the favorite resort of the 
leading gentlemen of the tow n, in which were freely and 
earnestly discussed the leading topics cjf the times. He 
carrieil with him to his new home his eager thirst for 
knowledge, ami carcfidly devoted his evenings to study 
and reading. His mind, ever acti\e an<l im])roved bv 
self-discipline, took lioM of the exciting questions of th'ise 
ante-Revolution days, and when the "minute men" of 
Rhode Islanil were organized, he N\as enrolled among 
them, and was on fluty as a soldier under arms fur the first 
time in Newport in Sejitember, 177s. Subse'|uently he 
enlisted in the Se\eiitli Conij'any of a regiment raised by 
the General .Assembly for one year. The events of the 
thirteen months following he has left a minute account of, 
which the reader will tind in his Lift' ofui /^i'i-i'//t\-fii>/is, 
pp. 52-81. On returning to Providence at the close of 
his term of service, Mr. Howland supposed th.it his mili- 
tary career was at an end. In 1 777, however, he was one 
of the expedition which captured General Prescutt near 
Ne\\port. He has left a record of m.iny events which 



occurreil in the Revolutionary period and in the times 
which I'olloweil, which will always be bill of interest, 
especially to the citizens of Pro\i<lence. His terni of ser- 
vice with Mr. (jladding having ended, he commenced 
business for himself, opening a hair-dresser's shop on 
North Main .Street, near wdiat was for many years known 
as the Manufacturers' Hotel, now the What Cheer Build- 
ings. He married, January 28, 17S8, Mary, daughter of 
John and Elizabeth Carlisle, and great-granddaughter of 
James Franklin, the eldest brother of l)r. Benjamin Frank- 
lin. His upright and honorable character, and his more 
than ordinarilv culti\atcd mind, began to be recognized in 
his early manhood, ami he made himself felt in the affairs 
of the tow n, in which he took a deep personal interest. 
In 1803 he was chosen Town Auditor, antl held this im- 
portant ofilice until 181S, when he was chosen Town 
Treasurer, serving in this cajnicily fourteen years. When 
the city government was organized in 1832, he declined a 
re-election. During all these years he kept up his studious 
habits, and made himself familiar with standard works in 
\arious ilepartments of literature. He had a special fond- 
ness for antiquarian research, an^l came to be recognized 
as authority in all matters pertaining especially to Rhode 
Island history. The recklessness with which important 
jiajiers were destn.iyed touched him very sensil.ily. It is 
said tliat from a quantitv thrown into the streets, which he 
gathered up and carried to his place of business, he re- 
covcretl several original letters of Roger Williams. .Soon 
after the formation of the Rhode Island Historical .Society, 
he became a member, and ardently devoted to its interests. 
In l83ihe was elected its President, on the retirement of 
Governor James F'enncr. In 1835 he was made an hon- 
orary member of the R'lyal Society of Northern Anti- 
quarians of Denmark. He was chosen also honorai7 
member of se\cral Historical Societies in this country. 
His Presidency of the Rhode Island Flistorical Society 
continued through the remainder of his life, the whole 
term of service co\eiing a |teriod of twenty one years. 
But that which more than all else will transmit the name 
of Mr. Howland with honor to posterity, is the interest 
which he took ill the cause of popular education. The 
"Mechanics' Association" was formed in 1789, and it 
was in this body that the agitation began which led to the 
establishment of public schools. Mr. Howl.ind was a 
leading member of the As-ociation. and, holding a ready 
pen. he began to write on the subject of jiublic schools, 
and thus awakeiiei-l an interest in the matter ^\hich, in due 
time, reached all classes. It is a singular circumstance to 
which he refers, that opposition to his ])lans did not come 
from the wealthy, but from the ranks of the very persons 
whom he was most anxious to benelit, the laboring-classes 
oi the town. The General Assembly was memorialized, 
and at length a bill embodying a general school system 
was drawn up and presented to the .'\ssembly, which, hov\^- 
ever, did not dare to pass it until the sense of the towns 




V// 



/r I ' 1^ L , / ^r C <( j/t^ 




BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



149 



could be obtained. Provifleiice pronounced in its favor; 
so did Xe\\'port. Among the country towns the movement 
was unpopular. At the autumn session, 1799, the bill 
passed the House of Representatives, and was sent up to 
the Senate, by whom it was laid over to the next session, 
and then passed. Much ditTiculty, however, was experi- 
enced in carrying into execution the plans laid out by the 
fertile brain of Mr. Rowland ; but at last opposition was 
overcome, prejudices removed, and the system which is 
now the pride and boast of the State was thoroughly and 
successfully canied out. For twenty years Mr. Howland 
was a leading member of the School Committee, and re- 
tired from office only because he was compelled so to do 
by the pressure of his other engagements. For a full ac- 
count of the history of the schools of Providence the reader 
is referred to Barnard's Rhode Island Public Sihool Reports 
and Doi'Uini'Hts for 1S48. In 1S35, Brow^n University con- 
ferred on Mr. Howland the honorary degree of Master of 
Arts. 'In his religious connections he was a worshipper 
with the First Congregational Society, uniting with the 
church in 1814, and of which he was a deacon for several 
years, resigning the active duties of the office in 1847, at 
the age of 90 years. He died November 5, 1854. A por- 
trait of him may be seen in the rooms of the Rhode Island 
Historical Society. The children of John and Mary (Car- 
lisle) Howland were Alfred, Penelope, Benjamin R., Ja- 
nette, Mary, and eight children who died under three years 
of a^e. 



f^W^DLAM, Rev. S.'^muel, a Baptist clergyman of New- 
Kfe port, son of Samuel andElizabeth (Powell) Adlani, 
was born in Temple Parish, Bristol, England, Feb- 
^'U J ' ruary 4, 179S, and christened in St. James Episcopal 
°f ?" Church. He was the youngest of three children, 
and w'hen three months old was left to the care of a wid- 
owed mother in humble life ; therefore he was favored with 
only ordinary advantages of education. At the age of seven 
he committed to memory the entire English Grammar, 
showing his early capacity, which increased in proportion 
to his years. At the age of eleven he was apprenticed for 
seven years to learn the art of making philosophical instru- 
ments. Upon his master's desk he first saw a Latin diction- 
ary, which awakened a desire to learn the language, and 
procuring a Latin grammar, he made rapid progress, also 
taking up the study of Greek and French, persevering until 
he could read them all, while working twelve hours a day. 
He afterwards became greatly interested in mathematics and 
various branches of science, studying them all as he had 
opportunity. So great was his love for books that on one 
occasion, when sent to buy himself a pair of shoes, he 
passed by the shoe store and invested his money at a book- 
stall. His early associates were young men of culture, who 
frequently met to discuss religious topics chiefly. They 
were zealous in self-improvement and in doing good. He 



was also highly favored in the ministry he attended. Among 
his acquaintances were Dr. Ryland, Robert Hall, and 
Thomas Thorpe ; and he frequently heard Jay, of Bath, 
Rowland Hill, Matthew Wilkes, and other eminent divines, 
whose influence, he has often said, " followed him all the 
days of his life." Mr. Adlamwas married, June 24, 1820, 
at the Church of St. Augustine, Bristol, to Martha Legg, 
of Ash Hill, Somersetshire, England. In 1821 they came 
to America and settled in Boston, his mother and her sec- 
ond husband, the " Rev. William CJranville," having pre- 
viously made this their home. Here Mr. Adlam prose- 
cuted his trade, em])loying at one time nineteen apprentices, 
among whom was Mr. Binney, who afterward became a 
distinguished Baptist missionary. He was baptized by Rev. 
Francis Wayland, and united with the First Baptist Church 
in Boston. His Baptist views were the result of close and 
discriminating study. Under Dr. Wayland he pursued a 
course of studies preparatory to the ministry, and was or- 
dained November i, 1824, in the Baptist Church at West 
Dedham, Massachusetts, of which church he became pastor, 
Drs. Wayland, Baldwin, and Sharp assisting in the ordina- 
tion services. While in Dedham he supplied the pulpit 
occasionally at Canton, where he formed the acquaintance, 
and baptized, in October, 1826, Francis Mason, long known 
as a prominent missionary to the Karens. Mr. Adlam was 
the first to encourage his desire to enter the ministry, and 
taught him the elements of Hebrew and Greek wdiile Mr. 
Mason sat upon the cobbler's bench engaged in making 
shoes. Closing his pastorate at W'est Dedham in 
1827, Mr. Adlam occupied the pulpit at Canton, Marble- 
head, and Gloucester, Massachusetts, and subsequently 
graduated at Newton Theological Institution, in 1838. 
While a student at Newton, he was particularly in- 
strumental in drawing up an expression of opinion 
against slavery, and obtained for it the signatures of his 
fellow-students. In 1S3S he entered the State of Maine, 
where he held two important pastorates, at Hallowell and 
Dover, in both of which he was very successful and pop- 
ular. In 1849 he was recommended by Dr. Wayland to 
the First Baptist Church in Newport, and accepted a call, 
continuing their pastor for sixteen years, during which 
time large accessions were made to the church. Mr. 
Adlam not only possessed strong and effective pulpit 
talents, but also wielded a commanding pen. He de- 
livered many important addresses on various subjects, some 
of which were solicited for publication by several persons 
of distinction, among wdiom was Bancroft, the historian ; 
but Mr. Adlam declined their re<|uests. In 1850 he pub- 
lished a pamphlet entitled The First Chtirch of Provi- 
di-nif. R. /., not the Oldest Baptist Church in America, 
and in 187 1 another, on the Origin of the Institutions of 
Rhode Lsland, both of which attracted much attention. 
But for his modesty and high literary standard more of his 
writings would have been given to the press. In accord- 
ance with his English temperament he spoke and wrote 



ISO 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



with clcainc— , vigr)!-, ami conliilencc. I )i»iegav'lint; tlie 
sen^aliollal, lie ainictl to I'C instructive, anil l>y a powerful 
presentation of gospel truth, eonihineil with great tentler- 
ness of a])plieation, he won tiu- hearts of his hearers, .\fter 
resigning hi> past. irate in Newport he was eniployetl for 
sever.il )ears in fitting stmlents for eoUege. He uas par- 
licul.irlv aeet.iniplisheil in the classics, teaching an<l writing 
in si\ languages. In Maich, iS66, he was bereft of his 
coiiijianion. a wnnian oi niarkeil Christian virtues, \\ In:) 
zealously jierfornied the i.luties incident to a pastor's wife. 
( )n ifie 9th of May. 1S07, he married .\nnie W. I'eckhani, 
of Newjiort, daughter of Timothy and Zoa retkhani, a 
lady highly esteemed for her religious e.xcellencies, and 
e-pecially t"or her devotion to her aged and suffering coni- 
jianion. In 1S71 Mrs. .\dlaiii accompanied her husband 
to Kngland,and in a tour on the (Continent. I)uring three 
months in 1. on. Ion Mr. Adlani diligently searched the 
public records for further information concerning the early 
history of Rhode Island, and upon his return to Newport, 
surrounded by his valuable library of two thousand five 
hundreil volumes, continued his studies with the same 
avidity as in his youth, reading day or evening the finest 
print without the aid of glasses, ne\'er having occasion to 
Use them. In 1S74 he delivered the semi-Centennial I)is- 
Course of the Baptist Church at West Dedham, with great 
aecejitance, receiving a hearty welcome from sonie of his 
hist parishioners. The engraving accompanying this sketch 
was made from a photograph taken when he was seventy- 
si.v years of age. In 1.S77 Mr. Adlam was afflicted with 
cerebral disease, which finally terminated his useful life. 
Ctctober iS, iSSo. His last words were fitting to his labo- 
rious career and ripe age, " 1 long to go home, and be at 
rest." His purity of character, scholarly attainments, and 
earnest devotion to the welfare of humanity, wnn for him 
the place of honor which he held, and his name will long 
be remembered, both in England and America. 



constituted jiart of the American .\rniy. He was again 
commissioned by Clovernor Cooke, on the 22d of January, 
1777, captain of a company of .State infantry, in Colonel 
St niton's regiment. In the famous experlition of f'oloncl 
William Kartun, sent to capture General Prescott, on the 
island of Rhode Island, Captain Phil!i[)s was a volunteer, 
and had command of one of the five boats that crossed the 
Naragansett I!ay tm the eriaiul which \v as so successful. 
He was also a ca]itain in ( ieneral Sullivan's e.vpedition in 
Rhode Island, in 177S. (.)n the 4th of March, 1779, he 
entered the naval service, as a Lieutenant in the twenty- 
gun ship, Milllin, commanded by tJeurge White Babcock. 
The MilHin was successful in taking and bringing into 
Boston se\eial valuable pri..'es, c)ne of which, the Tartar, 
an English jirivateer, was purchased by some Boston mer- 
chants, and sent out under .American colors to j.rey on 
British commerce. \\\ this vessel he was also a Lieuten- 
ant under Ccnnman<.ler Liavid Porter. He had a varied 
experience while he was in the naval service. At one 
time he was captured and carried to Ireland. After being 
sent from place to place he was put on board a guard-ship, 
from which he managed to make his escape, and afier 
i various atlvenlures, reacherl hiune He thus sums up his 
experience: "I have been in the late war Lieutenant of 
four 20-gun ships, one cutter of 14 guns, and L'ommander 
ol a brig of 14 guns. As an individual I have ever 
strove hard and suftered much to help to gain the inde- 
pendence of my country, which I ever held near and dear 
to me; and am ready to step forth again and oppose any 
power w hatever that endeavoret.1 to trample upon or other- 
wise injure my country and her rights." The threatened 
rujiture with France, in 1799, once more called forth Mr. 
Phillips from the quiet of his farm in North Kingstown, 
and he was commissioned I'y President .A'lams to serve in 
the navy. I'pon the termination of the difficulties with 
p'rance he returned at once to his farm, where he died 
August 10, iSoS. 



SrVHlLLIPS, M.VIOR S.\Mt:F,I.. son of Charles and 
,Tj^ Mary Phillips, was Viorn at the family residence 
.' I - near Wickford. Rhode Island. 1 lecember zo. 17411. 
''_ I '_ The tradition is that the Philli]is lamilv. which is 
o 1 d so largely represented in Rhode Island, emigrated 
from Exeter, in England, ami were among the early set- 
tlers of Narragansett. around Wickford. Samuel Phillips, 
the great-grandfather of Major Phillips, died in 1736. His 
second son was Charles, the father of the M.^jor. and also 
of Hon. Peter Phillips. The subject of this sketch, while 
ipiite a young man. took an active part in politics, and was 
a warm patriot in the Revolutionary struggle. He was 
commissi(uied in .\ugust 177I1. by John Hancock. President 
of the I'liited. Colonies, as Captain of the Sixth Company 
of the First Regiment of the brigade raised by Rhode 
IslaiKl. This bnga<le was taken into Continental pay ami 



'iHTxl'.L'RNE. CmoNi I, Hi nrv. whose name is in- 
timately coiinecteil with the history of Rlirnle Island 
^^,."" from the opening of the Revolution till long after 
i the war. was commissioned as Major of the Fifteenth 
=r Regiment, commanded by Colonel Thomas Church, 
July I, 1771^, his commission being signed by John Han- 
cock, President. .Almost immediately he marched to Boston, 
and his rietachinent of troops was one of the first to invest 
that tow 11. There he was attached to Colonel fohn I'at- 
terson's command, and he remained in that vicinity till the 
folhivving spring, when he was ordered to Canada, to rein- 
hnce the garrison at the Cedars, in the neighborh.iod of 
Montreal ; but before reaching the point r.f destination. 1 he 
commanding officer of the garrison ingloriously surrendered. 
Major Sherburne was then but a few miles from the Cedars 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



>5' 



with one hundred men. The enemy liaving no longer to 
contend with the garrison, turned upon his command, and 
soon he was surrounded by British troops and Indians, to 
the number of five hundred men. After fighting them gal- 
lantly for forty minutes, Sherburne was forced to surrender. 
The prisoners were turned over to the Indians, who suIj- 
jected them to every indignity. Many of the men did not 
live to return. No blame was attached to Sherburne by 
Congress for the discouraging result of this attempt to relieve 
a distant post. After his return and he had recovered from 
the rough treatment he had received at the hands of the 
Indians, Colonel Sherburne was ordered to join the Com- 
mander-in-chief, who was with the shattered remnant of the 
army in New Jersey. The day after the arrival of his regi- 
ment, all the forces present combined and made the mem- 
orable attack on the Hessians at Trenton, which was fol- 
lowed up with equal success at Princeton. A few days 
later Congress ordered sixteen new regiments to be raised. 
Colonel Sherburne was given the command of one of these 
regiments, and he at once entered upon the duty of recruit- 
ing. His letter of instructions over the signature of Wash- 
ington, and a long letter to him on the same subject, in 
Washington's own hand, are preserved in the cabinet of 
the Newport Historical Society, where may also be seen 
Colonel Sherburne's belt and cartridge-bo.\. The latter 
still contains three pistol cartridges. The above regiment 
was commanded by Colonel Sherburne till 1781, when the 
time for which the men had enlisted expired. During 
the war Colonel Sherburne lost everything that he pos- 
sessed, and feeling the need of some office by means of 
which he could maintain his family respectably, he ac- 
cepted the appointment of commissioner, to adjust the ac- 
counts between the State of Rhode Island and the United 
States. While holding this office, he received, through the 
influence of General Varnuni, the appointment of Commis- 
sioner, to settle the accounts of the .State of New York with 
the government, as appears by a letter to him from Robert 
Morris. A year later, finding it would be some time before 
he could complete the work of settling the accounts of 
Rhode Island, he wrote to Governor Clinton, under date 
of October 14, 17S3 : " Your Excellency was pleased some 
time since to approbate the recommendation of the Hon. 
Robert Morris, Esq., in my favor, as Commissioner of Ac- 
counts for the State of New York. The appointment I re- 
ceived with pleasure and now acknowledge with gratitude. 
Exceedingly sorry am I to say, that after endeavoring for 
several months to arrange my secular concerns in such a 
manner as to be able to enter upon the duties of the oftice, 
I find it impossible, without doing myself the greatest in- 
justice ; and to ask a further indulgence of time before I 
proceed forward (and that not absolutely in my power to 
determine) would be a request rather unreasonable, as I 
am certain that the State of New York is anxious to have 
its accounts closed and the citizens their demands ascer- 
tained. From these considerations, sir, I am constrained 



to say that I must relinquish the appointment, although I 
consider it is honorable and the salary ample, and have ac- 
cordingly wrote to Mr. Morris on the subject. It gives me 
pain to add that it h.is not been in my power to give the in- 
formation sooner, that a suitable person might be appointed." 
In October, 1792, Colonel Sherburne was appointed Gen- 
eral Treasurer of the State of Rhode Island, which oftice 
he held up to iSoS. In one of the reports of the Auditing 
Committee are these words : ** And it is with pleasure \\'e 
declare that the state of the office is such as to do honor to 
the State and its Treasurer." Colonel Sherburne held a 
number of other offices in the course of his active life, but 
the one from which he derived the greatest satisfaction was 
that of a mission to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, in 
181 7, which was so successful as to gain for him a vote of 
thanks from Congress ; a recognition of his services that 
was very grateful to him. He also took great interest in 
the Society of the Cincinnati, of which body he was Secre- 
tary. He died in Newport, May 31, 1S24, aged 77 years. 



jf-.E W()1,K, Hon. J.\mks, United States Senator from 
1S31-25, the son of Mark Anthony and Abigail 
.<j^ (Totter) De Wolf, was born in Bristol, Rhode 

T Island, March 18, 1764. His father was a native of 
•l Guadaloupe (one of the West India Islands), the son 
of American parents who had emigrated thither from Con- 
necticut. Mark Anthony De Wolfs means were small and 
his family was large. Only exceedingly limited opportuni- 
ties for education were therefore afforded James De Wolf 
in his youth. During the Revolutionary War, while he was 
yet only a child, he left his home and shipped as a sailor- 
boy on a private armed vessel. He participated in several 
naval encounters, and was twice captured by the enemy. 
He ^^■as confined for some time upon the Island of Ber- 
muda, and never forgot the treatment there recei\'ed. His 
zeal and ability quickly brought him into notice. Before 
he was twenty years old he had been made the master of 
a ship. Before he was twenty-five years old he had ac- 
quired a fortune. His earliest voyages as cajitain were 
made to the coast of Africa in the slave trade. His em- 
ployers were Providence merchants of the very highest com- 
mercial and social standing. Mr. De Wolf retired from 
the sea at an early age, and engageil in extended commer- 
cial ventures that soon made him one of the wealthiest men 
in the United States. In the place of his birth he fixed his 
residence, and from thence he sent out his ships to all 
quarters of the globe. His principal business was with 
Cuba and the other West India islands. He also built up 
a large trade w ith the ports of both Northern and Southern 
Europe, especially with those of Russia. He entered some- 
what into the China trade, and reaped a goodly share of 
the harvest from the fields opened to commerce by the 
enterprise of Boston merchants on the Northwest Coast. 



152 



BlOGRAl'IlICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



WIk-u llu- wlialo tislicn- Wiis revived in tliv second r|unvter 
of I he list eentiir\-, nianv id* Ids niereluuit sliips were i[uicl<ly 
tiansfiirnied into \\li;dors. In 1S04 llie |iiirls uf Sinith Car- 
tdina were tipened tor liuic \'ear^ fur Il)f ini[iortation of 
sla\es; and uf lire 1 u. ■ liundred and Iwu vessels that eir- 
teied the port "f (_diai le^toii dniin^ llmse fonr vears. ten 
and llieir AlVican cari;iies Ik longed to Mr. I )e Wolf. When 
tlie War of 1S12 l)riike out Mr. I )e Wolf |iluns;ed eaijerly 
into it. For years he harl been stitleriii^ losses at the hairds 
ed' IJritish ernisers, and h.id lieeii h>nL,dng for an o]']n)rliinity 
for retaliation. Eleven days after the \\ar was proclaimed 
his private armed lirit; of war the " Yankee " was ready for 
sea. N'e\er was a privateer more successful. In three 
years the " ^■ankee " ca]itiired I'.ritish )iroperty aniountini^ 
in \alue to \ei')' nearly a million of jiounds. She sent inlri 
llri-l(d .1 lound million rd" dollars as the profit fronr her six 
cruises. Mr. lie W(df was one of the pioneers in the Ijusi- 
ness of cotton manufactuiini,'. In i,Sij he liuilt in Coventry, 
Rhode Island, the .\rk\\ light Mills. Like all his enterprises 
they were immediately and continuously successful. K\ery. 
thing seemed to change to gold in his bands, h'or nearly 
thirty years Mr. De Wolf i-e]iresented Bristol in the General 
Assemlily of his native .State. In 1S21 he entered the 
I'niled Slates .Senate as one of the members from Rhode 
Isktnd. In the .Senate his une(|ualled business experience 
made him the recogni/ed authority in all matters purely 
commercial. He was a strong rr.-leclionist, ami was the 
hrst to propose the " I M.iw back System," which has since 
become so jiopular. 'file dull routine of the Senate soon 
became dislastelul tohim, his own business kept demanding 
more and more ol his time, and be resigned Ins seat in 
I.SJ5. L'nlil Ills de.itli he continued to represent Bristol in 
the Geneial Assembly of Rhode Island. Asa citizen he 
Idled a position in Bristol no one had e\er held befoie. It 
maybe c|Ucsiioned wlirtlur the interests of a toun Here 
ever more ccriiipletely ideiitilied with those of an iiidi\hlual 
than were those of Bristol with his. Mr. De Widf married 
a daughter of Wm. I'.railford (I leputy-(^iovernor of Rhode 
Island from 1773 to 1778, L'nileil .States Senator fn.m 1703 
to 1707 I. He died in New \ork city, December 21, iS;/. 
To Mr. Wilfred II. Muiiro, author of the History of Bristol, 
we are indebted for this d\etch. 



;l!,l'iiX, Ri.;v. Asa. the successor of Rev. Isaiah 
S^JK'lli-) ^^ ''"^"^ '" 'li^' " Wilcox (. huich," in Westerly, 
'%""']'-■• ''cgan to pleach soon alder his ]iredecessor's 
ii'l,' 'death, but tied not accept ordination till Febru- 
.i ary iX, i,So2. .\ valuable ecclesiastical paper on 

///,■ ('h,n;i,/rr iif a CliurJi .■/ Cliiiil emanated from his 
pen in 170''^. .\l hi^ full indmtnui into the pastorate, 
Jesse Babiock and Wells Kelj\on \\eie ord. lined. |une 2b 
1S02, as •• helps 111 the church " and " e\angeli~ts " — min- 
isters abro.id. Mr. Wilco.x preached often to the "Hill 



(diurch" ar.d others in the vicinity. He field an enviable 
rank as a ]ircacher, and his good name and influence still 
survive in all the i luirches to wdiich he ministered. He 
was of medium stature and pleasing address, and nrited for 
his re.i'liness and fluency of speech. He linally remo\ed 
and laboreil in Connecticut, and died in Colche-tcr in lS_^2. 
.About twcrit)' _\ears afterwards his remains were rcinosed 
to Essex, a field of his laliors, where a handsome iiiomi- 
nieiit was erected to his memory. 



II.SON, Rkv. J.vmrs, once the honored pastor of 
the Beneficent Congregational Church in IVovi- 
t^t^;:*- }:e'.^ dence, was born in Limerick, Ireland, March 
'\\ 12, 1760. Ills paternal grandfather, James Wil- 
son, was from Scotland. Llis maternal graml- 
fatlier, I'hiliji (luier, was a nati\e of ( iennany. His pious 
ji.irents trained him in the fear of ( iod, and he was early 
the subject of deejr religious impressions, though he failed 
to yield to his convictions and fully accept the gospel until 
he was nearly twenty-two years of age. Having but few 
school ailvanlages, and being afflicted with an inflamma- 
tion in his eyes at the age of ten, which lasterl two years, 
he was obliged in later years to apply himself to study 
with great assirluity, and he became a self-educated man. 
His abilities and /eal and his power as an exhorter coin- 
mended him to the founiler of the \Vesley.ins, who ap- 
pointed him a j'icacher in that connection. After la- 
boring with success for years, he was induced to emi- 
grate to .\nierica. His studies finally led him to ac- 
cept the views and |iractices of the Congreg.ationalists, 
though he alwavs Lheiished a lender regard for the Metlio- 
tlists. He re.iched I 'io\ ideiice, Rhode Island, in 1791, 
when the city had about fi\e thousand inhabitants and four 
churches. The onlv church on the west siile was the 
Beneficent Congregational, then callcl the " New Light " 
or " Tenneiit Church," a buit of the " (.Iroat .'\wakening," 
and then under the pastoral care of Rev, Joseph Snow. 
.As Mr, Sii'.w was aged, Mr. Wilson was engaged as his 
assistant, and his jireaching was \er\ pt.i]iular and effective. 
F"or nearly tv\'0 years he assisted Mr. Snow, and for about 
six months preached a part of each Sabbath for St. John's 
I'^piscopal (_diiircli. Being an eloijuent man he had many 
warm adherents. He was ordained [lastor of the cluirch 
in ( )ctt-il'er, I7')v and from that time to his (.leatli was de- 
voted to its interests. The church and society were 
remarkably ]'rospered. A powerful revival was exjieri- 
enced in I.S04, affecting the whide town, and about one 
hundred and fifty were .added to the church, many from a 
large school also conducted by the pastor. The new 
meeting-house was dedicated in January, iSlo. Revivals 
also occurred under his ministry in 1S14, in 1M16, in 1820 
— one of great power — and in 1S32. I'or ten years he 
conducted a public school, and for four years a private 



BIOGKAPIIICAL CYCLOP/:/l/.i. 



»53 



scliool. Kveryw'here he was uniiiiciitly sLiccessful. He 
was beloved for his ability, piety, ardor, and many labors. 
The church never had a more indefalij^able worker. On 
the completion of his seventy-fifth year he asked for an 
as^iistant, and in June, 1835, Rev. Cyrus Mason, of New 
York, became associate pastor. Mr. Mason was followed, 
in May, 1837, by Rev. Mark Tucker (afterwards Doctor of 
Divinity), of Troy, New York, who remained as co-pastor 
till Mr. Wilson's death. The aged pastor continued to 
work with his wonted fervor and love to the very last. He 
was Lloi|Ui-nt with his pen as with his tongue. He left 
in print ./ Discourse oil IVoinan^ a funeral address, in 
iSrg; a sermon at the ordination of Rev. Stephen Hull, 
in 1802; a theological discussion. The Trinity Defended, 
a volume in ten chapters, in 1835. Having passed his 
seventy-ninth year, full of labors and honors, and sustained 
by the consolations of the gospel, he suddenly died, sitting 
in his chair, September 14, 1839. 



^^i^ROCKER, N.^iTHAN Bourne, D.D., son of Eben- 
M^IS ezer and Mary (Bourne) Crocker, was born in 
.;.T" Barnstable, Massachusetts, July 4, 17S1. He pur- 
T sued his preparatory studies at the Acadeniv, in 
\ Sandwich, Massachusetts, and \\as a graduate of 
Harvard College, in the class of 1802. After his gradua- 
tion, the parish of Christ Church, Gardiner, Maine, en- 
gaged him to read prayers for three months. About this 
time he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Leon- 
ard of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was his purj^ose 
to place himself imder the tuition of Dr. Jeffries of Boston, 
but circumstances prevented, and he came to Providence. 
On the 31st of October, 1802, he commenced his duties as 
lay-reader in St. John's", and was ordained as a Deacon by 
Bishop Edward Bass, in Trinity Church, Boston, May 24, 
1S03. At this time there were but four parishes in Rhode 
Island. Providence had a population of six or .seven 
thousand inhabitants, with six houses of worship. King's 
Church, as it was originally called, now St. John's, had 
been standing eighty years. Mr. Crocker's connection 
with the church, in the early part of his ministry, was in- 
terrupted by the state of his health, which was so feeble 
that he resigned his Rectorship, and, on the ytli of June, 
1804, embarked for Lisbon, with the hope that he niiglit 
be benefited by the change. He was absent from the |)ar- 
ish three years, for most of the time occasionally sup- 
plying the pulpit, for a few weeks at a time, as his strength 
permitted. Early in the year 1808, he resumed his duties 
as Rector, and was ordained Priest, May 1 8, 1808, by 
Bishop Benjamin Moore, in Trinity Church, New York. 
.\lthough Mr. Crocker had been inducted into the sacred 
office by the solemn rites of his church, at the times re- 
ferred to, he did not regard liimself as having become truly 
a Christian until the year 1815. The story of his conver- 



sion is thus related i)y l)i'. .Mcxandt-r 11. \'intiin. "On 
one occasion, at a bookstore, he took down a volume of 
Edwards's works from the shelf with a sort of half malicious 
curiosity, and. in order to gather material for fresh dislike 
to the system of religious faith of which he was a repre- 
sentative, he opened it at hazard, and found his attention 
so fastened, that he stood reatling for a long while, uncon- 
scious of the lapse of time. At length he bethought him- 
self that it was long jiast his dinner hour; but, unwilling 
to part with his l)ook, he Ijought tlie \^■hole set, and took 
them home w ilh him, reading, without intermission, till he 
had finished the volume on Redemption. He rose from 
his task possessed and overpowered by the conviction that 
he had known nothing hitherto of the gospel of salvation, 
and had lived a mistaken life. With this conviction began 
a revolution in his religious life, which he was accustomed 
to speak of as a conversion, and with it an entire change 
in his style of preaching." Immediately the fruits of this 
remarkable change liegan to manifest themselves. The 
5er\ices of the pul| it were more solemn and impressive, 
and the religious life of the parish put on new power. 
Large additions were maile to the number of the commu- 
nicants, and church work was carried on with a zeal and 
earnestness, such as hatl, perhaps, never before been wit- 
nessed. C)ut of the missionary lal)ors of Mr. Crocker, 
there came the licst results, among which maybe reckoned 
as one of the most important, the establishment of St. 
Paul's Church in Pawtucket. The various offices of honor 
and tru't which Dr. Crocker filled (he received the hon- 
orary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Geneva College 
in 1827) indicate the rank he held in the respect and affec- 
tion of those who introduced him into these offices. For 
many years he was tlie President of the .Standing Com- 
mittee of the Diocese. He was chosen a delegate to nine- 
teen triennial conventions. From the year iSoS to his 
death he was a Fellow of Brown Universit)-, and for fifteen 
years the Secretary of the Corporation. A few years be- 
fore his death, gentlemen re])resenting various religious 
denominations in Providence wishing to have some per- 
petual memorial of the regard in which Dr. Crocker was 
held in the community, proposed, by general subscription, 
to raise a sum sufficient to procure a portrait of the vener- 
able clergyman, to be placed in Rhode Island Hall, with 
the portraits of other distinguished Rhode Islanders. The 
plan was successful, and the portrait, executed by Hunt- 
ington, of New York, now liangs on the walls of the pic- 
ture-gallery of Rhode Island Hall. '* It possesses not 
only great fidelity to the form and features it was designed 
to portray, but superior excellence as a work of art; and 
it will not fail to commend itself, to those who may look 
upon it, as a beautiful specimen of artistic execution." The 
life of Dr. Crocker was prolonged to a period of eighty- 
four years, p^or seven years before hi^ deatli he was the 
oldest Presbyter of the Episcopal Cliurcli in the United 
States. He died. October ig, 1S65. In the year iSlo, he 



"54 



mOi^RAPIlICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



Nv;is iiuuru'cl to i;ii/;i AiitoiiicUe, <l.iu,L;lilcr nf r>r. Kaac 
SentL-r. of .\'cw|ii'it, I'V uliinii Iil' hail fuur tliiMicn, three 
of whom ^ur\i\e<l their p.^rent^. 



'^INi;, S.wii I I., \va^ tlie >on of I'.eiij.imin Kiiii;. wlio 
J\ cnnie to Ne\v|iott fii'in i lostoii. aiu! Iieie followed 
the calling of matheiiiatieal instrument maker. He 
5 ; ?■ was sent lo Boston at an early age to learn the trade 
1 l 1 of a house painter. Hut he had higher aspirations, 
and when he returned to Xew port gave himself up to por- 
trait painting, having been eneour.rged to do so by Cosmo 
Alexander, an Knglish artist, who, during his stay in 
-America, passed a ])orlion of his time in Newport. Mr. 
King acquired a certain ilegree of proficiency, and at the 
time that lie ]iainted in Newport had all the patronage the 
place afforded. He devoted himself to both portraits in oil 
and miniatures on ivory. Among other ]iortraits from his 
pencil ni.'iy be numbered those of Ciovernor Mumford and 
his wife, Abrah.im I<edwood, which ]ni.tiire is at "Red- 
wood," in I'ortsmoutli. but a copy of it, liy the late Charles 
B. King, may be found in the Redwo.id Library, I Jr. Isaac 
Senter, which [licture is now in Providence, Stephen Do 
Jilois, and others. But even a monopoly of work of this kind 
was not enough to occupy all his time, ami he added to his 
gains bv manufactuiing mathematical instruments, having 
aci|uired a knowledge of the business in liis f.ither's shop. 
When his father became infirm he took the entire charge 
of the sh-.ip. and was so emi-l'iycd w hen he gave Washing- 
ton .\llston and Kdwar^l Cr. Malbone lessons iir drawing. 
He then occupied a shop wdiere now stands No. I ^o 
Thames Street. At another time he had a shoji in the 
brick buiUling on the corner of Pelhani and Thames 
streets, and e\"ery' morning he was seen bringing out a 
carved tigure hokling a <juadrant, which he placed as a sign 
on a shelf by the side of the door. A generation later the 
same figure had a j^l.ice over an engine house, where the 
(juadrant ga\ e place to an engine pipe. Those w lui remem- 
bered .Mr. King spioke of hinr in alter \ears as a man of great 
respectal'ility. The ser\*ice tliat he rendered .\llsioii is 
recogni/ed in the biography of that artist. Mr, King was 
not of a social disposition, and he had but liltle taste for 
books, but he was fond of his profession, which he fob 
lowe'l inider many ilisadvantages. He died at Newprnt, 
llecember 30, lSi<>, in the seventy-second year of his age. 



.\1,I„ Ed\v.\rd Brimiks, n.n., was born in Med- 
ford, Massachusetts, September 2, I.Soo. He 
was named for his maternal gr.indfalher. Rev. 

; " Eilward Brooks, of N'Ulh Wirniouth, Maine. 

i He titled for college under the tuition of Mi'., 



sub' 



ueiitlv I )r. Convers Kiancis, who was then teaching 



ill Medford, and graduated from Harvard College in the 



class of 1S20. Among his classmates were Rev. bJis. I-\ir- 
ness and (iannett, both of them tlistinguished clergymen 
in llie Unitarian denomination. He devoted a year to 
teaching, partly in Baltimore and partly in lleverly, Mas- 
sachusetts, and then entered the Huinity School at Cam- 
bridge, where he w.is graduated in the class of 1824. He 
was ordaineil at Northampton, Massachusetts, August 16, 
1S26, as pastor of the Unitarian Church in that village, 
where he remainetl a little more than three years, when 
failing health obliged him to resign. The winter of 
1S29-30 he spent in Cuba, returning to the United States 
in the spring of 1S30, and for a year preached in Cin- 
cinnati, when he returnetl tf) New England and estab- 
lished the Unitarian Society in Crafton, Massachusetts. 
He was installed as jMstor of the First Congregational 
.Societ)' ill Brovidence, November 14, 1S32. He con- 
tinued to perform the liuties of his oftke for five years, 
when his tivcrtasked system again called for rest and re- 
cuperation, which he once more found in the milder cli- 
mate of the South. Returning with new strength, he took 
U[) the wcirk he so much loved, and was able to jirosecute 
it f«-'r thirteen years more, when, in the summer <.if 1S50, 
he was so reduceil in health and strength that a \ri\age 
to Eurojie was deemed desirable. In change of scene, 
and in the recreation found in foreign travel, his strength 
was restored, and again he returneil Ic) the pleasant labors 
and cares of his ministerial life. During the many years 
of his residence in his adopted home, Dr. Hall took a 
dee]") interest in the various educalii.uial ami jdiilanthropic 
ill' tituticuis of Broviilence. He was a wise counsellor in 
matters affecting the prosperity of the public schools. His 
Connection with the .\tlien:vum was of the most friendly 
character. The ''Shelter Home," by his death lost a 
'* personal friend, and efficient member for many years, of 
its .Vdvisory B.iard." From the first organization of the 
" Children's Frieml Society," he was one of the Board 
i;»f .Adxisers, and " for thirty years was, in word and ileed, 
its constant friend and judicious counsellor." The •• Brov- 
iilence Employment .Society" ex|iressed the sense of be- 
reavement which they felt in the death of one, who for 
twenty-nine years ever gave to it his " warm sympathy and 
support.'' Ill like mannc-r the trustees of the lienefit Street 
Ministry, at large, gave utterance to their sentiments of sor- 
row in the loss of one "to whose earnest ad\"ocacy the 
Ministry largely owes its eft'icacy and success; who for 
many years j^rcsided over its work with a thorough fidelity 
and an unw earied spirit of well-doing, who was ever know n 
throughout the entire community as the friend of the 
wretched and the destitute, and in whose example of 
Christian charity the memliers of the Board gratefully 
recogni/e an encouragement ami stinnilus to their obedi- 
ence to the great laws iif (.'Inistian duty and love." Reso- 
lutions of a like character were passed by the Providence 
" Seamen's Frieml Society," the " I lome for .Aged Women," 
and the " Washingtonian Temperance .Society." For se\e- 




<- S ,J/'oc6C 



BiOGKAriin : 1 1. cvci. oped/. i. 



«55 



ral years Dr. Hall was rresidcnt of the Amciican L'nilarian 
Association, and a Professorsliip f()inHli.-(l in Antioeh Col- 
lege, in Ohio, by donations from persons in I'roviilcnce, 
was called the "Hall Professorship" in honor of liini. 
He w,is an o]i])onent of the sjstem of slavery, and an 
advocate of peace principles. When he w.is abroad, in 
1850, he attended the World's I'eace Convention at 
Krankfort, as a delegate from the American Peace .So- 
ciety. The strength of his convictions, however, as the 
friend of peace, did not hinder him from throwing the full 
weight of liis influence on the side of the government in 
the Civil War. Dr. Hall gave some of the results of his in- 
tellectual labors to the public through the jiress. Several 
of his theological discourses and addresses were published. 
Through the columns of the Providence yotirnal he made 
earnest appeals in behalf of the charitable institutions in 
whose welfare and success he took so deep an interest. 
He also compiled a " Memoir of Mrs. Mary L. Ware," the 
wife of his brother-in-law, Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., of Bos- 
ton, a work which passed through seven editions. He was 
married twice, his first wife being Harriet Ware, daughter 
of Dr. Henry Ware, of Cambridge. They Iiad six chiliiren, 
of whom the only .survivor is Rev. Edward H. Hall, of 
Worcester, Massachusetts. His second son, William Ware, 
was in the army in the Civil War (see sketch of him). 
The second wife of Dr. I hill was Louisa Jane Park, 
daughter of Dr. John Park, of Boston, who, with her 
daughter, Harriet Ware Hall, survived her husband. In 
1 84.8 he receiverl the honorary degree of Doctor of Di- 
vinity from Harvard College. He was elected a member 
of the Board of Trustees of Brown University, in 1841, 
and held that office until his death, which took place 
March 3, 1866. He was buiied in the •' Pastors' Rest," a 
spot in Swan Point Cemetery, set apart by his society for 
the burial place of its pastors. 



§|S^ONES, Governor Wili,i.\m, w.as born in Newport, 
Itjl^ Rhode Island, October 8, 1753. His parents were 
jj^ William and Elizabeth (Pearce) Jones. His grand- 
f®> father, Thomas Jones, came from Wales, and his 
■"v father, who died in 1759, entered the privateer ser\'ice 
in the war against France, and became First Lieutenant of 
the famous vessel, the Duke of Marlborough. His mother 
was left a widow at the age of thirty-one, with five children, 
of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth. F'roni 
a memoir of Governor Jones, prepared by William Jones 
I loppin, read by him before the Rhode Island Historical 
Society, and published in the Society records, we have ob- 
tained the following facts. He received a fair education, 
and in January, 1776, then twenty-three years of age, ob- 
tained a commission as Lieutenant in Habcock's (afterwards 
Lippitt's) regiment, which had just been raised by order of 
the General Assembly, for the W'ar of Independence. In 



.September of the same year he received a captain's com- 
mission. The regiment inarched from Rhode Island on 
the 14th and 15th of the same month, and joined Washing- 
ton's army at Harlem Heights, aliout the 5th of October. 
On the 14th it was incorporated with McDougall's brigade, 
which on the 15th became a part of the division under the 
command of Major-Cleneral Lee. He took part in the 
battle of White Plains, and in all the operations preceding 
the retreat into New Jersey, wdiere he passed through that 
terrible winter of suffering so prominent in the history of 
the country, .\fter (general Lee was taken prisoner, the 
Rhode Islanil regiment was un<ler the brigade command of 
Colonel Hitchcock. The term of his regiment was to ex- 
pire on the 18th of January, 1777, but on the 31st of De- 
cember preceding, notwithstanding their terrible experience, 
the men volunteered, at the request of General Wa.shington, 
for anolher month. Cin the 2d of January the Rhode Island 
troops took part in the gallant repulse of the British at the 
bridge of Assanpink, the success of which was chiefly 
owing to their good conduct. Their bravery was also con- 
sjiicuous at tlie battle of Princeton, when " Washington on 
the battle-ground t<H)k Hitchcock by the hand and before 
the army thanked him for his service." In February, the 
time of his regiment having expired. Captain Jones returned 
to Rhode Island. He remained with his family until Feb- 
ruary, 1778, wdien he accejiteil a commission as Captain of 
Marines on board the Providence, twenty-eight guns, which 
was one of the two frigates ordered by the Naval Committee 
in Philadeljihia to be built in Rhode Island, and com- 
manded by Abraham Whijijile. On the2lst of .\pril, 1778, 
the news arrived at Providence of the conclusion of the 
treaty with France, and the Providence, by order of Con- 
gress, was sent immediately with dispatches to our Com- 
miNsioners at Paris. She sailed April 30, and on the 30th 
of May arrived at Pandiieuf, near Nantes, when Captain 
Whipple immediately sent Captain Jones to Paris with his 
dispatches for the American Commissioners. He remained 
in Paris until the Illh of June. It is stated on his tomb- 
stone that he was the first officer that wore the American 
uniform in Paris, probalily becau■^e he was the first to ar- 
rive in Paris after the ratification of the treaty. The Provi- 
dence sailed from Nantes to Brest, and thence for America. 
On the 17th of June, 1779, in company with the Ranger and 
the Queen of France, she sailed from Boston on a cruise 
off the Banks of Newfoundland. This was the most suc- 
cessful enterprise of the war. The fleet captured nine ships 
and one brig, bound from Jamaica to England, and returned 
to Boston on the 2Ist of August with eight of the pri/.es. 
On the 24th of November the Providence again left Boston, 
in company with the frigates Boston, Ranger, and Queen 
of France, for Charleston, South Carolina, where they ar- 
rived December 19th. In the spring of the succeeding year, 
the British having sent a fleet, with a large force, for the 
reduction of Charleston, Commodore Whipple did not 
choose to risk an eng.agement, and it was determined to 



156 A'Ax;/;' iriifCAi CYCforEniA. 

put tho cnw^ ami gun^ nf all hi^ ships, except the Ranger, of mathematics un-ler Mr. Dal'dll. He wa*^ for one year 
on shore, tn reinriuci- tlie hulteries. 1 >n the ! Jth of May. I Clerk of tlie County (.'ouH. ami was aiiniitted to the l»ar 
17S0, (leneral Lineoln surrcuilert,-)! the town an^l garri 011. j about lySt). There is a lilank in the reconK of the Su- 
Captain Jones hecanie a prisoner of w ar, w ith liis com- , preme Court where it should be recorded, but he was ad- 
jianions. Imt \\ as ix-leasi,-d on yiaiole, and returned to Rhode mitted to practice in tlie I'ni'ed States Circuit Court De- 
Island catlv in the summer. He remained a prisoner on ' eendiLr 4, 1700. and he almost immedi.itely acipiired a 
l^arole tlirough the remainder of the war. and being thus ' large practice. We extrict tlie lollowing from a notice of 
inca]>aeitated for active si,-i\ice. he went into mercantile Mr. I'ottjr's life and services, from the pen of the late Pro- 
budness at rrovidence, to which ]>laee hi> family had re- ', fessor William G. ( ioddanl. and published in the appendix 
moved. He was at iir-'t associated with hi> brothers, but to his address on the adoption of the new C*mstiluti(m in 
afterward canied on the Iiardware business on hi^ o\\ n ac- Rhode Island. tk'Iivered before the General Assembly at 
Count, in w itich lie continued until hi-^ death. ( tn the jNth Ncwj.ort. May 3, l''^4^: " That portion of his jirofessional 
id' h'ebruarv, 17S7. he married Annu Hunn, dau,;hter of education which Mr. I'otter did not owe to hiniscdf he ac- 
S.imuel I )unn. of Providence. In 17S.S he IiLcame a free- quired under Matthew Kobinsun, a celel'nue<l lawyer. who 
man. He was for some time a Justice of the Peace, and remnvcii from Newport to Xarragansctt in 1750, and there 
in 1S07 was elected one of the fmir member^ of the (len- resitJcd till his death in I79v He eontinueil to pracuce 
cral Assemlily from Proviikiice. He was re-elet.ted each ' law till he reached the age of about fortv years, when the 
year unbl iSii.ahd from Mav 1S09 was .Speaker of that fascinations of |io]itical life wi!h<lrew him from the business 
body. In April, iSi 1, he was elected Governor by the of the courts. As an advocate he was successful, although 
Fedtral jKiilv. and was succesMvelv chosen to the same | he was often obliged to contend with Robinson and Bourne 
oHice uiilil 1S17. Hi^ adminitration extended over the and firadfonl, then <tistingui>hed ])ractilioners at the Rhode 
whole jieriod '>f tlie la^t war with < irrat P.iitain. and his Island bar. Mr. Potter's la-t forensic eff<.)rt was before the 
podlii'ii was \L-ry diilicult and truiig. Although by Sii|)reme Court of the Cnited Stales at Washington, not 
pohtiLal ]>rin(_iplr he was o]i|)oscd to the war. lie devoted many years before his death, when he made tiie opening 
hi- time and abilities to sustain the h-.mor of the State and argument in a case of his own. and was followed by Mr. 
country. In 1S17 he retired hoin public life. He was a ^^"irt in the close. Most of ihis argunient he committed to 
mendjeroflhe Peneficent Congregational Church, of which | writing. In Aj ril. 1793. Mr. Pt>tter was first elected a 
Rev. James Wilson was tlien pastor. He was one of the ' Rejuesentali\ e to the General Assembly, destined to be, 
Fellows of Prow n Cniversity, Pre-ident of the Peace Society, with few interruptions, the scene ujion which he was to 
and o| the Rhode Island Pible Societv. He was also a exliibit his extraordinary powers for more than forty years, 
member of the Societv of (."incinnati boni its beginning. He i.onlinued to represent his nadve town in the I.cgisla- 
and his diploma, signed by Washington ami Kimx, i^ still tuiv uU t 'ctober, 1706. In .\o\ember of that year he was 
jireserved. In jiursuance ')f a s[>e(.ial resolution of the elcLted a Representative in the T'ourth C'-ngress, in the 
Society. (Governor |ones was ^ncceeded in Id^ membership place ^^'i judge Pourne. who had resignctl his seat. He 
by his >on-in-law. He died .A.pril 22, i8j2. leaving his wa> at the same lime chosen to the Fifth Congress, in the 
willow and an only chdd. Harriet. Hi^ daughter was the ])lace of judge lUmrne, who had Iieen elected and had de- 
wife of the late Thomas C. Hopjpin. Governor loncs was dined. Mr. I'otter likewise resigned his seat before his 
a Fetleralist of the old school, a man of the strictest integ- tenn of service had expired, and returned home. In Au- 
rity and the must courtly manners. t^i^i^^U '79^1 J^c' was again returned to the General Assembly 

from South Kingstown, and there he remained till, in 1S09, 
he w as ag dn elected a Representative in Congress. He con- 
tinue' I in Congress w ith his colIc.;gue, the late Hon. Richard 

ftTTKK. Hon. Klish.v R., was Itorn at Kingston jaekson. for si\ year-, w hen they both declined a re-eleclion. 

(then called I ittle Resti, Rhode Island. I7(>4. He In .\ugu>t, I^l6, Mr. Potter was again elected a member 



JJ. 



j "as ilii- v,,ii 1,1 "IhiHiias I'oittr, of that villaije, «hi> of tlit- (iciK-ial As^cnilily; and thciKLOjrwartl lie was il-- 
"'} ° was Colonel of oni' of the lliree R-giiiienls rai~eil for elcLted semi-annually till his death, e\ce|)t in April, iSiS, 



the ilefence of the State in the Revolutionary War. w hen, beinj; a candiilate for the office of Governor, he could 



But he spent most of his youth in the family of his mateni.d u..i become a candidate for the inferior office. Although 

grandfather, Klisha Reynolds, who owned a large farm, he lived in times of high jioliiicil eveitement, and as a 

where he resided, near the village. Like all the sons of politieian was never rec|iiired to delme his position, yet so 

farmers of that day, he worked upon his grandfather's farm, prevailing was his personal inlluence that he was never 

and lor a while in a l.lacksmilh's shop, which he soon left opposed but twice as a candidate for the Legislature. In 

to obtain an education better than the cudinary schools of both of these contests, which were extremely ardent, he 

that day afforded. lie studied the Latin language, etc., succeeded by decided m.ajonties. During his long term nf 

at I'laintield Academy, and surveying and some branches .service in the General Assembly, Mr. Potter was several 



B 10 G RA PH/CA L C\\ Y, OrEPlA. 



•57 



times elected Speaker of the House. Perhaps nn political 
man in this State ever aci|iiired or maintained, often amid 
many adverse circmnstances, a more commanding inllu- 
ence. This influence was the result mainly of his powers 
and qualities as a man : of his rare natural endowments — 
his intuitive perception of character — his large ac |Uaintance 
with the motives, principles, and passions which belong to 
human nature and determine the conduct of men. He 
was not a favorite of the mass of the peo]ile, for, politician 
though he was, he neglected many of the most effective 
means of winning popularity. Over the minds, however, 
of those, whether friends or foes, to whom in political con- 
cernments the people are wont to look for direction, he 
always exerted an extraordinai'y influence. Wlien a Mem- 
ber of Congress, from 1809 to 1S15, he did not. ]i!;e most 
members of his party during that stormy period, sever him- 
self from all familiar associations with his antagonists. On 
the contrary, he mingled freely with them, and though he 
never exposed to suspicion his fidelity as a politician, he 
won them to an easy and generous confidence in tl.e vir- 
tues of the man. After his retirement from Congress, Mr. 
Potter maintained an extensive correspondence with those 
leading politicians at Washington whose political sym- 
pathies were in harmony with his own. He seldom wrote 
for the newspapers except under his own signature : but at 
different times he put forth pamphlets inten(.led to influence 
the politics of the day in Rhode Island. Though he was 
unskilled in the art of composition, yet he always expressed 
himself wdth clearness and vigor, causing the strong con- 
ceptions of his strong mind to fall with decided effect upon 
the minds of others. I)uring his long legislative career, 
Mr. Potter seldom or never made speeches which were the 
work of premeditation. He nexer spoke, however, with- 
out finding willing listeners and producing a strong effect. 
He was always forcible, and at times he was elo [uent. 
When, more especially, the warm current of his kindly 
emotions had ac. |uired a quicker flow by .some appeal to 
his sympathies as a man, his gigantic frame w-ould almost 
tremble with agitated sensibilities. When the unfortunate 
asked for relief, or when the guilty sued for pardon, the 
statesman was lost in the man. On such occasions he has 
been known to pour forth a strain of unruItiN-itefl and 
powerful eloquence, wdiich came from the heart and went 
to the heart. Although Mr. Potter was for so many years 
an active and prominent politician, yet he was not unac- 
customed at intervals to look for pleasure and instruction 
to some of the master spirits of English literature. Of 
Shakespeare he was particularly fond, attracted, doid;)tless, 
by the marvellous knowledge of the springs of human ac- 
tion which is discovered by that unequalled dramatist. 
Mr. Potter loved his native .Stale \\ ith genuine ardor, and 
no man was more indignant when either her rights \\'ere 
invaded or her honor assailed. Hat! he lived to witness 
the trials through which she has just passed unhurt, 
he would have put forth all the energies of his mind 



and all his influence as a politician in vindication of 
the majesty of the laws and the rights of the people. 
Mr. Potter departed this life at bis residence in King- 
ston, .September 26, 1S35, aged seventy years." Mr. Potter 
was from early life an active and influential member of 
the old Federal party, and was the last candidate of 
that party for Governor, in 1818. Governor Knight, the 
opposing candidate, wiis elected, and the Federalists made 
no further efi'ort to retain the control of the State. Al- 
though devoted to the principles of that party, he was 
opposed to the Hartford Convention, and used his influence 
by letters from Washington to prevent the party in this 
State from sending delegates to it. Some of them are still 
preserved. The following extracts from some sketches of 
the Washington society of 1826 were written by Hon. Jo- 
siah Quincy, Jr., of Boston, and published in the New York 
Indcpcudeiil, in 1881. At the time spoken of Mr. Potter 
had been at Washington attending to a lawsuit before the 
United States Supreme Court. "Our hold upon political 
parties is now so narrowed that it is difficult to reali;^e the 
uncompromising sternness with which the original Feder- 
alists kept the faith. To them party had the character of 
a church or a religion, and I cannot better illustrate this 
last remark than by quoting the words of Elisha R. Potter, 
of Rhode Island, a gentleman whom I constantly met at 
Miss Hyer's table, in Washington, and with whom I m.ade 
part of my journey home. He had lieen a member of Con- 
gress in the last century, and had served again during the 
War of 1812. He was one day giving me a pathetic de- 
scription of the gradual fading out of the Federal party, 
and of the pluck with which the standard was followed 
after the day was lost. ' I remember a time,' he said, 
'when we found ourselves in a minority of eleven, and 
some timid soul had called a sort of meeting, to see w hether 
it were worth while to continue the opposition. Some 
were disposed to be dispiiited, and I was asked to say a 
few words to brace them up. Well, it came upon me to 
say only this : " Friends, just remember that we are as many 
as the Apostles were after Judas had deserted them. Think 
what Ihcy diil, and fight it out." That did the business. 
We dill fight it out, and fell fighting for the good cause.' 
There Spoke the uncompromising si)irit of Federalism. . . . 
Mr. Pottter was one of the men who carry about them a 
surplus of \ ital energy, to reheve the wants of others. The 
absurd inquiry whether life were worth living never sug- 
gested itself in his presence. I well remember how the 
faces about Miss Hyer's dining-taljle were wont to be lighted 
up when he entered the room. Mr. Potter seemed to 
carry about with him a certain homespun certificate of au- 
thority, which made it natural for lesser men to accept his 
conclusions. (Jddly enough, I have met only one other 
individual who impressed me as possessing the same sort 
of personal power, and he was one whose place in history 
is certain when the lives of greater and better men are cov- 
ered by ohlivicjn; for the mue of history po-tpones the 



158 



BioGRAriucAi, crcLori.niA. 



claims of St. itc^nu-ii ami po(.-is t" tliose of llie fnuniicrs of 
ri'iigioiis. wlio. lor l;ooi| oi- v\\\, an- iiioil' |iot(.iit factors in 
tlic dcsliiiy of niankinil. IKrcaflcr I may i;ivc an account 
of my \isit to lo-cph Snnlli. in liis lioly city of Nauvoo. 
It is now sufficient to nicnlion tli.il wiicn I nculc tile ac- 
(|uainlancc of the Mormon |iro|4ict I « as liannlcil » itli a 
]irovokin^ sense of ha\ini; knciwn Inm l-etore; or. at least, 
of haviiit^ known some one whom he i^rcatU icsemlded. 
Ami then followetl a painful gropiuy ami peerlnt; 'in the 
(lark luckw.inl ami al>ysni t»f time.' in search of a future 
th.it was proNokinyly umli-coveralile. At last the Wa-hint;- 
ton of 1.S26 came up hefore me. ami the form of IClisha R. 
I'otter thrust itself tliroiiLjli the L;ort;es of memory. Ves, 
that was the man 1 was seeking ; yet the resemblance, after 
all, couhl scarcely be cnlleJ physical, and I am loath to 
boirow the wr.itl imjiressional from the vocabulary of sjiirit 
meiliuins. Iiotli were of commaiifiinj^ appearance, men 
whom it seemc'l natural to obey. Wide as were the dilTer- 
cnces between the lives ami characters of these ,\niei leans, 
there eman.iteil from each of thent a Certain ])eculiar moral 
stress and com]>ul-ion which I ha\'e never felt in the ] res- 
encc of others of their countrynien. The jiosition of Mr. 
I'otter in his native Stile has now failed to a dim tradition. 
It was of the authoritative kind which belons^s to men who 
bear fi-i'iii Nature the best credentials. IIi> .uldress to the 
freemen of the Stale of Khoile Island, |niblished in l.Sio, 
is good reading to-day. There is no document of as many 
]).iges so illustrali\e of the best -entiment and best spiiit of 
the time. The style is th.it of a man not quite accustomed 
to easy wriiing; but there is always dignitv in its some- 
what rugged jieriods, and the address glows with an hon 
oralile self-respect, which is n(.>t too common in the com- 
munications of piililicians wiih their consiiiuents. I 
gladly close these records of Washingtrm society bv re- 
cilling .1 figure so typical of a nuble .Xnierican manhood." 
As pertinent to the remarks of Mr. i,^iuincy as to Mr. I'otter's 
|iersonal a]>]iearance, we will add that it was remarked by ; 
I'aiglishmen who saw hiin in Washington, that in hgure and 
countenance he bore a most striking resemblance to (/harles 
James Kox, the celebr.rted Knglish statesman. There are 
many yet li\iiig who ha\*e heard the traditions of the great 
inlluenceof Mr. I'otter in the piditics .-,f the State. Mr. (io.l- 
ilaril, writing in I.S4;. eight years after his death, speaks of 
** the exlraordinary intellectual and jiolitical ascendenc\-, 
early aci|uireil and to the last nnintained by Klisha R. i'ot- 
ter,'' and the l.ate Samuel IJexter, of Uoston, formerly a mem- 
ber of (.'ongress from M.issacluisetts, said of him, " that ( lod 
.■\Imiglit\- had done nuirc for that man than for anv man he 
ever knew." Mr. I'otter married, fir-t, Mrs. Mary I'erkins. 
widow of Joseph I'erkins. who left no children; second, 
Mary, daughter of I'.udiiii Mawney, of East Cireenwich (of 
liemh Huguenot ilcsceiit, see Rider's /i'//,i,/t- hlaiui His- 
torioil yy.ii/ftSo. 51. C'hildien: I, |-'.lislia Re\ tlolds 1 see 
another notice 1 ; J, Thomas .Maw iiey, noi\ .Medical Director 
luUeil >tates .Navy; 5, William H Poller, attorney-at law. 



formerly resiiling in fiovidence, now at Kingston, married 
Mrs. .Sarah C. Swann. daughter of Hon. John Whipple, of 
Providence ; 4, James B. Mason, now Pavniaster I'nited 
States .\riny. married Eliza, daughter of .Asa I'otter Esip, 
formerly Secretary of State of Rhode Island; 1;, Mary 
I';ii/abetli I'otter. I See also notices of Mr. Potter in V\>- 
dike's .\'arrn^tifn/if CJmrJi and in Updike's Menioh-^ of 
A'/ith/r Jslttiul Jiar, under head of William Channing.) 



'(.KTsXE. IbiN. Bl NJ.VMIN. was born in Pnstol. Sep- 
tember 0. lyi^St and was a graduate of lLii'\aril 
'.:■,■.•. ^ College ill the class of 1775. He studied law , and 
"''^'1 having been ailmitted to the bar, paacticed his pro 
fession in Providence. His talents and public spirit early 
brought him into notice among his fellow-cilizens. A\'heii, 
in lanuarv, 1776, two regiments were raised in Rhode 
Island in compliance with the Act of the (Jeneral .-Xssembly, 
he was apjrointed as (,)uartermaster of the SecontI Regiment 
called into service. In August of this year he was rec- 
ommended as an P'nsign in this regiment to receive Crinti- 
nental pay. In Se|itember.this regiment. underthe command 
of ColoneU'hristo|iherI.i]ipitt. was ordered to Long Island to 
join the forces under (jeiieral Washington. But it was not 
onK' as a sohlier tiiat .Mr. Bourne served his nati\e ^tate. 
.\s a member of the (ieneral Assembly he rendered her 
good service. He took a deep interest in the ratification of 
the Federal Constitution by Rhode Island. There was 
much op]>ositi(m to the measure in different ]iarts of the 
State. .\ committee was chosen by the town ol Providence 
to petition the ( ieneral Assembly to call a convention to 
take the whole matter of the acceptance of the Constitution 
into Consideration. .\ majority of the Ceneral .Assembly 
voted not to grant the prayer of the ]>ctitioners. A sufficient 
number of the Stales, eleven out of the tliiiteen original 
.States, having ratified the Constitution, the new government 
of the Union w as organized in New York, the 4th of March, 
17S9. The situation of things in Rhode Island was pecu- 
liar; she was. in some soil, a foreign country, in the midst 
of the L'niled States. She could claim no ]irotection under 
the Hag of tlie L'nion, and her commerce and navigation 
were without protection in foreign parts. Congress could 
reg.iril her citizens imly as foreigners, and subject them to 
duties as such. Thus situated. Providence chose a com- 
mittee, of which President James Manning was the chair- 
man, ami Benjamin L^ourne the second on the list, on vshich 
w ere the names among others of Nicholas Brown. John 
Brown, and Welcome .Arnold, to draft a petition to Con- 
gress, prajing for due consideration to Rhode Island in the 
emergency in which she now found heiselt ; and the peti- 
tion was transmitted to Congress by the liamls of Piesident 
.Manning and .Mr. liourne. In November, 17S9. North 
Carolina, one of the two ."st-ates which had failed to ratify 
the (~onstitution. adopted it, and Rhoile Island was lelt 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



■59 



alone, a comnuinity by herself among all the other States of 
the Union. At the January session, 1790, of the General 
Assembly, Mr. Bourne renewed his motion for the calling 
of a convention, and it was carried in the lower House by a 
handsome majority. The Senate after a warm discussion of 
the subject voted to adjourn to Sunday morning. One of 
the Senators, who was a minister of the gospel, feeling that 
his first duty was to go home and perform his Sabbath ser- 
vices, the Senate was tied, and the casting vote was with 
Governor Collins, who threw it so as to make the Senate 
concur with the House. It is a familiar fact in Rhode 
Island history that the proposed convention to which Provi- 
dence sent Benjamin Bourne as one of its delegates, met in 
May, 1790, in Newport, and on the 29th of this month the 
Federal Constitution was ado])ted. In the August follow- 
ing President Washington visited Providence. -'X committee, 
of which .Mr. Bourne was a member, was appointed to draw 
up and present to him an address, which may be found in 
.Staples's Annals, pp. 354-355. He prepared a freedom 
service in 1797 when President Adams visited Providence. 
A few months after the ratification of the Constitution of 
the United .States, Rhode Island chose Mr. Bourne as her 
first Representative to the I-'irst Congress. He was re-elected 
to the Second, Third, and Fourth Congresses. .Subsequently 
he was appointed, September, 1801, Judge of the United 
States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. 
Judge Bourne was a Trustee of Brown University for sev- 
enteen years, 1792-1809. The University conferred on him 
the degree of Doctor of Laws, in 1801. He died in 1S08. 



ffW^VES, Thom.'VS Poynton, was horn in the town of 
(i^^ Beverly, Massachusetts, April 9, 1769. Ilis parents 
p."l) (lied when he was a child, and he wa-s placed under 

His early 



\ % the care of relatives residing in Boston. 



6 a education was obtained in the public schools of that 
city. He made such progress in the work of self-discipline, 
that he ac^juired habits of correctness in expression and 
writing which distinguished him in after-life. His school- 
days, however, were of short duration. At the early age 
of thirteen he obtained a situation as a clerk in the count- 
ing-house of Nicholas Brown, one of the " Four Brothers," 
of the Brown family. He exhibited traits of character, 
which, from the outset, won the confitlence of his employer, 
and caused him to be intrusted with the discharge of duties 
which are not usually assigned to one so young as he was. 
The death of Mr. Brown occurred in 1791. The event 
found Mr. Ives occupying a most responsible position in 
the mercantile house with which he was connected, and in 
1792 a partnership was formed between himself and the 
son of his late employer, under the title of Brown & Ives, 
who came to be regarded as among the most honorable 
and successful merchants of the times in which they lived. 
Of this di-tinguished house. Professor Goddard remarks 



that " it pushed its enterprises in every (juarter of the globe, 
an(.l it is not too much to say, that its uncompromising ad- 
herence to the principles of high mercantile probity has 
contributed, in no small degree, to elevate, at home and 
abroad, the character of the ,\merican mcrcliant." During 
the forty-three years that Mr. Ives was in business, he 
touched life on many sides. With a rare devotion to every 
department of his special vocation, even to its remotest de- 
tails, he united an intelligent interest in many institutions 
in Providence which felt the benefit of his constant over- 
sight and his beneficent aid. For twenty-four years he 
was the President of the Providence Bank, and placed it 
in the elevated position it has always held among the banks 
of the city. Vox fifteen years he w.as President of the 
Providence Institution for Savings, which also was placed 
upon the firm, stable foundation, on which, for so many 
years, it has stood. He was, for years, the generous friend 
and patron of Brown University, and for forty-three years 
one of its most faithful trustees. " From the narrow preju- 
dices respecting learning, and literary men, which mer- 
chants sometimes imbibe, he was entirely exempt. He re- 
spected the dignity of true science, and he estimated cor- 
rectly the importance of thorough intellectual discipline." 
Mr. Ives felt and manifested a profound regard for the 
institutions of religion. Amid the pressure of business, he 
never failed habitually to read the Holy .Scriptures. He 
had the spirit and temper of a Christian, and in his out- 
ward life he manifested them. His death occurred in May, 
1S35. Mr. Ives married, in 1792, Hope Brown, the only 
surviving daughter of Nicholas Brown. Among their 
children were Charlotte Rhoda, born December 18, 1792; 
Moses Brown, born July 21, 1794; Robert Hale, born 
September 16, 179S; Hope Brown, born May 14, 1S02. 



^ifjilfp^AI.BONE, Colonel Fr.vncis, was the son of 
^l^jii Francis Malbone, of Virginia, and the grand- 
^tfSa^ son of Adolphus Malbone, of that colony. 
^£ He entered into business in New'port with his 
•"•6' brother, under the firm name of Evan & Francis 
Malbone, which partnership was dissolved by the death of 
Evan in 17S4, when the surviving partner became associated 
with Daniel Mason. The business was then carried on 
under the firm name of Malbone & Mason, but it was not 
successful, and the connection was soon dissolved. Colonel 
Malbone lost heavily in trade, but confidence in him 
was not impaired, and his fellow-townsmen were always 
ready to honor him when an opportunity occurred. He 
made a number of voyages as supercargo, and went out 
in the ship Mount Hope in 1801, on her first voyage to the 
East Indies. In 1S05 he again sailed in her in the same 
capacity, beliexing that the sea-voyage would restore him 
to health. When he returned in the ship, October 12, 
1806, greatly benefited, the Xew|iort .-Vrtillery came out 



I65 



HIUCK. Willi. AL C\ \l OPEIHA. 



In Will,' line him, :iiiii l;.i\c him a imlilic i(.-^L-|itii>n. Ili^ 
.itlacliiiicnl tti this totiiji.uiy wa^ \ir\- i^ruat. II'- lui'l Iill-ii 
instnmiciital in icoiMani/m;; il al'lrr tiic waf, x\\'\ at the 
lime or liis ih-al'i he lia I lii-un;.;lil il I" a ln,;h cheree uf ehiei- 
ency. l'*oi- ei;4hteen )Lai-. lie was at the liea-i nf the enm- 
pany, hi^i ciiininissioii JuninL; heeii ilateil in I7')2. That 
year he was ii|) fur (/undress. 'I'd injure Iiis jiruspecls a 
!-tury was ciiculateil that he was engaged in the slave tiatle. 
This having reaeheil tlie eais uf George Ciiaini'lin, he w rote 
to Thomas Arnohl ami Moses l>rown, of rro\iileiiee, as 
foUous: •• S'ou lune uniloulitedly liear.l tliat Mr. Francis 
Matlioiie is a eainlithite t'or Representative in t.'ongress. 
Ills opponents ma\' enilea\'or to intliienee the nunds of 
many good jieopie against him, as Iieing friendly to slavery. 
Mr. Mallione has. since the war, and now- is, concerned in 
a large distiller}-, and his eircnnistances and situation are 
otherwise favorahk- for prosecuting the African trade. But 
those leaiiing inoti\es, « ith the addition cd' that powerful 
aigumeiil, the pm-pect of great gain, has not induced him 
to lie concerned in tlie slave trade. As I had an ageiiev I 
in ]ireseiiting Mr. Malhone as a candidate, I think it Imt ) 
just to make this communication, .ind, further, to add, that 
Mr. Mallione imssesses a good start, great integrity, and 
good aliilitiis, and should he lie favored with an election, I 
think he would do honor to the St.ite, and on those groumls 
hope he ni.iy fun e your suppmt." .-Vt the time of his death 
Colonel .Mallione had gone tiirough the whole gradation of 
office, and had faithfully and diligently served the State 
and town as a memlier of the I ieneral .\ssemlilv and as a 
Kcpre-ent.itive and Senator in (.'ongress. He left Newport 
I-'ehruai-y 20, iNoo, to take his seat in the L'nited States ' 
Senate, ami on Sunday, the fourth day of the following 
jum-, while ascending the s|e]is of the (.'apltol with lion. 1 
Klisha K. I'otter to .ittend di\ine service, he fell, and im- 
mediately expired. His death was announced to the Sen- 
ate by his colleague, Mr. M.itthewson, and that body voted 
to attend his funeral and to erect a suitable monument to 
his ineniory. He was buried at W.ishington "uiih legis- 
lative and national honors." When the news of his death 
was leceived at Xeuiiort the flags of the shipping in the 
harbor and at Fort Wolcott were disjilayed at half-mast, 
and at sunset the Artillery Company lired minute guns. 
Colonel .Mallione was lifty years of age at the time of his 
death. 



INtiSIiL I-IS', JiiiiN, I,I,.M., an eminent educator, of 
Rhode island, the son of lohn and liooithv ( Lea- 
vcnsi Kingsbury, was liorn at South Coventry, 
T Connecticut, May 26. iSoi. His early lile was 
'-." passed on his father's farm, where he ac'|uired those 
habits of industry and steady application to whatever duty 
he was called to perform which so deiidcdiv marked his 
character in sulisei|uent life. He obt.iiiicd his preliminarv 
edui .itioii in the cHstiict school in his native tow 11, which he 
attended during the winter niunths until he was fifteen 



years ol age, l-'ur I'our successi\e w inters he taught school, 
while pursuing his classical studies under the tuition of 
Re\-. ('haiiiice)- l>ocith,a clergvmaii in South Coveiitr\-, and 
entered brown L'iii\er-ily in September, 1S22. The state 
ol Iiis tiiiaiiccs was such that he was obliged to de\ote a 
]iart i-il each )-ear dining his Lollege course to teaching, in 
order to earn money enough to defray his necessary ex- 
]ienses. Such, however, was his ability .as a scholar, and 
so earnestly did he devote himself to his work, that, at his 
graduation in 1S26, he received the second honors of his 
class, a class in \\hich were such men as (jeorge Burgess, 
afterward Misho|i of the l''.pisco|ial diocese of Maine, Kleazer 
Carter I Iutcliinsi.in, afterward I'lesideiit of Kenijier College, 
and Edwards .\. I'ark, the eminent professor in .-\ndover 
Theological Seniinarv. .Soon after his graduation, Mr. 
Kingsbury became associated with Mr. G. A. Dewitt, in 
the management of a private school of high rank in I'rovi- 
ilence. This relation continued not far from two years, at 
the end ol w liich period he comineuced the ■' Voting Tadies' 
High Sl1ioi.iI," which for a time was connected with the 
scliool already relc-rred to, and then became an indciiendent 
institution. To the de\elopmeiit and fostering of the in- 
terests of this school he devoted thirty out of the forty-eight 
\ears ot his acti\e life. It was j.redicted by sciine that such 
a school as he proposed to establish would be a failure. He, 
however, felt conhdent of success. When he began his 
Work the ]iresent excellent school-system of Providence 
was in its infancy. There was no school of a high grade 
to which parents could send their daughters to recei\e an 
accomplished education. The conlidence with which Mr. 
Kingsbury commenced his laliors w-as neither ili-tinu-d nor 
iriisplaced. At once all his seats were t.ikcn, and for thirty 
years, " w ithcuit an) solicitaticin, without exen an ad\ertise- 
nicnt," his scliool-ioom w-as always full to overflowing. 
The a] ipli cations ill aihance of the full nnmlier, w Inch came 
to be forty-three, varied from twent}' to sixtv, and when, 
after having decided to close his connection with the school 
at the i-iid of thirt\- \c-ars, he carried hi^ purpose into execu- 
tion, there were thirty-two names on his list of apjdicants. 
The beautiful schoobhouse, 235 lieiielit Street, op]iosite the 
Central Congregational Church, was built under the special 
direction, and in accordance with the excellent taste of Mr. 
Kingsliury. and at the time of its erection was considered 
such a model in its way that it attracted many visitors, not 
only fronr Providence but elsewhere. It was not till the 
example was follow cd in many places, and when c\en the 
]iul)lic school buildings c'f the city had undergone a great 
change in this respect, that this room ceased to be an object 
of attiaction. ( )n completing his long tcini of ser\ice as 
|irincipal of the •' Young Ladies' High School," Mr. Kings- 
bur\ entered ujion his duties as Cominissioner of Pulilic 
Schools of the St.ite, ha\ing been already elected to that 
honorable position. The full, Comprehensive report of his 
labors as school commissioner may be found in the bound 
\oluine of the " Rhode Island School Reports" for 1S58- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



62, it being the first in the volume. In the year 1S59 Mr. 
Kingsbury resigned his office as Commissioner of Public 
Schools, having accepted the Presidency of the Washing- 
ton Insurance Company, which position he held during the 
remainder of his life. Among various important j^osts of 
honor and service which he filled, the following are worthy 
of note. In early life he became a member of the Provi- 
dence Franklin .Society, of which for many years he was 
the .Secretary, subsequently the keeper of the caliinet, and 
for a time President. He was among the original founders, 
in 1S30, of the -American Institute of Instruction, a Coun- 
cillor of its Board from 1830 to 1837, one of its Vice-Presi- 
dents from 1S37 to 1855, when he was elected President, 
holding that office till 1857, when he declined a re-election. 
Of the Rhode Lsland Institute of Instruction he was the 
President from 1S45 to 1856. His " Bible Class" deserves 
a passing notice. We have the record of it for nineteen 
years, which by no means covers the whole period of his 
connection with it. During that period he gave Bible in- 
struction to about four hundred young men, among whom 
were more than one hundred and fifty students of Brown 
University. For eight years he was a corporate member of 
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
For several years he was a Trustee of the Butler Hospital 
for the Insane. In 1844 he was chosen a member of the 
Board of Trustees of Brown University, and took an active 
part in raising the subscription of $125,000 for the more 
complete endowment of the college. In 1S53 he was 
chosen a Fellow of the University and Secretary of the Cor- 
poration. For twenty-one years, 1853-1S74, he performed 
the duties of that office. "Brown University," says Presi- 
dent Robinson, " has had few, if any, more faithful or 
more devoted and laborious servants than Mr. Kingsbury. 
His regard for the University was shown not only in his 
life-long services in its behalf, but in his directions that 
after his decease there should be given to it a valuable 
collection of shells which he possessed, as well as so many 
of the most valuable of the books of his library as the 
librarian of the University might choose to select from it." 
In 1S56 the University conferred on him the honorary de- 
gree of Doctor of Laws. Mr. Kingsbury married, August 
19, 1S34, Mary M., daughter of Hon. Thomas Burgess, of 
Providence. Their children were Mary B., Thomas B., 
Sarah, Elizabeth H., lohn, Alice, Anna, Henry J., and 
Emily R. 



§wmRf)Wi\E, Solomon, M.I)., was born in Providence. 

^t§P Rhode Island, March II, 1753, and was a de- 
_jj scendant of Leonard Drowne, who came from 

6m> the west of England to America soon after the ac- 
'T cession of Charles the Second. Leonard Drowne 

settled in Kittery, Maine, where he carried on shipbuilding; 

but in 1692, in consequence of the Indian wars, removed his 

family and business to Boston, where he died October 31. 
21 



1729. He is mentionetl by Backus, in his history, as being 
one of the founders of the first church in Kitter)-, Maine, in 
16S2. His grave is in the old Copp's Hill Burying-ground, 
Boston. His eldest son, Solomon, born January 23, 16S1, 
was a ship-builder at Bristol, Rhode Island, where he died 
October 9, 1730. The grandson, Solomon, father of the 
subject of this sketch, was born October 4, 170&; settled 
in Providence as a merchant in 1730, and until his death, 
which occurred June 25, 1780, bore a prominent part in 
the affairs of the town, which he represented in the Gen- 
eral .Assembly. Dr. Drowne's mother, Mercy (Tillinghast) 
Arnold, was a granddaughter of the Rev. Pardon Tilling- 
hast, of Providence. After pursuing a thorough prepara- 
tory course of studies. Dr. Drowne entered Rhode Island 
College (now Brown University), where he graduated w-ith 
the highest honors in the class of 1773. He pursued his 
medical studies with Dr. William Bowen, and in the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, from which institution, and also from 
Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, he received medical 
degrees. After graduating he entered the Army of the 
Revolution as a Surgeon, and served from the beginning 
of the war until its close. In the fall of 17S0, he went on 
a cruise as Surgeon in the private sloop-of-war "Hope," 
his journal of which willi a genealogy of the family was 
published in 1S72. When peace was declared he took up 
his residence in his native town, where he pursued the 
practice of medicine until 17S4, when, in order to perfect 
himself in his profesMon, he went abroad and prosecuted 
his studies in the great medical schools of Europe. He 
visited various hospitals and medical schools in England, 
Holland, Belgium, and France, and formed the acquaint- 
ance of eminent physicians and surgeons and men distin- 
guished in other walks of life. While in France he en- 
joyed the friendship of Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jefferson, and 
other noted men. On his return to Providence he resumed 
the practice of medicine ; but in 1788 went west and took 
part in the settlement of Marietta, Ohio, participating with 
General St. Clair and others in the Indian treaties at Fort 
Harmer with Corn Planter and other noted chiefs. While 
he:e he pronounced a funeral eulogy on General Varnum, 
one of the founders of Marietta, and delivered the first 
anniversai-y address on its settlement, April 7, 1789. Sub- 
sequently he resumed practice in Providence, but in con- 
sequence of impaired health, removed with his family to 
Virginia, in 1792, paying, on his way, a visit to Washing- 
ton at Mt. Vernon, and settling for a time in Morgantown. 
Early in 1794, the danger from the border incursions of 
the Indians l)eing over, he proceeded to Union, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he resided for seven years. In 1801 he re- 
turned to Rhode Island, and soon afterwards settled in the 
town of Foster, where he resided till his death, February 5, 
1S34, devoting himself to professional duties, to his ex- 
tensive botanical garden, and to his scientific, classical, 
and literary studies. Here he built a spacious mansion on 
an elevation, which, on account of its salubrity, he called 



iC; 



juo a A'. -I P///L ',iL CYCL on: dja. 



Miiuiit U\L;cia. ni> Iinianioal ij;arilcii aci|uirL'iI great ii'>- 
loricly on account of ii^ si/c ami the variety ami lieauly of 
it^ plants, as \\<-II as frmn tlie chcunistance tliat it w as tlie iirst 
gar.len of tlie kind in the State. Dr. Drowne liUeil several 
pul)lio olliccs. In iSii he was a]>i>ointial Pinfessor of 
Materia Mecliea anil Kotany in IJrow n rni\ersi[y, and i^ave 
cr)Urses of lectures in that institution, whieli won for liiin 
the reputation of beiny one of the most popular scieiititic 
lecturers of his time. In 1S19 he was elected a delet;ate 
to the Convention which formed the National Pharmaco- 
[to'ia, 1>\' the Klioile Island Medical Society, of \\diich he 
was a Nice I'resiilent. He took an active jiart in the or- 
ganisation aii<l |)roceedini;s of the Rhode Island Society 
for the I'aicourai];enient of I)oiiiestic Industry, heforc which 
he dcli\crcd addiesses on seveial occasions, the last one 
lieini; on the 25il of S,|iteinl)er, l8;,5, when he was over 
eighty years of nge. In 1S24, in connectimT with his sou 
William Itrowiie. he pul'lished ilie /-i/rw-v-.t' GiiiJt\ a 
comi>rehensive and \alnalile work im husl>andry and gar- 
dcnnig. He coutrilaited \'aiious scientihc and literary 
aiticles to tlie journals of the day, and participated in 
the proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, and other learnei.1 bodies of which he was a 
member. His lines to the memory of I ir. Jo,eph War- 
ren, written shonly after the battle of linnker Hill, arc 
truly jiatiiotic, and evince the brotherly regard that existed 
between them professionally anil as ".Sons of l.ibeity.'* 
During his life he delivered many botanical lectures, pub- 
lic orations, and addresses, highly creditable to him as a 
rnan of retined taste and varied aciiuisitions, among which 
may be nrentioned several commemorative of .American 
Independence — his ludogy on Washington, February 22. 
1800, and his oration in aid of the cause of the ( iroeks, 
Febru.iry 2},, 1X24. In ly.S; he was elected a I-ellow of 
Drown Lhiiversity, and held the oflice until his death. He 
was for some time Secretary of that corpor.ition. Dr. 
Drowne was one of the most useful and intluenlial men of 
his time, and highly esteemed for his sterling traits of 
character. He married, November 20, 1777, Kli/alicth, 
daughter of 'Ihomas and llonoia Russell, of Roston. She 
was bmu .\pril 10, 1750, and dud at Mount Ilygeia, in 
Foster, Rhode Island, May 15, I.S44. She lived in Roston 
until the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, when, 
with her brother Thomas, she came to Providence, and 
formed part of the family oY her brother Jonathan Russell, 
who, in 1777, remmed to Holliston, Massachusetts, where 
she was married to Dr. Drowne. .She appreciated the 
tastes of the doctor, was fond of flowers and cultivated the 
choicest varieties both in her house and garden. Their 
children were, Sophia, born March 11, 1770, and died in 
Providence, June 20, 1784; ITi^a fvussell, born December 
j;i. 17S1, and died in hosier, .Vpiil ^n, |8()5; l.'ornelia, 
boin September 30, t7S,l, and died in I'oster, January 26, 
1S47; Sophia, born June o, 1780, ,iiid died in I'ro\idence, 
1 iitober 21), 1780; Sophi.i. bom I ictober 9, 17S7, and died 



in I'"osier. .\ugnst 29, 1S16; Sarah, l.iorn Septendier 10, 
1790; William, born I ictober 21), 1793, and died in Fos- 
ter, Inne 15. 1874; Si.ilomon Horace, born August 24, 
179(1, and died in Woodstock, Counecticut, |uly 14, 1848; 
and Henry ilernardin, born A]iiil i), 1799, and died in 
Providence, February 7, 1S73. Idi/a Russell Drowne for 
upwartls of half a century manifested great interest in the 
botanical garden of her father, which was the object of her 
constant care. She had also a talent for painting in water 
colors, and many evidences of her skill have been preserved 
in the familv. Miss Sarah I'ruwne, who is now (iSSo) 
living at an advanced age, early exhibited superior poetical 
talent, which she has cultivated through life, ami has also 
devoted much time to the study of classic literature. Wil- 
liam Drowne became a clergyman and jihilanthropist, and 
his brother, Solomon Horace, was an agriculturist, of 
Woodstock, Connecticut. Heniy Bernard in Drowne, a 
sketch of w horn appjears in this volume, founded, conjointly 
with his sisters, the Fruit Hill Classical Academy, and ilc- 
voted his lil'e piiiiciially to the management of several 
estates and cither financial trusts, in which he was noted 
for his probity and business capiacity. 




AXtrV, Rfv. JiiN.VTII.VN. D.D., the second Presi- 
dent of lirown University, was liorn in Attlebor- 
ough, Massachusetts, September 2, 1768. Both 
Ji l(!l[ his gi-andfather and father were persons of ac- 
1 1 I knowledged merit in the communities in which 
they lived. His mother, Ruth Newell, was eminent for 
her intellectual abilities, and her consistent Chri-tian char- 
acter. In his boyhood days young Maxcy developed those 
talents which made him so marked a character in subse- 
quent life. Especially ditl he jiossess a singular gift for 
]iublic speaking. Having prepared for college under the 
diiection of Rev, William Williams, of Wrentham, Massa- 
chtisetts. whose school was one of the institutions of the 
times, he entered lirown University when he was but fifteen 
years of age, and grailuated \\ ith the liighest honors of his 
class in 1787, on which occa-ion he delivered a poem on 
"the Pro-pects of .America," and the valedictory address. 
-Although he was but nineteen years of age, he received, 
immediately on graduating, an appointment as tutor in the 
University, which office he held for four years. His re- 
ligious convictions having been settled and decidetl, he 
made a public profession of his faith and united with the 
F'irst Baptist Church in Providence, of which Rev. Dr. 
Manning was at the time the ]iastor. By this church he 
was licensed to preach, .\pril I, 1790. It was not long 
before he was called to be the jiasior of the church of w Inch 
he \\as a member, and was ordamei-l Se]»lember 8, 1791- 
He remained in this position for a short time only, in con- 
seipicnce of having been elected Presiilent of Brown Uni- 
versity. He entered ujion the duties of his office September 



BlOCRArillCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



163 



8, 1792, at the early age of twenty-four years. His ailmin- 
istratiun was commenced under the most auspicious cir- 
cumstances, and the college greatly advanced in the popular 
regard while he was in office. His services were in con- 
stant demand on occasions of public interest as an elo<|Uent 
orator, and he fully met the expectations of his friends 
whenever he stood up to address the assemlilies that met 
to listen to him. When he wa^ thirty three years of age 
Harvard College conferred on him the degree of Doc- 
tor of Divinity, thus placing him among the very few in 
his denomination upon whom that institution lias bestowed 
this degree. His term of office as President of Brown 
University continued ten years (1792-1802), when he was 
chosen to succeed President Jonathan Edwards, the 
younger, as President of Union College, Schenectady, New 
York. He remained there but two years, and then was 
called to be the first President of the newly established 
South Carolina College, at Columbia, South Carolina. He 
entered upon the duties of his office in 1S04, and was the 
President of this college for sixteen years (1804-18201. 
His death occurred June 4, 1820. The wife of Dr. Maxcy 
was Susan Hopkins, a daughter of Commodore Esek 
Hopkins, of Providence. Four sons and several daughters 
were the fruit of this marriage. One of his sons was Hon. 
Virgil Maxcy, who was distinguished in political life, and 
whose unfortunate death, by the explosion of a gun on 
board the United States Steamship Princeton, February 28, 
1844, awakened so many sympathies throughout the coun- 
try. The published writings of President Maxcy are very 
numerous. They have been collected in a volume by 
Rev. Romeo Elton, who also prepared a memoir of his 
life. He was among the most brilliant and gifted men 
wdiose names are to be found in the annals of Rhode 
Island history. 



P"jESSER, Rev. Asa, D.D., LL.D., the third Pres- 
ItsKjiS i'lt^'itof Brown University, was born in Methuen, 
pSi'Pf^ Massachusetts, in the year 1769. His boyhood 
T T days were spent on his father's farm. He pur- 
J Ib sued his preparatory studies with Rev. Dr. He/e- 
kiah Smith, of Haverhill, Massachu.setts, and Rev. Mr. 
Williams, a Scotch clergyman in Windham, New Hamp- 
shire. He made such progress in his studies that he was 
able to enter Brown University at the age of seventeen, 
nearly two years in advance. He was graduated in the 
class of 1790, and the next year was chosen Tutor, which 
office he held till 1796, when he was chosen to fill the 
chair of Professor of the Learned Languages. In iSoi he 
was ordained according to the usages of the Baptist denom- 
ination. In 1799 he was transferred from the chair to 
which he had been elected in 1796, to that of the Professor 
of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and, upon the 
resignation of President Maxcy, was chosen President of 



the University, which office he held for twenty-four years 
(1802-1826). His connection with the institution as a 
pupil and a member of the Faculty covered a period of 
nearly forty years. On resigning the Presidency in 1826 
he was called by his fellow-citizens of Providence to fill 
important civil offices, the duties of which he discharged 
in such a way as to secure their confidence and esteem. 
His closing years were spent upon what was then a fami 
in the suburbs of Providence, but now almost in the heart 
of the city. President Messer died October 11, 1836. The 
honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity w^as conferred upon 
him by Brown University in 1 802, and by Harvard Univer- 
sity in 1820. In 181 2 the University of Vermont gave him 
the degree of Doctor of Laws. The children of President 
Messer and his wife, Deborah Angell, were a son and three 
daughters. The former died when quite young. Two of the 
daughters were married, one to the Hon Sidney Williams, 
of Taunton, Massachusetts, and the other to the Hon. Horace 
Mann, the first Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of 
Education. Full and interesting sketches of the peculiar 
characteristics of President Messer, by Professor Edwards 
A. Park, D.I)., of Andover, and the Hon. William L. 
Marcy, may be fiiun<l in Si)rague's Annnh, vol. vi., pp. 
3^7-334- 



^^^pKANO, Rev. Stei'IIKN, M.D., the third son of Rev. 
fS^JI John and Sarah (Stites) Gano, was born in the city 
fe'i'?) of New York, December 25, 1 762. His father 
%' I* was, at the time of his birth, pastor of the Gold Street 
% i, Baptist Church, lli^ ancestor, Francis Gano, or, as 
it was originally spelled, Ganeaux, was a French refugee 
from the island of Guernsey, who settled in New Rochelle, 
New York, w here he died at the great age of one hundred 
and three. The grandson of Francis, Daniel Gano, married 
Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel Britton, of Staten Island. 
One of their children, John, was the father of the subject 
of this sketch. It was his intention to have placed 
his son under the care of Dr. Manning, whose wife w'as 
his aunt on his mother's side, and that he should take the 
full course of study in Rhode Island College. But the 
trouliles growing out of the Revolutionary War prevented, 
and he studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Stites, and at 
the age of nineteen entered the American army as a sur- 
geon. Having became a Christian, his mind was turned 
to the Christian ministry, and August 2, 1786, he was or- 
dained. He acted as a missionary in several of the settle- 
ments on the Hudson, and was pastor successively at Hills- 
dale and Hudson, New York. He received, in 1792, a 
call to the I'irst Baptist Church in Providence, and con- 
tinued to act as pastor of that church during the remainder 
of his life, a period of about thirty-six years. His min- 
istry was a very prosperous one, and the church grew in 
numbers and strength during his busy pastorate. Dr. Gano 
was married four times — first, October 25, 17S2, to Cor- 



i64 



l^rOCRArillCAL CYCI. OrEPL f. 



nclin. a dniii;IUi.T of i'npl.iin Iiniali \'a\asruir. nn ofl'icer in 
the Eni;lisli navy, llun a ir^iiknt nl Xcw ^'ork. Their 
children were two sons and Iwo (laui;htLr-. 'I'lic dani;liter'i 
married, one, Rev. John llolroyd, and the other. Rev. 
David Benedict, D.l).. tlie well l<no\vn anlhor of the His- 
tory of the Haiitists. His second wife was Mary, daughter 
of Colonel Tallmadsje, and sister of (.'ohmel James Tall- 
madge, of New York. Uy this marriage he had one son 
and three daughters. Of the latler, S.dly marrieil Rev. 
I'eter Ludlow ; .Maria T., Rev. 1 ir. I leiiry Jackson ; Cla- 
rissa, tiist, Newton Ri.il'hins, and second, fanres Ludlow. 
His third wife was Mary, daugliter of Prol'essor Jose])h 
Tirown,the second of the " Kour lirothcrs" Hrown. Their 
only child was Idi/a H., marrieil to Josepli liogers. His 
fouith wife was Mrs. Joanna l.atting, of HilKdale, New 
\'ork, w ho survived him many years. L)r. Gano died .\ugusl 
iS, iSj8. lirow II Uni\'ersity, of which institution he was a 
trustee thirty-four years, conferred on him, in iSoci, the 
honorarv degree of Master of Arts. He was I.)octor by 
virtue of liis connection \\-itli the medical jirofession. Ap- 
lireciali\e notices of Ijr. Gano may be lound in Sprague's 
Aftiiii/^, vol. vi. 



^1\BC(>CK. Ho.\. II.VMKI., was horn in North .'-^ton- 
ington, (Viiineclicut, August ji, 1762. He learned 
the trade of a blacksniith, and began Inisiness at 
• * Potter Hill, where he married and spent his life. He 
^ 'i served, tor lort\" --ix year>, as Justice of tlie fVace, 
and iVir nine years, from 1S07 to iNio, was a member of 
the l"]>per House in the Slate Legislature, retaining the 
othce by a unanimous vote. For ten years he tilleil, with 
honor, the Bench, as Judge of the County Court for Wash- 
ington County, and was the intimate friend and counsellor 
of (.iovernors Fenner, Knight, and others. He was a true 
gentleman of the old school, and a devout Christian. For 
fifty-eight years he was a deat nn in the Salibatarian Church 
in Hopkinton, in which he al^o served, as chorister, for 
nearly half a century. Mr. Babcock tirmly adhered to 
Sound evangelical doctrines, and illustrated them in lii> 
pri\ate and public life. He liecame widely known, and 
was called for, near and far, as an arbiter and counsellor 
in difficult cases in Church and State. His brother, iJr. 
Christopher A. Babcock, was a distinguished surgeon in 
the Revolution, and died in the service. Mr. liabcock 
ser\ed, for a time, in the Revolutittnary Army. He died 
September iS, 1S46, aged eighty-four. 



»y^GON, Ri;v. Aer.vm, was born in Hopkinton, in 1763. 
)^/SK The family name piior to iSoo was usually spelled 
!ft-;C McCoon, and indicates a Scottish origin. Abram 
t°X passed through the tiials of the Revolution with 
I I manly and patriotic devotion. He made a pri.>fession 



of his Christian faith in 17.86. and unitetl with the .Sabba- 
tarian Church in Hopkiirton, in 1791. Called to the office 
of an Evangelist August 17, 1798, he complied, and was 
ordained on the 2('th of the same month. His brother, 
Rev. Asa Coon, and nephew. Rev. William Coon, were both 
ordained in Hopkinton, and settled over churches in Rens- 
selaer County, New York. Being an eloquent speaker, 
sound in doctrine, wise in council, kind anil faithful, he 
won and held a high place in jiublic esteem. Mr. Coon 
married Prudence Kdwards. He ilied in Hopkinton \'il- 
lage, Septemlier 28, 1S13. 



^|*jAMPJ!F.LI„ Jacom, lawyer, only son of Archibald 
Swjl Canijibcll, PNq., was born in East Greenwich, in 

, ft','!^i lyi'ic). He was a grarluate of Brown l'ni\crsity in 
I'l 'the class of 17S3. He stood high in college as a 

J Ib scholar. For a short time after his graduation he had 
charge of a classical school in E,ist Greenwich. Giving up 
his school he entered the law office of General J. M. \'arnum 
to study for the legal jirofession. He was admitted to the 
bar and opened a law ofhce in East Greenwich. The 
]irospects of success in his profession were far from encour- 
aging, as the field was already occupied by General Var- 
nuiii. a most accomplished ami po]iuiar lawyer. Mr. 
Campbell was recogni^eil by his fellow -citizens as a young 
man of good talents ami pleasing address. When the treaty 
of peace v\'as concluded between threat Britain and the 
United Stales he was invited to deliver an address on the 
ausj.iicious occasion of the announcement of the event. This 
address has been preserved, and its delivery must have made 
a hap]))' inii>ression upon the minds of tliose who listened 
to it. He published a small volume of poetry, entitled 
Poi'/itti/ Essays^ and a nunilier of prose essays. He is 
represented as being " tall, slender, and genteel ; he had a 
beautiful head of hair, and was related as one of the hand- 
somest men of the day." A romantic attachment to Miss 
Eliza Russell, daughter of Joseph Russell, Esq., and the 
melancholy se([uel of the affair, so far as she was concerned, 
was long remembered as among the most touching incidents 
in the history of the localiiy ill which he lived. When he 
liecame a victim of consunqlion she watched him most 
teiideily through his illness, and when he died she shut 
herself up in her darkened chaml'er and pinetl awav, dviiig 
of her sorrow and bitter disapjiointment. Mr. Campbell 
died March 5, 178S. 



KDDY, Mosivs, son of Richard Eddy, was born in 

|:|JKife Johnston, Rhode Island, March 26, 1766. He 

was a descendant of Samuel Eddv, the Pilgrim 

Y' f' . • a 

J I of Plymouth, v\ ho was born in England in 1608. 

@ 'S The greater part of his life was spent in Provi- 
dence, where he died May 28, 1823. He was a prominent 
and highly-respected inerchant in that city, and established 
a line of packets to New York, which for many years were 




J£:AAr<' ^^^..'^' / 



BIOGRArniCAL ever, or EDI A. 



«65 



the principal modes of travel between the two cities pre- 
vious to the introduction of steamboats. Anions; them 
were the following vessels : The Superior, the Ann, the 
Maria, the Venus, the Juno, and the Moses Eddy. A pas- 
sage in those days cost ten dollars, and the time rc'iuired 
to make the trip was from twenty-four hours to five or si.x 
days, depending on the wind. On this line Captains Wil- 
liam and Jesse Comstock were long and favorably known 
to the public as navigators of Long Island Sound. Mr. 
Eddy was the elder brother of Judge Samuel Eddy. He 
did not himself enter into political affairs, but confined 
himself exclusively to his business, which he managed 
with great success. He used his wealth without ostenta- 
tion; and no citizen enjoyed more fully the esteem and 
confidence of the community. His character was spoken 
of in terms of the highest praise by his contemporaries. 
Integrity seemed to be so inwrought into his nature as to 
raise him above the power of those temptations which too 
often inlluence men engaged in commercial pursuits. He 
was distinguished by gentle and courteous manners, by a 
kind and eminently cheerful spirit, and by habits the most 
methodical and correct. Mr. Eddy married Hannah Car- 
penter April 6, 1794. Their children were Abby, Ann, 
Maria, Richard E., Moses, and Hannah. 



^I^^ANDALL, Stephen, M.D., a Surgeon in the Rev- 
SjK?^ olution and a distinguished citizen of Providence, 
CS. " son of Peter and Freelove (Dexter) Randall, was 
I born in North Providence, Rhode Island, August 
J" I, 1762. He enjoyed excellent advantages of 
home training and in the schools of his day, and studied 
medicine under the celebrated Dr. Jonathan Arnold. He 
became an eminent physician ; served as a Surgeon in the 
Revolutionary army, for which he received a pension, and 
accumulated a very large property in lands both in Rhode 
Island and Veraiont. Dr. Randall lived in Providence, 
on North Main Street, at the head of Randall Street, that 
.street being named for him, as he gave it to the city and 
it was laiil through his lands. He married, January 22, 
1786, Lucina Winsor, daughter of Abraham Winsor, of 
Smithfield, and had six children, Joseph, Ann Frances, 
Lucina, Stephen, Amey, Mary. He and his wife were 
members of the First Baptist Church in Providence, and 
greatly esteemed. Dr. Randall died March i^, 1S43, 
aged eighty years. His wife died November 20, 1S44, 
aged eighty-five years. 



pers and facts relative to Roger Williams, from whom he 
was descended through his mother. He left a sum of 
money to remain on interest till it (with other contribu- 
tions), shall reach the sum of $75,000, for the erection of 
a Roger Williams monument on Prospect Hill. For seve- 
ral years he was a Member of the Legislature from North 
Providence, and variously served his native town with 
great efficiency. His money was freely and largely given 
to promote religious interests and the public welfare. His 
benevolence was proverbial. He married, October 12, 
1S31, Susan H. Arnold, who died February 10, 1870. 
He died July 30, 1874, at the age of eighty, and was laid 
in his tomb in the North Burying Ground of Providence. 



^^^ANDALI., Stephen, son of Dr. Stephen and Lu- 

Sfclli '^'"^ (Winsor) Randall, was born October 22, 

^^ ^ 1793- He was a man of wealth, and distinguished 

I himself in encouraging the writing of Rhode 

T. Island history, particularly in gathering the pa- 



^^ENEDICT, De.-\con, Stephen, son of Thomas and 
Zelota (Sprague) Benedict, was born in Milton, 
Saratoga County, New York, January 15, iSoi. 
t -i>sa|3 xhe English ancestor of this family, Thomas Bene- 
J Is diet, came to Massachusetts in 163S, then removed 
to Long Island, and afterward to Connecticut, where he 
became a man of influence. Stephen's father, Thomas, 
who was of the fifth generation from the first settler, served 
as a soldier in the Revolution, and was an enterprising 
farmer. He removed from Norwalk, Connecticut, to Sara- 
toga County, and afterward to New Lisbon, Otsego County, 
New York, and finally, in 1833. to Central Falls, Smith- 
field, Rhode Island, where he died, leaving a large famdy. 
Stephen was employed on his father's farm, attending 
school in the winter till near his majority, receiving the 
best of home training and religious instruction. In 1821, 
as his half-brother. Rev. David Benedict, D.D., the Bap- 
tist historian, had settled as pastor of the First Baptist 
Church in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, he went to that place, 
and engaged to work in a machine-shop, and afterward in 
a cotton-factory. In 1828 he formed a copartnership with 
Hon. Joseph Wood, and removed to Billingham, Massa- 
chusetts, where they operated a cotton-mill for Mr. Jubal 
Ingraham. In 1829 they removed to Albion Village, Rhode 
Island, w-here they operated the mills belonging to Mr. 
George Wilkinson. In 1831 they removed to Central 
Falls, then in Smithfield, now in Lincoln, and purchased 
of Dwight Ingraham an interest in the mills of the Thread 
Company, and commenced the manufacture of cotton print 
cloths, their mill being known as the " Benedict & Wood 
Mill." Their business was managed with remarkable reg- 
ularity and conscientiousness for thirty-seven years, during 
which time they were greatly prospered. In 1865 the firm 
was dissolved, and Deacon Benedict succeeded to the entire 
charge of the old business, which he conducted with his 
usual ability and success till his death. He early united 
with the First Baptist Church in Pawtucket, of which his 
half-brother was for many years the honored pastor, and 
filled the office of Deacon for about twenty-five years. He 



icr, 



nioGRirmcAL cyci.oriini.u 



w.-is n quii-t, Ihniii^Iuful. pnulent man, faitlifiil ami tlmrougli 
in the tii^chaii;L' of all tlic iliUic-^ rcjuiictl of him. He was 
a Divcitor in dilTcrent institutions, ;inil was for many years 
tile President of the IVople's \\m\V and also of the lirst 
National I'.aiik ol" I'.iuiiuket. Industrious, eec.inomical, 
and I'arseeiiig, in; a(i|uir(d a iKun.isome estate. In tiie 
anti-slavery niovLinent lie was a jiioneer, and dunnc; the 
Civil War, tiioULjh v'\eui|it from ser\iee liy aj^e, lie was 
ji.irtieularl)' aeli\e, Itv counsel .iiid eonti iluitioiis, in sus- 
laininj^ tlie nation. I lis Ivindness, benevolence, and in- 
let;rity gained for him the highest regard of his fellow- 
citi/ens, lie married, August 9, 1S30, Bathsheba A. Bar- 
ber, of liillingliam, Massachusetts, who, since his death, 
lias brouglit sjictial honor upon tlie llenedict name \'\ her 
benel'actions. lie (.lied in his mansion at Ceiitr,il I-'alls 
December 25, 1S68. In his will, among other wonhy 
legacies, he left S^ooo to the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society for general jnirposes. His devotei,! widow, 
in coni]>liance with a suggestion of Deacon Benedict, added 
to this contribution another 31000, and when the educa- 
tional needs of the freedmcn \\'ere laid before her, added 
to ilie abo\e sums $10,000, making .513,000, with which 
was purchased the well-known Benedict Institute in (.'oluni- 
bia, S. C, as a school for the freedmcn or coloreil people 
of both sexes. .Since the first purchase Mrs. Benedict has 
added at one time Sio. 000, and made yearly donation^ of 
aliout 51000, until she has now gi\en, in addition t'l her 
husbaiurs legacy, about 530,000, au'l coniinues her yearly 
gifts to sustain the Institute. Really the Benedict Institute 
is her work, undertaken at the suggestion of her husband 
before the needs of the freedmcn were known, and is a 
nioiuiineiil ti' lur Christian bene\olence. 



,^UTI,ER. CvRlis, Merchant, son of Samuel and 

Mary ( .\tliearn ) Butler, was bt.un in l'ro\ idence. 

May 10, 1707. His father was born in Edgar- 
I i'?^ I 
J ■'■ I town, Manila's \ineyaol, Massaehuselts, and early 

•^ removed lo l'ro\idence, \\liere he became a success- 
bil and eminent meicliant. for s.une time he conducted 
business, with hi-, siuis as partners, under the tirm-name of 
Samuel Butler l^ .Sons. His last days were marked by 
ease and aflluence, by the respect and love of all who 
knew him, and by a recognition of his fidelity, palrioti-m : 
and religious conscientiousness. He died June 29, 1S14, | 
aged eighty-hve years. His wife was the daughter of 
Jethro and Mary Athearn, of M.irtha's Vineyard. She 
was JHU-n Se]iteniber 16, 1731 (old style), and died Jan- 
uary I, iSm, 111 her eighty-eighth year. The children of 
S.iiiiuel and Mary Butler were, (I I .Samuel, Jr., Inun in 
1757, long distinguished as a merchant in i'lovidenee, as a 
nil niber of the firm of .S.imuel Butler iV- .Sons, and as the 
head of the house of Butler, Wlie.iton & fackson, and 
who died Decemher II. 1X14,111 his lifty eighth year, leav- 



ing three children, William, wdio died August 8, 1S39, in 
his fortieth year, .Stephen, who died in 1S16, and a riaugh- 
ter, Sarah, who married Alexander Duncan; (2) Maiy, 
who married iVler Taylor, and died March 16, 1799, aged 
foiiy-h\c; (3) Betsey, who married Robert Davis, ami 
died June 5, 1S15, aged lifty-hve; (4) William, w ho died 
young; (5) (ieorge, who died at the age of seventeen ; (6) 
Joseph, who died on his passage from the West Indies, 
March 7, 17.SS, at the age of twenty-three; (7I Cyrus, the 
subject of this sketch. Cyrus was well tr.ained to business 
pursuits, beginning his mercantile career with his father 
and brother Samuel, in the firm of Samuel Butler & Sons. 
Their old store stood on the south side of Weybosset Street, 
nearly opposite the iiresent Arcade. f)n the death of his 
father and his brother Samuel, in 1.S14, Cyrus carried lui 
the business on his own account. For a time he vvas an 
iin]n;)i-ter and wholesale dealer, after the style of the old 
house of Ilrown & Ives, and his importations were usually 
very successful. He finally conhneil his liusiness trans- 
actions to this countiy, became a large ilealer in real estate 
and stocks, and also engaged in banking. He resided first 
on Weybosset Street, but finally built the substantial brick 
edifice on Westminster Street, No. 72. ne\t east of the 
Arcade, and there lived until his death. He was one of 
the most sagacious of men bants, ami far-seeing in all his 
transictions. His successes seemed almost iiiar\eIlous. He 
was regarded as shrewd and lucky, but lie was always hon- 
orable in his dealings, and his word was as good as a bond. 
He Could gi\e a history of nearly all the city iiroperty, and 
of lands lying around the city, and he knew the value and 
liisior) of houses as well. He was a stockholder in the 
Bank of Noiili .\merica, of which, for many years, he w.is 
President. I le also became a large private banker, lia\ iiig Ins 
own office in the htaise he built and occupied on Wcsiiiiiiister 
Street, where the red est te interests of Alexaiuler Diiiu.ni 
are siill maiiageil by ( ieorge A. Leete, as .agent. Mr. But 
ler was one of the largest stockholders in the Blackstone 
Manufacturing Com|i..iiy, and was interested in se\eral 
other prosperous corporations. Politically, he was a Whig, 
liut not ambitious of public oillee, choosing to devote his 
time entirely to business. He was deeply interested in all 
ijuestions of city finances. He was a member of the Ec- 
ilesia-tical Sociely of the pHneficent Congre.gational I'liurcli 
in Pro\-i(lence. In the building of the Arcade, in 1827-2S, 
he had a large share, becoming the owner of the eastern 
half of that structure, whiih cost 5145.000. "For two 
generations he was distiiigui-hed t"or the siuindncss of his 
judgment, the strength <.A his character, and the fi.xedness 
of his purpose." Mr. Bulbr accumulated an immense 
property, being, at the time of his death, " the wealthiest 
man in the St.de, and juobably the we.ilthiest in Neu' 
p'ngland." His sympathies in behalf of the insane, whom 
he considered "as objects peculiarly woitliy ol crunmis- 
cration," induced liim to make lilieral provision lor this 
iinforiunaie class. On learning of the berpiest of 530,000 



BIO GRAPHICAL C \ TL OPED I A . 



167 



made by Nicholas Brown for the founding of a hospital 
for the insane, Mr. Butler donated j!40,ooo for the same 
purpose, on condition that 840,000 more should be con- 
triliutcd from other sources, and tliat $50,000 should be 
kept as a reserved fund, only the interest of which should 
be used to defray the current expenses of the hospital. In 
honor of Mr. Butler, the noble institution thus founded, in 
1S47, was named the Butler Hospital for the Insane. It 
now has a reserve fund of $85,000, a farm of one hundred 
and forty acres, and beautiful and well-arranged buildings. 
By Mr. Butler's large donation the grand object was effec- 
tually accomplished, " and the giver established a claim to 
the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, which will endure so 
long as there is a single heart to feel for the saddest calamity 
that can befall a fellow-man." He was permitted to .see the 
institution completed, and to know that it had entered upon 
its benevolent mission before his decease. He died at his 
residence in Providence, August 22, 1849, aged eighty-two, 
and was buried in what was then known as the West 
Burying-ground, but his remains, w itli those of the other 
members of the family buried there, were afterward re- 
moved by Alexander Duncan to the North Burying Ground, 
where a monument was erected to his memory. After 
making various bef|uests in his will, he left the bulk of his 
great estate to his niece, .Sarah Butler, now Mrs. Alexander 
Duncan. In recognition of tlie inheritance, the Duncans, 
in 1S72, erected the massive and elegant building, occupy- 
ing the sc|uare between Westminster Street and Exchange 
Place, named the Butler Exchange. This building is of 
stone and brick, six stories high, and cost about $1,000,000. 
Mr. Duncan has continued to use the inherited estate for 
wise and deserving ends, giving both money and council 
to the Butler Hospital, and to all the benevolent institu- 
tions and associations of the city. He has carried out Mr. 
Butler's wish expressed in his will, that he should improve 
the real estate left by him in the city of Providence, where 
he had always resided. 



gKJSIOURO, Rev. Is.'^.\c, came to Newport from the 
»|k West Indies about 1760. At that time there 
g"^ were about sixty families of Je\\s residing in 
t g Newport. A congregation was organized. Mr. 
§ S Touro was chosen priest, and in 1762 the syna- 
gogue, still standing on Touro Street, was erected, and the 
following year it was dedicated. The influence of the 
Jews increased, and they became an important element in 
the mercantile and commercial affairs of the place. With 
the breaking out of the Revolution they were scattered ; 
Mr. Touro went to the W^est Indies and died at Kingston, 
December 8, 1783. He was a man (jf learnmg, and dur- 
ing his stay at Newport he enjoyed the respect and confi- 
dence of the people in a large degree. With the clergy- 
men of the various denominations he was on the most 
friendly relations, and to him the Rev. Dr. Stiles was in- 



debted for his knowledge of Hebrew. Mr. Touro mar- 
ried, in Newjiort, a sister of Moses Hayes, of Boston. 
Two sons and a daughter survived him. After the declara- 
tion of peace Mr. Hayes removed from Newport and took 
with him the family of his sister. One of the sons was 
the late Abraham Touro, wdio left a fund of ten thousand 
dollars for the support of the synagogue and cemetery, 
and a further sum of five thousand dollars was given by 
him, the interest to be expended in keeping the street now 
known as Touro Street in repair. Judah Touro was 
another son. He died in New Orleans in 1S54. While 
living he was a benefactor of Newport. In 1S14 he gave 
two thousand dollars to the Redwood Library, to be ex- 
pended on improvements, and at his death he left the 
library the sum of three thousand dollars. 



gILBOUR, Hon. Isa.\c, was born in Little Comp- 
te ton, Rhode Island, on the farm now owned 
'f.fl/i!.> by Henry Butler, April 25, 17S3. He was a 
descendant of Samuel Wilbour, who was in 
Boston as early as December i, 1633, at which 
time he was admitted to the church in that town. He be- 
longed to the Hutchinsonian parly, and was one of eigh- 
teen associates with William Coddington, John Coggeshall, 
and John Clarke, wdio purchased and settled Aquidneck, in 
March, 1638. He was a man of great enterprise and 
large wealth for that time, having property in Portsmouth, 
Rhode Island, Taunton, and Boston, Massachusetts. The 
latter part of his life he returned to Boston, where he 
died September 29, 1656. His will is dated April 30th of 
that year. His son Samuel, who inherited the property 
in Portsmouth, was one of the grantees of the charter of 
1663. The name is variously spelled Wildboar, Wilhore, 
Wililiore, Willior, Wilbur, and Wilbour. The first form of 
the name is the original, and the latter is the form used by 
the branch of the family in Little Compton. Their coat- 
of-arms is a hunter spearing a wild boar in a wood. It 
may be seen painted on the wall of a chamber of the resi- 
dence of Mrs. Prudence Wilbour, in Little Compton. 
The family has three crests, two of which have the wild 
boar. William Wilbour, a grandson of Samuel Wilbour 
first mentioned, was one of the early settlers of Little 
Compton, and the founder of this branch of the family, 
which is very numerous. He died in 1 7 10. His descend- 
ants possess a large portion of the wealth of this town. 
Isaac W'ilbour, the subject of this sketch, was one of the 
most prominent of the descendants of the last-named 
member of the family. His parents were members of the 
Society of Friends, in the principles of wdiich he was edu- 
cated. He married. May 17, 17S6, Hannah, daughter of 
Deacon Philij) Tabor, of Westport, Massachusetts. His 
children were Tabor, born in October, 17S7, and died 
young; Elii)hat, born March 12, 17S9 ; Hannah Borden, 
born February 4, 1793; Philip, born July 12, 1795; Pa- 



l68 niOCRAl'IIICAL CVCLOrEDI.l. 

lieiirc 'I'.iliiii, liiiin May 27, I7')S; aii'l Sai.ih Souk-, burn ' (if tliirtixn lie fiitcrcil KIukIl- Islanil ('iillei;e, aii'l woulil 
May ■), lSn.|. I'i..iu 170; 1" iNoo Kaac Williour filk<l ' liavc giaduatcd in 177S, lint the suspension of college ex- 
vaiinus dIIuis in loun. In iSoi lie was a nieinher of I ercises for a few years, in conseiiuence of tlie troubles in 
tile ( ieiKral AssenibK . anil aL^.iiii in iSo:;. wlu-n lie u as cunnection with the War of the Re\'olntion, ]iost]ionetl his 
also S|ieahei of the Ibm^e. In iSuo he was S|)eakcr of 1 grailnation until 17N2. linring this period of suspended 
the Senate and bieutriiant-l iovernor, and as there was no I collegiate study he turned hi> allentinn to medicine, acting 
election that year he was adiiig (iovernor. He was Kep- | as a volunteer in the Medical Hospital in Providence, pass- 
re^entativc in (/.ingress fium 1S07 t" 1800. 'llie death of j ing the summer of 1770 at Westerly, in the office of Dr. 
iMancis Mallionc. Senator from Rhode Island, occurred \ Halicock, and completing his education as a pupil of Dr. 
this year, anil Governor Fenner appointed him to till the William Bowen in Providence. In the autumn of 1782, 
vacancy; Iml the ill health of his wife compelled him to while acting as a surgeon on board a privateer, his vessel 
decline the lioiinr. Tliongh he wa^ not educated a law- was captured, and he was carried a pri.soner to New York, 
yer, yel such wa^ the conlidence in his official integrity j .ind placed on duty on the prison-ship Falmouth. After 
and judgment, and such his knowledge of both the forms i the war was ended he was induced to take up his residence 
and principles of law, that he was elected to the office of ' in the newly settled town of Hudson, New York. Here 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Cnuit in iSiS. ..\s Hun. I he remained ten years. The enterprise of starting this 
lames Fenner, Chief Ju-tice, declined tu act, the duties of ; new town not proving as successful as was anticipated. Dr. 
this important olfice devolved upon him, and were ills- I Wlieatun removed to the city of New 'S'ork, where he re- 
charged by him with such signal ability that he was sue- ' niamed tw o years, and then once more took up his residence 
cessively elected to this office from 1819 to 1S26. In 1827 ! i" his native town. When a Medical School was organized 
he resigned and retired from office, and the Hon. Samuel | •" ISrown University in 1812, he was appointed Professor 
Fildy, an able lawyer, was elected to lill his place. Re- of the Theory and Practice of Physic; and when in 1S22 
ferring to the change, Hon. Dutee J. Pearce remarked ' this schooUvas reorganised, he gave three or four courses of 
that ■■though the jiuhlic might get more law, they would ■ leUures upon the Theory and Practice of Physic and db- 
nol get more ju-tice." When he was Speaker of the ; stetiics. He was a member of the Corporation of llrown 
Iliiu.e, in 1805, the peoiile of the north [lart of Cdocester I'luversity from 1708 to 1851, a tenn of service longer 
pelilioiied to be set off in a separate town. As the com- I tl';»'i l''-" '-'f -^bv '"'ler member who had been connected 
mercial party in the State was opposed to the increase of , "Hh cither the board of Fellows or the Hoard of Trustees, 
political power in the country towns, there was a tie, upmi ; l^"i "i-i")' J'-'ai'^ 'ic' was Physician of the Port of Provi- 
which he gave the casting vote. lUit it failed in the Sen- ! I'ence. In his personal appearance Dr. Wheaton was tall 
ate. The ne\t year he was Speaker of the Senate, when ] ^"'' '^'''^^b =>"'' " -''' a" orn.ament in whatever society he 
there was a tie vole, as there had been in the House the "loved. He was not only an accomplished physician, but 
previous year, u|.iin which he ga\e the casting vote, and it ^ '"'"■^' "i^" ordinarily well-read man of letters. He pub- 
became a law. The iictitiuners were so giateful fi.r this •■ lished but little. A few articles regarded as of merit in 
act that they olTered to call the new town after his name. ' •''■' ''^>' "■^■'^' r'"'''i-lic''l '" medical and other journals. He 
With characteristic modesty he declined the offer, where- ' ^l'^'"'- ■">'"'••■'■ •' '""''-■I' iH'icss, August 29, 1852. Dr. Wheaton 
upon the Hon. J.imcs ilurrill. who was standing by, said ' "■'^- married, January 2, 1785, m Xewjiort, by Rev. Dr. 
tint •• he shiiuld esteem it a liigh honiu' to have the new Samuel Hopkins, to .Martha, daughter of Joseph and Pe- 
towii called after hiui." "Well," s.iid judge Wilboiir, nelope Bunill. Their children were (I) Catherine, born 
"you can lake it." So the large and prosperous town in '™ Hudson, New York, December 11, 17S5, died in 
the northwest corner of the State was called Kunillville. ' Cambridge, M.assachusetts, March 5, i.Soo; (2) Walter Y., 
Judge Wilbiiur's long official career was without reproach. '"'™ '" Hudson, New York, January 5, 17S7, died in 
Alter his reiiiement to private life he was much devoted I'hiladelphia, Pennsylvania. AprtI 23, i860: (3) Han- 
to the interest, of religion, and his voice, so often heard "-'I'l I""" in Hudson, New York, January I, 178S, died 
in courts of law and halls of legislation, was now ol"ten i" Hudson Feliruary 13, 1789; (4) F.anra. born in Hud- 
luaid in prayer and exhortation in the Friend,' Meeting- «'"• New York, October 26, 1790, died in Providence, 
house in Little Cumpton. He died in the Christian faith Februaiy 17, '''^75; (.■;) Martha, born in Hudson, New 
October 4, 1S37, aged seventy-four years. 1 Vork, April 29, 1792, died in Hudson Ainil 2, 1705; |0) 

Joseph Burrill, born in Hudson, New York, May 8, 1794, 
died in Providence August II, 1874; (7) Edward, born in 
IIE.\TON, Levi, MD., son of Deacon Fphraim ' New York November S, 1796, died in Copenhagen Janu- 
and Anne Wheatiui, and the fourth lineal de- | ary 22, 1828; (8) Setli Amiel. born in Providence Novem- 
scendant of Kiibrit Wlieaton, of W.des, an eaily ber 13, 1798, died at (iilir.illar behruary 8, 1811); |q) 
"1 settler of Relioboth, Massachusetts, was fioru in Mary .'Xnne, born in Providence April 22, 1801, died in 
"if Providence February 6, 1701. .Vl the early age Providence October 8, 1S02 ; (loj William, born in Provi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



169 



dence December 23, 1802, died in Trovidence October ifi, 
1804; (11) Francis Levison, born in Providence October 
27, 1804; (12) JuUa, born in Providence November 28, 
1808, died in Providence Septemlicr 3, iSog. 



^^^ICKNELL, Joshua, was the fifth generation in de- 
^^|w scent from Zachary and Agnes Bicknell, who set- 
^^/ tied at Weymouth, Massachusetts, in the summer 
r'°l of 1635. Joshua's great-grandfather, Zachary, re- 
i L moved from VVeymoutIr to that portion of Swansey, 
Massachusetts, which is now Barrington, Rhode Island, 
about 1705. Joshua was the son of Joshua and Jerusha 
(Peck) (Heath) Bicknell, and was bom in Barrington, 
January 14, 1759. His school education was limited to 
the district-school instruction of the olden time, and com- 
prised the rudiments of arithmetic, reading, w-riting, and 
spelling. Born and bred to a farmer's life, he made a good 
practical use of these narrow educational advantages, and 
by reason of fine natural abilities, energy, and integrity, 
became a useful man and an honored citizen. He entered 
a public career when but a youth, and for the rest of his 
life served the town, county, and state in various official 
positions, both honorably and successfully. He was a 
Deputy in the General .Assembly of Rhode Island in 1787, 
1789-90-91-92-93-94, 1796-97-98, 1802-03-04, 1S07-08, 
and 1823-24-25, and survived all who were members when 
he first took his seat, except two. He served as an Associ- 
ate Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island from 1794 
to iSio, and from 181 1 to 1818. He also filled various 
other public offices, by .special appointment, with distin- 
guished ability. The purity of his life, the integrity of his 
motives, and the justice of his opinions and decisions, gave 
him the merited sobriquet of '• Old Aristides." He was 
simple in his domestic habits, and when unoccupied with 
public affairs, devoted himself to his farm, and especially 
to fruit culture, in which he took great satisfaction. He 
united with the Congregational Church in Barrington in 
1805, and held the office of Deacon until his death. He 
was one of the corporate members of the United Congrega- 
tional Society of the town, and served as its treasurer for 
forty years. The Proviilence Journal, under date of De- 
cember, 1837, in an obituary article on Judge Bicknell, thus 
justly sums up his life and character: "But very few men 
have been better known through the State, and perhaps 
none survived him who possess more historical and sta- 
tistical knowledge of the State from the commencement of 
the Revolution to the present time. Of no man may it 
be more justly said, he has lived devoted to the best in- 
terests of Rhode Island. No man more ardently loved his 
country. Respecting his talents and acquirements, — he 
read much, meditated much; but perhaps the most won- 
derful trait in his character was his extraordinary power of 
discrimination. In these jiarticulars he has left few superiors, 
even among those more fortunate in opportunities for im- 



provement. But that which ailds the brightest lustre to his 
character is that his latter days have especially adorned the 
Christian life. The church of which he was a member, 
and in which he had long sustained an important office, 
have great reason to mourn that a good and distinguished 
man in Israel lias fallen." 



tVTpREENE, Timothy, manufacturer, was born in 'War- 
M^jr- wick, Rhode Island, June 12, 1760. He was a 
f ^'■' member of the Society of Friends, and a descend- 
» » ant of John Greene, who came from England to Boston 
to fe in 1635. Bred a shoemaker, he removed to Paw- 
tucket, North Providence, when he was between twenty 
and thirty years of age, and pursued his calling there. He 
soon added tanning to his business, and in order to obtain 
a suitable place for his work, purchased a lot by the side of 
the Pavvtucket River, just below the falls, which was then 
called the Lower Anchor Shop. That spot afterward be- 
came the site of a cotton-mill, and the Greene Cotton Mills 
owned by his grandsons, still stand on the 1 ank of the river 
Just before his removal to Pawtucket, Oziel Wilkinson, a 
blacksmith and machinist, and a prominent member of 
the Society of Friends, had become a citizen of that village. 
With him Samuel Slater boarded while reproducing the 
Arkwriglit patents, and subsequently married one of his 
daughters. Timothy Greene won the affections of another 
daughter, Eucy, and married her. Mr. Greene doubtless 
shared Mr. Slater's aspirations and anxieties about the 
new business he was transporting to this country, and 
was ready to co-operate with him ; for six years after 
the erection of the original Slater's mdl, on the western 
bank of the Blackstone River, another cotton-mill was built 
on the eastern side of that stream, in what was then the 
town of Rehoboth, M.iss. This mill was built and carried 
on by the firm of S. .Slater & Co., members of the firm being 
Oziel Wilkinson, .S.imuel .Slater, Timothy Greene, and Wil- 
liam Wilkinson. What is now East Avenue in Paulucket, 
was once called Pleasant Street, and the beginning of it 
was known in the latter part of the last century as Quaker 
Lane. As Mr. Greene's tannery was near this lane, he 
erected in that vicinity, in the early part of the present cen- 
tury, a dwelling-house, which is still standing. Il occu- 
pies the site of the cabin which sheltered Joseph Jenks, the 
founder of Pawtucket, who emigrated to that place in 1655. 
Mr. Greene had three .sons, the youngest of whom died 
.shortly after reaching manhood. The others, Daniel and 
Samuel, became associated with their father in business. 
The firm of Timothy Greene & Sons carried on a cotton- 
mill on the eastern side of the river, while the firm of 
Samuel and D. Greene & Co., composed of the same par- 
ties, carried on a mill on the western side of the stream. 
They Continued to engage in the business of cotton spinning 
for many years with varying success. During the war with 
Great Britain they were very prosperous; but rivals came 



170 



BIO CR. \ PIIIC. lid 'CI OPED I A. 



int<.i the fifUl as W'.ilthani, I.owcll. an<l many nthcr i>lacos 
erccteil niilK. Tlu- ( Ireenes extumlcd liicir opuratiuns, ami 
owned an addilicnal mill in Phenix. In I.S29, Imwevor, a 
severe local uviiKh>n came; cotton manufacturini^ suttered 
a check, and I'au lueket experienced great veveises. Many 
sanguine manufacturers had been inducer! to extend their 
business far beyond what their capital warranted, and when 
creditors became imporluiiate their properly was seized and 
ruthlessly sacrificed. Tminthy (Ireeno was among those 
who suffered a reverse of fortune. Being almost seventy 
years of age, he could not rally fnmi the shock. IIis son 
])aniel. v\ ho liad actuallv \\ ilhdiaw n from the business four 
years before, was yet from a neglect of certain foniialities 
legally held for liabilities of the firm. He and his brother 
commenced bu-^iness anew in 1S31; but Samuel soon after- 
ward remove<l to Woonsocket, and in the employ of a local 
company, built up a prosperous business in the village of 
liernon. Then" aged father, however, held a subordinate 
position in the mill td his sou I )aniel until his death, wliich 
occurred l'"ebruary S, 1S34. Mr. (.!reene\ wife survived 
unlil Deceml'er 3, 1S40. 



ATTEN, William, D.D., son of Rev. William Pat- 
ten, of Hartford, Connecticut, was born in Hart- 
ford, in 1763. His mother was a daughter of the 
I first President Wheelock. She died at Hartford, 
, S October 5, 1S51, aged ninety-one. The subject of 
this sketch was a giaduate of l.)artmoulh (Aillege in 17S0. 
Having completed liis theological studies he accepted an 
invitation to lake the pastoral charge of the Second Con- 
gregational ('liurih at Newpoil, whose pulpit had become 
vacant by the resignation of Rev. Dr. Stiles. His ordina- 
tion as a [)aslor of the church occurred May 24, 17S6, and 
this relation continue<l for alxtut fifty years, ending Ai)ril 
?5) '-^jJ- 'l'"*^' ^^'i'^'-' ^^ ^'- I^'^ttcn was Hannah Hurlbut, 
of New I.tindon, She died at Brooklyn, New York, Au- 
gust JO, 1S55. She was a wuithy companion ol her hus- 
band HI his ministerial work. It is said, to tiie praise of 
her benevolence, that siie set up at Newport, in iSi^, the 
first ragged school that was ever established in tliis coun- 
try. In this labor of Christian love she was assisted by 
Mrs. I'loride Calhoun, of South Carolina. The chiklren 
of r>r. and Mrs. Patten were Willi. im S., a lawyer and bank 
cashier in Pro\ i.lence, Ciiancellor for several years of 
Hrown Ihiiversily; Josepli, of New York; ( leurge W., a 
Captain in the army; Ruth, wife of F. W. Hotchkiss. of 
Hartfonl; Mary Anna, u d'e of C. S. liabtead. of Prook- 
lyn; and .ine or two nther^. 1 )r. Patten died at Hartford. 
Connecticut, Nbuch 9, 1S30. Urowii University, of which 
he was a trustee from 1700 to 1.S39, conferred upon him. 
in 1807, the Iionurary degree of ] )octor of Hninity. He 
jniblished several sermons, one on Th,- Slave Tyadc^ 1 792; 
C/irisf/,tinty thr True 'I'/iec/oi^y, in reply to Thomas Paine, 
1795; '-"^ ^^^'' Dt.!//! 0/ Dr. Sti/rs^ 1795; '^" The Death of 



Dr. /sane Sefi/er, 1799. He is representeil as being a 
'Slistinguished theologian, but meek and lowdy in heart, 
most kind and benevolent." 



lA 'r)GETT. Rev. Constantine, D.D., son of Ben- 
^ jamin and Mary Blodgett, was born in Randolph, 
Vernnuit, Noveudier 17, 1S02, and was a gradu- 
'T ate of I.)artmouth College in the class of 1S26. 
J' Among his classmates was the late S. P. Chase, 
(_'hief lustiee of the Supreme Court of the United States. 
Soon after gra<luating. he went to S(.>uth Can.dina, as a 
tut<»r, and spent a few years there. At this time the doc- 
truie i.)f nullifieation was being proclaimed throughout the 
South, and Mr. Blodgett, foreseeing the evils to result there- 
from, became an earnest a<lvocate of loyalty and law. In 
support of his views, he carried on a vigorous newspaper 
correspondence, and his articles were so pungent that he 
iiarroulv escapeil a personal assault. While in South Caro- 
lina, he was set apart to the Christian ministry, and, in 
1830, was ordained by the Harmony Presbytery of that 
State. Soon afterwards he returnei! North, antl, in 1S33, 
w as settled over the Congregational church in Newmarket, 
New Hampshire. Here lie remained for only three years, 
and then removed to Pawtucket, Rhotle Island, to lake 
charge of the Congregational church in that town. He 
was installed July 27, 1S36, and retained an unbroken pas- 
t»>rate for thirtv-five years, anil resigned in lune. iSyi.his 
successor being the Rev. ]. ]. Woolley. He continued to 
maintain an intimate relationship with his church, however, 
and accepted the designation of retired pastor. Until fail- 
ing health compelled him to desist, lie continued to preach 
to destitute societies in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 
and to perform parochial duties in the neighl)orhood. 
I luring his long residence in Pawtucket, he attended 1300 
funerals, officiated at more than 600 weddings, and attended 
170 ecclesiastical councils. He also tttok an active inter- 
est in the cause of education, ami was an earnest advocate 
of temperance and of every other cause aftecting the moral 
and religious welfare of the community. Such was the 
coiivisiencv of his life, the energy of his zeal, and ids kintl- 
ness of spirit, that he exerted a powerful influence and 
was in^tiuinental ni accomplishing great good. In 1S60, 
I)arlm<iuth College conferred on him the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity, ajid he not only occupied a high rank in his 
own denomination, but was held in the highest esteem by 
tile community at large. He died December 29, lS7(). 
\n noticing liis death the Proviilcnce ^ournai sanl : " In 
the death <.f Dr. Blod^^ett, i'awlucket has lost one of iis 
oldest, be-.t-known, and most valuable inliabitants, the 
Congregation. d dcnoudnation one of its wisest and most 
trusted eonnscUors, ;tnd the Slate a citi/en, who was at 
once conservative and jnogressive; a fiicnd of education, 
a conservator of morals, a teacher antl exemplar of Chris- 
tian liberty. I'or nrore than forty years Dr. Blodgett was 



^ 



W^ ^fev 




r?s^ 



S J^-\^-t 







'Lf^o-r^f^U. 



■iL^f^c^ 



rjL^Ul 



BIOCKArillCAL CYCL OPED/A. 



171 



a conspicuous personage in his town, ami that not by in- 
trusion, but by force of character ; because he had well- 
settled opinions, the good of the community at heart, the 
courage to say what he thought, and the sound common 
sense which, directing him aright, he was able to bring to 
bear upon those with whom he came in contact. Very 
few men possessed so clear a head ; no man ever had a 
kinder heart, or a truer conscience. In all those years tlie 
influence he has exerted as a man upon the social and 
moral progress of the community among which he moved 
has been for good, greatly for good, unceasingly for good. 
Pawtucket is wiser and better, in a worldly sense, for the 
life and words and conduct of Constantine Blodgett." He 
married, December S, 1831, at Rice Creek, South Caro- 
lina, Hannah M. Dana, born in Sharon, Vermont, in 1806. 
Their children were, Maria, Sarah, George D., Charles C, 
Edward G., and Lucy \V., only two of w horn, Sarah ami 
Edward, are now living. 



Nabby Wheaton, March 19, 1795. Their children were 
Susan, Charles, Hannah, Mary, George, Abby, and Phebe. 
Charles was Governor of Rhode Island in 1845-46, and 
Henry became distinguished as a Baptist clergyman. 



I^ACKSON, Hon. Richard, son of Richard and Susan 
Wl^ (Waterman) Jackson, was born in Providence, July 
3, 1764. His ancestry on both his father's and 
his mother's side, were among the most honored and 
respectable citi/.ens of Rhode Island. Stephen 
Jackson, from whom he descended, was an Irish gentleman, 
who came to Rhode Island from Kilkenny County in the 
early days of the colonial history. The subject of this 
sketch was trained in part in the schools of his native town, 
and in part in Pomfret, Connecticut, to which place his 
father took his family in the time of the Revolutionary War, 
to place them beyond the excitements and dangers to which 
they were exposed in their home in Providence from the 
attacks of the British. Mr. Jackson early embarked in 
mercantile and manufacturing pursuits, in which he achieved 
success. He was associated with Cyrus Butler and Seth 
W^heaton, names distinguished among the merchants of 
Providence. In 180S Mr. Jackson was elected a member of 
the Tenth Congress of the United States, being chosen a Rep- 
resentative to take the place of Hon. Nehemiah R. Knight, 
deceased. Subsequently he was re-elected to the Eleventh, 
Twelfth, and Thirteenth Congresses. His whole term of 
service lasted from November 11, 1S08, to March 4, 1815. 
Mr. Jackson was a prominent citizen of Providence, and 
took an interest in all that concerned the welfare of his 
native town. For thirty-eight years he was President of 
the Washington Insurance Company in Providence. Under 
his administration the company took a high rank among 
similar institutions in Rhode Island. In 1S09 he was 
chosen a Trustee of Brown University, and his good com- 
mon-sense and excellent judgment rendered his counsels 
always worthy of respect and consideration by the corpora- 
tion. He remained in the office until his death, which oc- 
curred at Providence, .-Vpril 18. 183S. Mr. Jackson married 



;VER, Benjamin, M.D., was born in Cranston, Rhode 
i^lg Island, July 8, 1768. He was the eldest but one of 
■gTj^ seven children of Charles Dyer, 3d, wdio married 
u4 sM Phebe Pearce, daughter of Nathan Pearce. His 
el I b father was the son of Charles Dyer, Jr., who mar- 
ried .-\bigail Williams, daughter of Thomas Williams, and 
great-granddaughter of Roger Williams. Charles Dyer, 
1st, of Providence, came from Dartmouth, Bristol County, 
Massachusetts, and purchased the farm now known as 
"Cabbage Neck," Cranston, his deed being dated July 25, 
171 2. He married Mary Eapham, and they had seven 
children. The subject of this sketch received such educa- 
tion as the schools of his day aflbrded, and at an early age 
entered upon the study of medicine, under the direction of 
Nathan Truman, who was then one of the prominent phy- 
sicians of Providence. Dr. Dyer engaged successfully in 
the practice of medicine, and became associated with his 
brother, Charles Dyer, in the drug business, in Providence, 
in which he continued until his death. He pursued his 
jirofession with great assiduity for a periotl of t\\ enty years, 
and then relinquished his professional business in order to 
devote his time to mercantile and manufacturing pursuits, 
and to the improvement of the extensive landed property 
belonging to himself and the firm of which he was a part- 
ner. His apothecary business rapidly increased, and the 
firm became large dealers in chemicals and dyestuffs, from 
the sale of which a handsome fortune was realized. In 
1816, in company with his brother Charles, Benjamin 
Hoppin, Stephen \A'atcrman, and others, he became inter- 
ested in the purchase and improvement of lands on the west 
side of the river, which then belonged to the Field estate. 
They filled in and laid out I>yer, Dorrance, Etldy, and other 
streets in that vicinity, and Iniilt wharves and store-houses, 
investing immense sums of money in the enterprise with 
great advantage to the city and serious loss to themselves. 
Dr. Dyer was also one of the originators of the Providence 
Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, and of the 
Phcenix Iron Foundry. In 1824 he built the Dyer block, 
on Broad Street. He also built the steam-mill on Eddy 
Street, now owned by .\mos D. Smith & Co. He owned 
a large tract of land in Cranston, now Elmwood, between 
Broad and Greenwich streets, where he had a fine country 
residence for a .summer home, and where he was interested 
in various agricultural enterprises. At one time he devoted 
considerable attention to the raising of currants for the 
manufacture of wine, and also to silk growing on his own 
premises. Some of his friends still remcml)er seeing him 
at an agricultural fair dressed in a beautiful suit of silk 



172 



BIOGRArmCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



made from products of his own culture. His energy' and 
eiileri>risiny s|iirit gave vigor and |)ronHied success to every 
undertaking, and the decji interest whicli he continually 
manifested in the pidiiic welfare caused liim to he regarded 
as one of the mo^l useful citi/< n-. of lii, day. As a phy- 
sician, he was skilful and devoted to his profe^.sion. He 
often sacrihced time, money, and |irofessional services for 
the relief of the suffeiing poor. As an instance of hi-, be- 
nevolence, it is said that during hi^ p^ofes^ion.d career he 
was attending a jjoor woman who was dangerously ill with 
typhoid fever, and seeing that she could not recover if she 
remained in the unwholesome ilis rict where she lived, he 
removed her to his own home and eared for lier until lier 
liealth was re>tored. He was noted for hi-. soci.diHty, 
h')-.) itality. and benevolence. Dr. Dyer was always one 
of the hr>t to promote all practical charities and public 
institutions for good. Being of a modest and very retiring 
disposition, he never accepted olficial positions. He was 
a member of a sect known as Sandomiiiians, of which it is 
said there is but one society in this country, at Danhury, 
Connecticut. The few memliers of the society in I'ro\i- 
dence met w ith him and his family at hi^ house, and he 
conducted the religious services. At his death, which oc- 
curred May 15, lS_5I, his family became members oi the 
Beneftcent Congregational Church. Dr. Dyer w as married 
April 20, 17SS, by Rev. Dr. James Manning, to Abigail, 
daughter of Benoni Pearce. She was horn Augu-.t 9, 1 763, 
and died April 22, iSjI. They had eight children: Mar- 
tha Pearce, I'hebe, Abigail Pearce, Pardon Bow en. Eliza. 
An>tis, Benjamin, and l-'rances Kli/abeth. ol wfioin only 
Frances E., widow of Thomas J. Stead, i.-. now living. 



I'.VER, Benj.\MIN, JR , son of Dr. Benjamin and 
Abigail (Pearce) Dyer, was born in Pro\idence, 
Rhode Island, May I. 1S02. He was educated 
in a private school anil under a I'leiuh tutor, and 
acipiircd a thorough knowledge of the French 
language. He early became a clerk in the <lrug store 
of his father and uncle, and on the death of his father, 
entered into partnership with Charles l)yer, Jr., in the 
same business, in which he continued for several years, 
and then f 'r a short time engaged in the manufacture of 
glass. Ills time, however, was chiefly em])loyed in the 
care of the large estate left by his father, the man.igemeiit 
of which made him an active and responsible factor in the 
several corporations in which his father was inlerestetl. In 
the various positions in which he was thus called upon to 
serve, he exhibited superior business capacity, and won 
the esteem of tho.e \\ ith whom he came in contact. He 
was a member of the Benelicent Congregational Church 
of Providence, of which he was Treasurer for nearly thirty 
years, and was also a member of the Standing Committee. 
Mr. Dyer spent much time and money in helping the poor 



and needy, and in building up the church. In contriliuting 
to benevolent object., his principle was to give so that he 
would feel It. He was an earne-t. faithful. Christian 
worker, and, like his father, was especially interested in 
the promotion of public enleqririses in the city. He was 
thrice married. His lirsi wife was Harriet Adie, daughter 
of Alexander .\die, of Providence, to whom he was mar- 
ried .September 25, 1822. They had three children, Har- 
riet Adie, Benjamin, and Abby Pearce. On the 22d of 
May, 1S29, he married .A.melia Andrews, daughter of David 
and Phebe .\ndrews. The issue of this niarriage was one 
child, .Ameba Frances, who was niarried, C)ctober 25, ll>54t 
to i.>r. .\nios I'almer, son of Dr. (ieorge and Emma Palmer, 
of Stonington, Connec icut. Dr. Palmer was born in Ston- 
ington, Connecticut, Feltruary iS, 1S27, and graduated 
.at the Xew York Medical College. He practiced medi- 
cine in Stonington, for five years, and was then com- 
jielled to relin![uish his professional duties on account 
of failing health. He died in Providence, June 4, 1S61. 
His wife survived liiin, and still resiiles in Providence. 
They had two children, Xellie, who died at the age of two 
years, and .\mos ] lyer Palmer, w ho is now a student. Mr. 
Dyer's last wife was Harriet S., daughter of Rev. Dr. 
Mark Tucker, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, to whom he 
was niarried Ma\' 27, 1S41. He died February 19, 1S62. 
His widow now resides in Providence. 



RISWniTt, RmiiT Re\. .\i.i.x.\niikr Vii:ts, r>.D., 
the son of Elisha and Eunice ( \'iets) Griswold, was 
born in Simsbury, L'onnecticut, .-\pril 22, 1766. 
;. . .- .J Qj^ |.|j.^ father's side he was descended from Matthew 
Is © Griswold, one of the early settlers of New England. 
His nrother's ancestor was Alexander \"iets, an eminent 
and wealthy l>utch physician, \\ ho had come from Europe 
and settled in New \'ork, and had removed from that city 
to .Simsbury. .\bout the year 1740 an Episcopal church 
was established at Simsbury. and the Rev. Roger \"iets, the 
uncle of the mother of Mrs. Clriswold, was its second Rector. 
Of the early life of the suftject of this sketch a\ e have this 
record, as made liy himself; " I recollect nothing in my 
childhood ami yctuth more remarkable than the rajiitlity 
with w liich I learned the lessons given me. When about 
four or five years old, I rememlier being often required to 
read before strangers, who, at that day, viewed my forward- 
ness as a great wondennent. In about three days after the 
Creek grammar was tirst put into my hands, I had, with- 
out any other teaching, written in Creek characters the first 
chapter in John's (^'.ospel. interlined with a liberal and ver- 
bal translation into Latin. The facility with which I ob- 
tained a know ledge of the Creek language much surprised 
my teacher." It had been the cherished wish of his father, 
and his uncle, Roger Viet, who had charge of his studies, 
that he should go through Vale College, but circumstances 



B/O GRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



>73 



prevented. That young Griswold gave up tiie expectation 
of pursuing a course of collegiate study, is evident from the 
circumstance that in 1785, before he was twenty years of 
age, he was married to Elizabeth Mitchelson,a young lady 
wdio resided not far from his father's house. For two or 
three years he was in a state of indecision as to what his 
future profession should be. For purposes of general im- 
provement he studied law for a time, without the intention 
of being admitted to the bar, but to fit himself for any po- 
sition of public trust to which he might hereafter be called. 
At the age of twenty he became a communicant in the 
Episcopal Church, and was confirmed by Bishop Seabury. 
In the spring of 1794 he decided to offer himself as a can- 
didate for Orders in the Episcopal Church, and was ordained 
as a Deacon June 3, 1795, and a Priest on the 1st of October 
following. For ten years he had charge of three parishes, 
in the three towns of Plymouth, Harwinton, and Litchfield, 
all in Connecticut, and was engaged a part of the time as a 
teacher of a district school in the winter, and in the summer 
working as a day-laborer among his parishioners. His 
connection with the parishes which he had served for ten 
years was brought to an end by his acceptance of an invi- 
tation to take charge of the parish in Bristol, to which vil- 
lage he removed in May, 1S04. His ministry V)egan at 
once to be successful, and the character of his preaching 
w-as so satisfactory to Christians of other communions, that 
his congregation rapidly increased, and it became necessary 
to enlarge the place of worship. His labors had overtaxed 
his strength, and in 1809 he debated the question, whether 
justice to himself and his family did not require that he 
.should change the field of his ministerial labor. The ques- 
tion, which was before his mind for several months, he de- 
cided in the affirmative. He accepted an invitation to the 
Rectorship of St. Michael's Church, in Litchfield, Connec- 
ticut, and was preparing to remove his family when all 
his plans were changed by his election as Bishop of a newly- 
formed diocese, the Eastern, so called. This election took 
place May 31, 1810. He was disposed to decline the oftice, 
believing, with the modesty that w^as so characteristic of him, 
that he did not have the proper qualifications to fit him for 
the discharge of its grave duties. At length, however, 
his objections were overruled, and he was consecrated in 
Trinity Church, New York, in May, iSi i, by Bishop White, 
assisted by Bishops Provoost and Jarvis. This renewed 
dedication of himself to the service of Christ seems to 
have been followed by a more earnest and spiritual preach- 
ing of the gospel to the congregation to which he con- 
tinued to minister in Bristol; and in iSl2 there was a 
most remarkable revival of religion, not only in his own 
parish, but it seemed to pervade the whole town, an<.l as 
the result all the churches received accessions to their 
membership. His relation with the church continued not 
far from thirty years, commencing in the spring of 1804, 
and ending in the winter of 1S30, when he became Rector 
of St. Peter's, in Salem, Massachusetts, w'here he remained 



until 1S35, and then resigned that he might devote himself 
to the duties of the Episcopate. He suft'ered so much from 
an attack of bronchi. is in the winter of 1S37, that it was 
wi;h difficulty he could conduct the public services which 
devolved on him as Bishop. He was relieved in a year or 
two by the election of Rev. Manton Eastburn, D.L)., as an 
assistant, at whose consecration he was present and took an 
important part, the services being performed in Trinity 
Church, in Boston, on the 29th of December, 1842. In a 
few weeks his manifold and most useful labors were brought 
to an end suddenly, with not a moment's warning; towards 
the close of the day, on the 15th of February, 1843, ^" ^^' 
rand called him to the house of his assistant. Dr. Eastburn, 
and he walked thither with his usually firm step; when he 
reached the door he fell, and in an instant ceased to breathe, 
his death being occasioned by a disease of the heart. Bishop 
Griswold was twice married, and was the father of fourteen 
children, one of whom, George, became an Episcopal min- 
ister, but died before his father; only one son survived him. 
Brown University conferred upon him in i8lothe honorary 
degree of Doctor of Divinity, and the College of New Jersey 
also did the same that year. Two years later, in 1812, Har- 
vard College followed the example of her sister colleges. 
Bishop Griswold was a Trustee of Brown University from 
1S15 to 1828. During all this time he was Chancellor of 
the University. Extended and beautiful tributes to the char- 
acterof Bishop Griswold from I'resident Heman Humphrey, 
Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, and Bishop Clark may be found in 
Sprague's Annals of the American J'li/pit, vol. v., pp. 420, 
425- 



^^^|R0WN, Sylvanus, was born in Pawtucket, Rhode 
^Kjl Island, in 1747. His father, Philip Brown, was 
^?^ for many years engaged in iron manufacturing on 
T^ a tributary of the Blackstone, a short distance above 
•L Pawtucket Falls. When Sylvanus was but ten years 

of age his father died, and he was intrusted to the care of 
his great-uncle, with whom he learned the trade of a mill- 
wright. At the age of twenty-one he engaged in business 
as a millwright on his own account, m which he continued 
until 1775, when he enlisted in the Colonial navy, under 
Esek Hopkins. He became Master of Amis aboard 
Hopkins's ship the Alfred. After serving here for a 
while he went to Providence, and worked at stocking guns 
in a shop owned by the State. Soon after the close of the 
Revolutionary War he was engaged by the Governor of the 
Eastern British Provinces to build several mills in New- 
Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Taking fifty men with him 
from Rhode Island, he spent two years in those provinces, 
and built .seven saw-mills and two grist-mills. After this 
he went to Europe for a short time, and then returned to 
Pawtucket. Employed as a road surveyor, he laid out 
what was long called Quaker Lane, but is now the begin- 



174 



lUOCKArillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



iiini^ of K.ist Avenue. While liviiii^ i>n tlii^ lane, where 
he ha-l I'uilt n -Iw eliini^'-h'nise and a "^hoj). he was accosted 
one nflerno-in. near the close of 1 7S9, 1>V the well-known 
Frioiul, Mo-^es Miuwn. who was accompanied by a young 
Englishman. •* Sylvanus," said he. " I have liroiight thee 
a young man who savs he Khown how to spin cotton. I 
want thee to keej) him to-night and talk with him, and see 
what he can do.'' That young man was Samuel Slater, 
and that inter\iew led to S\lvanu-. lirown being liired by 
.\b)ses Ilrowii to a•^si^t the young sti'anger to reproduce the 
Arkwhght jxitent-^. Slater had no models, drawings, or 
plans. The English government would not allow any such 
lieljis to be borne to foreign lands. Slater therefore had to 
depend on his memory. He chalked out his outlines an<i 
plans, and Svlvanus Hrown, who had been put under l)onds 
neither to steal the patterns nor reveal the jdans, made the 
machmes. Tliev \\"rl.ed for months in a secludeil shop, 
^\ith doors fastened and shutters closed, till the machines 
were reproduced. Everything worked well InU the cards; 
but these, which had been obtained from a manufacturer, 
refused to thrt.'W olf the r<.)lls. Slater was almost in de- 
spair, hearing that he would be denounce<l as an im- 
poster, he meditated running away, i'ut hi-> fellow-worker 
dissuaded liim from so rash an act. ( *n taking up a juiir 
of canls which his wife hacl been using, Mr. llroun dis- 
Covereil that the teelli inclined at a slight angle, and it iic- 
currcd to him that it wa-. because the teeth in the machine 
■were perpendicular that it wouM not wiu'k. < )n returning 
to his shop he inserted a tliin ]iiece of wood between the 
cards and roller--, and tiie machine operated. iJut for 
the encouragement he thus gave young Slater, many years 
might have elapsed liefore the introduction of cotton-spin- 
ning into this Country. Mr. I'rown possessed an ingenious 
mind, and in I7'j2 invente<l and used the first slide lathes 
f<ir turning rolb, whereby they were made straight and 
of uniform si/e. He also built a machine for fluting rolls, 
which secured great economy at that earlv dav. After re- 
maining in the enijiloy of Brown ^; Almy until 17QO. he 
left their service, and was engaged by Mr. |ohn Jlrown, a 
cannon manufacturer. By him he was hired to suj^erintend 
furnaces ami boring-mills at Scituate, Rhode Island, and 
Easton, Massachusetts. In iSoi he retimed business as a 
millwright, and continueil it untd his death in 1S24. 



ll,Kli\S()X. William, was born in Thompsr.n. 
f-JKlA.' Connecticut, in the year 1760. His jiareiits, 
'■V»";_'Y who were originally from Riiode Island, re- 
d'^\o moved to Scituate when he was thirteen years 

el of age. 'i"he following year, 1774, he entered 

the Freshman class of Rhode Island College, now Brown 
University. This instilution. then in its infancy, was pre- 
sided over by tlie eloipieiU ami accomplished 1 'r. Manning, 
<uie of the best educators of liis time, and one of the most 
remarkal'le men that has ever graced the annals of the city 



or State. Under the guiilance of so able a I'resident, young 
Wilkinson made commendable proficiency in his studies, 
until interrupted by the stern realities of war. (_)ii Satur- 
day, December 7, I77(>, Sir i'cter Parker, the British com- 
mander, with seventy sail of men-of-war, anchored, says 
the record, in Newport harljor, landed a body of troops, 
ami took possession of the place. Providence was at 
once in cmfusiun. Troops were massed throughout the 
town, martial law was proclaimed, college studies were 
suspended, and the students were dismissed to their re- 
spective homes. The fust commencement of the college 
after the war was held on the first W'ednesday in Septem- 
ber, 17S3, when the subject of this sketch, with five others, 
took the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Immediately after 
gradu.\ting he was apjiointed Principal of the Grammar 
or Latin School, which had been cstalilished 1)V Manning 
in I7'>4, as an auxiliaiT to the C<il]ege, and which is con- 
tinued to the jjresent time, as the " l'ni\ersity (Irammar 
School," umler the efficient management of Messrs. Mer- 
rick and Emory Lyon. In this josition he remained 
eleven years, preparing young men for a collegiate course, 
and fitting them for the responsible and active duties of 
life. Among his pupils may I>e mentioned the Hon. 
Judge Kddy, Secretary of Slate; the Hon. Judge Burrill, 
I'nited States Senator; tiie late Governor Fcnner, and his 
Honor, Samuel W. I'.ridgliam, Hrst Mayor of Providence. In 
connectiijii with his duties as lustiuctor, he was for several 
yeais Librarian of the College. I Hiring the administration of 
Washington he was appointed Postmaster of Providence, 
and, like most of Washington's appointees, was removed 
from office by his successor, Thomas Jeficrsi.n. About this 
time he opened, in connection with )ohn Carter, the first 
l)Ook^tore in Providence, in an ohl building at the corner 
of what is now Market Sipiare and Canal Street. This 
store he retained until the year 1S17, carrying on the busi- 
ness of bookbinding, bookselling and printing. Much of 
his stock was lost <iuiing the great gale of September, 1S15. 
His successor in the business was Oliver Kemlall. While 
Librarian Mr. Wilkinson resided in the College, several 
rooms on the first nr)ur of the north jiart of the College 
building having been finished off for his use. Here two 
of his children were born. He afterwards resided in dif- 
ferent patts of the city. About the year 1S07, he built a 
brick house on George Street, where he spent the remain- 
der of his days, antl w here his daughter, Mrs. Tiblutts, now 
lives. He was devotedly attached to the College, attend- 
ing every Commencement, legularly, for a period of sev- 
enty-eight years, and walking in the procession to the 
church. He was a member of the Town Council in 1S24, 
and a Representative from Providence to the General As- 
sembly iluring the years 1813-18. As a member of the 
Masonic Fraternity, Mr. Wilkinson was especially active 
and useful. In the years 1806-7 he served as Master of 
St. John's Lodge, Providence, and again in 1S13. He 
was elected (hand Master of the (irand Lodge of Rh<xle 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



175 



Island in 1815, and again in 1S16, succeeding the distin- 
guished Thomas Smith Weljb, his associate and intimate 
friend. He was also Grand Treasurer five years. He was 
an active and influential member of the Providence Royal 
Arch Chapter, contributing much to the efficiency of this 
body by his superior learning and skill, and by his wontler- 
fully retentive memory. He was Grand King of the 
Grand Chapter during the years iSi 1-13, Deputy-Grand 
High Priest during the years 1814-17, and Grand High 
Priest during the four years following. He was one of the 
early members of St. John's Commandery, and so skilful 
did he become in the work of a Templar Knight, that in 
1818 he was elected Grand Commander of the Grand 
Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, again 
succeeding his illustrious friend, Webb. In his religious 
belief he was a Unitarian Congregationalist, attending upon 
the mini-try of the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, the Rev. Dr. 
Edes, and the late Rev. Dr. Hall. He died on the 16th 
of May, 1852, in the ninety-second year of his age, having 
retained, until the last, his ment.il faculties. An excellent 
portrait of him, taken when in the prime and vigor of life, 
adorns the parlor-wall of his house on George Street. Mr. 
Wilkinson was twice married. By his first wife, Chloe 
Learned, of Killingly, Connecticut, he had two sons and 
four daughters, none of whom are now living. By his 
second wife, Marcy Wilkinson, of Pawtucket, he had 
eight children, — four sons and four daughters. Two of his 
daughters survive him, viz., Mrs. Mary R. Tibbitts, to 
whom we have already referred, and Mrs. Goodwin, of 
Bristol, widow of the late Rev. Daniel Le Baron Goodwin. 



r^.\NTON, Colonel Jeremlmi, son of Captain 
Daniel and Patience (Eddy) Manton, was born 
^*; .jy- in Johnston, Rhode IslantI, February 13, 1763. 
{JE He was a descendant of Edward Manton, one of 
el the associates of Roger Williams. His father \\'as 

a captain in the Revolution, and a conspicuous man civilly 
and religiously in his native town. He had several dis- 
tinguished sons, Hon. Edward, Colonel Jeremiah, Elisha, 
Olney, Daniel, John, William, and Thomas. Edward was 
actively engaged in public alTairs and served in the State 
Senate. Jeremiah came into possession of a portion of 
the extensive Manton lands in Johnston, and was married, 
June 16, 17S2, to Mary Anstris Borden, by whom he had 
ten children, Joseph, Sarah, Charles, .Shadrach, .Seril, 
George A., .Salma, Elisha, Mary A., and Jeremiah. He 
served in the State militia, and rose to the rank of (Jolonel. 
For his services in the Revolution he received a pension. 
He and his wife were members of the Beneficent Congre- 
gational Church in Providence, and were active in all 
public interests. Both labored for the religious welfare of 
their town. Their children attained positions of usefulness 
and honor. Joseph, born August i, 17S3, married, first, 



Mary Whipple, May 6, 1S12, second, Ann F. Dyer, and 
had by his first wife several children, one of whom, Lieu- 
tenant Walter B., died in the Civil War, at Hilton Head, 
.South Carolina. Joseph became a distinguished cotton 
merchant and a model citizen. He died in Providence, 
January 17, 1872. Shadrach, born October 19, 1789, be- 
came a druggist and physician. He married, August 17, 
1817, Amey Randall, and left a large family. He died on 
the old Manton estate, in Johnston, December 28, 1849. 
Salma, born March 12, 1798, married, August 14, 1822, 
Austis P. Dyer, and had seven children. He was a cot- 
ton merchant in both the North and the South, successful 
and honored. He died January 12, 1837. Jeremiah's son 
Elisha, born April 21, 1800, married, September 4, 1823, 
Louisa Pope, and had eight children. He too was an en- 
terprising and successful cotton merchant in Providence 
and in Southern cities. He died, while on a voyage at 
sea for his health, near Madeira, October 21, 1838. Colonel 
Jeremiah died in the old Manton mansion in Johnston, 
December 26, 1S43, lamented by all who knew him. 



IIURSTON, Hon. Jereml-vh, son of George and 

Dolly (Cottrell) Thurston, was born in Hopkin- 

'35" ton, Rhode Island, May 29, 1768. He descended 



&. 



from Edward and Elizabeth (Mott) Thurston. Ed- 



^v ward was the first of the Tliuistons to settle in 
Rhode Island, and died at Newport in 1707 at the age of 
ninety. Jeremiah's father, George, was a prominent man 
in the w-estern part of the State, a stanch patriot and an 
efficient officer in the Revolution. Talent and wealth gave 
him wide influence. He was a member of the State Con- 
vention, and voted for the adoption of the Constitution of 
the United .States in 1790. He was one of the founders of 
WashingtonBankin Westerly in i8oo. Hewasbornin 1741, 
and died November 30, 1827, aged eighty-si.x years. Jere- 
miah was educated in the stormy period of the Revolu- 
tion. He possessed great self-reliance and energy. He 
married, March I, iSoi, Sarah Babcock, daughter of 
Rowse Babcock, 2d, of Westerly, the first President of 
Washington Bank. Besides being a large landholder, he was 
engaged extensively in mercantile business in Ilopkinton. 
His mansion and store were near the then important inn 
where stopped the numerous stages running between New 
London and Providence, on the route between New York 
and Boston. Politically he was of the Jeffersonian school, 
and took an active interest in all matters pertaining to the 
public welfare. Religiously, like his parents, he was a 
Baptist. His connection with the State was large and in- 
fluential. He was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1816, 
and again in 1S17, in which office he was preceded by 
Simeon Martin and followed by Edward Wilcox. His 
especial business associates were the Babcocks, Clarkes, 
Dcnisons, Hazards, Miners, Pendletons, Potters, and Stan- 



176 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



Inns. His nl'ilitics, cliaractcr. aii'l means tjavf him i^rt-at 
prominence aii<i intliieiKC in the business niul social life 
t)l Ilopkinton. His ehiMieii were F,li/a R., lienjamiii P>., 
llonicc. Mary A., Caroline, .iiul twin sons, Franklin and 
Horace. Mr. TIuir^tt)n duil March 21. lSj;o, at^eil sixty- 
two years. Ills wile «lie'l Felu-Li.ify 27, lS4l,agei-l Tifty- 
nine years. 



^IVT^ARLIXi ;, JcHN Al>AMS, merchant nn<I niamifac- 
gjtjjri turer, son of Ziba ami Vienna (iJallou) Darling'. 
''W^ was born in Providence, Rhode Island, May lb, 
1802. His father was a native of Bellingham, Mas- 
sachusetts, from which place he removed to Provi- 
dence, where for several years he \\ as engaged in the 
market business, on Market S([uarc. and died October 29, 
iSjv lli^ mother, \\ho <lied in lanuarv. 1S07, was the 
daughter of Levi liallou. of Cumberland, Rhode Island. 
Mr. ])arling received a common-school education, and at 
the age of eighteen was employed by his brother-in-law, 
Thaddeus Curtis, wlio was then engaged in the manufac- 
ture of all kinds of bruslies, on Weybossct Street, Provi- 
drnce, where the Arcade now stands. ( )n the 20th of 
Sejitemlier. 1822, he became associated with Mr. Curtis, 
under the hrm-name of Thaddeus Curtis i!^: Co. They 
continued on Weybosset .Street, at different i»laces, until 
lS(H), wlicn they removed to No. 10 Peck Street, where the 
business is stUI carried on, tinder the old him-name. by 
Ceorge H. Harbng. wIkj became a member of tile tirm 
January i, 1S50. Mr. Cuitis >uld his entire interest to his 
partners on the 1st of April, 1S70, and John A. Darling 
continued in the busine'^s until his death, which occurred 
July 14, 1S79, having been successfully engaged in the 
manufacture of bruslies for more than fifty-eight years. 
Although closely devoted to his business, he ever took a 
deep interest in the public welfare, and tilled varitius 
responsible positmns. He served as a Director of tlie 
Jacks'in Pank for one year, 1 854, but i lee lined a re-cleclion 
the following year. He was a I >irector of tlie Mechanics' 
Savings Rank from 1S5S to 1S67, of the Westminster Bank 
from 1S58, and of the Providence Mutual Fire Insurance 
Comjiany from 1S54 untd his death, being a trustee of the 
latter from l86r> to 1873. He re]>resented the city of Pnjvi- 
dcnce in die House of Rejtrcsentatives in 1854. in which 
(apatily he served acccptaiily. For several vears he was 
an active and influential member of the Mechanics' As'-ocia- 
tion of I'rovidence. In politics he was formerly a Whig, 
and afterward a Republican, from the formation of that 
I'arty. He was a member of the First Universalist Society, 
and with his family was a regular attendant at the services 
of that communion. Mr. Darling was an energetic and 
enterprising citi/en, whose liberal aid could always be re- 
lied on in furtherance of benevolent objects. He married, 
August (J, 1S24, FU/a potter, daughter of Henry Potter, of 
South Kingstown, Rhode Island. She died September 



10, 1S6S, in the seventv fourth year of her age. Their 
children were John (J. A., tieorge H., and Mary Fli/,- 
abeth, of wdiom only George H. is now living. After 
the death of his father, George H. Darling .succeeded 
to the business of Thaddeus Curtis ^V Co., which he has 
since carried on successfully. He married, June 3, 
1S50, Maria A., daughter (jf ( )liver Sweet, of Middletown, 
Rhode Islaml, and has si\ children. 



^AZARD, Hon. Benjamin, of New^port. The follow- 
ing notice of Mr .Hazard was written by Professor 
"«)"^' Goddard, and was published in an appendix to 
-^->fr^ his address delivered at Newport, in 1S43, on the 
at (• occasion of the adoption of the New ("onslitution. 
" HiMi. Benjamin Ha/ar<.l was born in Middletown, the tow n 
which adjoins New|)ort, September iS, 1770. He was 
graduate'l at Brow 11 University, in 1702. After ■--tudying 
law with tiie late Hon. David Howell, at that time a dis- 
tinguished practitioner in Providence, he was admitted to 
the bar in the year 1796, and commenced the practice of 
his profession in the town of Newport. For several years 
Mr. Hazard did not occupy hini'^elf seriously with the busi- 
ness '>f the courts, but he failed not in the end to acquire, 
and he maintained to the last, a distinguished rank at the 
bar of liis nati\e State. At the August election, in 1809, 
he was hrst elected a Rejucsentative from the town of 
Newpoit, a vacancy having been created in the delegation 
bv the election to the Senate of the United States of the 
late Hon. Christojiher Grant Champlin. Mr. Hazard's col- 
leagues from Nevvi)ort were, at that lime, George Gibbs, 
William Hunter, folin P. Man, John L. Boss, Stephen 
(."ahoone, none of whom cxLejit Mr. (.'ahooiie, the present 
General Treasurer, and Mr. Hunter, the American Ambas- 
sador at Brazil, are now among the living upon earth. 
The duties of thi-. station he continued to discharge with 
eminent alulitv for tlie term of ihiilv-one successive years. 
From » )clober, i8it., to May, 1818, he i>resided over the 
deliberations of the House. At the August election, in 
1S40, he declined a re-election, and retired from i)ublic 
life. In accordance with a provision of the Royal Charter, 
so democratic as to be without precedent, the election of 
Representatives to the General Assendily was required to 
be made tw ice in every vear. Tints wa^ Mr. Flazard sub- 
jecteil in tlie course of his public life to the ordeal of sixty- 
two popular elections. The conlidence which his towns- 
men early reposed in him was never withdrawn. Amid 
all the Iluctuations of jiarty he was re-elected generally, 
though n<.'t in all cases without opposition. Rarely in New 
Fngland is it the fortune of a public man to command from 
the same constituents, and under similar circumstances, a 
confidence so long and sc> uninterruptedly continued. Mr. 
Hazard felt himself at home in the General Assembly. 
There, ami not in our courts or primary assemblies, did he 
put forth with the most effect the unconuuon powers with 





'^ L' '■^'^J O- ' ' L>--^'-| '': 



BIOGRAPHICAL C VCL OPEDIA. 



177 



wliich he wns gifted. His talents for debate would have 
won for liim no mean rank even in the higliest deliberative 
body in our country. The tricks of oratory, the artificial 
embellishments of rhetoric he seemed to scorn ; but, if his 
aim were either to support or defeat a measine, no man 
was a more skilful master of the language and of the style 
of argument required for his purpose. No man more 
clearly comprehended and at times more ably defended the 
true merits of a public question. No man, too, it should 
be added, better knew how to perplex his adversaries by 
subtle objections or to wither them by caustic sarcasm. 
Mr. Hazard was fond of reading. In my last interview 
with him, not many months before his death, he spoke 
with great animation and emphasis of his relish for Shake- 
speare, Sir Walter Scott, and Dean Swift. His predi- 
lection for the latter will not surprise those who recall 
to memory the celebrity of Swift as a politici.in and the 
wonderful influence which, by the peculiar character 
and direction of his intellect, he obtained over the popu- 
lar mind. Mr. Hazard could boast a true Rhode Island 
lineage, and he was in spirit a true Rhode Island man, 
attached to the old charter and to all the institutions 
which grew up under it. The Report on the Extension of 
Suffrage, made by a committee of which he was chairman, 
in the year 1829, is characterized by unusual ability. It is 
among the very few productions of his pen to which he 
attached his name, and in style and argument may perhaps 
be deemed one of the best specimens of his peculiar pow- 
ers. He died at Newport, March 10, 1841, aged sixty- 
nine years." The following notice of Mr. Hazard is from 
Updike's History of the A'arragansett Church, and was 
written by Hon. William Hunter, of Newport, formerly 
United States Minister to the Court of Brazil, to form part 
of an account of the Hazard family : " There is one in- 
dividual belonging to this numerous, widespread, and 
highly-respectable race, who is deser\'ing of particular 
notice and regard. We refer to the late Hon. lienjamin 
Hazard. His portrait has already been sketched by the 
skilful hand of Professor Goddard. See Address to the 
People of Rhode Island, etc., p. 62. Mr. Goddard's re- 
marks need no correction, and but little of addition. The 
ancient constitution of Rhode Island, formed out of the 
provisions of its admirable charter, was the most demo- 
cratic perhaps that ever existed. It required a semi-annual 
election of Representatives to the General Assembly. Mr. 
Hazard was a Representative from the town of Newport 
in the General Assembly for thirty-one years, and of 
course ' was subjected to the ordeal of sixty-two popular 
elections,' a singular proof of the enlightened stability of 
his constituents, of his general high desert, and his pecu- 
liar fitness for this important office. This fact, independ- 
ent of all others, entitles him to claim rank as a distin- 
guished man, and, as it were, demonstrates the possession 
of those impressive and useful qualities whose combina- 
tion render character at once eminent and enduring. Mr. 

2?-, 



Hazard's ci>urse of reading antl study, operating tqum a 
mind of genuine native strength, and confirming and jus- 
tifying a native sturdiness of will (the germ and guarantee 
of greatness), gave to all his literary efforts and ])olitical 
proceeding an air and caste of originality. He read and 
dw'elt upon such books as Rabelais, Burton's Anatomv of 
Alelaiichofy, Hobbes's Leviathan, Swift's Gulliver, Berke- 
ley's Querist, and latterly the dramas of Shakespeare and 
the romances of Sir Walter Scott. In the middle and 
latter periods of his professional career, he was employed 
in most of the important lawsuits of the day, both in the 
courts of the State and the United States. In politics, 
though his agency in the conflicts of parties, if examined 
in the nicety of details, might betray some seeming incon- 
sistencies, he was in the main true to himself and the sys- 
tem of conservatism. His legislative reports on Banks, 
Currency, etc., and on the Extension of Suftrage, are 
marked by sterling thoughts and true and profound princi- 
ples. In his style, as may have been anticipated fi'om 
what has been here said, there was nothing gaudy or 
flashy ; he aimed at and hit the mark of a plain, pure, 
Anglo-.Saxon diction. He disdained the ordinary garden 
flowers and the glittering though far from precious stones 
of the surface, to refresh and surprise us occasionally with 
flowers of native forest birth, culled in an extensive range, 
and w ith gems ' of native hue serene,' discovered by ex- 
plorations in the depths of thought and meditation." 



ULLOCK, N.\Tn.\N.\El., Lieutenant-Governor of 
^{^5 Rhode Island from 1842 to 1843, son of Samuel 
and Silence (Bowen) Bullock, was born in Reho- 
T^ both, Massachusetts, May 1,1779. He was fitted 
% for college by Rev. Charles Thompson, pastor of 

the Baptist (_'hurch in Swansea, and teacher of a classical 
school. He was a graduate of Brown l'ni\ersity, in the 
class of 179S. Immediately after his graduation he went 
South, and for some time w^as engaged in teaching in 
Charleston, South Carolina. During his spare hours he 
devoted himself to the study of law. In the early part 
of iSoi he returned to his native State, and soon after 
went to Bristol, where he became a law-student in the 
office of Hon. ISenjaniin Bourne. He was admitted to 
the bar of Rhode Islanil in that year, and commenced 
the practice of his profession in Newport, in partnership 
with Hon. William Hunter. In the latter part of 1808 he 
returned to Bristol, the death of two eminent lawyers of 
that place. Judge Bourne an(.l Governor Bradford, pre- 
paring the way t"or his jirofessional services there. He 
represented Bristol in the General Assembly every year, 
with the exception of three, from 1815 to 1827. In (he 
year last mentioned, he was appointed by President Ad- 
ams Collector of Customs for the District of Warren and 
Bristol, and hekl that office until August, 1S36, \\hcn he 



178 



niOGRAPJUCAL cm OPEDIA. 



rL'sii^ned, In iS^S lie was ttic Dliikk ratio candidate ftir 
(lovcrnor, ancl failed cf an t-Iectinii hy a few vule-^. Ili'^ 
name was placed on tlie '' I .aw-and ( irder " Ticket in 
1S42. and he w as chnsen Taeutenant-f Invernor of tin; Stale. 
At the time of his death he was the oldest nieniher of the 
]\hode Island bar. '* In sniunhiess of jtidL^nnent, in knowl- 
edge of his jirofessioii, in intei;iity of character, and in 
genial and kindly social <|ualities, he was the peer of the 
distinL^nislied men with whom lie \\'as so lon^ associated, 
and whom he so li>ni; sur\i\ed." The closin;^ years of 
liis life were spent in the fpiiet of jiis home, where he 
tieliglited to eommnne w ith the hest authors, and where, 
esjiecially, he took pleasure in the study of the Sacred 
Scri|)tures. He married, in September, i,Si2, Ruth, daugh- 
ter of .Stejjhen .Smith, a merchant in Eiistol, who died in 
November, 1S29 Mr. Itullock died at liristol, November 
13. 1S67, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. His three 
sons and a daughter sur\i\e him. 



IT'dl. Thomas Smith, a distinguished Freemason, 
'■ founder of the .American System of Chapter ami 
i««"'i_<!is' Encampnient Masonry, and first President of the 
i'i Handel and Haydn Society, was born in I'.os- 

el ton, Massachusetts, 1 )ctol>er 30, 1771. Con- 

cerning his paretits, Samuel and Margaret (Smith) Webb, 
but little is known, save tliat they emigrated from Eng- 
land just prior to the date above mentioned. The child 
was named after an uncle of his mother. Rev. Thom.as 
Smith, the thst minister of I'oitland, Maine. In his early 
boyhood and youth, says Mo(.re, he was noted "for supe- 
rior mental capacities, and for a sweetness of ilisposition 
and amiability of manners which secured for him the esteem 
ol his leaclieis and friends, and the warmest alTeclion of his 
associates." His early education was in the public schools 
of the city, where he aciiuireii a thorough knowledge of 
the rudiments, ami laid the foundalions of his usefulness 
and suci CSS in life. I'rom the ( iiamiiiar .School he was 
transfeired to the Latin School, where he made rapid prog- 
ress in the ancient classics and the higher branches of 
knowleilge. He siibse'|ue|itly mastered the French lan- 
guage. At the age of sixteen he was aiiprenjiced to a 
printer in I'.o-ton. He alteruards removed to Kcene, New 
Hanipshirc, wlieie he winked for some lime at his trade. 
Here the three degrees of Ancient (_'iaft masonry were 
conferred upon him liy " Rising Sun Lodge." I|i t|ie vear 
17113 he reni'iMd to .\lb.iny and established a papcr-slain- 
ing factory, (in the i^tli of September, 1707, as apjiears 
from the copyright, he laiblished //;,' /■'r,;ni,:inns Moni- 
tor, or lllHilnilioin of Masonry, and thus secured lor him- 
self fame as a .M.asoiiic ritualist and author. Tiiis vcjlume, 
which is now exceedingly rare, is a small duodecimo of 
2S4 pages, consisting of two parts, the second jiart con- 
t.iiiiiug an account of tlie " Incflable Degrees uf Ma- 



sonry." togetlier with Masonic songs, including " Master's 
Song," "Senior Warden's .Song,'' "Junior Warden's 
Simg," ami ".Senior Warden's To.ast." by the author. 
The publication of this work, which had an extensive 
circulation among the craft, was followed by succes- 
sively enlarged and impio\ed editions, in 1S02, 1805, 
', iSoS, 1S16, and iSl.S, and Iiy numerous editions after the 
I lamented author's decease. It is to-day regarded as a 
I standard work u[ion the subjects of which it treats. r)ur- 
ing the year I799,Weljb removed with his family to Prov- 
idence, Rhode Island, where he spent the greater part of 
his remaining life. His luisiness at tirst was the nianvi- 
facture of walbpaiier, in which he employed a large num- 
ber of hands. He subsequentl)' disposed of that business, 
and purchased an interest in the "Hope Manufacturing 
I Company," becoming the responsilile agent of the hrm. 
His mature judgment, and unwearied perseverance and 
skill, iiisuied him iinancial success, and enabled him to 
conlriiiute much towards regulating and strengthening 
the cotton manufacturing interests of the State, which in 
these later years have become so wonderfully developed 
and im]iroved. His residence was the three-story brick 
house on the corner of Westminster and Eddy Streets. 
In I.Sol he liec.une a ntember of St. John's Lodge, 
one i)f the oldest and most flourishing Masonic Iiodies 
in the State. In lune, 1S02. he was elected junior t Irand 
Warden of the ( irand Lodge. The year following he 
was elected .Senior Grand Warden, which ofhce he held 
two years. He was elected ilepiuty (irand Master in 
1811, antl the year following was re-electe<l. In 1813 he 
was elected (irand Master, and again in 1S14. The 
(.iraml Ro\al .Arch Chapter of Rhode Island was organ- 
ised in March, 179S. ( )f this he was elected in 1S03, 
(.irand High Priest, wdiich ofilee he continued to ludd 
until his remosal from the .State in 1815, when he was 
succeedei.1 bv John (.'ailisle. The t'ormation of a (ien- 
eral (irand Chapter of Ro\al .\rch .Mascms. for the govern- 
ment and regulation of the (irand and .Subordinate Chap- 
ters, had long engaged Webb's attention. His \ iew s on 
the subject are happily stated in the second edition of his 
Monitor, published in Providence in 1S02. He presided 
over a ('onveiilion of Committees held in Iloston in (Ic- 
lolier, 1707. I lie fust meeting of the (.ieiieral (irand 
( "liapter alter its org.mi/ation was held in Muldhtow n, 
Connecticut, in September, 179S, and adjourned to meet 
in r*ro\*idence 111 January, I7')Q. .-\t this meeting he pre- 
sented, as chairman of a committee, a new (Constitution, 
which was adopted. At the third meeting, lield in 1S06, 
hi' was elected (ieneial ( irand King. M the fourth meet- 
ing, held in iSifi. he was elected Deputy Cirand High 
Priest. (In the 23d of .\iigusi, 1S02, St. John's Encamp- 
nient. now called (I'ommander)', was organized, and Webb 
was elected lirst ( irand .Master. At each annual meeting 
he w.is successi\ely re-elected until December 5. 1814, 
when he declined further olfice. " The (Jrand Encamp- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED I A. 



179 



ment of Rhode Island and Jm-isdiction thereunto belong- 
ing," now called " The Grand Commandery of Massachu- 
setts and Rliode Island," was organized in 1805, and 
Webb was elected first Grand Master. He w.is succes- 
sively re-elected from year to year until 1S17, wdien he 
was succeeded by Wm. Wilkinson. The grand Encamp- 
ment of the United States is the crowning glory of Webb's 
Masonic work. The original draft of the Constitution, with 
all the changes, adtlitions, and interlineations, in his own 
handwriting, is now on tile among the archives of St. 
John's Commandery. In addition to his knowledge of 
Masonry, Mr. Webb was distinguished for his musical at- 
tainments. He was the first President of the Psallonian 
Society in rrovidence, an organization formed for the im- 
provement of its members in sacred melody. Among 
these members were Amos M. Atwell, Joseph TiUinghast, 
David Vinton, Moses Noyes, and Oliver Shaw, the cele- 
brated blind teacher and composer of music. Upon his 
removal to IJoston he joined a society called the Philhar- 
monic, designed to cultivate and improve the style and 
performance of instrumental music. Of this society he 
was made Vice-President. In 1S15, in connection witli 
a number of amateurs and professors of music, he instituted 
the celebrated Handel and Haydn Society, of which he 
was the first President. Mr. Webb died suddenly in Cleve- 
land, Ohio, July 6, 1819, in the forty-eighth year of his 
age. Agreeably to a request previously made, his remains 
were brought to Providence, and placed in his own tomb 
beside the remains of his fir^t wife and their three children. 
In 1859 a Masonic Association was formed in Rhode 
Island, and funds were collected for the purpose of erect- 
ing a suitalile monument to his memory. The plans were 
successfully carried out, and in 1 862 a beautiful and im- 
posing monument of marble was erected in the North 
Burying-t^round, beneath wdiich his remains now repose. 
Mr. Webb married, in 1797, Miss Martha Hopkins, of Bos- 
ton. By her he had five children, two of whom survived 
him. She died in 1 80S, and the year following he married 
her sister. By her he had four children, two of whom, 
with their mother, survived him. His son, Dr. Thos. H. 
Webb, who died in 1866, was graduated at Brown Uni\er- 
sity in the class of 1S21. 



^^ROWNELL, Rt. Rev. Tiiom.\s Church, D.D., 
IjE^W LL-D., the eldest of eleven children of .Sylvester 
^■|, j and Mercy (Church) Brownell, was bom on the 

I I • paternal estate, in Massachusetts, in wdiat is now 

II known as Coa.xet, October ig, 1779. Though not 
a native of Rhode Island, yet being of ancient Rhode 
Island families, born within a mile of the State line, bap- 
tized and brought up in a Rhode Island church, his biog- 
raphy seems to be entitled to a jtlace in this work. He 
was a descendant of Thomas Brownell, who was born in 
1619, and was on Rhode Island in 1647, when, at the 



formation of the government, under the charier of 1643, 
with John Cook, he was chosen "Water Bailie" for the 
colony, having charge of the fisheries, then, as now, an 
imjjortant industry, and a sf)Urce of wealth. Thomas 
Brownell's son Thomas, born in 1639, was one of the 
original proprietors and first settlers of Little Compton, 
Rhode Island, where members of that branch of the family 
still reside. His son George, in 1702, purchased a tract 
of land two miles s(]uare, in the southeast corner of West- 
port, embracing what is now Coaxet. Sylvester Brownell, 
fatlier of Thomas Church Brownell, was the son of Jona- 
than and grandson of George Brownell, the first proprietor 
of Coaxet. lie was born November 20, 1757. At seven- 
teen years of age he was one of the thousand minute men, 
whom the gallant Prcscott led to the heights of Bunker 
Hill, on the memorable night of June 16, 1775, and was 
in the battle the following day. He was one of the sur- 
vivors present at the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker 
Hill monument, June 17, 1825, and died fifteen years there- 
after. He was also at the disastrous battle of Long Island, 
in 1776, and at the battle of Rhode Island, under Sul- 
livan, in .'\ugust, 177S. In 178S he was commissioned 
Captain in the Massachusetts Militia, by John Hancock, 
and in 1794 was commissioned Major by .Samuel Adams, 
then Governor. The longevity of this family is remark- 
able. All lived to be over fifty years of age ; but one 
died under sixty, and one under seventy ; seven lived to 
be over eighty; the Bishop attained the age of eighty-five, 
and two are yet living. He was elected deacon of the 
Congregational Church in Little Compton, in 1802, and 
removed to that town in 1S28. The property is still in 
possession of the family, and his grandson, F. R. Brownell, 
now resides upon it. Thomas Church Brosvnell pursued 
his )ire|)aratory studies at Bristol County Academy, Taun- 
ton, Massachusetts, and graduated at Union College in 
1804, being then twenty-five years of age. The next year 
he was em])loyed as tutor in that institution. In iSoglie 
was elected the first Professor of Chemistry and Miner- 
alogy at Union College. The following year he spent in 
Great Britain and Ireland, in gathering material and appa- 
ratus for his new department. In 1813 he began his 
stuilies ftir llie ministry, and having joined the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, was ordained by Bishop Hobart, in 
Trinity Church, New York, April 11, 1S16. He was then 
thirty-six years of age. Probably there is no other in- 
stance on record of a man being admitted to holy orders 
so late in life who rose to the episcopate, with the excep- 
tion of the venerable Bishop Ravenscroft, of North Caro- 
lina. In connection with his professional duties, Mr. 
Brownell acted as missionary in Schenectady and vicinity. 
So rapidly did he rise in his profession that he was called 
to be assistant minister of Trnuty Church, New York, in 
1818, thus greatly enlarging his sphere of activity and use- 
fulness. But he was not long permilted to remain in New 
York City. The next year he w-as elected Bishop of the 



I So 



B/0(7A\ I rillCAL CYCL OPED FA. 



I'lotclnm EpiM-iipLil ('liunh in I iinnoi licut. ami was cnn- 
sccratctl (Jctolier jy, i.Sm. li u.is a ni'ist cxUaordin.uy 
iiKJve to lake a man who iiail in-ni in.-ix-ly an assistant 
pastor for one year and place hun at tiie head <tf an iin- 
]iortanl diocese at once, wliere lie \V(ndd l>e called to coni- 
pele witli the distinguished di\ines of that ilay. lUit he 
was eiitial to the emergencies and the res|)onsil)ilities of 
his exalted station. He sustained himself with pre-eminent 
al'ilit)' for fort\' vears. He was i>resitlini; Bishop in 1S52. 
He was the author of ///,• l-\iiiiily Pravt-y Beek, of the 
Protestant I\[")iscopal l_'hurch, and prepared \\\^ l\<!r^'h'it of 
the Htiut and Life, 5 vcds., i2mo., lS;,9-40. 'I'lu' great 
work of his life was the lounding of Trinity College, Hart- 
ford, in lS2^, of which he was the first President, and in 
the grounils of which is a bron/e statue to his memory. 
He died January 13, 1S05. 



^K( IWN, Or.AtilAH, manufacturer, and a iiromiiunt 
mendier of the Society of Friends, was horn in 
Providence, July 15, 1771. He was the only son 
0}h of Moses and Ainia Brown. His father was one 
* of the eminent men of the city and of the State. He 
was carefully educated in the relii^ious principles of his 
parents, wdto were memliers of the Siiciety ol Friends, and 
trained to hal.its of industry and economy. .Vjiplying him- 
self diligentl\' to Lai^iness, he l)ecame a successful manu- 
facturer, and accumulated a large estate. He diil not look 
upon w eal I has an end, hut rather as a in cans to some tiling bel- 
ter heyond. He early became interested in the New England 
Yearly Meeting Boarding-School (known as the (Hiaker 
College), first estalilished at Portsmouth, R.hode Island, in 
1784, but which was linalU' relnoNn.l to Providence in l.Slg, 
by reason of a donation from Moses Brown of torty-lhree 
acres of land lying east of Hope Street. 'Ilie institution 
also recei\'ed jiecuniary aid from William Almy ami "ithers. 
(.)badiah fid lowed uji the bene fact ions of lii^ [ather by gi\ mg 
to the school, at dilferent times, about ten thousand dollars, 
and finally in his will, one humlred thciusand dollars, the 
income of \\hich is Used for the curreirt expenses of the 
institution, and also gave his library, valued at six hundred 
and llfiy dollars. Ik also left bi the .Society of h'riends 
t\\eiit\ thous.ind doll. irs^ know 11 as the '* ( tbadiah Brown 
huud," the inierest of w Inch is devoted to the dissemination 
of know ledge by I he distribution of books and tracts. During 
his public life he freely gave to the Fiiends' College, the 
Providence Monthly .Meeting, and the yearly meetings 
much of his time, atteiiti'm, and counsel. He held numeions 
offices in the Society and travelled extensively with its rep- 
resentatives and ministers. Though a man of large business 
capacity, he v\as alv\ays active in works of benevolence in 
the citv and Stale, and in Itearing religious testimonies. 
He married, March ^, lyijS, I >oreas Hadwen, daughter of 
lohn anil Kli/abeih Hadwen, of Newport, Rhode Island, 
in |u!\. I^-;2, he was chosen an elder in the i'ro\ idcnce 



Monthly Meeting. He died Clctober 15, 1S22, in the fifty- 
second year of his age. He was noted for his purity of 
life, unifonn kindness, wisdom, and benevolence. William 
.\lmv, who \sas associated with (.)l)adiah Brown in his 
manufictuiing business .and his religious labors, married 
(Jbadiah's sister, the only daughter of Moses Brown. He 
ilied February 2, 183(1, aged seventy-five years. 



■^''R.WTi )X, HiiN. Cn.\RLF,.s, only son of Daniel and 
Elizabeth (.\twood| Brayton, was born in War- 
wick, Rhode Island, October 31, 1772. His edu- 
"■'th cation was acquired at his home, in the common 
* schools, and by diligent private stutly. He began 
life by v\orkiiig at the trade of a blacksmith, which he 
learned from his father. His assiduous application to boiiks 
soon ipialilied him for a useful public career. Admitted a 
freeman in 1704, in ihe lollowing vcar he became a con- 
stable, and served for years in that capacity. He was a 
member of the Pawtuxet Rangers, under Ca]itain Benjamin 
Arnold, an officer in the Revolution. In 179(1 he was 
chosen First Lieutenant of the Second Company of War- 
wick Militia, and in 1797 was elected Captain. In 179S 
he became Tow n Sergeant and collector of taxes, and served 
five ^ ears, L)uiing all this time he was slud\ing to (jualify 
hiniseU for public aflairs, and e\er emiihasi/ed the impor- 
tance of knou ledge. In 181.14 he was chosen Town Clerk 
of Warwick, and continued to fill that office till his death, 
Init ^\ ith the assistance at last of his sons, as he was so much 
em]-iloyed by his larger public duties. In 1S08 he was 
chosen Colonel of the famous Kentish .Xrtillery, and com- 
manded the corps for five years. In 1S13 he was chosen 
Chief luslice of the (.'ourt of ("oinmon Pleas. In 1814 he 
was elected Justice of the Supreme (.'ourt, ami served four 
years. Such confi'lence was reposed in his knowledge and 
sense of equity that a multitude of cases were piivately 
submitted to him and his ad\ice was accejited as a finality 
in the matters in controversy. It was enough to report in 
any disputed case that "Judge Brayton says so." He was 
electeil to the General .\ssembly in 1S20, and continuously 
re-elected for many years. In 1822 he was a member of 
the House called to revise the laws of the State. In 1824 
he \\ as a member of the comention called to frame a new 
constitulion, \\hich, how*e\er, was not accejiteil liy the 
people. In 1827, on the reorgaiiization of the judiciary of 
the State, he was elected Juilgeof the .Supreme Court, and 
continued to fill that ofiice, w ith great honor to himself and 
to the State, till his death, which occurred November 16, 
1834. He married, in 1795. Rebecca Havens, daughter of 
William Havens, of Warwick, and had four children: 
Charles ,\twood (who died at the age of si.xteen), Ann 
Mar\' I v\ ho died at the age of twenty), Hon. (.leorge A., 
and lion. Willi. iin 1). (the two latter elsewhere sketched 
in this vciluine I. 










?/7rrr—C 



fi/OGA'. IPN/CAS. CYCL OPED/A. 



iSl 



IABCOCK, Rowse, 2d, son of R.iwse aiul Ruth 
(Maxson) Babcock, was l)orn in Westerly, Rhode 

^ ^ Island, May 12, 1773. He descended from one 

T| of the oldest and most prominent families in the 
J'l State, a family that gave to Westerly such men as 
John, James, Dr. Joshua, Colonel Henry, Rev. .Stephen, 
and Hon. Daniel Babcock. John and his wife Mary are 
said to have been the first white settlers in Westerly, and 
have been celebrated in song as pioneers. The father of 
the subject of this sketch, the first President of the Wash- 
ington Bank, and a man of rank as well as estate, died 
June ij, 1801, aged fifty-five years. His mother, Ruth, 
of the old and honor.ible Maxson family, died May 3, 1813, 
aged sixty-six years. Rowse 2d was pre-eminently a man 
of business, a merchant, shipowner, and banker, and was 
unu.sually successful in his affairs. He was one of the 
first Directors of Phenix Bank and its third President, 
succeeding Hon. Amos Cross and I^ieutenant-Governor 
Edward Wilcox. His immediate associates were such 
men as William Robinson, M.D., John C. Hoxsie, Wil- 
liam Williams, Coddington Billings, and Hon. Nath.m 
F. Dixon. On the organization of Christ Church (Epis- 
copal) he became one of its strongest supporters, and the 
members of his family have always been influential mem- 
bers of that communion. He married, January 31, iSoi, 
Hannah Brown, daughter of Lieutenant-Governor George 
Brown, of South Kingstown. ' He died April 21, 1841, at 
the ,age of sixty-seven, leaving a large estate, a good name, 
and a worthy family. Four of his sons will be found 
sketched in this volume, Rowse 3d, Rev. William R., 
Edwin, and Horace. His other children were, Hannah 
B., born November 4, 1805, married Oliver D. Wells, No- 
vember 29, 1825, died July 30, 1879; Martha, born Sep- 
tember 18, 1807, married Thomas P. Stanton, October 25, 
1827, died April 24, 1864; Harriet, born October 5, 1809, 
married Horatio N. Campbell, September 8, 1846; Sarah 
A., born January 27, 1S12, married Dr. John G. Pierce, 
June I, 184O; Albert, born .September 6, 1S16, died June 
13, 1831. 



ji^^pOOD, Hon. Joskt-H. son of Major William, and 
SMJK Phebe (Goulding) Wood, was liorn in Hnpkin- 
i^Stf to". Massachusetts, October iS, 1S03. His 
father served in the Revolution, aTid was a farmer, 
a miller, and part owner in a cotton factory in the 
village of Woodville, Massachusetts. His mother was a 
woman of superior intelligence, abdity and devotion to 
her children. Joseph was educated at home, and in the 
Common schools. Entering a cotton factory, he soon won 
the confidence of his employers, and was placetl in charge 
of one of the rooms before he was of age. In a few 
years he removed to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, ami acted 
as an overseer in the factory of Friiuh & Hurliank. In 



1828 he entered into partnership with Deacon Stephen 
Benedict, and managed the mill of Mr. Jabal Ingrahani, 
in Bellingham. Massachusetts, making cotton-cloth by the 
yard. In 1829 they hired a factory in Albion village, 
Rhode Island, and made cloth for Mr. George Wilkin- 
son. In 183 1, they removed to Central Falls, Lincoln, 
Rhode Island, and purchased a part of the Thread Com- 
pany's mill of Mr. Dwight Ingrah.-im, and began busi- 
ness for themselves. This establishment was long known 
as the " Benedict & Wood Mill." They prospered, built 
residences near together on High Street, and lived, as 
they toiled together, like brothers, in closest intimacy, for 
thirty-seven years, till parted by death. In 1847, Mr. 
Wooil also formed a partnership with Mr. John A. Adams 
and his own brother, Samuel Wood, known as Wood, Ad- 
ams & Co., and engaged in manufacturing cotton-thread. 
The company vv.as known, finally, as the Central Falls 
Thread Company. In 185 1, with his brother Samuel, 
he purchased the Richards Mill, and, under the firm- 
name of J. & ,S. Wood, engaged in manufacturing cotton- 
cloth. This firm was dissolved by the death of Samuel, 
in 1853, who was killed by machinei*y in the mill. Sam- 
uel's interest being sold to Mr. John h. Adams, the mill 
was run by Wood & Adams till 1863, when it was sold 
to the Pawtucket Haircloth Company, and Wood & Adams 
became connected with the .Staflbrd Manufacturing Com- 
pany, Mr. Adams as Agent, and Mr. Wood as Treas- 
urer. In this position Mr. Wood remained till his death. 
A man of great integrity, conscientiousness, industry and 
perseverance, he acquired a large estate, and an enviable 
reputation. He and his wife were consistent members 
of the Central Falls Congregational Church, and he gave 
largely of his time and money for the support of that 
body. For more than twenty-five years he was the Super- 
intendent of the Sabbath-school. Indeed, no gootl cause 
was neglected by him, and his name was a s\non\in for 
honor in all business circles. Politically he was a Whig, 
till that party became the Republican, wdien he heartily 
accepted the new situation, and was strongly opposed to 
slavery. During the Rebellion he lent his voice, strength, 
and purse, to the nation. After long refusing official hon- 
ors, he finally consented, in 1872, to accept the nomination 
of Senator from Lincoln, and was unanimously elected by 
both parties. He graced the State Senate as he had adorned 
every other circle of life. He married, August 9, 1830, 
PhilaT. Freeman, daughter of Edward and Sarah (Thayer) 
Freeman, of Mendon, Massachusetts; a woman of great 
excellencies of character. They had three sons and two 
daughters; one of the latter, Sarah K., married Rev. Jo- 
seph Ward, a Congregational minister. Mr. Wood died at 
his residence, in Central Falls, February 10, 1873, in his 
seventieth year His brother, .S.\mi-i;l Wooi>, was born 
in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Ajiril 27, 1813. He received 
excellent home and school education, an*l, in 1840, removed 
to Central FalN, Rhode Island, where he engaged in busi- 



IS2 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



iK'ss with IJcnjamin F. Ciivt-TU- :in<I Thomas UL-nedict, and 
aflcrwanK willi iiis Itrothci just.-|ili. IK- was kilkni i>y 
tlic iiiai IiinciA' «if llir null, Apiil 22, 1^5^. IK- nnrrii.-(i. 
laniiaiv 11, 1S40. Sarah A. Amnhl, of ( "dvciitry. Rlmdc 
Jshind, and had hmr chMdrLn.^onc ^un and liiiec daiiL^Ii- 
tris. I lis al'ilitics and viituc^ wmi (nr lnni a hirgc phicc 
in the hcails of ilir iK-.-plc. 



JL'MKU. 11"N. Wii HAM, I.l..r> . only m,ii ..f Dr. 
^\'Uhanl Hunter, wa^- iiorn in Xt.-\vi>orl., Xovcmhcr 
e.ovj 26, 1774. Ili^ father was an eminent Scutcli 

A^ phyiiaan. whu eame to this country aln>ut tiie year 
k 17S-- ^|'"H after the faintms hatlle of Culh.xlcn, in 
wliit li as a fi ienrl of die " I'releiider " he hehl a itrr)fessional 
p'jsili(jn. He selth.d in Newport, where he L^ave the lir^t 
course "f anatomical lectures ever i^ivcn in tins cciuntry. 
These lectures were delivered in tlie Court house, in two 
seasons in succession, I)y cards of invitation, anrl gave ^reat 
satisf.n ti'.'n. He mairied a daui;hter of (lodlVey Mallionc. 
a wealthy merchant in Xewjiort. She wa'^ a ilescendant nf 
Kdward Wanton, the earliest ancestor of the Wanton family 
in this country. The subject of tins skdcJi |iursued hi^i 
jufparatory sindtes under llie tuiiion of Kolicrt Rogers, 
who ha(_l charge of a schocd of a high order in his native 
jilace. He graduated from I'.rown l'ni\ersiiy. with the 
Salutatory Oration, in the class of 170I. H^n. Jonathan 
Kusscdl, LL.I).. was his clas-^mate. ( )u com|ileting his 
collrge sliidics tic went to I'aigland, and was a siudunl for 
a tnue with the cehdiraled I h. h>hn Hunter, a fnst cousin 
of his father. Kimling that his tastes <lid not incline iiirn 
to enter the medic.il profession he al'an<loned the idea of 
hiting himself to he a |>hysician, and turned his attention 
to the xtudy ol law. He pursued his law studies in the 
Inner Temple. ],nndi">n. under the direction of eminent 
teachers, among whom were Chitty and .Xrthi-r Mur})hy. 
the accomplished translator of Tacitus, whom lie aided in 
this schulaily woiL. It is said ihal when Mur]ihy tiiok to 
lUirhe his dcdii_alion of that work Huntci' acci.inipanicd 
him. They fomid iJurke j-ilaving at jackstraws with his 
son. Mr. HuntL-r was often present at the flehates in J'ar- 
lianient. and enjoyed the rare iiri\ilege of ii-tening to the 
elo(|uence k\^ the bar in the couits of England. Some of 
the ablest statesmen were then in tlie tlieatie of action, men 
like |-"rskine, Tilt, and Fo\. It is easy to sec what inlluence 
such men would have in moulding the character and form- 
ing the style of a susceptible young man engaged in pro- 
fessional study. Returning to this country in 1793 he con- 
tinued his jireparatory studies unlil he was admilled to the 
bar, No\cnd"er, 1703, at the age of iwcnly-one years. 
Such was his reput.ition after a few years' piactice tiiat in 
I70') lie was sent by the t^iti/en^ of Newport to represent 



them in the ( ieneral Assembly, and was re-elected each 
successive year to the year 1S12. Duiing the session com- 
mencing May, iSii, he was .Speaker of the House. The 
I b)n. C. i \. t'hamplin, who was a Senator in Congress Ironi 
Rhode Island, having resigned his office. Mr. Hunter was 
chosen in iSutotill (Uit the remaining years of his term 
of service, and in 1814 was eleeled for six years. As an 
orator Mr. Hunter took a high rank in L'ongress. Among 
his most famous speeches while in the Senate are those on 
the acquisition of Florida and on the Missouri Comjiromisc 
The former of these was delivered in secret session of the 
Senate of the I'nited States, February 2, 1S13. It was 
made on the projiosilion for seizing and occupying the 
province of l-'a^^t Morida Iiy the troops of the United Slates. 
.\s there were no rc]yorters to lake diiwii the speech it was 
dictated to an amanuensis by Mr. Hunter after its<Ielivery, 
and printed in Newport. It has been pisily said of this 
s]>eech dial " il shows e".)mprehensive vieus of the subject, 
expressed in a style unusually dignitied and elevated, ami 
Contains passages of a high order of eloquence," The 
course wdiich Mr. Hunter took with regani to the Missouri 
Compromise not proving sniisfactory to his constituents, he 
faitetl of a re-election Lo the Senate of the United States. 
He resume*! the j-iractice of his profession, and again rep- 
resented his native to\\ n for several years in tlie (_leneral 
Assembly of the State. In 1S34 he was appointed by 
General Jackson Charge d'Affaires to IJrazil, and subse- 
quently, at the re<]uest of the young FmjHMor, Dom Pctlro, 
was elevated to the position of Minister Plenipotentiary. 
While living in iJra/il. he was a most diligent student, 
gatliering irom the various libraries of that country, ami 
Irom every relial*le source. \ast stores tjf information on 
many subjects, which he would doubtless have turned to 
a good Use ha<l liis life been spared. His term of service 
in Brazil expired m 1S45, when lie returned to this coun- 
tr\', and spent the four remaining )'ears ol his life in New- 
port, where he ched l)eceniber 3, 1S40. Mr. Hunter was 
one of the most accomplished men ol his time. His per- 
sonal apjiearance attracted attention. He was tall, coin- 
mamling. and graceful in liis figure. As an oratijr he had 
few superiors. There was a rare depth and melody in his 
voice, while his address was ilistmct and lull of dignity. 
He was a fine linguist, familiar w ith tlie liest classic writers 
ol antiquii\', and was well \'ersed in llu" modern languages, 
speal<.ing the I'rench with almost the ease and correctness 
of a native. Wit and liunior were marked characteristics 
in his compositiijn. While in Congress, on a certain oc- 
casion Mr. Little, of Maryland, was indulging in remarks 
of a personal character upon Mr. Law. of North Carolina, 
in the House of Rejtresentatives. Mr. Hunter happened 
to be among the auditors, and a gentleman asked him if 
he thought Law wmild answer Litlle in the same strain. 
*' No, indeed." said Mr. Hunter. " ^z nnjniuis fioii ,iirat 
lex''' — the huv <loes not care about liulcs. The wife of 
Mr. Hunlir was Marv, dau-'hler o| William and Sarah 



BIOGKAPIIICAL CJ CLOPEDIA. 



183 



(iManklin) Roljinscm, of New Yurk. He had eight chil- 
dren, two of whom died in youtli. Of the others, Wil- 
liam Hunter, Est]., of Wasliini^ton, Assistant Secretary of 
State, and the oldest child, is an honored officer under 
the Government. Eliza w.as married at Rio de Janeiro, 
to James Birchead, formerly of Baltimore, and now 
lives in Newport. The third child, Thomas R., lives in 
Middletown. The fourth, Mary R., became tlie wife of 
Edward Pierse, of the British Navy. She died near Lcm- 
don, a few years since. The fifth child was Charles. He 
received a commission as Captain in the United States 
Navy, In 1873, ^^^ with his wife and daughter, was lost 
on his way to Havre. Catharine was the sixth child. She 
married at Rio, John Greenway, a merchant, then in busi- 
ness at Montevideo, at which place she ilied. 



^^?RTDGHAM, Hon. S.\muel Willard, the first 

^^^K) Mayor of Providence, was born in Providence in 

'Jlp 1774. and was a graduate of Brown University in 

f'ji)" the class of 1794. .'\mong his classmates were Na- 



thanael .Searle, LL.D., and Judge .Solomon Sibley, 
of Michigan. The two years following his graduation 
were devoted to the study of law, and he was admitted 
to the bar in September, 1796. He represented Provi- 
dence in the General Assembly, and was Speaker of the 
House from May, 1826, to October, 1826. He was at- 
torney-General of Rhode Island from 1814 to 1818. In 
1821 he was elected a Trustee of Brown University, and 
continued in office until his decease. He w'as chosen 
Chancellor of the University in 1828, and remained in this 
office until his death. When Providence became a city, 
in 1832, he was chosen the first Mayor, and held the office, 
by the suffrages of his fellow-citizens, for eight years. He 
was married to Elizabeth Paine, October 20, 1798. Their 
children were Elizabeth W., born September 13, 1799; 
Abby C, born May 26, 1S03; Samuel F., born November 
3, 1S05, and died July 6, 1807; Julia B., born November 
17, 1810 (she married George Curtis, April 3, 1834) ; Sam- 
uel W., born September 24, 1813; and Joseph, born Au- 
gust 15, 1815. Mr. Bridgham died December 28, 1840. 
Few citizens of Providence have occupied more conspicu- 
ous positions than the subject of this sketch. So long as 
he practiced his profession he stood high as a lawyer. .\s 
the first Mayor of Providence, his eight years' administra- 
tion of the municipal government will ever be regarde<l .as 
having contributed not a little to the laying the founda- 
tions of the prosperity of the city. At the time of his de- 
cease resolutions of the most commendatory character were 
passed by the city government and by the Corporation of 
Brown Univer.-ity. His memory will long be cherished, 
and he will be regarded as one of the most eminent and 
public-spirited citizens of Providence. 



)f|URGE.S, Trist.\m, an eminent American statesman, 
son of John and Abigail Burges, was born in 
Rochester, Massachusetts, February 26, 1 770, 
^^ and was the youngest of three sons. His earliest 
L associations were the events and experiences of the 
Re\'o!utionary War. He kept in remembrance the alarm 
of the battle of Lexington, and the return of his sick 
father from the army. His father's business was that of a 
cooper and farmer. It was to the fact of his father's occu- 
pati(m that John Randolph referred when he cast it as a 
reproach on Burges that he was a cooper's son. The re- 
tort was a keen one, to wit. that if he (Randolph) had 
been a cooper's son, he would never have been anything 
else. The facilities for accjuiring an educatiiui at the 
period antl place where young Burges liverl were of the 
most stinted character. He never attended a school until 
he was fifteen years of age, and until he was twenty-one 
the whole time of his public instruction was not much 
more than three months. He was, however, passionately 
fond of books, buying, begging, or borrowdng all he could 
get. After the toils of the day were over his favorite vol- 
umes were read far into the late hours of the night. With 
all the disadvantages under which he labored for mental 
culture, he was a busy and constant writer, the letters 
which he wrote between the ages of sixteen and twenty 
being enough in number to make a good-sized volume. 
When he had reached his majority he detennined to get 
an education. He pursued his preparatory .studies in the 
academy at Wrcnthani, under the instruction of Rev. Wil- 
liam Williams, and was a graduate of Brown University, 
in the class of 1796, with the highest honors of his class. 
Already his oratorical powers were remarkably developed, 
and his fellow-students predicted a brilliant future for him 
as a pidiiic speaker. After his graduation he taught school 
for a brief period, and cnntinueil tlie study of law in 
Providence, which he had while in college commenced 
under the instruction of Judge Barnes. About this time a 
lottery ticket was pressed upon him, for the payment of 
which — five dollars — he gave his note. The ticket drew 
a prize of two thousand dollars. The school was given 
up, and he devoted his whole attention to the study of his 
chosen profession, and w.as admitted to the bar of Rhode 
Island in 1799. He found himself competing with some 
of the most eminent lawyers of the State. But it was not 
long before he was in the midst of an extensive practice, 
and there were few important cases in which he was not 
engaged. In 181 1 he was elected a member of the CJen- 
eral Assembly, and in May, 1S15, was appointed Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, holding the 
office for a single year, when he resumed the practice of 
his profession. The Corporation of Brown University 
elected him, in 1815, Professor of Curatory and Belles- 
Lettres, which chair he filled with distinguished success 
from 1S15 to 1828. He was chosen to represent Rhode 
Island in Congress in 1825, and held that position for ten 



x84 



B /( > C A\l PI lie A L C ) rZ O PEDIA . 



y^ars with niarkud al^ilily. \cvy snuii hu iii.uIl' lits mark 
in the li.ilU of l«-;^ivl,iti<tii liy Iii^ spt-rcli on llu; Ju(]it.iary, 
ri-'s]K'Ctin'^ wlticli a vttfi.iii iiirmher (if (_'(iiii;i'. ^s sani, 
" Tliat s]R'L-th IS uiiL- of liiu i^rf.iU-^l ili-j-liys '>1 cIimjucik-l' 
ever MKulc In (!iis iiall." It cstai)lislK-<i Mi. llnr^^us's rcpu- 
talion ai an uiatur. A hill \\a-> piescnttil i'V him pmpus- 
iiii; tn ]iav a mnix- t^^fiKTiiiis pcnsit.in to tlic survivinL; sol- 
(lici's of the Rcvululii'ii, thf passaj^i.- of w liicli hu aiKn- 
cateii in a speech of L;reat power. He ma'le also able 
speeches; in favor of a protective tariff. Mis cneounters 
with the cecentiic. sarcastic |nhn Randolph form an inter- 
e^ting jiarl of ilie hi-toiy of (.."on^ressional del-ales. Mr. 
Randolph had the most intense prejudice again--t New 
England, and when anvthing was proj-iosed like the tariff, 
he embraced the <'pi>oitiinity t<.) vent his spite on the Ka-t- 
ern States. < )ii one oi cation he had said, " Xew England 
— what is she? Sir, do you renieniher tiiat appropriate 
exclamation. "■ /?i.-/i;i,/<i csf (^W////-/;'.' /' " The reply of 
Mr. Burges was, " [)oes the gentleman mean to say, si--, 
New h'ngland must he destroyed? If so, I will remind 
him that the fall of Carthage was the preeursor of the fall 
of Rome. Permit nie to suggest to him to carry out the 
parallel. Further, sir, I wish it to Ije distinctly understood 
that I am not lunind by any rule to argue against Hedlam ; 
but when I hear anything rational in the hallucinations of 
the gi'iiilenian, I uil! answer them." The next day he 
resumed his speech, and pruned forth snch a tin^rent of 
sarca'-ni that Randolph ipiaileil under it, left the hall, and 
his Voice was never raisetl there afterwards. Although in 
the l-arly which was opposed to President Jackson, Mr. 
liuiges warndy indorNed the course which he pur-^ued 
with referenie to nullilication in South (Carolina. He 
wiiuld not accept the compronii~e which Mr. (.'lay pre- 
sented on the matter of the lardl. .\w\ the result was that 
he faihil to sciure his le-elcction t(.i Congress. C)n leav- 
ing Washington, in 1S35, he returned to his a<io]ited Stale 
and "-pent the larger part of the last twenty years of his 
life on his estate in East Provi<lence, where he died ( )cto- 
Ihi I ^, iS^j;. In iSoi he married the daughter of Mr. 
Welcome Arnold, an eminent merchant of Providence. 
Three i>f his daughters died — one in 1S26 and two in 
1S27. 'I he hdlouing year, iSjS, his eldest sun, Welcome 
Arnold Purges, one of the most accom[)lished young men 
of hi-, time, was al>o removed liy death. Thus, within ' 
the brief I'criod of fourteen months, he was called to bury 
four of his chddren. i >f no citi/cn of Rhode Island has 
his adopted .Stale better reason to be proud than i>f Hun. 
Ti isfam I hu'Lifs. 



1 K1NS( )N. Hon. Isaac, son of David an-i I.ydia 

I Spear) Wdkinson. was bom in Smilh field, 

^«^j^-^'i/ Rhnile Island, ()ctober I, I77'>. His ancestors 

were the distinguished Wilkinsons of Eastern 

Rhode Inland, some c'f whom are elsewheie 



sketched in this volume. His grandfather, Israel, was the 
son of Samuel, who was the son <^>f Samuel, who was the 
son of Law lencc, one of the signers of the original ci\il 
compact of the founders of the colony planted by Roger 
Williams. That compact was dated " 19th of llth month, 
1645." Isaac'.s l)rother, Eliab, was a superior scholar in 
the natural sciences and in mathematics, and kejt in his 
native town a soil of High School for advanced scholars, 
leaching, also, surveving and navigation. In connection 
with Elisha Thornton he published almanacs for a number 
of years. He was the first Cashier of the old Smilhheld 
L'nion Piank, a ]io>itiun that he held till his death, at the 
age of thirty-seven. Isaac received the jilain country edu- 
cation common to his dav, but had some special advantages 
from the excellent family to which he iielonged. For his 
calling he chose that of a farmer, ami l)ecame known as a 
model agriculturist. He was born and died on the farm 
that was inherited in a direct line inuii Lawrence, the 
founder <if the fainilv in Rhode Island. He was hrst 
chosen I )eputv Sheriff of the countv of Providence. In 
1S09 he was elected Helegate to the ( leneral Assembly, 
and in this rej'resentati\e office served at intervals feu- 
many) ears. In 1S33 he was chosen State Senator, and 
to this office was annualiy re-elected for several years. In 
1842, in the year of the "Dorr troubles," though in his 
sixtv-seveiuh year, he was elected Representative by Smith- 
field, and was aLo elected Senator on the State ticket 
(chosen by the State at large), but he declined the Sena- 
lorship and served as Representative. He voted at every 
Presidential election from the hrsl of lefTerson down lit his 
death, and was an old-seliool Democrat. He was i.)ne of 
the four in his t(->wn who \oted for Andrew |acks<.in in 
1S24. For twenty-eight successive years lie was chosen 
town Treasurer of Smilhf'ield, ami served most acceptably. 
His kindness was remarkable, and endeared him to all 
who knew him. The failings of men he could forgive, but 
he despised hyi)ocrisy. In lSi<) he married I lannah 
Streeter, of Cumberland, Rhode Island, a descendant of 
the Masons of that town. Her father's family removed to 
Vermemt, and thence to New" Hampshii e. in w Iiich latter 
Stale she was born, but relumed to Rhode Island when 
about twenty years of age. Isaac Wilkinson had three 
children: David Spear, Hannah M.. and Isaac R. 'I he 
latter now re-ides in Pawtucket. The two former still re- 
side on the old homestead, wliich has been in the family 
some Iw o hundred years. Mr. Wilkinson (bed, full of 
honors, February 25, 1S63, in his eighty-seventh }ear. 



,\'hT\. EllsHA, merchant and m.iiuifaclurer. sun of 
Anthony and .Sarah (IJishop) Dyer, was born in 
tilocestcr, Rhode Island, January 5, 1772. At 
(■'/ > the age of ten years iie was apprenticed to luhn 
^V Fitton, a Scotchman, a general tirygoods merchant, 
w hose place of business was uii \\Vstminster Street, Pruvi- 




/^/// / 



/ / 



/// 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



'85 



ilcnce. After completing his apjirenticeship he continued 
in the employ of Mr. Fitton, who was so much pleased 
with his industry, faithfulness, and manly qualities, that he 
made provision in his will that on his decease Mr. Dyer 
should come into possession of his estate and Inisiness by 
purchase. Mr. Dyer availed himself of this opportunity, 
and continued the business in the same place on his own 
account, and with Charles Potter, a former clerk, as co- 
partner, under the firm-name of Dyer & Potter, until 1825, 
wdien Mr. Dyer formed a copartnership with Mr. Cary 
Dunn, for the transaction of a general commission busi- 
ness, on West Water Street, under the firm-name of Elisha 
Dyer & Co. In 1830, Mr. Dunn retired, and April i, 
1S31, Mr, Dyer received his son Elisha into the firm, 
which partnership continued until about 1835, when, on 
account of increased facilities for travel and transpoi-tation, 
the commission business was almost suspended. In 1835, 
Mr. Dyer built the Dyerville Mill, in North Providence, 
and with his son Elisha began the manufacture of cotton 
cloth. He continued in that business until his death, Feb- 
ruary II, 1854, and became one of the largest real estate 
owners then in the city of Providence. He bought the 
Rockland Mill in South .Scituate in 1814, in company with 
others, and was one of the founders of the Providence 
Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, in which 
his heirs are still interested. He w-as one of the founders 
of the Union Bank of Providence, and for many years its 
President. He was noted for his sterling integrity, un- 
tiring industry, and business sagacity. It is said of him 
that he would never give nor receive mtjre than si.\ per 
cent, for money, and made it a rule never to accept any 
political office. He married, October 15, i8oi, Frances 
Jones, daughter of Thomas and Esther (Dunn) Jones. 
They had five children, — Caroline, Frances Jones, Elisha, 
Esther Dunn, and George Rathbone. Mr. Dyer was of a 
social, benevolent disposition, and possessed of strong re- 
ligious feelings. Late in life he became a member of the 
Beneficent Congregational Church of Providence, and 
died in the full belief of the principles of Christianity. 
As was said of him at the time of his death, " he was un- 
ostentatious and unobtrusive in his habits, affectionate to 
his family, kind to his dependents, and in his dealings 
scrupulously just." 




lijIXON, Hon. Nathan Fellows, son of William and 
Priscilla (Denison) Di.xon, was born in Plainfield, 
Connecticut, December 13, 1774. His father was 
. - a conspicuous public man. His mother was the 
J?\i daughter of Dr. William Denison, of Stonington, 
Connecticut. The name of Fellows was from Nathan Fel- 
lows, his nuiternal great-grandfatlier, of Killingly, Connec- 
ticut. Nathan K. enjoyed the superior educational advan- 
tages which were then found in the Plainfield Academy, 
under Dr. Eliphalet Mott. He entered Williams College, 
24 



but finally passed to Brown University, where he graduated 
with honor in the class of 1799. Having pursued the re- 
cjuired course of law studies, he was admitted to the l)ar 
in 1.S02, and commenced his professional practice in Wes- 
terly, Rhode Island. He soon became widely known in 
Rhotle Island and Connecticut as an able counsellor and 
advocate. For many years he was a director in Washing- 
ton Bank, and was President of that institution from 1829 
to his death. His predecessors in that office were Rowse 
Babcock, 2d, Colonel Thomas Noyes, and Hon. Jeremiah 
Thurston; and his successor was his son, Hon. Nathan F. 
Dixon, Jr. He was a gentleman of the old school in man- 
ners and dress, genial and affable, always ready to serve 
the people of all classes and conditions. By his kindness 
and counsel young men were especially encouraged in their 
educational endeavors. Elected to the Rhode Island Gene- 
ral Assembly from Westerly, in 1S13, he continued to serve 
the town and State in that position till 1S30, and was inti- 
mately associated w ith such men as William Hunter, James 
BurriU, Jr., Nehemiah R. Knight, James De Wolf, Asher 
Robbins, William .Sprague, Elisha R. Potter, Wilkins Up- 
dike, Job Durfee, and Tristam Burges. By the Whig party 
he was chosen Senator to Congress in 1S3S. He imme- 
tliately rose to prominence in Washington, and for a time 
was President of the Senate. Mr. Dixon died suddenly, 
January 29, 1842, while in the discharge of his duties 
in Washington. He married, January, 1804, Elizabeth 
Palmer, daughter of Captain Amos Palmer, of .Stonington, 
and had seven children : William P., Eli/.a, Fanny, Nathan 
F., Priscilla D., Courtland P., and Sarah R. His widow 
died March 30, 1859, in her eighty-first year. 



'?i'W^I,LEN, Hon. Whkaton, was born at Seekonk, 
Massachusetts, October 26, 1S06, ami was the 
son of Samuel and Anne (Read) Allen. His 
father was the son of Dr. Samuel Allen, of See- 
konk, a prominent jihysician of his time; his 
mother's native town was Barrington, Rhode Island. Mr. 
Allen's early days were spent upon a farm, and after ob- 
taining such an education as the schools of his day atTorded, 
at about the age of eighteen he shipped at Providence in 
the merchant service. Having inherited a fondness for a 
seaman's life, he exhibited rare energy and ability in his 
chosen calling, and soon became a shipmaster. During his 
career as captain, he made frequent voyages from New York 
to Cuba, and various southern ports in the United States. 
He also sailed to many European ports, including London, 
Liverpool, and St. Petersburg. In all his voyages he was 
eminently successful, and enjoyed the reputation of an able 
and reliable oflicer. In 1S60, having acquired a compe- 
tency, he retired from the sea, and spent the remainder of 
his life with his family in Warren, Rhode Island. The 
citizens of the town, realizing his worth, immediately 



lS6 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDTA. 



elected liini, in lS6l, a im-iiil>er of the t"\\ ii couneil, t'> 
whith pdsition he w a-^ nnmially re-eleeteti unti! Iii^ ilealli. 
r)uring man\ »ii lliesc year^ he was aUo i.ne ot the t"\\n 
aiiilitors. Ill 1S115 he alily re|'ie-,emeJ WaiLeii in llie 
I.ciuer Il.aise of the Cuieial .\'-~emlily. In 1S6S lie was 
eleeteii Slate Senalwi from Wjnen, and during the year 
served on seserai inipoitanl coiirniittees. Ilis oftieiai life 
in the town covered the jieriod of the Ci\il War, and 
tile many extra duties naturally connected with oltice at 
that Iniie were jiei formed Ijy him in a most creditable man- 
ner. For some tune he was a Custom house (JtTicer, and 
for many years, until his death, was a I Hrector in the Ilnpe 
National Hank. In c-msideration of the many courtesies 
extended hy him to the W'.iiien Artillery, he was chosen 
an honor.ir\- meiiiher of tlial ori;ani/ation. In 1S40 he lie- 
came a meml'cr of the Independent ( )rder of ( idd I'ellow s. 
Ill .Xjail, iNo7, he united \\ itli the \\'.irreii liapii^t (."hurch, 
of which he v\".]s a genercuis and ar<.leiit sujipoiter, an^l in 
which, lor ni.iny years, he held the office cjf Clerk, and 
served as a memlier uf the .Standing; Committee. He mar- 
ried. Seplcmbor :!S, 1S40, Maria Hade, dauglitcr of John 
and Mary .-\nn (Lewis) Hade, of Warren. They had two 
cliildren, M.iria il.iiie, who died in inf.incw and James 
Wheaton, horn in 1S47. Mr. .\llen died July 30, 1S71. 
lie enjoveil the esteem and coiilideiice of the coniinunity, 
anci was re<^arded as one of the most upriL;ht and usel"ul 
citizens of Warren. 



► :rRGK.SS, Hun. TlI<iM..\s, second son of Prince 
IUirL;ess, was horn in Waieham, Massacliusells, 
c ;,-., Novemlier J<), 177'). His ancestor, 1 lioinas Ilui- 
r--\ gcss, arri\-ed in Salem, Massachusetts, \\ ith a > laiiig 
<}> family, not far from 1630. He redded for a short 
time in I.\iin, Massatluiselts, and then took u]i his resi 
deiiee in .Saiidwuh, .Massachusetts, becoming a large land- 
liolder, and \\ hen he had become ad\aneed in \e.irs, was 
known .IS ■• ( ioodmaii " Uurgess. He lived on his estate 
forty-eight years, and died February 13. IC1S5. The third 
son of this Thomas, Jacob, had a son Eliene/er. The 
third son of Kbenc/er, also n.iined Hbeiiezer, liad thiee 
sons, one of whom, I'lince, was the father of the subject 
of this sketch. We are told with reference to him tli.it 
" in persevering industry and religious trust he served (lod 
and his generation to the good age of eighty-four years. 
In the Revolutionary War he joined the armies of his 
country for a short camjiaign, and he bore the title of 
Lieutenant to the end of his life." Thomas Burgess, 
known for many years as " Judge " Burgess, was a grad- 
uate of blown I'niver^ity in the class of 1800, under the 
I'resideiK)' of the di^t iiignished Itr. Maxcy. Tire theme 
of Ills oration was •■ Civil Hisseiisions considered as a 
Prelude to a I'haiige of I iovcrnment." .Xfter his grad- 
n.ition he siudied law with iudge Barnes, and being ail- 
niitted to the bar, took a high rank, especially as a coun- 



sellor, in his profession. At the time of his decease this 
discriminating eulogium was passed upon him : " Judge 
Burgess, distinguished through life by scrupulous integrity, 
by habits of great industry, and by the conscientious dis- 
charge of every trust, as well as by eminent sagacity and 
prudence, merited and acpiired the confidence of his fel- 
low-citizens in a measure that is accorded only to the 
most blameless. His counsel was sought with a peculiar 
reliance on its value, and the weightiest alTairs, the most 
delicate duties, were intrusted to him without apprehen- 
sion." He held the office of Judge of the Municipal 
Court fnun the oigani/.ition of the city government of 
Providciue, in I.S;2. till witliin a few years of his death. 
( )f the Court of Common Pleas he was Chief Justice for a 
number of years. His industry, and the care with which 
he managed his affairs, secured for him a jirosperoiis [losi- 
lion in life, and he was a generous contributor to all worthy 
causes wliich appealed to his charity. In the year 1828 
he was elected a member of the Coqroration of Brov\n 
University, and remained m office till his death. For the 
last twelve years or more of his life he was a menilter of 
the Standing Committee of the iJiocese of Rhode Lland. 
He married, November 16, 1S03, Mary, daughter of An- 
drew Mackie, .M.l)., a lady of .Scotch descent, residing in 
Warehani, Massachusetts, his native ]ilace. Their children 
were as follows : .Sarah .\., born July 8, 1S04, who died in 
childhood : Thomas Mackie, for ten successive years Mayt>r 
of i'rovidence,born June 6, 1S06; .Sarah .\., 2d, born .August 
9, 1808, married to .Amasa Paine, .-^pril 22, 1834; George, 
afterv\-ard Bishop of the Epscopal Diocese of Maine, born 
October 31. 1S09; Mary M,, born October lo, 1813, mar- 
ried to Ibai. John Kingsljury .\ugust 19, 1S34; Frederic, 
born .Vugust 4. 1818; and .\lexander, now Bishop of the 
(Juiiicy I'^piscop.d Iliocese, Illinois. .After a long and 
Iionorable life, de\oted to the service of *.iod and man. 
Judge Burgess died in Providence May 18, 1850. 



(ilTTN, Ciii.oNi'i. Bi:n.|\mi\, Jr., was born in 
Mendon, Massachusetts, M.iy 26, 1777. He eii- 
. ^ tered upon active business-life when very young, 
; going to the Southern States, and to the Isle of 
9 F"rance, as supercargo. He was taken into partner- 
shi]) by his father, in the auctioneering commission busi- 
ness, and afterwards est.iblished the well know n comniis. 
sion house of B. & T. C. lloppin, in the East Imlia and 
China trade, at a lime w hen Providence was one of the 
centres of that great commerce. When a young man he 
was made Colonel of Volunteers of the Rhode Island 
Militia, and he also served as a member of the Rhode 
Island Legislature; Iiut his life was mainly passed as a 
busiiiess-man, carr\ing on, and, in s<.)me in-tances, origin- 
ating, many important institutions, such as "The Wash- 
ington Insurance t/ompany," "The I'rovitlence Hyeing, 
Bleaching and C.dciideiiiig Coiiijiany," " The Providence 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOrEDlA. 



1S7 



Savings Bank," and " The Providence Bank." He mar- 
ried, November 14, 1S02, Estlier Phillips Warner, of Mid- 
dletown, Connecticut, a lineal descendant of Rev. John 
Cotton, the founder of Boston. His children were Ben- 
jamin, Levi, William, Elizabeth, Carrin;^ton, and James 
Mason. Mr. Hoppin was a representative merchant of 
Providence, highly esteemed for his stern, uncomiiromisini; 
integrity. His manners were dignified and polished, par- 
taking somewhat of the old regim,\ and he had marked 
geniality and hospitality of temper. He was of a com- 
manding presence, and retained his vigor and vivacity of 
mind to the time of his death, May 27, 1S65, at the age 
of eighty-eight. 



i.^rlNG, David, M.D., a distinguished Rhode Island 
TL% physician, was born in Raynham, Massachusetts, 
in 1774. His preparatory college studies were 
tfi' pursued under the direction of Rev. Peres Fobes, 
LL.D.,and he graduated from Brown University in 
the class of 1796. Several members of his class attained 
to great distinction in their different professions. He chose 
the profession of medicine as his calling, and w^ith his 
classmate, the distinguished Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff, so long 
a physician in Boston, he entered the office of Dr. James 
Thatcher, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, as a student. Hav- 
ing completed his studies, he took up his residence in 
Newport, and entered at once upon an extensive practice 
placed in his hands by the death of Dr. Isaac Senter. He 
enjoyed peculiar advantages as a student, in consequence 
of coming into possession of the rare and valuable library 
of Dr. Senter. This library, as we learn from Dr. Usher 
Parsons, " contained the manuscript lectures of Cline, Hay- 
garth, and Astley Cooper; the admirable physiological 
treatises of Haller and Whyte ; Morgagni on pathology ; 
fine copies of John and William Hunter's works, and the 
complete works of Cullen, wdiose rational theory and prac- 
tical views may justly be said to have created a new- era in 
medical science." Dr. King commenced his practice in 
Newport at or about the time that the public mind was 
drawn to the consideration of the vaccine disease, and in 
spite of the most violent prejudice, he resorted to vaccina- 
tion as a preventive against small-pox. The first person who, 
in Rhode Island, submitted to vaccination, which was ad- 
ministered by Dr. King, was Walter Cornell, of Newport. 
In addition to his ordinary practice, Dr. King held the 
appointment of Surgeon to a detachment of United States 
troops stationed at Fort Wolcott. He was especially suc- 
cessful in treating cases of yellow fever in the fort, and 
advanced and strongly held to the non-contagiousness of 
the disease. He was an active member of the Rhode Island 
Medical Society, holding in it successively the offices of 
Censor, Vice-President, and President, being elected to the 
last office in June, 1830, and holding it until July, 1834. 



In the various literary and philanthropic institutions of 
Newport he took an interest. For many years he was a 
director of the Redwood Library, and for some time the 
President of its Board of Directors. No good object 
deserving attention, wliicli would in any way benefit his 
fellow-citizens, failed to enlist his regards, and he occupied 
a position of the highest character in the community. He 
died November 14, 1S36. The wife of Dr. King was Anne 
Gordon, by whom he had five children, four sons and one 
daughter, Ann, who died in 1843. The oldest son, George 
Gordon, became a lawyer. He married Elizabeth Leaver, 
of Washington. The second son is the present Dr. David 
King, of Newport. The third son was Edward, who be- 
came a merchant, and died in 1876. The fourth son was 
William Henry. 



p^^iiS|NIGHT, Rkv. Kuii.\Rr), a celeljiated preacher, 
i,3«g|§j and author of the History of Ihe General ami 
i- 'J- °^. " Six-Friiiiif'le Baptists, was born in Cranston, 
'f J Rhode Island, October 5, 1771. His father w-as 
Ji Deacon .Stephen Knight, of the South Scituate Six- 
Principle Baptist Church, who was a descendant of Rich- 
ard Knight, Esq., who came from England in the early 
history of the State, and was one of the first settlers in the 
town of Cranston. The subject of this sketch resided in 
the town of his nativity during his life, with the exception 
of about three years. ( >n his conversion, in early man- 
hood, he worshipped with the Si-x-Principle Church in 
Scituate, witli which he united in 1804, and enjoyed the 
ministry of Rev. John Westcott, of the Foster Church. 
His activity and power as a speaker soon brought him into 
public notice. He was ordained as Pastor of the Scituate 
Church, October 19, 1809, by Elders Westcott, Manchester, 
and Sprague. This church he continued to serve with 
great fidelity and success till his death. Of one of the 
revivals that occurred under his ministry, he says, in his 
history, " A reformation took place, and, in the course of 
three years, one hundred and fifty souls were added to this 
society, when it consisted of two huntlred and seventeen 
members." His church finally numbered over four hun- 
dred members. In 1827 he published, under the patron- 
age of the Rhode Island Yearly Meeting of Six-Principle 
Baptists, his valuable octavo voUime, of about 370 pages, 
entitled History of the General and Six-Principle Bap- 
tists in Europe and America : In Two Parts. This work 
exhibits much research, and is now of great historic worth, 
as it contains the annals of many Rhode Island churches, 
and valuable biographical sketches. His ministry was 
long and highly honored. For fifty-three years he occu- 
pied the pulpit of the Scituate Church, " not ceasing in his 
labors till within a few months of his decease," which oc- 
curred in Cranston, at his residence, April 10, 1863, in the 
ninety-second year of his age. His son. Rev. Samuel B. 
Knight, born in Cranston, June 24, 1802, was ordained 



1 88 



B/OGRAPIJICAL CYCL OP EDI A. 



Assist.int Pa>t(>r of the Scituate Bajilist ('lunch, Nnvcmbcr 
2S, 18^9; jirL-achetl tlic-rc anil in ditTcrt-iit places in Rhnde 
Nlanil and Massachusetts, and iinalls' died in the old 
Kniyht homestead in ('lanstim. January 25, 1S79. 



dcatli. He was a high-minded Christian gentleman, 
whcjse enterprisinj; spirit aiul exemplary character retlected 
h<jnor u|ii)n tlie tnwn in which he resided. 



S^^HII.D, CaI'TAIn SnuiiAtcL, son of Caleb and Mary 
j'fc/jL) (Cole) ("hild, was born in Kehuboth, Massachu- 
\4iT ^^"'~' Seiitember 28, 1779. His father, a native of 
Warren, Rhode Islantl, was for many years a noted 
ship-builder of that town, and at the time Warren \ 
was destro)'ed Itv Ilrilish troops, had just comjileted a 
new house, which was burned. The fannly fled to Reho- 
both, .^Iassachusetts, where they remained ft^r a short time, 
and returned to Warren soon after the birth of the subject 
'if this sketch, which occurred in Rehoboth, in the home 
of Shubacl Peck, w hose nauje was given him. Captain 
Child was educateil in the schools of Warren, and at an 
early age was apprenticed to Nathan Phillips, a |irinter, 
with whoni he remained eight years. After learning his 
trade he began a sea-faring life, and by rajiid promotittn 
soon liecame a ship-master. In this capacity he sailed 
many years ftir the celebrated shipjiing-house of William 
Wilson, of B.dtimore, Maryland. He followed the sea 
constantly until rSl2,when he established himself in Balti- 
more as a job printer. At the close of the War of 1S12 
he resumed his position as ship-master, in which he con- 
tinued until 1S25. ."Xfter giving up the positions of 
cajitain and marine merchant, he returne<l to Warren 
and engaged in the whaling busines. His former em- 
ployers having unbounded conlidenee in his integrity and 
business cajiacity, took a large interest in the shijo with 
liim. He retained an interest in the shipjiing business for 
many years after retiring from active life. During his career 
as captain he visited nearly all parts of the world, and at 
the time of the great famine m Ireland conveyed the first 
ship-load of provisions to the starving people. For sev- 
eral years he held the office of I'residenl of the Warren 
Marine Insurance Company, and was also for a time 
President of the Warren Hank. In lS',4 he became a 
memlicr of the Warren Ba[ilist Church, of which he was 
ever after a)l earnest and liberal sujipoi ter. and in w liieli he 
was for many years L'hurch Auditor. He married. May 
7, 1807, Priscdla B. Child, daughter of Sylvester and Pris- 
cilla (Hradfonl) Child, wdio died December 26, 1840, the 
issue of the marriage being three children, Mary Cole, 
Harriet Newell, and Charles Thompson. Mrs. Child's 
father was a ship-builder in Warren, and a direct descend- 
ant of (Mivernoi Bradford, of Massachusetts. Her mother 
was a native of Bristol, Rhode Island. On the 2Istof 
May, 1843, Captain Child married Adaline Croade, daugh- 
ter of John Croade. of Warren, who died May 16, 1875. 
Captain Child died January 4, 1876, at the age of ninety- 
si.s, being the oldest citizen of Warren at the time of his 



.\LB( iNE, EiiWARD (7., an American portrait 
t'!? jiainter, was born in Newjiort. in .August, 1777. 
He exhibited a love for art when he w.as a 
I mere boy, and at the early age of seventeen 
aP removed to Providence, wdiere he devoted him- 
self to miniature piainting, and to the painting of portraits. 
In the sjiring of 1796 he took U]i his residence in Boston, 
an.l was soon fully occupied with his professional duties. 
His reputation, especially .is a miniature j^ainter, having 
become established, he visited the principal cities of the 
North, where he found abundant opportunities for the ex- 
ercise of his art. With Washington .^listen he sailed for 
Europe in iSoi. He resided in London for several months, 
enjoying the treasures of art in that great city, and improv- 
ing himself in various ways in his i>rofession. While re- 
siding in London he painted "The Hours; the Past, 
Present, and the Coming." The history of this gem of 
art. which ma}' lie seen in the northwest anteroom of the 
Providence Athena-um. it m.ay be a matter of interest to 
refer to. As already intimated, Malbonc painted it in 
England. It came into the possession of his sister, Mrs. 
H. Whitehorne, of Newport. Although for a long time 
hung U]) and ex]iosed to the light, it retained the freshness 
and beauty of coloring it had when originally painted. 
Dunlap says, *' I have seen it more than once, and never 
saw it witliout renew ell admiralicin." It is supposed that 
the suttject was suggested from a i>icture to which the title 
of "The Hours" was given, which he saw^ and very 
much admired, in London. The following \erses. written 
by an apjireciative jioet. were addressed to the artist 
through one of the New York papiers : 

"Whoe'er beheld thy rosy Hours 

.■\nd couM. uiifelt, their beauties sec. 
The mind is his where darkness lowers, 
.\iid his the heart that mine should flee. 

" May memory to thy mind jiresent 
The past with gentle, placid mien. 
When hojie. jiropihctic sjiirit sent. 
Waving her golden hair was seen. 

" And may thy present hours be bright 
As the fair angel smiling there ; 
Without a cloud to dim their light — 
Without a thought that sets in care. 

" But for the future — < )li ! may they 

Be crowned with bliss, and w ealth, and fame ! 
And may this little humble lay. 

Be lost "midst songs that sound thv name." 



BrOGRAnilCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



189 



On his return to America, M;in)onc \vas for several years, 
with rare devotion, occupied with his professional pur- 
suits. His health, at length, gave way under his close 
application to his labors. Consumption marked him as 
one of its victims. He sought to recover his wasted ener- 
gies by resorting to a milder climate. But the attempt 
was vain. He died at Savannah, Georgia, May 7, 1807, 
in the thirty-second year of his age. Rhode Island may 
justly be proud of having beei\ the birthplace of two such 
distinguished artists as Gilbert Charles .Stuart and Edward 
G. Malbone. 



\SON, Hon. J.\mes Brown, son of John and Rose 
.\nna (Brown) Mason, was born in Thompson, 
%-tow' Connecticut, in 1774. He was descended from an 
^ "u English ancestry. Three families of the original 

J. stock, all of them representing different types of 

character, came to this country at different times. The 
first, John Mason, the Puritan, settled first in Massachusetts 
as early as 1630, ten years after the landing of the Pilgrims. 
Subsequently he removed to Connecticut. George Mason, 
or as he was gener.ally called, Colonel George Mason, was 
a member of the English Parliament, and well known as a 
Cavalier. He was in the famous battle of Worcester, 
England, in 1651, and after the defeat of the royal army by 
Cromwell, he fled in disguise, came to America, and set- 
tled in Virginia. The Southern Masons sprang from him, 
none of this particular family having ever settled north of 
Mason and Dixon's line. Samson Mason, from whom the 
subject of this sketch descended, was, in England, a Round- 
head, and as such opposed to his brother. He was an 
officer in Cromwell's army; a radical in politics, and like 
some of the most distinguished officers and soldiers in the 
army, a Baptist in faith. He came to this country about 
1650. His first home was in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
from which place he removed to Rehoboth, and subse- 
quently for "conscience sake" to Swansea. We learn 
that before his removal from Rehoboth he had assisted in 
building the Baptist meetinghouse in Swansea, for w-hich 
he was summoned before the authorities of Plymouth col- 
ony, fined fifteen shillings, and warned to leave the juris- 
diction of the colony. *' So far as these families were con- 
cerned, the old issues of Roundhead and Cavalier, brought 
by George and Samson to the country of their adoption, 
continued to exist in their descendants. Two hundred years 
passed away, with the moulding and modifying influence 
of republican institutions, but in the recent struggle between 
freedom and slavery, the seed sown in Norfolk and Reho- 
both bore their legitimate fruit in the antagonisms of the 
South and the North." James Brown Mason was a gradu- 
ate of Brown University under President Manning in the 
class of 1791. Among his classmates were Hon. William 
Hunter, LL. D., and Hon. Jon.ilhan Russell, LI,. I)., names 



distinguished in the annals of American history. He 
studied medicine and practiced for a time in Rhode Island, 
and then removed to South Carolina, where also he was a 
physician. Here he married, and on the decease of his 
wife, about the year 1798, he returned to Rhode Island, 
and shortly after having become a member of the family 
of Mr. John Brown, one of the " Four Brown Brothers," 
he became intimately connected with that gentleman in the 
management of his business .affairs. For several years he 
was a member of the General Assembly, and .Speaker of 
the House from February, 1812, to May, 1S14. He repre- 
sented the State in Congress from December 4, 1815, to 
March 4, 1819. He died September 6, 1819. The second 
wife of Mr. Mason was Alice, daughter of John and Sarah 
(Smith) Brown, whom he married July 16, 1800. Their 
children were Abby Mason, who married Nicholas Brown ; 
Sarah Brown Mason, who married first George B. Ruggles, 
and second Levi C. Eaton ; and Rosa .\nna Mason, who 
married William Grosvenor. 



fj^^PRAGUE, William, the first calico-printer in Rhode 
s®56 Island, and one of the first to introduce that busi- 



'^|i| ness into America, son of William anfl Mary 

f% (Waterman) Sprague, was born in Cranston, Rhode 
Island, June 5, 1773. '^'^ ancestry is traced back 
to Jonathan Sprague, first mentioned in Rhode Island his- 
tory in 1681, who for many years was a member of the 
General Assembly from Providence, being Speaker of that 
body in 1703, was widely known as a Baptist minister, 
and wrote the able antl spicy letter of February 23, 1722, 
in answer to the request made by certain Congregational 
clergymen of Massachusetts to the leading citizens of 
Providence. The family, by marriage, was connected 
with Roger Williams, and has in later years given to the 
world such men of letters as Rev. William B. Sprague, of 
Albany, New York, and Charles Sprague, the poet of Bos- 
ton. The Spragues are traced back through Wales and 
Holland to an Italian origin. William early engaged in 
the manufacture of cotton cloths, spinning the yarn and 
giving the weaving to families in the country near and far. 
At last he introduced the art of calico-printing in its fir.st 
forms, beginning with the styles known as " Indigo Blues." 
These works were constructed in Cranston, about three 
miles from Providence. Mr. .Sprague's sons, Amasa and 
William, who had been trained in the mills, were at length 
received into business with him as partners. New cotton- 
mills were erected in Cranston, Johnston, and the village 
of Natick, and throughout the country arose a great de- 
mand for the calicoes. Even when he had acquired wealth 
he preserved his w'onted industry and simi)licity of halnts. 
The following anecdote, illustrative of his character, is re- 
lated of him: Having driven his double ox-team into 
Pro\iilence with a load of ship-timber, he met the solid 



IQO 



BlOGRAPinCAL CYCLOJ'liDIA. 



men of tlial tity i;r,iVL-ly talking,' alioiit tlie sti-aitene<l affairs 
of SanuR-l Slater, \\\w. it was fiareil, niij^ht fail. Havinj; 
listened to the stateiiicnts inaile, he finally said wilh em- 
phasis, ■• Gentlemen, these e\|ii'essiiinsof syniiathy for Mr. 
Slater are all very well ; Init my sympathy is tn the extent 
of ten thousand dollars." He then craeked his whip and 
dro\e on. Mr. Sprague nianied Anne I'otter, ^\h(lse mother 
was a Williams, and a lineal descendant from Roger Wil- 
liams. He had three suns, Aniasa, William, and l!enoni, 
and two slaughters, .Susan and .\lmira. Mr. S]irague and 
his sons were men of large stature and gre.at physical 
strength. He died March 2S, 1S36. His extensive busi- 
ness fell into tlie hands i.f hi> sons, /Vjiiasa and William, 
who formed a new firm under the name of A. i.\: W. 
Sprague, a Inin that has since enteretl largely into the his- 
tory of the .St.ile Amasa studied the nature of chemicals 
and dyes and the mixing of colors, and inaugurated the ' 
great advance on the "Indigo lilues." He \\as also a 
successful merchant. William lookei-l especially to the tle- 
paitment of machinery. New- mills were huilf, and the 
business was largely extended, using all the water power 
at Natick, Arctic, and (Tuidnick. The mills were of brick 
or stone, many stories high, and the dwelling-houses around 
them formcil notable \illages. 



|f^TH,LMAN, r<I-v. Matthkw, sun of Meacon Elisha 
%J^f\ and .Mary (I)avis) Slillnian. was b.ini in Westerly, 
► u"^' iJecember ii, 1770, but carlv removed with his 
(' > parents to a farm in Hopkinton, about two and a half 
"i miles from the village, where he received an excel- 
lent home education, spent most of his days, and died. 
At an early age he united with the .Sabbatarian (.'hurch in 
the tow n, and innncdiately rose to a posithm of respect and 
inlluence. March 13, 1794, he was married to Kli/abeth, 
daughter of Ileaco)i Iiavnl \i. IkjK. He w as unlained as 
an I-dder June 3, 1S04, The town in sunie porticuis was 
annoyed in his day by a sect uf enthusiasts called liehlen- 
iles. will) beiievcd in their own special inspiraUon, and 
claimed a spirit of [iiophecy; but Mr. .Stillman wisely de- 
fcatcil their divisive designs by his silence. Mr. .Slillnian 
was i>f medium height and dignified mien, of a social and 
cheerful disposition and courteous manners. He died of 
apoplexy while sitiing at his tabic, March 0, 1S3S. in the 
sixty-eighth year of his age, and thiity-fuurth uf his min- 
istry. 



iAHFd.l'ORD, H"N. Sktii, fiovernor of Rhode 

^ Island from 1S69 to I.S73, son of John and Mary 

(Heath) I'adelfind, was born in Tauntim, Massa- 

',• chusetis, (li tuber 3, 1S07. He was a descendant 

9 uf Junalh.in I'adcHord, w ho came to this country 

from England in caily culumal times. I liu- of the family. 



John, a graduate of Wale College, was a surgeon in the 
American army during ihe Revolution, and died at Saint 
Eustatia, a prisoner uf war. Seth i'atlelfurd received a 
comnmn-school education at Taunton, and while yet a lad 
went to Providence, w here he immediately found employ- 
nieiU in the wdiulesale grocery business. Soon afterward he 
engaged in the business on his itwn account. He carried 
it on successfully fijr a period of nearly forty years, when 
he retired with a competence, and with a good reput.uioii 
as a careful financier and a jiublic-spiriled citi/en. His 
haliits of life, and his intelligent interest in the affairs of 
the Community caused him to Ijc regarded as one wdio 
possessed ((ualities c)f character which would make him 
a faithful public scivant. He was therefore frei[uently 
called upon to fill jiusitiuus uf trust and responsibility. He 
was elected a memlier '>f the t^'ity Council of I*ruvidcnce, 
in 1S37, and, also, in the same year, a member of the 
•Sclnjol Committee. He filled these offices for four years, 
during which time he perfiiriiieil an inipurtant part in the 
work of reorganizing and grading the Public Schools, and of 
buiUling the required schoolhouses. He was again a mem- 
ber of the City Council in the years 1S51-52, and a member 
of the School Committee in the years 18^1-53. From 1S64 
to 1S73, inclusiv e, he w as uiice more a member of the School 
Comniitlee.and ilid efficient work upon its Executive Com- 
mittee. In 18^2-^3 he was a representative of the city in the 
lower branch of the legislature. In 1S63 he was elected 
l.ieutenant-Covernur of Rliude Island, and held tiie ultice 
fur two years. In 186S he was a Presidential Eleetcir. and 
helped to cast the vote of the .State for General (irant. In 
1S69 he was elected Governor, and ccuitinued to hold the 
office by repeated elections till 1S73, when he declined 
longer to be a candidate fiir the office. Immediately ujion 
his retirement he was electe<l one of the Commissioners of 
the Sinking I'\ind of the city, and cruuiniKMl to serve in 
that capacitv until lanu.tiv, 1S77, when he resigned the 
jiosition, and declined all further public hcuiors. Hii suc- 
cess in business naturally brought him into intimate rela- 
tions with the various interests of the cit)'. His counsel 
w as sought in furtherance of enterprises represented liy the 
banks, insurance companies, and manufacturing corpora- 
tions. In March, l8(>I, he was elected a P)ireclor, antl 
immediately thereafter, Prcsiilciit of the Bank of North 
.America, and held the otlice till the time of his ileath. 
He also served as a member of other boards of direction. 
He was a warm advocate of the anti-slavery and tenijier- 
ance reforms, and continued an earnest supporter of these 
movements until his death. He was chairman of a com- 
mittee to call a meeting of the citizens of Providence, 
March 7, 18^4, to protest against the introduction of sla- 
very into the free territoi-y of Nebraska. lie was one of the 
Vice-Presidents of a meeting held June 7, 1856,10 exjiress 
the seiitimcnls of the jieople regarding the assault made. 
May 2jd, upon t'harles Sumner by Preston S. Brooks. 
He was also fur several vears a \'ice-Presi«leiit f»f the New 



BIO GR.l PHICA L C I XL OPED /A. 



191 



England Emigrant Aid Society, and was a generous con- 
tributor to its funds. After the emancipation of the slaves 
he was President of the Rhode Island Association for the 
Benefit of the Freedmen. His moral and political influ- 
ence was always exerted in opposition to slavery. In the 
work of education, charily, and religion. Governor Padelford 
was prominent and effective. As Governor, he was Chairman 
of the Slate Board of Education, and also Chairman of the 
Trustees of the State Normal School. He was especially 
efficient in the re-establishment of the Normal School, and 
both in and out of office was very ardently interested in its 
success. He contributed freely and generously to Antioch 
College, Ohio, and to Brown University. He was a mem- 
ber of the Rhode Island Historical Society from 1S57. 
He was a Director of the Providence Athenanim in 1858- 
62. His interest in the education of the people was also 
manifested in the provision which he made by will for the 
establishment of a public library in case his surviving heirs 
should die without is.sue. As an active member of the 
Providence Aid Society, as a Trustee of the Benefit Street 
Ministry at large, from its beginning, in 1S41, until 1S75, 
and President of that corporation for five years, from 1870 
to 1875, as ex-officio a Trustee, while Governor, and in 
1877-78 an Auditor of the Rhode Island Hospital, and as 
one of the Vice-Presidents of the .Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals, he showed his readiness to en- 
gage in works of benevolence and mercy, and his efficiency 
in their direction. Very early in life he became a member 
of a Christian church. He was one of the original founders 
of the Westminster Congregational (Unitarian) .Society, in 
January, 1828; was its Treasurer in 1831-32; and its Pres- 
ident for seven years, from June, i860, to October, 1867. 
For five years, from 1869, he was President of the Chan- 
ning Conference. He was also a Vice-President of the 
National Unitarian Conference from 1870 till the time 
of his death. For four years, from 1866, a Vice-President 
of the American Unitarian Association, and for several 
years a Vice-President of the Rhode Island Bible Society. 
He spent nearly a year with his family in Europe, from 
July, 1857, to June, 1858. On his return he made a valu- 
able gift to the Providence Athensum of three works on 
art, in thirteen volumes, relating to the history of painting 
and sculpture in Italy. He indulged his taste for art by 
the purchase of several paintings of merit and costly pieces 
in marble and bronze. He was twice married ; first, to 
Miss Louisa Rhodes, October 19, 1834, and the second 
time to Mrs. Mary (Barton) Pierce, October 2, 1845. He 
died August 26, 1878, after a sickness of a few weeks' 
duration. His widow, and two children of the former 
marriage — Miss Maria Louisa Padelford and Mrs. Emily 
Rhodes Remington — with a grandson, Setli Padelford 
Remmgton, survive him. There was no issue of the 
second marriage. Governor Padelford won his way from 
obscurity to prominence and honor, and from poverty to 
Wealth, by the exercise of prudence, industry, and perse- 



verance. In every position which he filled he endeavored 
faithfully, conscientiously, and according to his best judg- 
ment, to perform every duty which belonged to it, even to 
the slightest detail. This was especially manifest in his 
administration as Governor of the State. He had, what is 
loo often wanting in official life, the sense of personal respon- 
sibility. He accepted the burdens, as well as the honors, 
of the offices which he held, and liore them with rare 
fidelity. He was a man of great persistence of purpose, of 
unwearied industry, of deep convictions, and good im- 
pulses. His faith in Divine Providence in all the ciicum- 
stances of life was unshaken, and from the beginning to 
the end he endeavored to illustrate with constancy the 
principles of religion and duty which he had cherished in 
his early days. 



"V.F.XTER, Ebenf.zkr Kniciit, son of Knight and 
Phebe (Harris) Dexter, was born in Providence, 
'■^S' April 26, 1773. Early in life he engaged in 
T mercantile pursuits, and pursued his business with 

Ho such industry and careful attention, that, in a few 

years, he accumulated a handsome fortune. He was Mar- 
shal of the District of Rhode Island for several years be- 
fore his death. " He held the office," says Judge Staples, 
" in most inauspicious times for himself. During the em- 
bargo, non-intercourse, and war, his duties were arduous, 
and sometimes directly contravening the wishes and the 
interests of a large portion of the coniniunity. Yet he so 
carefully and skilfully managed, that he lost not the esteem 
and respect of his fellow-townsmen, nor the confidence of 
the government." The condition of the poor of his na- 
tive town seems to have awakened his deepest sympathy, 
and induced him to make generous provisions for their 
wants. It was found that by his will he had committed, 
in trust, to the town of Providence, what must ever be re- 
garded as a princely donation. The Rhode Island Anuri- 
iii/i, of the date of August 20, 1S24, a few d.ays after the 
death of Mr. Dexter, which occurred August 10,. says : 
" The forty-acre farm, in Providence Neck, a part of this 
liberal bequest, is given on the condition that the town 
shall erect thereon, within five years, an almshouse, 
which is to be inclosed with an extensive and permanent 
wall, within twenty years, and we hope, ere long, to see 
a Dexter Asylum rearing its walls in these pleasant and 
productive fields." The freemen, in town-meeting, No- 
vember 22, 1824, voted to accept the gift thus generously 
bestowed, on the conditions upon wliich it was made by 
the donor, and directed that the property, to be forever 
known as the " Dexter Donation," should be kept distinct 
from the other property and funds of the town, by the 
town treasurer. In 1S26, a building committee was ap- 
pointed to superintend the erection of the Dexter Asylum, 
wdiich cost somewhat over §43,000, and was completed in 



192 



li [O G RA! 'II I L WL C\ XL OPED [A. 



iSjO. It "as ill all resiifits a I'lrst-Llass sinictiirc, ami ad- 
mirably adapted to the uses for uliiih it was ilcsi<;ncd. 
'I'ho slone wall, liuilt anmrid tlie forn aire lot. which, ac 
e"r<Iitli; to the din-ctioiis of ihr will, wa- l^i he three feet 
at the siirfice of tlie ground and eiL^ht feet liiijll, was 
finished in 1S40. It is (ij20 feet in length, and, as origi- 
nally built, contained 7S40 cords of stone, and Cost about 
$22,000. Sonic chani;es and iniprovenients on the build- 
ing have been made within a few years, which have added 
greatly to its convenience, anil its architectural beauty. 
The Asylum beij;an to lie occupied in the latter part <-if the 
summer of 1S2S, under the suj^erintendence of Mr. tiideon 
rainier. The number of paupers received into it at tirsi 
beiiit; sixty-four, iiieludiiig live children. The Dexter 
Asylum is xw in-tilution, of which, with its beautiful sur- 
roundings, the eiti/eiis of Providence are justly jiroud. 
The far-seeing; sagacity and benevolence of its donor have 
secured for the poor of the city a comfortable home for 
all time ti.> come, not surjiassed by the almshouses of any 
other city in the country. Mr. Dexter married, January 
I, 1S05, Miss Waitstill Howell, of l^rovidence. They 
had no cliildreii. 



K.\RI,K, Hon. Caiki!, was born Feliruary 25, 1771, 
and died July 13. lSt;i. Mr. Earle came from 
Mas>aeliu-,etls to Providence while a yriung man. 
,\,\. lie was a ear|ienter by trade, but after awhile be- 
^M'' came interested in the lumber Inisincss as one of the 
flrni of Earle *S: Hranch; was successful, and became 
we.ilthy. He was also interested in navigation, being an 
owner in several vessels, an<l built one large brig, the 
I'^raneis. At one time he was (/olonel of a military coni- 
paii)' called the X'olunteei s, and was eoiisideiablv inter- 
ested m i)olitics, being a Re]iublican as then opjioscd to 
the p\der,ils. He held a eonmiissii ui iVoni the Cleneial 
(ioNerniiienl at W'.ishiiigton, to be usctl in case of neces- 
sity in the times of the Hartford Convention. For several 
years he w ,is a Representative from Providence in the 
Legislature of the State, was Lieutenant-tiovernor of 
Rhode Island from 1S21 to 1824, and twice, in 1824 
and again in 1S28, an Elector of President of the United 
.States. He was a director in one of the eitv banks, ami 
was interested in several others; was a member of the 
Rhode Island Mechanics' Association, and was quite 
prominent as a member of the Masonic fraternity. In all 
his relations, public and piiv.ite, (iovcrnor Earle was re- 
{;arded as eminently a true man. Frankness, benevolence, 
candor, and integrity, constituted the iirominent traits of 
his character in his intercourse with society. In his do- 
mestic relations he was ever kindhearted, sincere, and affec- 
tionate. He niarrieil .\niey .\niidd. They had two sons 
and three daughters, — James M., Henry, Elizabeth, .Mary 
Ann, and h'rancis, .ill deceased. 



KslLI.I.XMS, Kf.\'. Tii<im.\s, son of Joseph ami Lucy 
^Hifmi^ (Witter) Williams, was born in Pomfret, Con- 
:'[■-:;, >-;^ necticut, November 5, 177^, in that portion of 
^,]'l the town known as Iirookl\n. .-Xt the age of 

el sixteen he entered Williams (_'ollege, then in its 

infancy, where he remained between two and three years, 
when he was obliged to leave on account of impaired 
health. After a brief respite from study he entered, in 1798, 
the Junior class in Yale College, and graduated in 1800. 
From 1800 to 1S03 he w^as engaged in teaching in Beverly, 
Massachusetts, Woodstock and Norwich, Connecticut, and 
Boston, Massachusetts. He was licensed as a preacher 
by the Windh.im (.'ounty Congregational Association, May 
17, 1S05. Late in that year the Connecticut Missionary 
Society sent him as a Home Missionary to the suuthern 
jiortion of the .St.rte of New York, and on his return he 
was orclained. May 16, 1804, at Ivillingly. (^'onnectieut. 
Ill the early ]iart of this year, the celebrated Ur. Emmons 
ga\e him instruction in theology, and thus was formed a 
life-long fricmlship betwen these two theologians, who in 
the main sympathized in doctrinal views. In 1803 and 
1S05 he made two missionary tours to New York, preach- 
ing part of the next year at Branford, Connecticut. In 
Ianuar\'. 1.S07, he began to jireach for the Pacitic Congre- 
gatiimal l-'hurch, Richmond Street, Providence, Rhode 
Island. Here his congregation gradually increased, and 
often the church was scarcely large enough to accommo- 
date the audiences which assembled to hear him. Among 
his habitu.il hearers at this time were numerous students 
of Piowii University, who were attracted liy his able and 
earnest preaching, and niiiel)' of whom afterwards became 
ministers of the gospel, inchubng Rev. Dr. Judson, the 
missionary. Dr. Burgess, of Lledham, and Rev. Ilr. Ide, 
of Medway. He receivetl the (legree of ^Laster of .Arts 
bdiii both \'ale College ami Brown I'niversity. h'rom 
1810 to 1S21 he was piastor of the church in Foxboro, 
Massachusetts, and in |uly, 1S21, returned to his Provi- 
dence charge, w here he remained until 1S23. He suVise- 
iiuently preached at Altleboro and Hebroiu tile, M.issachu- 
setts, and Barringlon, Rhode Island; afterwards resided 
in Hartford, Connecticut, and F'ast Greenwich, Rhode 
Island, anil, hnally, in 1843, settled permanently in Provi- 
ilence. He continued to jireach in various places until 
a few years liefore his death. His diary states that he 
delivered 2200 sermons between .Vpril, 1840, and Novem- 
ber, 180S. He was an earnest and forcible preacher, and 
his style was niarkei-l by oceasion.il eccentricities of nran- 
ner and speech tli.it served to make his sermons more 
striking and powerful. His prayers often made so deep 
an impression on the memory of his hearers that they were 
sjioken of years after they were uttereil. His self-sacrifice 
an<l kindly spirit secured for him the respect and con- 
fidence of all. .ind he was familiarly known as " F'ather 
Williams," He was exceedingly quick at rejiartee, and a 
number of anecdotes have been reported concerning his 



BIOGRAPHICAL C YCL OPED I A. 



'93 



humorous and quaint sayings. He published about t\\en- 
ty-four different sermons anil treatises, including several 
volumes on doctrinal themes. He married Ruth JIale, 
daughter of Isaac and Ruth (Jewett) Hale, of Newbury, 
Massachusetts. She died in Providence, March 7, i<S67. 
They had seven children, four sons and three daughters. 
Mr. Williams died September 29, 1876, in the ninety- 
seventh year of his age, at the house of his son. Rev. 
Nathan W. Williams, formerly pastor at .Shrewsbury, 
Massachusetts, and Peace Dale, Rhode Island, and now a 
resident t)f Providence. 



^^^uRRiLL^ Hon. Ja.\if,s, LL.n., 
^^ai) Elizabeth (Rawson) 
S 3 dence, April 25, 1772. 



of James and 
Biirrill, was born in Provi- 
He was descended from 
K % George Burrill. one of the early settlers of the 
S a town of Lynn, Massachusetts, and a wealthy land- 
holder in that place, who died in 1653. He pursued his 
preparatory studies in the school of Mr. William Wilkinson, 
and was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 
1788, when he was but sixteen years of age. He began 
the study of law immediately after he gradu,ated, and was 
admitteil to the bar in 1791. He rose rapidly to distinc- 
tion and to a large practice in his profession. In 1797, 
when but twenty-five years of age, he was chosen Attorney- 
General of the State, and was in office from October, 1797, 
to May, 1814. He was Speaker of the House in the Gen- 
eral Assembly from May, 1814, to October, 1816. In 1816 
he was elected Chief Justice of the .Supreme Court of 
Rhode Island. He occupied this position only a single 
year, having been chosen United States Senator in 1S17. 
He won for himself a very high rank as a member of 
Congress. " To the .Senate of the United States," says 
Professor Goddard, " there perhaps has never belonged a 
more useful legislator or a more practical statesman. 
All who knew Mr. Burrill marvelled at the opulence of 
his resources and at his power to command them at pleas- 
ure. In the operations of his mind there was no uidica- 
tion of caprice, of feebleness, or of confusion. On the 
contrary, he was always judicious, luminous, and forcible 
— master of an infinite variety of facts and principles, 
and ever ready in applying them. He seldom wrote, al- 
though he was capable of writing well ; and it is sad to 
think that his fame as a lawyer and as a statesman must 
soon become only a matter of dim traditionary recollec- 
tion. He was indeed the |)ride of our little Common- 
wealth, and we all felt that he had won for it an estimate, 
which, on the score of its territorial extent and numerical 
importance, it could never have extorted." One of the 
most masterly efjbrts of Mr. Burrill was his speech on 
what was known as the " Missouri Question." In the bill 
for the admission of Missouri into the Union was a clause 
prohibiting the introduction of slaves mto the new State. In 
-5 



support of this clause the .Senator from Rhode Island made a 
speech which, says the Hon. William Pinkney, opposed to 
the passage of the Missouri Bill, "was distinguished for its 
ability, and for an admirable force of reasoning, as well as 
by the moderation and mildness of its spirit." Mr. Burrill 
died December 25, 1S20. He married, October 8, 1797, 
Sally Arnold. In 1821 one of his daughters was married 
to George Curtis, and another to William R. Greene. 



i^USSELL, Hon. Jon.'VTH.\n, son of Jonathan and 
Abigail Russell, was born in Providence, Eebru- 
f^#i ary 27, 1771. He graduated at Rhode Island 
College (now Brown University) in 1791, with the 
highest honors of his class. He was bred to the law, 
but never engaged in its practice. Subsequently he em- 
barked in commercial pursuits. His predominant taste, 
however, was politics, in which he became well versed. 
In 1810 he acted as Charge d' Affaires at Paris, on the re- 
tirement of General Armstrong, Minister to France. The 
following year he w-ent to England, and was received in 
London as Char;^i cV Affaires, November 15, 1811. The 
notification of the <leclaration of war against Great Britain 
devolved upon him in his official capacity. On the 1 8th 
of January, 1814, he was appointed one of the commission- 
ers to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace with Great 
Britain, at (_ihent. Associated with him in this iinj>ortant 
duty, were John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry 
Clay, and Albert Gallatin. At the same time that he was 
made a Commissioner he received the apjiointment of 
Minister Plenipotentiary to Sweden, and when he had 
performed his duties at Ghent, he went to Stockholm, 
where he remained until October 16, 1S18. L^pon his 
return, he settled at Mcndon, Massachusetts, and was soon 
after elected a member of Congress from the district in 
which he resided, serving two terms, 1S21 to 1S25. He 
was a member of the convention which met at Boston in 
1820, to revise the laws of Massachusetts. Mr. Russell is 
saitl to have been "a versatile, forcible, elegant, and facile 
writer; and, when the subject permitted, handled his pen 
with a caustic severity seldom surpassed." Vet, besides 
his diplomatic corresiiomlence while in Paris, Stockholm, 
and London, he left no evidence of his literary abilities, 
except an oration delivcretl in Providence on the 4th of 
July, 1800; an eloi|Utiit tribute to the memory of Nathaniel 
Hay ward, a classntate, pronounced in the college, Septem- 
ber 25, 1789; and probably some other addresses upon 
particular occasions. The oration we have mentioned was 
a most brilliant effort of its kind, and passed through many 
editions. Within a few years it has been printed entire in 
the columns of the Providenee Journal. Mr. Russell died 
at Milton, Massachusetts, February 17, 1832. He married, 
lirst, Sylvia Ammidon, .\pril 3, 1794, who died July 10, 
181 1. His second wife was Lydia, daughter of Barney 



194 



B/OGA'. I run '- / /, f ] 'Cl. OPEDJ.l. 



Smitli, wliiiin 1r' manicil al lin-i'in. A|iril 2, 1.S17. She 
died at Milion, Massai luiselts, 1 leeendifr 20, 1S59. The 
cliiKlrcn liy ihe lil■^t mai]iaj;e were Amelia K. Russeil ; 
(itoryc Rnljclt ku-^ell. ileeeased. wllo married Sarall 1'. 
Shaw, 1)1' I'.ii^lDii, and hail seven thddieii; I'aruliiie A. 
Ku>sell, deceased, wlin was Iwiee mail ied, first, to Jai'aiiah 
I'uid, and, seeiind, to Kianeis 'I'alt, ei^hl children hein^' 
the issue id Imth iiiariia_L;es ; and Anna Matilda Russell, 
(Icce.iseil, « ho manied rhili|i Ammidon, of Boston, and 
had one child, Mr. Kusscll's children by I.ydia, his sec- 
ond wife «cre : Ida Russell, deceased; Geraldine I. Rus- 
sell, who was twice married, first, to C'.eorge Rivers, and, 
second, to (ieorge Bruce L'i'lon ; Rosalie (i. Russell ; and 
Jonathan Russell, deceased, wlio graduated at Harvard 
College in 1,S45, was American Cuiisul at Manila for sev- 
eral years, and fa in. my years heatl of the eiinimercial 
house of Russell & Stur_L;is, at Manila. ('• ( ienealogy of the 
Russell l''.Miidy." by llartlett.) 



;!i'"i 



II. lU K. John, a ccK-lirnte<I OuaUur i^rcacluT nml 
w nlcr, N.iii III' 'ri.ninas aii'i Mary Willair, w as 
liniii in I lopKinti 111, Rh-nk* Island. Inly 17, 

1774. Siiu.lly cUicatcii as a I'ruaul >^{ thu uM 
er sctiuu], he was of c\ein|ilaiy dcpoi tinciit, ami ic- 

Ii*:;inusly inelincd iVuin early lik'. Securing a i^riud cliica- 
tinn, he ufien tauglit schoul successfully, and \\ as engnj:;ed 
as a laii'I-surveyiir ihruiic^h life. In 1703 lit" was manied 
ti> I.yilia (''illiii-.. He was ajipninted an Lider al the ai^e 
of t u enly-ei!j;hl, and was oftRially ackiiow lcdL,'ed liy lii> 
Muiitldy and (^)nart' liy Meetings in iSij. Ardently al- 
taelied \n the priiu iples i if !m.\ and liarel.iy, as un-U-rsliKid 
hv hi^ S'li.icly. Ite l^'f-Jine tlieir exj'iiUL-nt and cxpiumder, 
lrustin<^ in the divinity anjl work of ("hrist. and regardinj^ 
•;ood W'lirks as the fruits of a living; faith. In 1S24-25 he 
travelled thi<'iii;h variniis ])ailsof New l'ai_L;land, and in 
1827 visitrd llie Stale of NfW Wnk. From iSji,to 1N33. 
lie visitnl and ad<hessc-ii the I''iiei)ds in KnL;land. ]'"roni 
1S40 to 1844, and, indeed evcT after, he bore calm but 
di-i_idi-d testimony ai^ainst w iiat he ret,'arded the tiurney 
Sihism in the lanks ol liis Soi_ie!v. In 18^^-53 he li'a\'- 
elled and preaihed in i'ennsy] vania, \r\\ lerscy an<l New 
\'tirk. Jn 1853-54 his second visit, for rclii^ious lalior, 
was mafle to Fai^hmd. His jirivate writings were very 
e\tensi\f. After tlic (iurney Schism, he jmltlished, in 
1845, a dundueinn) of 355 pai^fs. entitled .7 Xinr,i(i:u- 
tiud E.xpositit'ii, C-'t'. His "Yi'/tr/!,?/ iinii Coi s i-spi>)}d,-}ii'\ 
an octavo of 5(^6 pa^^es, puhli-^heil I»y Iiis fiicn<ls, a]ii)eared 
in l8S'(- He tilten ministered, with aeee|'lance, in ass^m- 
hiies ol (jthrr (h-nomiiiaiii in-.. So (aiihlul was he in op- 
)Hi-,ing innovations made l»y I\lias Hieks and losrpli |. 
( lurney, tiial many witl- disjilcascd, and a dl\i^iun in the 
buciely ensued. I-ioni that i-oiiit the old paily were 



known as Willmrites. Tliu life of John ANilhur was 
one of [lurily, industry, and sincerity. He cUed May I, 
iSi^G, in ills c-ii;hty-scc<inil year, and was buried in the 
I'Vieiids' graveyard in Hopkinlon. 



LLERV, .\iiii,\HAM RiitWiM.i), was the son of Len- 
janiin and Mehelabel Ellery, and the i^randson of 
Abraham Redwood. He was educatetl at liar- 
--V' vard College, and after graduating entered the 

oflicc of C/hief justice Parsons, where he studied 
law. In settling the estate of his father it became neces- 
sary for some one to go to Aniigua to take possession of 
some projicrtv that belonged to hi-> grandfather Redwood's 
estate. This diUv was assigne<l to Mr. I'^Uery, w ho, through 
his brother in law. Cliristupher (Irant Chanijdin, oblaineil 
a passage to Dominica in the L'nited Slates ship I'orls- 
mouth, Captain McNeal, then about to join the squadron 
in the We-t Indies under (."omniodore Harry. This was 
in Hetember, i7»j8; and when the Provisii.<nal army was 
raisetl under I'resiilent Atkims's administration lie was aji- 
pointod, jaiuiary 3, 1790, Assistant Adjutanl-l General, ('n 
his return bom Antigua he entered upon his new duties, 
but soon after resigned, l"or he hail no taste for the i>ro- 
fession. In April, 1803, Mr. Ellery married Sarah Char- 
lotte Weisseiifels. daughter of the late Charles h'rederick 
Weissenfels, of New Vtuk, and sailed for New ( irleans, 
from which place he pushed his way by lan<l to Natchez. 
This overland journey from New (_)rleans to Natchez oc- 
cupied three weeks, and it was said that it was the first 
lime it had ever been made by a white family. In 1S04 
he returned to New Orleans, where he soon attained to 
eminence in his profession, and became idenlifiecl wdth the 
city. He .lied at the iJay of St. Louis, November I, iSjo, 
a^ed fortv-->even vears. 



!,I'RI:1m;1-:. Chakus, M H., son of James El- 

diedge. b*st|., w ho did g<iod ser\ ice for hi-<cnuntiy 
in the l\e\ olutionary Wai, was born in Brooklyn, 
1 Connecticut. He was the fallier of tliirteen children, 
J* of whom the subject of this sketch was the ninth. 
His niediLal studies were carried on under the tuition of 
I)r. Thomas IJubban.i, of I'oiniVet. Connet tit ut , and at the 
fhiiversity of Pennsylvania. In 1810 he settled in East 
Greenwich. Rhode Island, and had an e.xtensive practice 
in this and the adjacent tow ns. Dr. Eldredge was a public- 
spirited t.ilt/en. and for h\e \ears was a Senator from E.ast 
(Ireenwiih in the C.eneral .Assembly. He was fmul of 
agricultural pursuits, and took special jileasure in watch- 
ing the gjowth of the rrnits of the eaith. He was well 
lilted, by the t_oolness <A his temperament and great self- 
jiossession, loi till' juaitiee oi surger\ , and his ser\ices in 
this department ot his prolessiun weie in Irequent demand. 




,^/ 



^a/^r^-c-/d^^^ ^ 




BIOGRA rillCA I C 1 CL OPEDIA. 



'95 



We are told that it \va- his pride to avoid rather than to per- 
form heroic operations, and many tinier lie was heard to 
sjieah with much satisfaction of the linihs he had saved 
after those frifjhtful lacerations and fractures which so 
often happen in the cotton-mills of Rhode Klaml. He 
was chosen President of the Rhode Island Medical Society 
in 1S34, and held the office for three years. Vale College 
conferred upon him the degree of M.D. in 1SJ5. His 
last years were greatly embittered by pecuniary embarrass- 
ments. He had invested his capital in a manufactory, the 
company of which became bankrupt and involveil him in 
the loss of all his property. He died September 15, 1.S38. 



|i^^?ISHOP, N.\TH.'\N, LI^.D., was born in Oneida County, 
'^^^) New York, in 1808. His father was a farmer, and 
,-p"" he spent his youth on his father's farm until he 
(■^^ was eighteen years of age, when he commenced the 
^v work of preparation for college. Owing to his 
.straitened circumstances, which obliged him to suspend his 
studies from time to time to earn the money to defray his 
expenses, it took him eleven years to comjilete his aca- 
demical and collegiate studies. He graduated at Brown 
University in 1837, and was a Tutor in that institution one 
year, lSjS-39. About this time the subject of the improve- 
ment of the system of public schools in Providence awakened 
a deep interest in the community. A majority of the alder- 
men and councilmen for 1837-38 were in favor of a com- 
plete reorganization of the system, and shortly after the 
new city government came into power, a joint committee of 
both boards was appointed to consider the subject of such 
reorganization. This committee chose a sub-committee, 
whose special duty it was made to visit prominent places 
in New England and gain such information as might be of 
service to them in carrying into execution the proposed 
plan. This committee subsequently reported among other 
things that "it is expedient to establish a superintendent of 
the public schools," and they recommended that "he be 
paid a salary of eight hundred dollars." The meeting for 
election of a superintendent was held July 8, 1839, and Mr. 
Bishop w'as chosen to fill the office, being so far as is known 
the first superintendent of public schools elected in any 
city in this country. Mr. Bishop presented his tirst report 
November 22, 1839. He held this office for thirteen years, 
when he retired from it to enter upon the discharge of the 
duties of a similar position in the city of Boston. The 
reports of Mr. Bishop during this long perioil of thirteen 
years indicate the character and the amount of the work he 
did for the cause of popular education in the city of Provi- 
dence, the influence of which was not confined to this 
place, but permeated the whole State, and gave an impulse 
to the common .schools which carried them far towards the 
elevated rank which they have reached. The interest which 
he took in higher education in the State is indicated by the 



circumstance that he was a Tutor in Brou n University one 
year, a Trustee from 1842 to 1854, and a Fellow from 1854 
to 1861. His entire residence in Rhode Island was from 
1S32, wdien he entered college, until 1851, a period of nine- 
teen years. After leaving Providence he resided in Boston 
for several years, during nearly the whole of w liich period 
he w-as Superintendent of schools. In 1858 he removed to 
New York, where he became well known as the friend and 
generous supporter of many religious and philanthropic 
enterprises. While acting a-s Indian Commissioner he con- 
tracted the disease which evenlually terminated his useful 
life. His death oecurretl at Saratoga Springs, .\ugust 7, 
lS8o. 



"J'ARIXC, EliMi'ND TiiciMAs, M.I)., the fifth son 
of Thomas Waring, a planter of South Caro- 
lin.i, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, 
-7 v-'.;^ D,;cember 25, 1779. He was a student, for a 
o' I ' time, under the tuition of Rev. Dr. William 
.Staughton, then residing in Georgetown, D. C, and after- 
wards President of Columbia College, Washington. From 
Ceorgetown he went to Providence and was a private pupil 
of President Maxcy, of Bro\\-n University, and sustained 
relations of intimate friendship with many of the .students 
of the college, although he was not a graduate. On leav- 
ing Providence Mr. Waring took up his residence in New- 
port in order to pursue the study of medicine with Dr. 
Isaac Senter. Having completed his medical education 
he opened an office in Ncwjuirt. Business began at once 
to come to him, and he was a favorite physician, especially 
among those from the South, who were ilrawn to Newport 
to enjoy its balmy climate aiui the comforts found in the 
most agreeable watering-place in the country. He mar- 
ried, in 1803, ,So|iliia Y., daughter of Hon. Francis Mal- 
bone. United St.ttes Senator from Rhode Island, by wdiom 
he had ten children, all of whom were born in Newport. 
He died in 1853. During nearly the whole period of his 
thirty years' practice in Newport Dr. Waring was the Phy- 
sician of the United Stales Marine Hosjjital. He was 
one of the founders of the Rhode Island Medical Society. 
His health failing, he was ]iersuaded to go South in the 
latter part of 1834. The disease from wdiich he was suf- 
fering baflled all medical skill, and he died January 2r, 
1835. His remains were brought back to Newport and 
laid in the same tomb in which those of his wife had been 
placed, in Trinity Church-yard, where for many years they 
had been worshippers. " With a high sense of honor and 
a dignity which commanded the respect of his brethren, 
a skill as a physician which won the coiifiiknce of his pa- 
tients, and a gentlemanly character which attracted the 
regard of all his fellow-citizens, he lived in the home of 
his adoption universally beloved, and dieil universally 
lamented." 



196 



BlOiiRAPIIICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



I Iir>, Riv. r)A\ii I, a pivitniiKnt mini^tin- of the ' 
j|i Wi^^-fj Mctiioih^t K|iisrop;tl Cluircli. was horn in Can- 
ter! iiirv, CimnL-cticut. April 13, 177S, in ihtr 
V' ^ \"* gloomiest jicriud of our Revolutionary liislury. 
■7 He u a^ convei tecl lhruUL;h the in>trunientali[y 

of a ] 'ion-. \ ouiii; WMin.tii, \\ liu aiUiro->sc(l in liim •^oiiil" 
woril'. of f\lioii.ition in 1707, an'I thus cnttrtMl iipun a re- 1 
li^ious life, wliuli continuei! whImuI falterinL; throu;^Ii a 
periiMl uj'sfvcniv yeai^. ('11 llic lotli ot September, w lien 
bill twenlv vears nf a;^e. iu- i'ljufil llie New Kiii^lanil Om- 
ferenee. at its sc^'^ion in (Iranville, Ma^saclnisdts. with 
live others, anion*; whi-ni were Rev. r>illy Hil)baril, Rev. 
Kpa])hras Kihliy, and the eecrntric Loien-^o Ouw. Rarely 
have six men made a deeper impress upon the reli;;ii.ius 
life of the Kastcrn States than these young itinerants. The j 
New !ui_;land Conference tlien embraced the whole of \ 
New Kni^Iand and the Slate of New \"(uk to the Ihulson. 
including; the eilvnf New \'orU. Mr. \Vel»i' was ajipoinled ' 
to tlie Cranville circuit with Rev. K/ekiei Canliehl. This 
jinmitue tn'cuit then inehided all Soutiiern Massachusetts, 
wa^ two lumdrcd miles in extent, and the preachers had to ; 
cross the Cdeen Mountains twice in their rounds, which in ! 
the depth of winter was sometimes a iieriluu-v undcrtahing. | 
Mr. Webb rose rapiilly in his ik-w vocation, and at the 
session of Conference held in l.lnst'in ]une 2. I.S07, was 
ajipitintt d tn 1 H isinn w il h Rev. 1 leoi-i^u I'lckerini;. The 
Rronifield Street (.'hurLli. (hen the best Mfthodi-.t ciuirch 
in New KuLjIand, liad just been fmished, and Rishop As- 
bury selected him as une nf the men tn till its pulpit, au'i 
continued him the secnd year. The I'.o^lun I'niversity 
subsL-'piently rose out of this thurch. In iSorj-io lie was 
stationed in Newport, Rhode Island. The ehurth in this 
place was built in 1S07. It was the hrst Methodist church 
in the world with a ti>wer and bell. " Tnwers and bells I" j 
exclaimed Bishop Asbury. at his episenpal visitation the \ 
next year — " towers jnd bells ! ( )ryans will c<.ime next." 
In iSll and 1S12 he was made a supernumerarv. antl con- 
tinued in Newport. In 1814. in the j^reat j'lil'bc distress 
occasioned by our war with (beat Ihiiam, he supplied the 
pulpit at Newj^ort, and taught a school in the vestry of the 
church. Here, during the succeeding ten years, and before 
the present system of common sclmols was established, many 
of the old residents of Newport were educated by him. and 
MOW luild his memory in veneration. .\t the se-^siim of 
the New Knglaml (. onference helil in I'rovidence lunc 12, 
1S23, lie was readmitted to the itinerancy, ami again sta- 
tioned in Newpnrt. making biurleen years in all spent in 
that tnwn. 111 iSi:;, Mr. L.emuel Sisson, llu-n a member 
of the Metho'list Episcopal Church in Newport, removed 
to Little Compton. and took charge of the large farm at 
Seaconnel Point, now owned by his grandson, Hon. H. T. 
Sisson, late Lieutenant-Cioveriiur (if Rhode Island. Mr. 
Webb was accustnmed to Lr^>s^ the bay in a buat frnm the 
island and to preach at Mr. Sisson's house, and thus organ- 
ised the present Methodist -ociety in I. idle Compton, 



which has one of the hand-^omest and best-appointed 
country churches in the United States. In 1S24 he was 
appointed in charge of Portsmouth and Little Compton 
with Rev. Joel W. McKee as colleague, he residing at the 
lalter place. In 1S33-36 he was IM'e.siding Elder of the 
New Bedford district, which then extended along the 
shore from Newport to Provincetow n, including the islands 
of Martha's VineyanI and Nantucket. The Methodi-.t pre- 
siding elder is a suflVagan bishop, wdinse district is hi^ 
diocese, in wliuli he exercises all episcopal jiowers with 
the exception of ordination, and that he conimls by his 
]>ersonal and official inlluence. This district contained 
eighteen charges, with twenty -two preachers and 3237 
members. His administration in this important charge was 
able, useful, and acceptable. The camp-meeting at ^blr- 
tlia's \'ineyard, which has become so large and popular, 
\\as commenced uinler his administration in 18^5, and at 
hr-t consisted of nine small society tents. Mr. Webb also 
hiled imptirtani statifuis in Providence, Eall River, Spring- 
tield, Lynn, and Nantucket, in every place " making full 
proof of his ministry." Einally, in 1S56. when he had been 
in the w ork for lifty-eiglU years, he was stationed in Barn- 
stable, where he was received with great respect and affec- 
tion, and continued, by successive appointments, until lSt)3, 
w hen. after sixty d'lve years' service, he was returned super- 
annuated for the hrst lime. He was then said to be the 
oldest effective Metlnxlist preacher in the world. He Con- 
tinuetl to reside in ilarii>table and to preach until his death, 
.March lo. iN'17. in tiie eighty ninth year of his age, and in 
tile six tv ninth ol his mmi'-ti v. lie was a numlter of the first 
delegaletl Ceneral Ceuiference, which met in New York 
May I, 1S12; that of 1.S32. in Philadelphia ; that of 1S36, 
in Cincinnati, famous for the anti-slavery conllict, Mr. 
Webb being one of the " immortal fourteen'' wdio boldly 
stood up for freedom and humanity on that important oc- 
casion. When he was seventy-four years of age his breth- 
ren of the I'rovidence Conference elected him tC) the Cen- 
eral Conference, which met in llii-,tfin in 1S52, in the very 
church of which he had been pastor in 1S07. Mr. Wel.jb 
was twice married. By his hrst wife he had eleven chil- 
dren, two of whom. Captain (.His Webb, of Newport, and 
Mrs. Harriet Sis>on, ol Little Compton, now matron of 
the Eriendly Home, Rutlaiul Street. Rosi.ni, survive him. 
Ills name may be seen in <uie (d the memoiial windows 
of the Metp-.iJolitan (.'hurch, Washington. I). (.'. Mr. 
Webb was over six feet iu height, well pn'portioned, with 
a deep, sonorous voice, well adapted l<.i the pulpit. 



J'HODES, Genicr.^l CHRrsT<_>i'H[:R, the third son of 

'Jt^L5 Robert and Phebe (Smith) Rhodes, was born at 

[^ ""'.r Pawtuxet (Warwick) August 16, 1776. He was 

"(• >; a descendant fioui Zachary Rhodes, who is men- 

i I lioned by name in a letter written by Roger W'il- 

lianis to the General Court of Magistrates and Deputies of 



RIOGRAPIIICAL C\ C LOPED I A. 



'97 



Massachusetts Bay. For a few years liefore the subject of 
this sketch reached his majority he was in the coastinj^ 
business, and afterwards was in a store with his father, at 
I'awtuxet. With his brother William Kliodes, as a part- 
ner, he engaged in manufacturing at Beliefonte Mill, 
alinut a mile from Pawtuxet. So successful were the 
brothers that they extended their business to Natick. Suli- 
sequently they became owners of factories in Wickford 
and Albion. Mr. Rhodes was elected Brigadier (leneral 
of the Fourth Brigade of Rhode Island Militia in May, 
iSog. He represented the town of Warwick in the Gen- 
eral Assembly from May, 1828, to October, 1831. " fie 
interested himself, at an early period, in the substitution of 
penitentiary punishments in the place of the whipping-post 
and pillory." The General Assembly appointed him, in Oc- 
tober, 1835, one of the Building Committee for the erection 
of the State Prison. When the building was completed he 
was chosen one of its inspectors, and held that office until 
May, 1847. The death of General Rhodes occurred at 
Pawtuxet, May 24, 1861, and he was buried in the old 
family burial-ground at Pawtuxet, where his ancestor, 
Zachary Rhodes, and his wife were buried. The wife of 
General Rhodes was Betsey Allen, of South Kingstown. 
Their children were George A., Christopher .S., who mar- 
ried Olive B., a daughter of Joshua Mauran.of Providence; 
Eliza A., who married Hon. John R. Bartlett, Secretary of 
State from 1855 to 1872; and Sarah A., who married Hon. 
Henry B. Anthony, .Senator to Congress. (Jeneral Rhodes 
survived all his children, his son Christopher S. having filed 
January 17, 1S61, about four months previous to the death 
of his father. 



BM^ENNER, Governor J.\mes, 1.1,.!)., the son of 
^ijg Governor Arthur Fenner, was born in Providence, 
' £S January 22, 1771. His ancestors were among the 
T earliest settlers of the .State, and his father was 
I. Governor of the State from 1790 to 1805. Having 
received a thorough preparatory classical education, he 
entered Brown University in 17S5, under the ])residency 
of Rev Dr. Manning, and was graduated with the highest 
honors of his class in 1789. Among his classmates were 
Hon. J. B. Howell, Senator to Congress from Rhode Island, 
and Professor Thomas Clark, 1.1..1)., Professor of Lan- 
guages in the College of South Carolina. The circum- 
stance of his association with his distinguished father, 
added to his own abilities, early brought him forward into 
public life. He was a born politician, and as a Democrat 
of the Jeflersonian school, he did as much as any man of his 
time to control and give shape to the politics of the State. 
For several years he was a prominent and active member 
of the General Assembly, in \\diich he represented his 
native town. When he was not far from thirty-four years 
of age, he was chosen a Senator to Congress, and served 
from December 2, 1805, to the spring of 1807, at which 



time he \\'as elected Governor of the .State, and held the 
office until May, 1811. Again he was elected in 1S34, 
and re-elected each successive year until 183I. During 
the troubles in Rhode Island in 1842, (Jovernor Fenner 
took a strong, decided stand witli the " Law and Order" 
party, and was called to preside over the Convention which 
met at East Greenwich, November 5, 1842, to act upon 
the present Cun-titution of the State, the question of the 
adoption of which was submitted to the people November 
21, 22, and 23, and decided in the affirmative, there being 
7032 for it to 59 against it. Mr. Fenner was elected 
the first Governor under the new Constitution, and held 
the office two years, 1843-45. The whole term of his 
office as Chief M.igistrate of the State, was fourteen 
years. The closing year of his life was spent in the 
(piiet retirement of his pleasant mansion, on his "What 
Cheer" estate, where he died April 17, 1846. He was 
buried with civic and military honors, such as have been 
accorded to few, if any, citizens of Rhode Island. The 
record of the event says : " Such demonstrations of respect 
for one whose life has been spent in the service of his 
State, and who has ever been conspicuous for his zeal and 
energy in advancing the true interests of his fellow-citizens, 
cannot fail to exert a beneficial influence upon our com- 
munity. While we would not overlook his faults and 
infirmities we cannot forget that they were the almost nec- 
essary attendants of the iron will, the inflexible resolution, 
the vigorous intellect and the uncoiii|uerable energy which 
caused all eyes to turn to him when the State was threat- 
ened and in danger, as one in whose hands power could 
be reposed without fear that it would be perverted to selfish 
purposes." Mr F'enner married, in November, 1792, .Sarah, 
daughter of .Sylvanusand Freelove (Whipple) Jenckes, born 
in Providence, June 12, 1773; she died May 24, 1844. 
Their children were Almira, .Sarah, F"reelo\-e. and Arthur. 
Governor Fenner received from Brown University, in 1S25, 
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. 



gll^S^.AND.'XLL, Judc.eSamuki., son of Joseph and Esther 
t^fojftJS (Fuller) Ran<lall, was born in ."-iharon, Massachu- 
'CS' " setts, February 10, 1 778. He was fitted for col- 
i lege under the tuition of Rev. William Williams, of 
J* Wrentham, Massachusetts, and was a graduate of 
Brown University in the class of 181 14. On leaving col- 
lege he commenced the study oi law in the office of Judge 
Howell, and remained his pujiil for one year, when he re- 
moved to Warren, where he took charge of the academy 
in that place. During many years he was at the head of 
this institution, and trained a large number of young men 
for positions of honor and usefulness which they filled in 
subsequent life. Under the administration of President 
Madison he was appointed, in 181 1, Postmaster of Warren, 
and filled the office for thirty-three years, until removed 



rgS 



niOGRAPJIICAL ( ■ ) ■( 7, OPEDIA, 



\iii(Kt lliL- a-lmini^hMtioii iif I'rcsiiK'iit I'dk. Ilewasap- 
poinlL-(I a Jmi^c of llic ((uiil of Cninnion I'leas U^x [lie 
County i»f liri^lol, ill iSjJ.an'l in iS>.}. was made one cf liio 
Ju'^liccsof llie SupicniL' Jinlii.ijl Cmnl of llio Stale. Hl- rc- 
niainrd in oHu'l' until lS;^2. iU- \va■^ ndniiltL'd to the bar 
of Rhu.U- Man<I m iS;.}. T'or liflyycai^ lie \va^ tlu; Town 
Clerk of Warren, an. i at .lilleu-nt peiiu.U was the eilitor nf 
the- newspaper piilili--he<I in the vilhij^e. Fe\\ lives Iiavc 
been nii-ie emwde'l witli eun-^tanl activitv. reaehin;:; on 
tliroui^h a ).iii;^ tirni i>f year^, than was liie Hfe of jLuly;e 
Uambill. In l.Soo he married \birllia, daus^btcr of janies 
Mavliebl, of Waiien. They had several children, the 
eldest of wiioni was R't Rev. C.eori^e M. Ran.lall, I»T.>., 
Jiidtc.p.T Coh.ra.lo. and Mrs. Otis nulloek, ..f Warren. 
I'or loitv-h>iir \'ear~ he was a ] a'> imineiit and eotv-isienl 
ntenibei of die Rai.li^l (.'Jinreh in Warren. lie died in 
Warren, March 5, 1864, aL;ed ei;.4hty-si\ years. 



^•,ORR, Spm.iv.w. son of Ebcne^er and Abii^ail 
(CumiiiijiLjs) |)orr, was liorn in Roslun. ( >ctober 
12, 1778. He w as descendeii froin josepli Dorr, 
i^. who came to lln^ eounlry about \b~o. [o-epii 
H Dorr's son Ivlw ard JkhI a son i-'diene/er, w lio 

married Mary Roai'dnian. d hey had ten ebddren, anions; 
w Iiom was a s(»n, b^bene/er. who marrieil Amy I'lynipton. 
'idiey had thirteen children, one of whom was F!)ene/er, 
the falherof the subject of this skeleh, wjio-e name ajt 
pears in an In-norable posiiion in the early annals of the 
Revolulirmaiy War. Whrn the inteniled attack of tile 
Briti->h oil ( omord ua-, known, I'aul Re\ere siaited «.tut 
on that niidnij^ht ride, which Loni;fellow has immortalized 
in his charming verse. .Aiiout the same h(nir Kbenezer 
Dorr rode off in another direetioii, and passed over Boston 
Xrek.aii'l thnae^h Roxbiiry, eveivu here lousin^^ the in- 
habitants and ealliuL; on them li' lie ready to meet the foe. 
We are told that, by hade, ! lorr was a leather-dresser; 
that lie was mounted on a joi^i^iiiL; old hoise, with sacbllc- 
bai;s llappin_L; liehind liini, and a larL;"-- llipprd hat upon 
bis head, to re--embb- a eonntiyin.m on .1 journe\. to be 
suspeeted at tlie time, and aUeiAvard nunlionecl m history, 
as a ped<ller. He arrived about the time I'aul Revere 
reache<t the house of Re\ . Jonas Clark, in I..e\inL;[on, and 
brouj^lit a disp:,iih from deneral \\'arren. to the effeet that 
the " rej^ulars " wejc on their way to seize and destroy the 
military stores deposited at Concord. Soon after leaving 
< .lark's luuise. Revere and Dorr were captured by a recon- 
noitring party of the enemy. Recoming alarmed by hear- 
ing the ringing of beils in the -iislance, the British officers 
paitv'l with Iheir jn i-.r.iieis. and set off, at full speed, hn- 
iJo-toii. A little more lluin three years after tins, the sidi- 
ject of this sketch was born. When he was about twenty 
years of age he went to Canton. China, and eng.iged in 



mercantile pursuits. Returning to Ids native country, lie 
took up his resilience in Providence in 180s, where he be- 
came a prosperous merchant. We are told that he was a 
man of remarkable system, ])uncti]ious in all his engage* 
ments, industrious and prudent, of the highest integrity, 
and of scruinilous hdelity to all Id^ obligations. He did 
not flatter, he did not decei\e. .\tler devoting many years 
to mercantile pursuits, he was chosen, in 183S. to succeed 
Hon, Rieliard fackson, as President of the Washington 
liisuranee Company, d'wenty year•^ of his lileweie de- 
\oled to the interests of this eorporatioii, w hieli. under his 
faithlnl administralion. aehieved >ucce-.s, and saw it stand- 
ing in the highest rank among institutions of a similar 
character in Pioviilenee. He was a trustee of J-Jrown 
Ldiiver-ily b-om 1S13 ti> the end -if his life. His death 
oeeurred .\Rrieli 3, 185S. \\ lien he had nearly rcaidied 
eighty years of age. " No man am-ing us," said a writer 
in the Providence yoiinuil, " enjoyed or fR-served a higher 
reputation for the sterling qualities that make up a manly 
character. Inllexiblv honest, courteous in his manners, 
kind in his feelings, he was respected by all who knew^ 
him, ami beloved by all who knew him well." He mar- 
ried, ( letober 14, 1804. Lydia Allen. Their chddren were 
Thomas W., Allen, Ann H., who married Mo^es H. Ives, 
.Miiry 'i\. the wife of judge S. Ames, Sullivan, Candace 
('rawford, wife of Edward Carrington. and Henry. 




H'RNER, WilllAM, MT)., son of r)aniel Tiirner 
and ne]ihew of Dr. Peter Turner, was born in 
Newark, New Jersey, September 10. 1775. He 
'iJ\-h stnilied medicine in the oftiee of Dr. Jabe/ Camp- 
■¥" field, of Morristown, New- Jersey, and having com- 
pleled his term of study, was admitle<l a Fellow of the 
New jersey Medical Societv. He did not long remain 
in his native Slate, but remo\ed to Rhode Island and 
formed a ]mrtnership with his uncle in East Greeiiwieh, 
Dr. Peter I'urner, whose daughter he subse']Uenlly mar- 
ried. His health somewhat failing, he obtained a com- 
mission as Assistant Surgeon in the Navy, and went on a 
cruise, in the United Slates ship " Ceneral (dreene." to the 
West India Islands. The voyage was of great service to 
him, and he returned to the practice of his profession with 
his health restored, and settled in Newport, where he 
gained great distinLtion. esjiceially as an operative sur- 
geon. As a general practitioner also he secured •:iw envia- 
ble re]>utation. In September. lSl2,hcwas commissioned 
as a Surgeon's Male in the Army, and every day during 
the remainder of bis life, he attended the soldiers at Fort 
Woleott, opposite Newport. His death, which occurred 
Scj'tember 26, l8j7, was sudden, and his loss was be- 
moaned by a large circle of friends. Dr. U. Parsons says, 
thai as "an operator and dresser, Dr. d'uriier was remark- 
able for neatness and fleNterrty. and wiiuld lead a spectator 



BIOGKArinCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



r99 



to believe tliat he had been trained in European hospitals. 
His judgment was clear and correct; his conversational 
powers of a high order, and remarkable for logical pre- 
cision and elegant language." Dr. Turner had three 
brothers, who were, in some sort, his j^rotegcs and wards. 
They all became ofticers in the Unileti States Navy. The 
oldest, Benjamin, after several years' service, fell in a duel 
with a son of Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia. The youngest, 
Henry E., entered the navy in 1814, and died in 1820. 
He is said to have been a young officer of high promise 
and much beloved. The second brother, Commodore 
Daniel Turner, who was trained under Commodore 
Rodgers, had command of the third ship in the famous 
battle of Lake Erie. He was a young officer to hold a 
position so important, being only twenty-one years of age. 
Commodore Perry spoke in terms of warm commendation 
of the gallant conduct of his subaltern. " Lieutenant Tur- 
ner, commanding the ' Caledonia,' brought that vessel into 
actiiin in the most able manner, and is an officer that in 
all situations may be relied upon." Svtbsequently Com- 
modore Turner had command of the Pacific Squadron. 
Dr. Turner, the subject of this sketch, left a son. Captain 
Peter Turner, the last of a long list of navy officers fur- 
nished by that family. He also had a lirother. Dr. Peter 
Turner, who died at Plattsburg, New \'ork, during the 
War of 1812-15. Dr. William Turner married Hetlie V., 
eldest daughter of Dr. Peter Turner, of East Greenwich. 



20LBV, Rev. |ohn, was liom in Sandwich, New 
l!5is Hampshire, December 9. 17S7, and was the son 
of Thomas and P^Iizabeth .-Vtwood Colby. When 
£^|^ a boy he removetl, with his parents, to Sutton, 
Vermont. Susceiitible of religious impressions from 
early childhood, he became a Christian while a mere 
youth, and in 1S09 commenced the work of an evan- 
gelist. Soon afterwards he made a horseback journey to 
Southern C>hio and Indiana, going by way of Southern 
New York and Western Pennsylvania, and returning by 
Niagara Falls and Central New York. He was absent 
eiglrt months. During this time he saw no one whom he 
had previously known, and received no intelligence from 
home. He preached many sermons, and his efibrts were 
fruitful in results. In 1812 he came to Rhode Island, 
which he considered as his home, until his death. As 
the fruit of his efforts, the first Free Ba])tist Church in 
the State was organized at Burrillvillc, in December, 1812. 
From this church, many of whose members resided in 
neighboring towns, other churches came into existence; 
so that Mr. Colby is regarded as the founder of the Free 
Baptist denomination in the State. He preached exten- 
sively in other parts of New England. He was never 
married. - He died in Norfolk, Virginia, November 28, 



1817. His manner was earnest, solemn, and impressive. 
The eight years of his public ministry were crowtied with 
useful labors, though they were frequently interrupted by 
failing health, for the recovery of which he was making 
a tour at the .South at the time of his death. His name 
and memory are especially cherished by the Free Baptists. 
Among them he occupied a leading position as a devoted 
and successful evangelist. 



('^L.ARKE, Hon. [miN IL, manufacturer, and United 
^ States Senator from Rhode Island, was born in 
Elizabeth, New Jersey, .April I, 1789, and was the 
'f son of Dr. Jolin and Amy (Hopkins) Clarke. His 
J" mother was a daughter of Commodore Esek Hopkins. 
When he was (:[uite young his family, on the decease of his 
father, moved to Providence. His studies preparatory to 
entering college were ]nirsued under the tuition of Hon. 
Tristam Burges, and at Schenectady, New York, where he 
was an inmate of the family of his uncle liy marriage, at the 
time President of Union College. Returning to Providence 
he entered Brown University, and was graduated in the class 
of 1809. He studied law in the office of Tristam Burges, and 
was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 1812. He re- 
ceived soon after his admissiun to tlie bar the appointment 
of Clerk of (he Supreme Court for Providence County. He 
practiced law but a comparatively sluirt time, preferring the 
business of manufacturing to that of the legal profession. 
For some years he resideil in Cranston, w here he was en- 
gaged in business in his newly chosen vocation. He 
returned to Providence in 1S24, and, with the exception of 
a lew years, during which he li\ed in Pontiac, in Warwick, 
he continued his residence in this city during the remainder 
of his life. He was sent in 1836 as a Represenlative to the 
General Assembly, and for manv years was an active poli- 
tician in the State. He was chosen to represent the .State 
in the Senate of the United States, and was in office from 
March 4, 1847, 'o March 4, 1S53. " His sound sense, his 
positive views and force of character commanded the re- 
spect of his associates, and made themselves felt in the 
conduct of business." Subsequent to his retirement from the 
National Senate he represented Providence for one year in 
the State Senate, and in 1864 was in the lower House of 
the Assembly. He was able, by the force of his character 
and his abilities in many directions, to leave the impress of 
his strong, earnest mind upon the legislation both of the 
Commonwealth and of the Congress of the United States. 
Mr. Clarke was twice married, his first wife being Eliza- 
beth Bowen, of Paw tuxct, to whom he was married in 181 1 ; 
and his second Susan Carrington Miles, of Middletown, 
Connecticut, to whom he was married in 1829. He had a 
large family of children, one of whom is Hon. James H. 
Clarke, of Providence. He died in Providence, November 
23, 1S70. 



200 



JSJOCRAPIIICAL C\ CLOPEDIA, 



^^■^^Kl'.KXK, l-'RANRl.lN. sun of Klilui aii'I jane (Flaj;;^) 
(IrcL-iK-, wa-N Iiiiin at I'titnw uniut, Warwiik, RIi'ulc 
Islainl. Si.'iilenilKr ;;. 17S .. i Ic wa-, litic<l toi cl- 
^'1 |-' lci;f, panly in his native placu ami partly in .W-wjiuit, 
e) L ini'lcr tlu- tuition uf Ruiici I Rol^ois, ant] was a grad- 
uate ol Drown L'nivcisity, in the cla^s of I7')9. He dc- 
ciiK'd nut I.) ciitei professinnal life. I'Ut to ilevnlc liinisclf to 
mercantile pursuits. Willi tliis end in view he spent three 
years in iMistoU, and then returned to his native State and 
took up his resideuLe in I'rox idenee, w here he de\ oted 
innisellto nianiifactuies and coinnieree. He was occupied 
in tlie-e pursuits tor some years. ( )n retirint^ from his 
mercantile callini; he entered upon the discharge of his 
duties as a IVn-vion Agent for Rhode Island. P'or many 
years he occupied this po-.ition. |)uring the many changes 
in the admini->tration yii tlie go\ernment of the United 
State--, Mr. (ireene was Continued in oHtce. and relin- 
(piished its iluties only when compelletl su to do hy the 
inlinnilies of age. He married, in 1S06, KinJlv. daughter 
of (.'hi istnpiier (ireeiie, of Waiwick, and for Ins second 
wile he inariied, in 1S17, Anna, daughter of I )r. Pardon 
Uowen, of I'liA idence. Two ol his eiiildren hy his fust 
wife, and his widow, with four of iier chiMren, survived 
liim. His death occurred at East (Ireenwich, ()ctulier 2, 
1804. 



, always comprehending the real needs of the people. In 
thegreal teiniierance and anti-slavery movements he was an 
earne-'t and indefatigalde W(»rker. Tlinnigh excessive 
lalior connected with the huilding of the meetnigdiouse of 
tile Friendship Street Church, he was prostrated by dis- 
ease, and died suddenly, Ocloher 28, 1854, in his forty- 
seventli year, deeply and widely mourned. A tablet suit- 
j al)lv inscrii)ed to his menuu'y is found m the edifice that 
I he had just finished. Studious, yet practical, earnest, yet 
I prudent, decided, yet kind, zealous, yet modest, lie was 
I everywhere prospered and esteemed. He baptized near 
four hundred persons. Madison University honored liim 
I with the degree of Master of Arts. He wrote and pub- 
lished the Life of Ralph I, Brown: also, a sermon on 
Preaching to the Conscienee ; a Funeral Sennon, and sev- 
eral important papers. He married ( i ) Phebe E.. daughter 
of (ieneral Nathan I'endleton. of North Stonington, Con- 
necticut, who left a son, Hon. Francis W. Miner, n<iw- of 
Provi<lence, and elsewhere sketched in this work. He 
married [2) Loui>a Tucker, of Canton, Massachusetts, who 
had two children: Henry Bradley, now principal of a 
school in Boston, Massachusetts, and Sarah, one of the 
first graduates of Boston I'niversity, and now (iSSlI a 
teacher in the Ciirls' Latin School in Boston. 



■^INFR, Rf.v. Bradli-v, A.M., son of Saxtnn and 
Content ( ^'ork } Miner, was born in North Sto- 
^K.*-; ^f ninglon, Connecticut, July iS, iSoS. He was 
^7* of the ancient Miner family, distinguished in the 

el history of Eastern Connecticut, some of whom 

were honored Baptist ministers. Amid the industries of i 
the farm on which lie was brought up he early esinced a ; 
love of IjooUs and a determination to secure a broad edu- 
cation. Converted at the age of thiiteen, he united with 
the Second Bajitist Church in his native town, and was I 
licensed to preacii March lo, 1827. After stuii) ing at I 
home and teaching scliool, he pursued a course of liberal | 
studies at Hamilton Literary Institution in New York, and | 
at the Theological Instituticm in Newton, Massachusetts. 1 
and in 1S30 was ordained pastor of the First Baptist CIuulIi 
in Fall River. Massachusetts. Here he was piospL-reil in 
his work, and left an excellent record. His subscjueiit 
setllenients, ni all of whitli he lia<l marked success, were at 
Pawtuxet aii'l Wooiisocket, Rhode Island, at Dorchester j 
and at Pitlsdeld, .Massachusetts, and finally with the Friend- I 
ship Street Baptist Cluirch in Providence. In Providence, 
a id other places, he secured the erection of meetingdiouses. 
In Piit-stiehl he was earnestly seconded by ( iovern«.tr Briggs, 
a nuinber of his i liurcli. and one of the first men of New 
England. Mr. Miner was one of the iiio^t kindly, genial, 
cheerful, and laborious (if men. He al w av-' w orketl wisely, 
lia\ ing an intuitive knowledge of human nature, and 



'|y^rjjLLEN, Captain Wit i iam Hknrv, L' S. N., son 
ciiifi^lLLQ of General William Allen, a distinguished ofVicer 
l.^.'^';^ in the Revolutionary War, was burn in Piovi- 
■^ "-^^^ dence, October 21, 1784. Early in life he showed 
J L a decided taste for the navy, and in May, iSoo, 
entered the service of his country as a midshipman. In 
August of the same year he received orders to go on board 
the iVigate (_ieorge Washington and act as ;\n ofTicer on that 
vessel, under Captain, afteiward Commod-.re, Bainbridge, 
then bound to .Mgiers, bearing present- to the reigning 
Hey. (Jn his return in iSol. although many officers were 
discharged from aUive <luty. so acceptal)le hati been his 
services, thai he w.is at once appointed an ohlcer. under 
Captain Barron, for a cruise to the Mediterranean. The 
following year, 1S03, he was again ordered into service, 
under the command of Captiin Rodgers, and for tiie third 
time visited the shores of the Mediterranean. At the end 
of this cruise, not long after his return to the Ihiilecl Slates, 
he was appointed sailing master of the Congress, and once 
more sailed for the Mediterranean. In ( )Lti»ber, 1S04. he 
was promoted to a lieutenancy, and was attached to the 
famous frigate Constitution, under the command of Cajttain 
Rodgers. At the time of the surrender of liie Chesapeake, 
in 1807, to the English ship Leopard, he was third lieu- 
tenant on board the Chesapeake. Wh.it he regarded as 
the lowardly surrender ol his vessel by Commodore Barron 
w as a source of the keenest mortification to him. He joined 
with his brother uthccrs in the demand upon the Secretary 




■^ 



{/haoCL 



BIOGRAl'HU AL CYCL OPED /.I. 



of Ihc Navy for a court of iutjuiry into their conduct, re- 
questing at the same lime that an order be isj^ued for the 
arrest and trial of Commodore Barron. It is matter of his- 
tory that Commodore Barron was condemned, and dismissed 
from the honorable post which he had filled. It is said 
that '• in passing through the line of his officers, who were 
on deck to witness his departure, overcome by the mag- 
nitude of his disgrace, and stung to the soul by perceiving 
in the cold repulsive looks of every one that his cowardice 
had procured their fixed contempt, he fainted on the deck." 
In iSoS, during the embargo, Mr. Allen was employed in 
cruising off Block Island. It was a delicate position in 
which he found himself, but he discharged his duties with 
firmness and fidelity. In February, 1809, he was ordered 
to the frigate United States, whose headquarters were at 
Norfolk, Virginia. Here the ship was lying when the War 
of 1812 was declared. She soon set sail on a cruise, and 
on the 25th of October, l8l2, encountered the English frigate 
Macedonian, which, after a struggle of a little less than 
two hours, struck to the United Stales. Lieutenant Allen 
was appointed to bring the shattered Macedonian into 
New York, and was successful in the task assigned to him. 
Soon after he was appointed to lake command of the sloop 
of war Argus. In the fultilment of his mission he inflicted 
the heaviest blows upon the enemies of his country. It 
is estimated that the amount taken and destroyed in llie 
British Seas by the Argus was $2,500,000. It w-as about 
this time that he was promoted to the rank of master and 
commander. One duty assigned to him was to carry Min- 
ister Crawford to France, in which he was successful, after 
a voyage of twenty-three days, across a sea swarming with 
the cruisers of the enemy. On the I4lh of August he encoun- 
tered in the Irish Channel the British ship Pelican, ami a 
naval battle ensued. Early in the engagement Captain Allen 
received a shot which carried away his left leg. He refused 
to be carried below until he fainted. The Argus was cap- 
tured and taken into Plymouth. The wounded officer 
was taken to the hosjiital, and, after lingering for a few 
days, died, August 18, 181 2. The highest honors were 
paid to his remains by the enemy, and they were buried 
in the churchyard of the church in w'hich the funeral ser- 
vices were performed. His death, at the early age of 
twenty-nine, was universally lamented by the citizens of 
his native State, who were proud to reckon him as one of 
the most distinguished of the gallant men who. in war as 
in peace, have added to the lu^lre of the Commonwealth 
which gave them birth 



iO\VL.-\XD, Bk.n.iamin B.\ki:r, son of Henry ami 
1^3 Sarah (Baker) Howland, was born at Newport, 
December 11, 1787, in a house that stood on tlie 
,, site of the one in which he died October 20, 1S77. 
J"!. At an early age he was thrown upon his own re- 
sources. He had a taste for drawing and painting, and 
26 



he thought seriously of becoming a portrait painter. 
Guided in a measure by Robert F'eke, he made some prog- 
ress in portraiture and painted a number of likenesses; but 
he foresaw that it would be up-hill work to get on in that 
calling, and he wisely laid aside the brush and looked to 
trade for his support. His first effort in this direction, a 
commission business, resulted in failure. Resolutely strik- 
ing out, he not only made good his lo-ses but was enabled 
in time to pay off his old indebtedness, principal and in- 
terest. In September, 1825, tlie office of Town Clerk was 
made vacant by the resignation of Charles Gyles, then the 
Town Clerk, and the situation w-as given to Mr. Howland, 
who soon afterwards was also made Probate Clerk. To 
these offices he was annually re-elected till advancing 
years made it necessary for him to retire and give up all 
work. In his inaugural address, 1864-5, Mayor Cranston 
liuis spoke of Mr. Howland : " Our venerable and highly- 
esteemed City Clerk, Benjamin B. Howland, has declined 
this year to be a candidate for the office again. Mr. How- 
land was elected Town Clerk in September, 1825. Since 
that time he has annually been re-elected without opposi- 
tion. In all municipal and probate matters he is, if I may 
use the expression, an cncyclopcedia of knowletlge. r>ur- 
ing the last forty years he has discharged all the varied 
duties of his office in the most efficient, faithful, and satis- 
factory manner, ami now retires from the office of City 
Clerk without an enemy, with the kind feelings of all wlio 
have ever transacted business with him, and with the 
thanks of the whole community." Complimentary reso- 
lutions were passed by bolh branches of the Cily Council, 
and at the earnest solicitations of many friends, Mr. How- 
land continued to hold the office of Probate Clerk till 1S75, 
when his resignation was acceiHetl. At the reciuest of the 
City Council he sat for the portrait which now ad<.)rns the 
Mayor's Office, ami November 2, 1S75, ''i"^' Council voted 
to present him with a testimonial at a cost not exceeding 
two hundred dollars, h gold medal was decided on, and 
it was struck at the Philailclphia Mint. The presentation 
was made at the inauguration of the cily government, the 
follow ing year, by Dr. David King. The medal bears on the 
face the arms of the City of Newport, and on the other this 
inscription: "The City of Newport to Benjamin B. How- 
land; a testimonial of faithful public service in Newport 
during a period of fifty years." For many years Mr. How- 
land was a tleacon in the I'irst Baptist Church. His manner 
tlu'ough life was quiet and unobtrusive. He was Secretary 
of the Newport Savings Bank from the time it was incor- 
porated, iSig, up to the day of his death. In early life 
he was a member, first of the Old Guards, and then of the 
Artillery Company ; and he was both the Keeper of the 
Cabinet of the Southern Department of the Rhode Island 
Historical Society and Recording Secretary and Librarian 
of the Newport Historical Society from the time of its or- 
ganization. In these societies he took great interest, for 
he was fond of historical research, and from lime to time 



BlOaRAFIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



read papers lief- no \W. Ili-tui i^a] Si.ciLty m Newport. 
Among uiIkt siili'iovt^ IicUli! l>y liim w(.ti-. ///,■ StrrrL^ of 
A'nopor/, The SJiooIs of Xt-ivporf, .iii'l hlu^ PUUip of 
Pokaitokil. ( ^lu- \\\\y> kiuu liim well lliiis -.poke of him 
afltT his (k-ath : " IK- had cliaracLr. Hu livrd VLiy V^W'Z, 
aiiion;^ iiK-n and Okv lui-tcd him t<f the la^t. He was Uhh- 
oiiL^hlv prii\r(l. lli^ voice wa^ not ^o mucli heard as that 
of SOUK- w]io nui;ht liettcr ha\L' liecii silcnl. hut il was a 
viiicf always rL■•^[>L■(_t^■d. He ua^ not i>romin<nt, hut the 
silent iiillueiue of liis life u as lelt hy lhn-.e w ho were, i [e 
hehl I. J ohl, sMoiit; dnaiine^, and they hehl liiiii. He kej-t 
his h.mds pure, and his t^n^^ue wa-- never duuhle. Belter 
to his family i-- the iiiheiitanee of his mnnoiy tli;Tn woallh 
ur po->iti..»n ; better diai) llie herahTs lihi/on of nohilitv is 
the testimcny of hi> ( ily to the moral wmtli of their sire; 
richer than the g"ld on which it is engraved is that assur- 
ance of pulilie conhdenee to be Iianded down to ehihJren's 
thihiren." 



niEARtX. Hon. Henkv. son of Seth Wheaton. 
was born in I'mvidenre, Xovemlier 27, 17S5, 
and wa-> a i^iaduate of liiown L'iii\er>ity in the 

[■[■S I lass y\'i iSoj. He \\ as descended from anLe-.tor-i 

1' 

* V who were lomid among the earliest settlers of the 

cohuiv. Il was for him a fortunate cireiimstance that In^ 
father was a gentleman of wealtli, ac'piired l)y conmierce 
and na\igntion. and was able to give Ids son tire best edu- 
cation iif Iiis time, and the culture whieh is derived from 
foreign travel, Mrs. Wheaton, the mother of Henry, is 
represented V\ have been a woman of strong iniellect, ami 
of r.ire deluacy :ind rehnenunl. His early intercourse 
w itii Ins relative. iM. I.e\i Wheaton. not only an eminent 
jijiysician of his time, but an accomplished scholar, left its 
impress on all Ids subsc-pient career. ( )n t.ompleting his 
College education. Mr, Wheaton studieil law three years, 
and was adnnttLd lo iIk- bar of Kliodc Nlaml in iSov In 
the spring ol thi. yeai he went to Kurojx-, ami at first 
established Iiiniself at I'oilieis, in J-'rance. w liere he cn- 
necleii himself with a school of law in that jOace, perfect- 
ing hiin--elf. not only in the stuilv of hi> j'rofession, !)Ut in 
the acinnsitH)n of the Krench language. Having com- 
pleted his term of sui.ly ai T'oitiers, he made a short visit 
to I'aris and tlien went to London, where lie remained six 
months, in attend. in^e on the courts of law, and in gain- 
ing information w Iiich might be useful t^.i him in his jiro- 
fev-i.tn. i''itleil for (he di-eharge ot his jirofessional duties 
by a training such as few young lawyers are permitted to 
enjoy, he returned to his native city, where he ojiened an 
office, ami commenced tlie ]iku tice of la w. He remaineil 
ni rroviileiiee init a short time. New York jirescnled 
greater attractions to him, and. in 1S12. he e-.tablished his 
residence in that city, where he took the editorial charge 
of the Xiilional A,/::'. <i/c\ -.H that lime the organ of the 
Ailmini^lratioii in that citv. In this j)aper he dtscussed. 



w ith great ability, the <|uestions pertaining to neutral rights, 
which were then agitating the connminity. and wddch cul- 

I minated in the war with (Ireat Ihilain. While he was 
thus engagecl a-' an editor, he received a commission from 
the governmenl appointing him Divisitm judge-Advocate 

, of the army. \'ice-rresident Gerry wrote to liim on the 
occasion of his conlirmatioii, ( )ctober 2(1, 1S14: "Your 

j appointment was not only unanimous, but the voice of the 
Senate was expressed with cordiality." Ueing appointed 
in Nbiy, 1S15. one of the Iu-.tices of the Marine Court in 
the tity of New York. Mr. Wheaton retired from the edi- 
torial charge of the A'>ifi.>n.i/ AJvotu/c'. He held the i>o- 
sition of Justice of the Marine (_'ourt a little o\er four 
years. His tirst law -puldicalion eiitilled. A /K'-;i-if of (he 
Law of ALiii ifuiie Ca/'/a/rs or L^rizt's, was made in 1S15. 
it was a valuable contribution to the science of interna- 
tional law. From 1S16 t > 1S17, he was Reporter of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, publishing the de- 

; cisioiis of the (_'ourt in twelve volumes, winch are re<jarded 
I 
as standanl authority in the matters ol which they treat. 

In 1S21 he was a meml)er of the New York Convendon 
for the fiirming of a new Constitution. In 1S27 he was 
' appointed tV/'/r^v if .Iffiires to Denmark, and resided at 
' Copenhagen until 1S35, when he receive*! the apijointment 
j of Resident Mniister to the Court of Prussia, antl two 
I years later was promoted to the rank of Minister I'lenipo- 
, tentiary, remaining in oltice until 1S46, and perfornnng the 
duties assigned to him in the most satisfactory manner. 
■ He interested himsLlf while abroad, in subjects to the 
investigation of which he was drawn bv his tastes as a 
I scholar. In lS;,i ajipeared his ///>Y,oa- <>/" ///t- AV;'//rW(V;, 
I f/i</fi the Karlie.f 'I'uites (0 the Co}!quest of Ent^land hy 
William of XorvianLy. (_>lher impoitmt works of the 
same character were the production of his ever busy ])en. 
, His great work. /"//(• Elfmenis of Lvtemational Laxi', was 
published in 1S36 in London, and. in the same year, in 
' Philadelphia. It lias passed through many editions. An 
edition was |uiblished in iSl)^. with notes, by Hon. Wil- 
liam bleach Lawrence, and another edition in 1860, with 
notes, by Hon. Richard II. Hana The work is a stand- 
ard in the I )epartinent <".f International Law. Mr. Wheat- 
on returned to the I'nited States in 1S47, and received the 
, most llattering rt.ce])tion by disilnguished gentlemen, who 
t'lok pleasure in honoring one who had been the ornament 
of the iliplomalic pn.ifes->ion. and so creditaldy sustained 
him sell abroad. His last literary discourse w as jncj- 
nounced before the Plii Beta Ka]»pa Society of Ihown 
Liii\orsity on the isi of September, 1S47. He had been 
engaged to deliver a course of lectures on International 
Law. nt the Law-School of Harvard University, prepara- 
tory to the esta);lishment >j-i a Professorship of that science. 
He never lived to carry out his purpose, his death occur- 
ring March 11, 1848. at Dorchester, Massachusetts. Mr. 
Wheaton married, in iSl 1, his cousin, Catherine, daughter 
of Dr. Levi Wheaton, 



PiocKArmcAL ever opedia. 



H^HANNINC;, Ri:v. WiiMAM Ki 1 1 HV, Il.I)., son of 
MM^ Hon. William ami Lucy (F.llory) Clianning, was 
'■"'^'j^ 'wn ill Newport, April 7, 17S0. His motluT, a 
\''>\ lady of maikeil exct-Ilcncios of cliarattrr. was a 
I'ssl rlaughter of William Ellery, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Irulepemlence. The subject of this 
sketch early developed remarkable intellectual ability and 
a moral delicacy which threw a peculiar charm about his 
boyhood days. He was sent to New London, Connecticut 
when he was twelve years of age and placed under the care 
of his uncle, Rev. Henry Channing, and was a ])U|iil iir the 
school of Mr. (afterward Rev. Dr.) Selh Willislon, who 
speaks of him in terms of warm commemlation as a good 
scholar and of peculiarly amiable dejiortment. *' His 
features were then comely, his countenance placid, and his 
mind, the more important part, seemed to take a seiious 
turn beyond what is coinmon to boys of his age." His 
pre|5ar.itory studies being completed he entered Harvard 
College in 1794, in the fifteenth year of his age. His rank 
as a student is indicated by the circumstance that he took 
the highest honors of his class at graduation in 179.S. It 
is said that he performed his part at commencement in a 
manner that evinced great independence as «'ell as bril- 
liancy, and drew from the audience the most tumultuous 
shouts of applause. Soon after leaving the University he 
became a tutor in the family of David Meade Randolph, 
of Richmond, Virginia, wdiere he remained a year and a 
half. It was while he was residing in Richmond that, ac- 
cording to a statement made to his uncle in one of his 
letters to this friend of his youth, that he passed through 
that experience which resulted in his becoming a Christian. 
" I believe," such was his language, " th.at I never experi- 
enced that change of heart which is necessary to constitute 
a Christian, till within a few months past. All my sentiments 
and affections have lately changed. I once considered mere 
moral attainments as the only object I had to pursue. I 
have now solemnly given myself up to Ciod."' Having 
completed his term of service as a tutor in the family of 
Mr. Randolph he returned to Newport. His health was 
very much impaired by his close application to study. When 
he left Rhode Island for the South he was apparently in 
good physical condition ; he was now reduced to the shadow 
of his former self. From this time, says his biographer, his 
life was a perpetual conflict with physical derangement and 
infirmity. He remained in Newport a year and a half, 
carrying on his studies so far as his health would permit, 
and teaching a son of his former patron, Mr. Randolph, 
and his own younger brother. In the early part of the year 
1802 he again returned to Cambridge and carried on his 
theological studies. About this time he became a member 
of the First Congregational Church, then under the pastoral 
charge of Rev. Abiel Holmes, and was licensed to preach 
in the autumn of 1802; and on the 1st of June the next 
year, 1803, he was ordained as pastor of the Federal Street 
Church, in Boston, and entered upon that brilliant career as a 



pulpit orator, in the best sense of the word, which [ilaced him 
in the front ranks of the clergymen of Host m. .\Ithough net 
a Trinitarian, as the doctrine of tlie Trinity was then held 
and [ireached, no one cuuld iloiibl the conscientiousness of 
the preacher, or fail to note how earnest anti sj-tiritual were 
the teachings of the i>ulpit which he occu]:iied. Perhaps 
more than most clergymen of his times he fell it to be his 
duty, as a public religious teacher, to discuss those great 
princi])les in ethics which he justly felt should mould and 
govern the actions of nations as well as of individuals. 
When war was declared against threat Britain, in 1812, he 
imlicated his position with reference to the matters at issue 
between the two nations in his celebrated sermons preached 
on the occasions of the national and state fasts. His dis- 
course on the Fall of Napoleon, preached in the Stone 
Chapel, in 1814, was among the best of his pulpit efforts. 
In the controversies which resulted in the division of the 
Congregational Churches of .Massachusetts, he took the 
L'nitarian side of the questioir. The Ie:ters which were 
written by Rev. Dr. Wtircester, of Salem, as the repre- 
sentative of the one j»arty, and by himself as the rejiresenta- 
tive of the other party, give one a good view of the state 
of feeling at the time when they were written. At the or- 
dination of Jared Sparksat M.dtiinore. in 1 S19, he jireached 
a sermon which brought him again before the public in 
the character of a controversialist. Again, in 1826, he 
preached a sermon at the opening of the new Unitarian 
Church in New York, which awakened much interest in 
the religious puljlic, and led to further controversy. A 
visit which Dr. Channing made to Europe, in 1S22, was a 
-source of great pleasure and intellectual profit to him. He 
formed acquaintances and friendships with eminent liter- 
ary men wdiich he retained through life. < )n his return to 
his parish he once more took up the cares of his minis- 
terial life. His friends saw, however, that he was taxing 
himself beyond his strength, and at their suggestion, in 
the spring of 1824, Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Ezra S. dannett 
became his associate, lacing now somewhat freed from 
the burdens of his profession, he had more time to turn 
his thoughts to those great subjects of moral reform, upon 
which he had long pondered, and to em])!oy his graceful 
pen in the discussion of iiuestimis w Inch were taking strong 
hold of the piublic mind. He preached on temperance. 
He interested himself with his friend the Rev. Dr. Tucker- 
man in the appointment and support of his ministry to the 
poor. He discussed, also, in his able, felicitous way, the 
perplexing questions relating to prison discipline. In 1838 
and 1840 he delivered lectures on self-culture, and on the 
elevation of the laboring classes, which, when published, 
were not only received with great favor in this country, 
but were widely circulated in England. As might have 
been anticipated from all we know of his character, he was 
among the earliest and most intrlligent friends of the anti- 
slavery cause, and his writings on this subject are among 
the ablest productions of his pen. He commenced, while 



204 



niocRAPincAL ever. opfdia. 



in ilu' We-I Indict, wliitlier, in lS;o, lie bml l^oiic fur liis 
IkmIiIi, a work on Slavery, which \\a^ jnil'Ii^hu"! in iS;,^. 
Two yt-ars later ht* imiilislicd a IcUcr to I Knry ( Tiy nu 
tho thrcatL-neil annexation of Texas. While he Ihu^ showed 
liini^elf Ihe earnest opponent of shivery, he discniinte- 
naneed the spiiit ^\i some \\!i') were \ii>l(nt in thuir 
tliouL;hts and exi'vessKuis. and whose course o[ jirocedure 
he judged to lie prejudicial tu tlie c.mse which sn intrr- 
ested hi-^oun heart .md inlUirm ud liis cunrse of action. 
( )ne of the fa\oiitr rr-ort- of Hr. ('Imnnini; in the siun- 
mer reason was I.enox, MassachuscHs. lie had ^^nme to 
this deli_!:;htrnl s]>ol in tlie summer of 1842. with the inten- 
tion of sprndin:^ a few weeks in ibe society of some of 
his in'st friemU. line lie delivered his famous aih.lress 
tm West India Em.incipation. In Scplemiier, having 
reat lied I'-eiinin'^lon on his w.iy to his hcjinr, lu- w as attacked 
hv a re\er, from which, alter an illness \\{ three weeks, he 
died, the event tal.iiiL; place on Sunday, (t^l.-iher 2. 1S42. 
The aicountof (he end <d this eainest antl einiiuaitly de- 
voicil life width \\K- have attempted to sketch is in these 
words. (Voin one w lio sii.iid hy him in hi-- last moments: 
" In the afternoon he sjioke very earnestly, hut in a hollow 
whisper. I IiLiit forward, hut the onlv wurtK I could hear 
were, * I have received many inessa_L;es Iroin the Spirit.' 
.As the dav deeline<l, his eountrnance fell, and he grew 
fainter and fainter. With oui aid he turned himself 
towards the window which looked o\'er valle)' and wooded 
siimirut^ tct the east. We diew hack the turtain, and the 
li^lit fell upon his face. The sun had just set. and the 
chanU and skv were hriL^ht with gold an<l crimson. lie 
breathed more and more gently, and, w idnuit a ^liuggle or 
a sigh, the body fell asleep. We kiu-w not wdieii the spirit 
passed." The remains were taken U> I'.oston. where the 
funeral took place ( )ctober 7, 1S4J. ami the bodv was 
buried at Mt, .Auliurn. 1 >r. Chaiming was mairiril li. his 
cousin, Ruth (iiidis, i.f Newpoit. in 1814. by whom he 
had three children, one o| whom, the hrst liorii, iliud in 
infancy. It was his practice lor many years to sptnd a [)art 
of his summers at the country-seat of his motber-indaw, 
in Newport. In 1S20 Harvard College conferred upon 
liim the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. His pub- 
lished writings are containeil in six duodecimo volumes. 
Hesides thoic which have thus luen collected, there are 
immcrous sermons, discourses, ftc, which are ]>reserved 
only in pamphlet hirm. Ik- wroir all the rei>oits of the 
Massachusetts Ihble Society from iSij to 1S20, .md was a 
fre([UeiU contiibutor to the (. 7/ rn//,/// /."Jm, //■/,■. so long as 
Dr. No.ih WoicrMcr had tin.- editorial chargr of ihal juri- 
odical. It may be a matter of just pride to Rhodr Island 
that one of the fairest spots within her domain wa'^ the 
birthplace of so distinguished a divine and so eminent a 
reformer as William Kllery Channing, and that, hu- the 
beautiful city in w hn h his youth and so many of the bright 
summer days and weeks of his manhood were |>assi.-d, he 
never ceased to fctd the tcndeicst intere^-t an<l the warmest 



affection. The one hundredth anniversary of his birth was 
celebrated in Newport on the 7th of April. iSSo. when the 
Ct)rner-stone of a memorial churili was laid w ith impressive 
ceremonies, Dr. Belhnvs, of New Ytirk, Rev. William 
Henry Channing, of Lomhrn, Rev. Edward Everett Ilale, 
Dr. Ilosmer. (lovernor Van Zandt, Mrs. juIia Ward 
Howe, and other distinguisheil persons being jiresent to 
pavUcipate in the exercises. Letters li.-aring testimony to 
the intluence of Dr. Channing's life and writings, from 
men of ditTerent creeds in this country and bairojie, were 
read on the occasion, one from fohn C Whittier, the 
poet, being among the number, in which he sai<l : *' I 
scarcely neeil say that I )irld to no one in love and rever- 
ence for the great and good man whose memory, outliving 
all the prejudices of creed, sect, and party* i-^ the common 
legacy of Chri-leii'lom. As the years go on, the value of 
that legacy will be more and more felt, not so much per- 
haps in doclrinL- as in spirit — -in tlnisc utterances of a de- 
vout soul w liich arc above and bevom! the aftirmation or 
negative of dogma. His ethical severity anil Christian 
tenderness; his hatred ol wrong and oppression, with love 
and pity for the wrong-doer; his noble plea for self-culture, 
tem|)erance, peace, and purity; and above all, his precept 
and example of unquestioning obe<lience to duty and the 
voice of Cod in his soul, can never become obsolete. It 
is very titling that his memory should be especially cher- 
ished with that of Ibipkiiis and Berkeley in the beautiful 
island to w hicii die common residence of these worthies 
ha^ lent additional charm and interest." 



iVj^CSHM.VX, Ai-.>ii..is. lawyer, son of /ebedee and 
i\^' ^•^''"I'l ll'adelford) ('ushman, was born in Middle. 
'^.j.'i""' borough, Massachusetts, August 0, lySj. He came 
v' ^-. from an honored ancestry, being a descendant, tm 
•'■i' his father's sifle, from Robert (_'ushman, one of the 
early Pilgrims. His preparatory studies were jnirsucd at the 
academy in Taunton, under the tuition of Rev. S. Doggett, 
anil he was a graduate of Ilrown University in the class of 
iSuJ. l']i"ii tb*-' com[ilelion of his collegiate studies he 
commenced the study of law in ihe ofhcc of ludge Padel- 
ford, of d'aunlon, and was admiUed to the bar in 1S06. 
He began the practice of his profession in I'lainfield, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he remaineil but a slnnt time, and then 
moved ;o .\ttleborough. of wlneh ]ilace he was a resident 
until 1S12, and then he removed to I'awtuckel, where he 
lived the rest of iiis long life. His practice was extensive, 
and his reiaitatioii as a lawyer was of a high order. He 
comliined with a careful attention to the duties of his pro- 
fession a love of literature, and kept alive the classical 
tastes whii h he had cultivated in his younger days. 
Althinigh often rc'iuestcd by his fellow-citizens to accejit 
poliiical office, he uniformly declined. He was a Justice 
of the Peace, Notary Pul'lic, Justice of the Quorum, and a 




7/'"^- ^ /^ 

/^/r ////'/ J ^ ///■/''/c. 



BIOGRArillCAI. CYCLOPEDIA. 



Commis^inner to qualify civil ofticers. He lived to the 
age of seventy years, and died in Pa\vtucl;ct, September 
17, 1864. Mr. Cusliman married, Jime 21, 1809, Anna 
Maria, the eldest daughter of General William Barton, of 
Revolutionary memory. On her mother's side, who>e 
name was Rhoda Carver, she was a lineal descer.dant of 
John Carver, the fir^t Governor of Plymouth Colony. They 
had seven children : Charles Edward .Sidney, Harriet Ster- 
ling, Henry Barton, a resident of I'awtucket, William 
Murray, for several years a successful merchant at Mobile, 
Alabama, (Jeorge Francis, D.D.,a distinguished Episcopal 
minister, James Warren, and John Barton. 



EKOrURNKR, (^(iVKRNiiR Thomas Gochwin, son of 
^^K Captain William and ■'Vbiah (GoodwinI Turner, 
gsi; ifi was born in Warren, Rhode Island, ( )ctober 24, 
'^i**i' 1810. His father connnanded the packet " Hannah 
I • and Nancy," plying between Warren and Newport, 
and was assisted liy his sons, William, Jr., and Thomas G., 
while they were yet lads. Thomas (i. left the vessel at 
the age of fourteen and became a clerk in the drygoods 
store of Mr. Cahoon, in Newport. He adopted the best 
of business habits, and by application to books acquired a 
good education. Returning to Warren, he entered into 
partnership with Martin L. Salisbury, the finn-name being 
Turner & Salislniry, in the drygoods and mcrclianl tailoring 
business, with which was soon afterward connected the 
manufacture of neck-stocks. In the latter buMness this 
became one of the chief firms in the country. Disposing 
of this business, he accepted the Presidency of the Equi- 
table P'ire and Marine Insurance Company, of Providence, 
which position he tilled till his death. During the " Dorr 
war" he accepted a colonel's commission in the State 
militia, and was in command at Acote's Hill. He also be- 
longed to the Firat Light Infantry Company of Providence. 
He was an active member of the Rhode Island Historical 
Society. He was a Director in the Warren Manufacturing 
Company; in the First National Bank, of Warren; in the 
Mechanics' Machine Company ; in the City National Bank, 
and City Savings Bank of Providence ; and in the Provi- 
dence, Warren, and Bristol Railroad Company. P'or 
several years he ably represented Warren in the General 
Assembly of the St.ite, both in the House and the Senate. 
Twice he was chosen Presidential Elector. He w.as Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of the State from 1S57 to 1S59. During 
the great religious revival in the winter of 1S57-8 he be- 
came a prominent Christian, and ever afterwards was active 
in church and missionary work. His mendiership was in 
the Warren Baptist Church. He became a member of the 
Board of the American Bapti-t Missionary Union, and was 
a trustee of Brown University. His abilities and charac- 
ter graced every position to which he w'as called, and the 
people delighted to do him honor. In the years 1859 and 



i860 he was elected Governor of the .State. During the 
Rebellion he stood bravely by the imperilled nation. Presi- 
dent Lincoln chose him as the first Collector of Internal 
Revenue for the First District of Rhode Island. His many 
honors were worn with great quietness and grace, and all 
his duties were performed with conscientious fidelity and 
thoroughness. His urbanity, kindness, and integrity w'ere 
proverbial. He married, April 4, 1833, Mary Pierce Lu- 
ther, daughter of Jonathan and Rosamond Luther, of War- 
ren, a woman of marked abilities and excellences. He had 
seven children, four of whom died in very early life. His 
son, L)aniel Luther, a merchant in Warren, married, Octo- 
ber 15, 1S5S, Elizabeth S., daughter of Hon. Nathan .VI. 
Wheaton, and has one son. His daughter, Sarah Cole, 
married, January 22, 1858, Commander Trevett Abbot, 
U. S. N., elsewhere sketched in this work, and has two 
daughters. His son William, died at Holyoke. Massa- 
chusetts, May 27, 1 876, aged twenty-six years, a man 
highly respected for his good deeds and pure char.icter. 
Governor Turner died at his residence in Warren, January 
3, 1875, '1 ''■'' sixty-fourth year, and was buried with the 
highest marks of esteem and honor. Touching addresses 
were made by Rev. ,S. K. Dexter and Rev. E. G. Robin- 
son, D.D., President nf Browu I'niversity. 



tjOWELL, Hdn. liKNjAMiN, son of Samuel and 
^ Jemima Cowell, was born in Wrentham, Massa- 
chusetts, in November, 17S1, and was a graduate 
;5)» of Brown University, in the class of 1803. .Among 
his classmates were (Governor Philip Allen, of 
Rhode Island, and Lieutenant-Governor John Reed, of 
Massachusetts. Having completed his collegiate course 
of study, he entered the law office of Hon. Samuel Dexter, 
of Boston, to prepare himself for the legal iirofession. 
He was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island, and took up 
his residence in Providence, \\ here he spent the remainder 
of lii> life. For many years he held the office of Clerk of 
the United States Circuit and District Courts, and was for 
a short time Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He 
made a specialty of ]>rocuring jiensions, and securing 
bounty-lands for a large number of persons who were en- 
titled to them by acts of Congress. As the result of much 
experience, gaine<l by many years of practice in tlie par- 
ticular branch of his professional «'ork, he gathered up a 
large amount of interesting and valuable information re- 
specting those who were soldiers or engaged in some way 
in the Revolutionary War. This information he embodied 
in a volume to which he gave the title, Spirit of ''yb. He 
took deep interest in the politics of the times in which he 
lived, and the productions of his pen upon the exciting 
topics of the day were published by him in the columns of 
the public press. As age came on he gradually withdrew 
from the cares of his profession and devoted himself to 



2o6 



niOi-.R.irillCAL CYCL OTEDl. 1. 



sucli ~tu(lic> anil rc:iilin;^ a^ wiac siiiicd to l)i^ ta^tt-^. His 
Ia>I illiK--^ was liiic-f, aii'l Ir- ilinl wuh a composure be- 
fitliiii; llu- Christian faiih l)y uliicli, for many years, he had 
lieeii i^uiilcil anil contiollcd. His .lealli occnrrcil in Prov- 
iilence, May 6, iSdo. |uil;;c ('(iwell was married to 
Kii/aI.eth H. Howell, Maul, 4, l.SiS. Their einhlren 
were lleiijamin, Jr., ]''.li,Ml..ili H., wife of Hon. K. P. 
Knowh-^. Martha P... Sar.ih |)\\i;^lit, uife of Rev. .\nilrew 
Ma.kii-. and (Hive 1.;., wife of Chailes Hilclieoek, of New 



^1 AVE, Joii\, son of I'erley and .\lii-ail (He Wolf) 
Howe, was liorn in KiUinLjly, Connecticut. July 
S, I7'^3. rile family renio\ed to Piristol. Rhode 
,J-'-3 Inland, shortly after the decease of Mr. Perley 
'■i' Howe. The siilijecl of this sketch was fitted t'ov 
college in Pristol. iiiuh-r the instruction of .Wmer Alden, 
a teacher well known in .ill that rei;ion. He was a grad- 
uate of Ihowii liiuirMty in the class of 1S05, and coni- 
ineiiced the Miidy (if law at once, on le.n iiig the University, 
in the office of Hon. P.eiijamin Bourne, and was admitted 
to the Rhode Island liar in i.SoS. His practice liecame 
extensive in Rhode Island .iiid in the courts of Massachu- 
setts in counties adjacent to this St.itc. While engaged 
in the discharge of his jiiofessional dtnie^ he aUo culti- 
vated tlio-,e literary tastes which had been develojied dur- 
ing his college life. He wa^ a clear and gifted writer, and 
the jiroductions of hi^ pen found their way into the papers 
of the dav. For many years he rejireseiiteil Ihistcil in the 
( ieneral .\ssenililv, and in matters afTecling the intellectual 
and social welfaie *if the jilace of his resi<lence he took an 
abiding interc-t. \\ lien the administration of President 
Harrison came into power in 1S4I, he was appointed Col- 
lector of the Port of Prist, il. Thi^ office he lieM until the 
close of the adinini^tr.ition of President d'yler. He did 
not again return to the practice of the legal prcd'ession, Init 
spent several years at his residence near Prisfo], devoting 
himself to the care of his farm. He married, in 1S07, 
Louisa Smith, daughter of Stephen Smith, of liristol, and 
lister of Pishop Smith of Kentucky. She died in 1S54. 
In I.S;j he took up hi^ resilience in Philadel|ihia with 
his son, now Rt. Rev. M. .\. He Wolf Howe. The 
siimnier^ of the closing \ears of hi^ life were pia-ssed in 
P.ri-.fol. He died in Pliilailelfihia, PennsyUania, March 
I i, I.S04. 



;i,\E\', Rt\'. TuiiMAs, the succe^^or of Rev. dreg- 
^% ,;jr ory Iie\tei in the pastorate of the l-"irst Baptist 
(."hurch in Pio\iileiue, w.ts bom in Hertford. 
;j;, hhiglanil, not hir from llie ye. 11 1000. He left his 
^ native countr\- altmit the time that Roger Williams 



did, and. for some time, resided in Salem, Ma^sacliii^effs, 
where, \\ithout doulil, he w.ls on terms of inliinate ac- 
ipiaiiitaiue with till- future founder of Rliode Nland, and 
f.iiniliar with all the circumstances connected with his per- 
secutions and siibseipient banishment friun the Bay State. 
Preciseh' what month in 1639 he came to Providence we 
have be' n unable to ascertain. It could not have been far 
lioin Mav.as we find his nam- among the twehe to whom 
Roger Williams evecut--d a ileed, conveying an e pial 
share of the territory of Providence — tlie number of acres 
being the same with the number he reser\ ed for himself. 
This conveyance was m uie not long after .May 0; this 
date being attached to a m >m irandum appended to the 
deed of Canonicus and Miantonomi, made the year pre\i- 
ous, which consfitiiled Roger Williams the owner of ■' all 
the land between Pawtiicket and Paw iii\et Rivers." por 
more than twenty years the document gi\en to his tucKe 
associates biy Roger Willi mis was the only esiileiice of 
title to the ownership of the lands conveyed by him. .\t 
the rei|uest of the citi/ens. Mr. Williams, in r'ecember, 
1661, executed a more hiriiial conveyance, and, fi\e )'eais 
later, executed -till anoiher deed, giving the names in full 
of the grantees, the sole oliject of the instrument being to 
explain the first one as to rlate and n inies. In all these 
various documents apiieirs the name of Tliomas ( llney 
as one of the thirteen original proprietor- of Pro\iilence. 
■Phat from the outset he was a man of mark and influence 
in the little colony a|ipears from the circumstance that he 
was chosen Treasurer of the town. and. if the fathers had 
the dilatory habits of their sons, there must have been 
some funds for which the officer was responsihle, for we 
read that the earlie-t record of the town-book i- to the 
effect that all persons who may be more than fifteen min- 
utes late to town-meeting shall pay a fine. P'nder the 
sketch of P'zekiel Holliman miy lie hniii 1 an account of 
the manner in which the First Baiitist Church in Providence 
was formed. .Vmoiig the name- of person- ba]iti^etl by 
Roger William-, the la-t on the li-t 1- that of the subject 
of this sketch. rile circumst.mces connected with the 
troubles wdiicli Ciorloii an 1 his associates of Warwick had 
with Mas-achu-ctls, on the i|uestii)n of jurisdiction, are re- 
lated in the sketch of Samuel U irton. Four I'rovidence 
cili/ens accompanied the Massachusetts troops to War- 
wick "to see what would be done, and to aid in effecting 
a jieaceable adjustmeiu of the difficulty. " The case was 
one of great delicacv, and " the tcuir Pnn-idence \\ itnesses " 
must have been selected, on account of their w isdom and 
jirudence. to assist in reconciling the p.iities at variance. 
( Ine of these witnesses was Thomas ( )liiey ; his associates 
being Chad Brown, William Field, and William Wicken- 
deii. These gentlemen sent a letter to (iovernor Win- 
throp, entreating him to accept the proposal of arbitration. 
'• ( ill how grievous w onld it be (we hope to you ) if one man 
should be slain, coiisidering the greatest monarch in the 
world cannot make a man ; especially grievous, seeing they 



BIOGRArillCAL CYCI. OPED/A. 



207 



offer terms of peace." In such earnest and toucliini; words 
did tliey make their appeal to the governor. It is painful 
to be compelled to say that (jovernor Winthrop replied to 
the letter of "the four Providence witnesses," declining 
arbitration. What followed may be seen by referring to 
the sUetch of Gorton. In May, 1649, Thomas Olney, at 
the regular session of the Court of Commissioners, was 
chosen *' Assistant," for I'rovidence, one of the highest 
honors that couUl be conferred on a citizen of the colony. 
He was elected to the same ofifice in 1652-53, and '54. 
This was a period of trouble and jealousy in the colony, and 
especially so in Providence. Governor Arnold tells us 
that " under pretence of a voluntary training a tumult oc- 
curred, in which some of the principal people w ere impli- 
catetl." Among these we find the name of Thomas Ol- 
ney. There was abroad a s]-)irit of lawlessness and ultra 
independence. It was under these circumstances that 
Roger Williams wrote his famous letter about the ship's 
pa.ssengers, commencing with these words: "There goes 
many a ship to .sea, etc." Probably for the course he pur- 
sued, Mr. Olney failed to secure an election as " Assist- 
ant" for Providence, in May, 1655. Shortly after, how- 
ever, he was once more chosen, and at a town meeting 
held in June, it was " wisely concluded," says Governor 
Arnold, to pass the following, to wit: "That for the col- 
ony's sake, who have since chosen Thomas Olney an As- 
sistant, and for the public union and peace's sake," his 
offence "should be passed by and no more mentioned." 
In January, 1655-56, he was chosen, with Roger Williams 
and Thomas Harris, a judge of a justice's court, f(jr the 
trial of cases not exceeding forty shillings in amount. 
" That the smallest tribunal in a tow n should be composed 
of such members, speaks well ftjr the jniMic spirit of the 
leading men, and for the care taken in the administration 
of justice." Untler the royal charter given by Charles II., 
at the first election under the new instrument, Mr. Olney 
was chosen one of the ten " Assistants " provided for by 
the Charter. In 1677 occurred the famous dispute between 
Providence and Pawtuxet, with reference to the boundaries 
between the two towns, for an account of which see Ar- 
nold's History, vol, i., pp. 429-38. In this dispute Mr. 
Olney bore a somewhat prominent part. With regard to 
the pastorate of Mr. Olney, .as the minister of the First 
Baptist Church, the information is very scanty. Comer, in 
his MSS., says that " he continued the pastoral care of the 
church after Mr. Wickenden left it in 1652." How long 
he was the pastor we have not Ijcen able to ascertain. On 
account of a difficulty connected with the enforcement 
of the rite of " laying on of hands," he and others with- 
drew, and formed a separate church, but it lived but a 
short time. A reconciliation took place, and Mr. Olney 
continued to act as the pastor of the old church. His 
death occurred in 1682. A numerous posterity bear the 
name of an ancestor honored in the annals of Rhode 
Island history. 



,:.\1!ER, Hon. Constant, was born in 1743. In 
1778 he was appointed Clerk of the Court of 
Common Pleas, and served in that capacity until 
1786. In 1792 he was made a Judge of the same 
court, and the following year was appointed Chief 
Justice, wdiich office he held until iSoi, when, on the ac- 
cession of Thomas Jefferson to the Presidential Chair, he 
was appointed Navy Agent for Rhode Island, wdiich posi- 
tion he held for several years, and resigned. In the year 
last mentioned he was elected first Representative from 
Newport to the General Assembly, and served for three 
years. In 1804 he was chosen one of the Presidential 
Electors. He was Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island 
from 1S07 to 1808, and General Treasurer from 1808 to 
iSll. At the organization of the Newport Bank he was 
elected President of that institution, and held that office 
unlil his dcatli, which occurred December 20, 1826. He 
was a consistent and worthy member of the Second Bap- 
tist Church in Newport, to which society at his death he 
left the bulk of his property. 



gr;|#n,LINGHAST, Rkv. P.\riion, one of the early 
pastors of the First Baptist Church in Providence, 
was born at Seven CI iffe, near Beach)' Head, in 
rJ-';^ England, about the year 1622. The tradition is, 
* that previous to coming to this country he was 
for some time a soldier in Cromwell's army. On reach- 
ing this country, in 1645, he first took up his residence in 
Connecticut, where, however, he did not remain long. 
Wc find his name second on a list of citizens of Provi- 
dence, the paper bearing date of January 19, 1646, the 
signers, who had lieen the recii)ients of a gift of twenty- 
five acres each, plcilging themselves to be Kiyal to the 
government under w hose protection they had |)laced them- 
selves. When Mr. Tillinghast came to Providence, Rev. 
Thomas Olney w-as the pastor of the First Baptist Church. 
Upon his decease, Mr. Tillinghast was ap]xiinted his suc- 
cessor. After having served the church for many years, 
his people worshipping, for more than half a century, in a 
grove, and in private houses when the weather was in- 
clement, he erected, at his own expense, their first meeting- 
house. It was built on tlie corner of North .Main and 
Smith Streets, nearly opposite St.ir Street. In the year 
171 1, "in consideration of the love and gooil will which 
he bore the church," of which, although he was nearly 
ninety years of age, he was still the pastor, he executed 
to them, and their successors in the same faith and order, 
a deed of the meeting-house and the lot on w hich it stood. 
Governor Jenckes bears the honorable testimony, derived 
from those wdio knew him, that he " was a man exem- 
plary for his doctrine, as well as of an unblemished char- 
acter." " A testimony," says Rev. Dr. Hague in his 
Historical Discourse, " confirmed by acts of disinterested 



20S 



BlOGKArillC. II. C" ) CL OPED 1. 1. 



liCMcvok-iicc.'' i U- w.uiM icclIvc iiu peciiiiiary ci'inpcn- 
saiioii for lii> own services, iiis ciicum^taiK't'N I'finL; such 
that he 'lii! nut rciiiiirc it. !Ic inaiiilaincil. however, the 
righl ol" a |iasini to a comfortahle -uppoit from the churcli 
lie sei\ed. Ilaviiii; reachdl ih/ L;ieat aye of ninely-six, 
he ilieti, January 2n, i'lS, k'a\ iiii; a w hh'W an<l nine 
chihh'en. Amon-_; Ihe^e may i'e niriuioned his el'lc•^t son 
ami name--ake. I'arih'M, from w liom de-^cenile'l the Tiihnj^- 
hasts of Ka^t ami \Ve>t (Ireenwich. His yraii<i->on, I'ar- 
dun, son 111 rhiiip, mairieil A\is Norton, of Newport, liv 
wiiom he ha'i I\\rnt\* ehihhcn, oii]\ lour (.>f whom arrived 
at matuiUv. ili-^ ^e\i.-iitli chihi, Meuv, marricl Nicholas 
Power, ami their ilauyhler Hope was the motlier of Moses 
Brown, the distinguished Friend of Providence. The de- 
scenthints of Rev. Pardon TiUinghast are very numerous, 
and scaitereil o\er the Slate. They have taken Iiij^h rank 
amoiiLr llie most worthv citizens of Rli<jde IsLmd. 



^\'M,\N. (iiMKAI. I>.\NIKI., was horn in Iturham. 
§j^Lj Connecticut, April lo, l/S'', heini; a de.^cendant of 



m 



ORKANCi:. II(i\. John, was horn in Seituate, 
F, Rliude 1-Iand. in 1747, and was the son of John 
l^s'l Dorrance, who, some time after the dale above 
S^h mentioned, removed to VoUnitow 11, Connecticut, 
^ where he iiecame an innd<eeper. Voung I)orrance 
enteretl Brown University, or Rhode Island Collej^e, as it 
was then called, where he [graduated in 1774. On this 
occasion he delivered an oration on " The Necessity and 
Advaiila;4e of (.'ulti\ atin^ our own I.anguaL^e," and main- 
tained the affirmative in a sylh>gistic dispute in Latin, the 
pri'po^itinn di-^LUs>>ed heing "Should the dictates of con- 
science always be olieyed ?" ( )\\ the 3d of [anuary, 17S2. 
he married Polly Whilman, daughter of Jacob Whitman, 
K-Mp. n( Providence, who owned ami occupied the prem- 
ises known as the "Turk's Head." Mr. Dorrance then 
came to Providence to re-^ide. He studied law, and en- 
gaged successfully in the practice of his professi.jii. In 
1794 he was elected a ludi^e of the Couit of ( 'i.immou 
Pleas for Providence (."ounty, which ofhce he hehl by an- 
nual election until iSoi. At tlii^ time he was defeated l>y 
the violent ojiposition of Governor Arthur Fenner. This 
opjiosition resulted m the famous slander suit between [hese 
gentlemen. In 17^7, Mr. iJorrancc was nominated as a 
Kejtresent itive lo Congress, but failed of an election. He 
w a^ lor m.Luy year^ Pie-ideiit >>i the Town CiaiiiMl and a 
nienil)er ^>\ the (leneral .\s>einblv. His Inst wife having 
died, he married, in < )Ltober. 1 707. Mrs. .Amey Clark, 
widow of 1 )r. John f'lark, and daughter <if Commodore 
E>ek Hopkins. He resjrled on the corner of Westuiinster 
and F,\ehange Streets, the property now owned i>y the 
National Ivxchange Bank. Mr. L>orraiice died |une 29, 
iSl ;. in his si\ty-si\tli year. Hr. Pardon P.owen said of 
him that " he pos^e->->ed an adeijuate law know ledge, and 
was a m.m nl the --Irictest intei^Mty." William Hunter 
mentions him as a re--peetable literary charailer, for wdiom 
he enteitained a highly favoralde oj>iiiion, 



Richard Lyman, who came to this country with 
^fi:^ his wife and children in the ship Lyon, landing in 
* Boston, November 4, 1 63 1. Annjiig hi^ fellow- 
piassengers were Martiia Winthrop, the wife of Guveinor 
John Winthro]!, and John Kliol, the celel»rateil apostle of 
the Massai:lutsett^ Indian^. The grandMUi of Riciiard was 
'ihomas, who moved, in 1708 or '<), to nurhani, Connec- 
tiiut. being one of the earliest settlers of the town, ami one 
ol the first deac<ni^ of the church in that place. He had 
six children, one of whom bore hi-^ name, Tliomas. who 
hid seven children, the ytningest of whom was the sui>jeet 
of this sketch. One of the brothers of Daniel was Thomas, 
who lived on the ancestral farm, where he died |une 6, 
1S32, aged eighty six years. He is said tit have been "a 
man of great intelligence and exten-^ive reading, diL^mlied 
in manner and impressive in convcrsalion. So much 
pleased was Mr. leffervon with him that he gave him an 
invitation to si)end a week with him at Monticello, which 
he accepted very much to hi^ satisfaction." Daniel Ly- 
man was a graduate o( Vale College, 111 the class of 1776, 
and, not long after, received an appn^intment as a Colonel 
in the Continental army. While in the service of his coun- 
try he assisted at the capture of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, 
and St. Ji'hnv. He was at the l.iattle of White Plains, w here 
he had a horse shot under him. ( >n the com|'letion of his 
term of military service, having studied law, he was ad- 
mitted to the Itar, and sub■^elluently became a ludge and 
Chief Justice. He is spoken of as having been, in hi> pro- 
fession, "an able advocate, a hrni, intelligent, and high- 
minded man." He was a member of the famous Hartford 
Convention, ;ind wa^ i're-^ident, for a time, of the Society 
of the ( "inciitiiali. Many years before his death he retired 
friiiii the practice of hi-, prole-ision. and totjk up his resi- 
dence at hi-^ pleasant country-seat near Pi'u\ itleiice. From 
May, I.S02, to May, 1S16. he wa^ (.liief Justice of the Su- 
]'reme ("ourt of the Slate of Rhode Island. He died in 
1S30. (iLiK-ral Lvman married, [anuarv 10, 17S2, Mary 
Wanton, daughter of |nhn Wanl<iii. of Newport, by whom 
he hail thirteen chihbcn, among whom were Harriet, who 
became the wife of llcnjaiiiin Hazard, Esq., of Newp(jrt; 
Margaret, wife of Samuel Arnold, manufacturer of SinUli- 
tield ; Pollv i or M.uv}. wife of [.uob Dunwell, merchant, 
of Madeira; lohn W.uiton, who married Kliza, a daughter 
of Seth Whe.it'in, Vl^i\., of Providence; Henrv P>ull, man- 
ufacturer, who married Caroline, daughter of Klisha Dyer, 
of Providtnce, who IktI one son. D.iniel W.. Iiorn January 
24. I.S44 ; Louisa, wife of Dr. George H. Tillingh.ist, of 
Providence; Sally, wife of Governor L. H. Arnold; and 
Julia >Luia.wlio married JohnH. Easton, of Newport. The 
de^ceiiihinls of the ruiginal Richard Lyman have been very 
numerou--. the lotd numlier. as traced di.iwn to 1S72, being 
seven thousand three hundred and tifteen. One hundred 
Lvnians were m the late civil war, of whom, as we are 



■'-H, . 



I'i 



aSk^f'^l 



i 




¥^' 



■ y / J / f 



<:>r^-^w-"y^ 



BIOGRAPJllCAL CYCL OPED I A. 



209 



tcild, "many tlied in the Rebel States of disease or on the 
field of battle, some by the slow torture of starvation in 
Andersonville or the Libby Prison." Krom ten collej;es 
ninety-three Lymans have graduated, and how many from 
all the colleges in the country has not been ascertainerl. 
The learned professions have been largely represented by 
them. Many of them having been in the ministry, and 
many having held the office of deacons and ciders. 



^^^OSWORTH, Colonel Smith, was l)orn in Relio- 
WSS) both, Massachusetts, October 28, 1781, and was 
J^ the son of Peleg and Polly (Smith) Boswortli. 

H^ His educational advantages were very limited, and 
'l" at an early age he was apprenticed to Joseph Made, 
of Providence, to learn the trade of a mason. Having 
served his time he entered into partnership with Asa Bos- 
worth (a relative), and for many years conducted an ex- 
tensive business in Providence. During this time he built 
many of the most beautiful residences on the East side of 
the river, and a number of public buildings, among which 
may be mentioned St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, 
on North Main Street, and the Beneficent Congregational 
Church, on Broad Street. In 1814 he built the mills of the 
Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, 
on Sabin Street, and March 16, 1S16, was appointed agent 
for that company, w-hich position he occupied until lSj5, 
when he relinquished the agency and continued in the em- 
ploy of the company as superintendent or general outside 
manager until 1841. The business was prosperous from the 
start, and subsequently under Colonel Bosworth's manage- 
ment developed into the largest and most flourishing estab- 
lishment of its kind in the United States. Through his con- 
nection with this company Colonel Bosworth became widely 
known among business men, and acquired a rejiutation w Inch 
largely contributed to its success. Previous to the incorjiora- 
tion of Providence as a city he was active in town affairs, 
for many years holding town offices, and after it \\'as made 
a city was a member of the Board of Fire Wards, and Chief 
Engineer of the Fire Department. He was also a Street 
Commissioner, and had much to do with the laying out of 
many of the principal streets of Providence. For many 
years he was Colonel of the Rhode Island Militia, and 
under his direction the earthworks on Fox Point Hill were 
erected in 1812. In the " Dorr War" he was Captain of 
the City Guards of Providence. In the latter part of his 
life he became a member of the Beneficent Congregational 
Church. He was for many years a prominent member of 
St John's Lodge of Freemasons. He married, January 
31, 1805, Sarah Tripp, daughter of Othniel and Sarah 
Tripp, of Swansea, Massachusetts, who was born October 
6, 1785. Mrs. Bosworth died November 13, i860, aged 
seventy-five years. She survived her husband three years. 
Their children were Thomas T., Mary Smith, Joseph Haile, 
Charles H. Smith, Sarah T., Ann Sophia, Frances Eleanor, 
27 



and Susan J., all of whom are now dead, except Joseph, who 
married Mary Easton, daughter of Louis and Elizabeth 
Rousmaniere, of Newport, Rhode Island ; and Susan J., 
who married Mr. John O. Waterman, of Warren, one of 
the most prominent manufacturers of Rhode Island. Colo- 
nel Bosworth was noted for his generosity, and during a 
long and active life was ujiiversally beloved and respected 
by his fellow-citizens. 



I 



jJOBBINS, Hon. Ashf.r, LL.D., was born at Weth- 
:jKj5 ersfield, Connecticut, in September, 1757. On 
'^r~~C. completing his preparatory studies he entered 
Yale College in 1778, and was graduated in the 
class of 1782. Shortly after his graduation he re- 
ceived an apjiointment as tutor in Rhode Island College, 
now Brown University, and held the office for eight years, 
1782-90. His special <lepartment was belles-lettres, in- 
cluding the classics, and it fell to his lot to be the in- 
structor of some of the most eminent of the early graduates 
of the college. Among the distinguished men who came 
under his tuition were Hon. Nicholas Brown, Judge Sam- 
uel Eddy, President Jonathan Maxcy, Judge Jabez Bowen, 
Hon. James Burrill, Governor James Fenner, Hon. J. D. 
Howell, PrcsideiU A. Messcr, and Hon. Jonathan Russell. 
"While occupied," says Dr. (hiilil, "in quickening the 
diligence of his pupils, and in imbuuig their minds with a 
genuine relish for the varied forms of classical beauty, he 
sought every opportunity to cultivate his own taste for the 
classics and, indeed, foi' every species of elegant learning." 
We learn from a letter, written some years after he severed 
his Connection with the college, the following interesting 
fact : " W the reorganization of the college in the autumn 
of 1782, I was appointed to the office of tutor, and took 
charge of the library as librari.m. It was iIilii kept in the 
east chamber, on the second floor of the central building." 
On resigning his tutorship Mr. Robbins studied law with 
Hon. William Channing, at that time Attorney-General of 
the State. Having completed his law studies he com- 
menced the practice of his profession in Providence, but 
subsequently established himself in Newport, which was 
his legal residence during the remainder of his life. He 
took a very high rank as a lawyer, and in 1S12 was ap- 
pointed United States District Attorney. He represented 
Newport in the General Assembly from 1 81 8 to 1S25. In 
1S25 he was elected a Senator from Rhode Island to Con- 
gress as a Whig, to take the place made vacant by the 
resignation of Hon. James De Wolf His term of service 
continued from December 5, 1825, to March 3, 1S39. 
While never making himself conspicuous, seldom en- 
gaging in the debates of the Senate, yet on no occasion, 
savs Professor Godtlard," did he address the Senate with- 
out leaving upon the minds of all who heard him a decided 
impression of his high intellettu.il powers and accomplish- 
ments, of his ability as a statesman, and his acquisitions as 



BIOGRArmCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



a sell. liar." RctuiiiiiiL; tn I'livaU- life frcmi his Congres- 
sional diilii-s, lii^ scrvicrs were villi ill ileiiiaii'l \'\ hi^ fel- 
low-citi/env, whom for sever.il ye.ir^ lie serve'l in liie Gen- 
eral A^senil.ly. Anion^' the |mlilivlieil writings of Mr. 
Roll]. ins were an aihhevs on dome-tie indu>tiy, Jelivereil 
in 1S2J; a Fourili of fiily oration, iS-iy; and another 
speeeh on doniesiic indii^lry, lSj2. Some weeks heforo 
hi^ de.itli he had a fall on the icc, from the ellecls of 
whiih lie never reeovere<l. his death taking; [ilaee at New- 
port I'eljiuary J5, 1S45. Tlie honorary degree of Doetor 
of Laws was eonferred on Mr. Kolil.ins by IJrowii Uni- 
versity in iS;5. A portrait of him may lie seen in the 
llrow n L'niver-iiy colleetion of jioiliait^. Hon. Chris- 
topher v., Rohliins, Secretary of Stale. lS4<)-I.S5i, w a> a 
son. and Mrs. Sophia Little a daughler, of Mr. Kohbins. 



I 



J/^.\RTER, lonN, printer, was born in Philadelphia, in 
'^/V. 1745, and served his .ipprenticeship under Franklin 
iw^" (I'.eiij.imin) & H, ill in his n.itive city. In 1766. 
i" shortly altei comphting lii^ term of service, he came 
to l'i-o\ idence, antl became a journe\ni.ui in the print- 
ing otiice of William Godrlard. who commenced business 
in this town in 1762. Mr. (loddard bee. ime discouraged, 
gave up his business in I'rovidence and went to New \ork, 
leaving his printing-liou^e in ihe liand^ of his motiier. Mrs. 
Sarah ( Updike) (loddard, a lady of remarkable business 
abililv, who for tw o years conducted the p. iper started by 
her son, 'llic ProriJcncc Gaz.ltc, with gre.il ability. Mr. 
Carter supplied the [dace made vacant by llie removal of 
her -son. and became a business ]iartner with Mr^. (.ioddard, 
the style of the tirm being Sarah Ooddard ^; Co. In 176S 
she resigned the business to her p.irtner, and removed to 
I'hiladelphia, where she died m J.iiiuary, 1770. In the 
CitZtt/,' of November 12, I7bS. may be hmnd ihe modest 
" pro^l.ectus" of lohn Carter, then a young man of but 
tweiny three, setting forth lii^ aini^ as the )iubli-her of the 
only ]'aper jirinlcil in the town, .iml soliciting the patronage 
of Ills lellow -citi/en^ 111 the roponsible position which he 
now occupied. He avows hi^ politK.d --cnliment, w ithoiit 
eijuivocation. and proclaiiii> hiniselt a loy.il Irimd ol lil^ 
country, and o|ipo-ed to the aggrc^-ions of (ireat Ilntain. 
For more than twenty years his |irinliiig-liouse was "at 
Shakespeare's Head, opp.isite the Court-house," after which 
it was near the bndgr and opposite to what was then 
the market. We are li>ld tliat ••during the whole period" 
of his comieLtioii with the o\i:r.'.',, more than forty-live 
years, hiv rel.ition to it closing February 12. 1S14, "the 
paper was remarkable for accuracy of execution and cor- 
rectness of sentiment and principle. I hiring the whole of 
our Rcvidutionary contest he was the tirm champion of his 
counlry, and the cohimiis of his paper teemi-d with sound 
patriotism and animating exhorlations." In 1772 he re- 
ceived an .ippointment as Postmaster ol l'ro\ ideiice. Sub- 
se'|ucntlv he occupied the s.inie po-itioii under a commis- 



sion given to him by the Postmaster-General, lienjamin 
I'"ranklin. He continued in oltice until 1792, when he 
resigned. A few years after he came to I'rovidence he 
married Almey Crawlord, the date of the marriage being 
May 14, 1769. .V daughter by this marriage, Ann Carter, 
was the lir^t wife of Hon. Nicholas lirown, to whom she 
was married November J, 1791. .She died December 22, 
1S06. The late Hon. John Carter Brown was a son by 
this marriage. .Mr. (.'arter died in Providence. August 19, 
iSl.}., " his character as a man of honor aiul integrity lia\'- 
ing been well established." 



K \V( iLI". Ibcv. Wli.LiAM, was born in liristol, 
I Rhode Island, iJecemlier 19, 1762. He was the 
si.Ntli son of Mark Anthony De Wolf, and one of 
1 eight brothers, all of whom attained respeclable and 
J" honorable positions in society. His ancestors were 
Huguenots, and were driven from h'rance on account of 
their religious and political opinions. To their honored 
father, a man of marked character, intelligence, and ac- 
([uirements. these brothers owed their education, — simple, 
indeed, but ample for the discharge of the duties of life, 
and sufficient to enable some of them to till high ollices in 
their Stale and nation. Mr. He Wolf w as a man of retiring 
disposition, and averse to the sird'e of ]iolitical lite; yet 
when duty called he tilled with honor to himself and his 
constituency the pi, ice of .Senator •' in ihe palmiest days of 
our Commonwealth " (words used by Professor William G. 
(.ioddard as applicable lo the time when Mr. He Wolf was 
Senator). He was a Federalist of iSlI and lSi2.aiid 
fought the political battles of that jieriod in comjjany with 
such men as Klisha K. Poller, tiovernor William Jones, 
James Rhodes, Nicholas Brown, and the immortal eleven 
of whom lilisha R. I'otter said ••they were reduced to the 
same number wiili the .-Vpostles after Judas h.id left them." 
After tile dissolution of the grand old [larty, which boasted 
of such men as .\lc\ander Hamilton and Fisher .\nies lo 
lead its columns, Mr. lie Wolf retired bom public life, 
satisfied tli.il "the po,t of honor is a pri\ale station." At 
hisiiuiit fa 1111 si tu.it cd oil P.ip.is.ju. — the beaulilul ]ieiiinsula 
whieh hums a )iart of his native town. — with the wile of 
his \outli, anil near Ills ehddren, he passed the remainder 
of liis days, and on the loth of April, 1S29, was gathered 
to his fathers, honored and beloved by all who knew him. 
Mrs. Lie Wolf was the daugliter of Josiali I'imicy, a lead- 
ing citizen of Brislol. 



f'lRFFXE, H(iN. R.vv. son of Governor William 

Greene. |r., was born in Warwick, in 17(15, ^"'' 

^j w.is a gradll.ite of N'ale t.'oUege in the class of 

t' ;> 17.S4. Having completed his knv studies, he was 

'I admitted to the bar, and conimenced the practice 

of his profession in Providence. He was appiunted .\t- 



BIOCRArinCAL CYCL OPED! A. 



torney General, and held the ofllce 1794-97, ami then was 
elected United Slates Senator, to fill the vacancy occa- 
sioned by the resignation of Hun. William Bradford, 
whose term of office expired in 1799. Havini; served 
through this unexpired part of Mr. liradford's term, Mr. 
Greene, in 1799, was re-elected for six years. In iSoi he 
■resigned his position, having been ap]jointed as successor 
to Judge Bourne, District Judge of Rhode Isl.ind. 'I'liis 
appointment was made by President John .Adams, as he 
was about to retire from the jiresidential office. There 
was, as we are told, " some informality connected with this 
appointment, which was discovered too late to be rectified 
by Mr. .»Vdams, and when the matter was referred to his 
successor. President Jefferson, he refused to rectify it, and 
appointed instead one of his own political adherents to 
that office. Mr. Greene thus by a siuiple misunderstanrl- 
ing on the part of another lost both his senUorial and 
judicial offices." Mr. Greene's residence was in the vener- 
able mansion for so many years the house of his son, ex- 
Lieutenant-Governor William Greene, one of the historic 
houses of the old town. The original, or southeastern 
portion of it, was built, as we learn from Fuller's History 
of Wartoick, about the year 16S5, by .Samuel Gorton, Jr., 
whose father, the famous Samuel Gorton, was one of the 
twelve original purchasers of the town-lands. One of its 
rooms is associated with Revolutionary memories, — the west 
room. This was the council-room of (jovernor William 
Greene, Jr., and In it the Governor and his council, with 
General Sullivan, General Nathanael Greene, Lafayette, 
Rochambeau, and other notable person.ages, both civil and 
military, held frequent consultations upon important na- 
tional affairs. A full description of the venerable home 
of the W^arwick Greenes, given In the Ilistorv of IVarioick^ 
pp. 157-162, cannot fail to interest the curious reader. 
Ray Greene died in \\'arwick, [anuary 11, 1S49. 



tlon ; a somew hat long and narrow fice, high forehead, 
black lustrous eyes, a(|uiiine nose, and firm thin lips. 
Immediately on attaining his majority he was elected a 
lustlce of the Peace, and subsequently filled various town 
offices. He was elected a member of the General Assem- 
bly in early manhood, and served for many years as Sena- 
tr)r, antl also as Representative, being Speaker of the 
Ilousr In 1S22. From 1807 to 1811 he was a Senator In 
the Congress of the United States, filling the unexiilred 
term tjf James Fenner, who resigned to accept the office 
of Governor. Mr. Mathewson married Phebe Smith, of 
Scltiiate, July 27, 17S7. He died October 15, 185J, In 
the eighty-seventh ) ear of his age. 



^ATHEWSOX, Hon. Elisha, son of Thomas 
and Hannah (Clark) Mathewson, was born in 
iiASs- j,->it3 Scituate, Rhode Island, April 18, 1767. His 
?SMt'i^ ancestor, Thomas Mathewson, was the first settler 
■» in that part of Rhode Island. He lived for many 
months in a cave not far from the head of Moswansicut 
Pond. He bounded and came into possession of several 
hundred acres of land in that vicinity, whereby his pos- 
terity for several generations were enrlche<l. Elisha, the 
subject of this sketch, was born near the head of the pond, 
and not far from the cave above mentioned. His educa- 
tional advant.ages were inconsiderable, although perhaps 
better than the average of those of his age in that neigh- 
borhood. He was, however, better endowed (physically) 
than his associates, having the ability to overcome his an- 
tagonists in all athletic feats. He was tall of stature and 
of commanding presence, with a frame of good propor- 
tions, full muscular development, lithe and sinewy In mo- 



LI.EK^■. HciN. CHRISTOPHI-.R, was born in New- 
port, In 176S, anil was a nephew of William 
Ellery, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
''^-) :'■' Independence. Ills early training was designed to 
fc b fit him for a collegiate education. He entered Vale 
College in 17S3 and was graduated in the class of 1787. 
From the same class there weie graduated several students 
who were subsequently members of Congress, viz., ^^'illiam 
Ely, Gaylord Griswold, Chancey Laydon, and Abraham 
Nott. On leaving college Mr. Ellery studied law, and 
having completed his preparatory studies was admitted to 
the bar, and commenced the practice of his professioir In 
his native town. He was a decided Democrat of the jef- 
fersonlan school, and on the resignation of Ray (_ireene he 
was chosen as his successor to represent Rhode Island in 
Congress. His official term continued from Deccml)er 7, 
iSoi, to March 3, 1S05. At the expiration of his term of 
service he returned to Newport, and the following year, 
1S06, he was appointed by President Jefferson as a Conmiis- 
sioner of Loans. Subsequently he received from President J. 
Q. Adams an appointment as Collector of Customs in New- 
port, which office he held for a number of years. With 
regard to his character we are told that " in private life no 
man sustained a more estimable character than Mr. Ellery. 
Of the most liberal and gentlemanly spirit, and filled with 
a desire to diffuse around liim all the kindnesses and at- 
tractions which give a zest to existence, he strongly 
attached to himself both friends and acquaintances." He 
died December 2, 1S40, in the seventy -second year of his 
i age. 



LLSTON, Washington, poet and painter, was 
born in the district of Waccamaw, South Carolina, 



Ir'^wiii 



on the "Broad Green domain'' of his father, 
4)1. vvilllam Allston, November 5, 1779. The family 
was of English descent, and is supposed to have 
come from the Norse settlements in Northumberland, and 
from a baronet's family. A son of the painter's great-uncle, 
Governor Joseph Allston, was the husband of the beauti- 
ful and accomplished Theodosia Burr, daughter of Aaron 



BIOGRAPinCAI. CYCL OPEDIA. 



liurr. In liis early l.fnliniHl the Mil'ji-ct of this sketch took 
up his rrsidoiui- iii Ncvvport. whcic he was sent for the 
doulih; ]nii-|i<>se of enjo)in:^ the Inaein;^' air of the fine cM- 
male of that town, ami for |inrsuinL; hi^ ■.^ll(lie^ preparatory 
to enlcrin;,' collet;e. At that permd Newiiort was a place 
to which many youths from the South were sent to secure 
their early education. Amon;.^ the Carolinians who re- 
paired to the famous Rhode Island watering-place for this 
)iurpose were John C. Calhoun, tlie KInhocks, Shul<ricks, 
Riitleil^e-., and Ilayncs. The place, nureover, was not 
uidinown to aiti^ls. Smihert came hnlier with I'li^liop 
Ifcrkelev, I'daekluin was here in 1754. .uul (rosmo Alex- 
ander in 1770. A successful local aiti~t. Rohert Kekc, for 
some time re-id. d here, (ollierl Smart ohtained his edu- 
cation hiTc, and here he bc;.;an to jiaint. Malhone was a 
n.ilive of Xewpi'it. Here, nv reover, was the valuahle 
porlrait gallery collected by Henry Collins, an eminent 
merchant of the town. Around such scenes and associa- 
tions as these the artist tastes of .MIston u ere develt^iied. 
■' My chief pleasure," he tells us, •• was m drawing from 
prints, — i>f all kinds of hL,'ures, landscape, and animals. 
But I soon hegan to make pictures of my own, at what age, 
hrjwever, I cannot sa\\ The e.irliest composition-, that I 
rememher were the Storming of Count Rodeiick's Castle, 
from a jioor (though to me delightful ) romance of that day, 
and the Siege of Toulon ; tlie first in Iinlian ink, the other 
in water-colors. I had in my school da}s some instruc- 
tion from a very worthy and amiahle man, a Mr. King, 
who made (luadrants and compasses, and occasionally 
P'ainle<l portraits. I belie\e he was origiuall)- bred a 
jt.dnter.but obliged, fr<mi rare c dU upon his pencil, to call 
in the aid of ainaher craft." Xewjvut was the home of 
Allston hn- aliout ten years, and they were among the hap- 
jiest of his life. We are tt:il<l that "he was distingui-hed 
in his youthful davs among his |ila\inates for his ijuick and 
almost fiery spirit and for his indomiialde C')urage." (Jne 
of his jiiost intimate friends, w hose warm attachment to 
him was life-long, was the (.lislinguislied William Kllery 
Channing, whose sister he subse<|uintly ni.irricd, thus 
adtling a new tie to those which i'oLind hinr tci Newport. 
'•Together," says Sueet/er, author of Artist Bii'.;i-<ip/iics, 
"these inspired lads rambled through the charming coun- 
try around the town, and along the resounding shrires of 
the be ichcs, recei\ mg sucli impressions of the lieautiful 
and the sublime as had a profound impuessioir upion their 
after-li\es. .\nolher conij^anion in these walks was Chan- 
ning's cousin, Ricliarrl H. D.rna, w ho was a sensiti\e and 
liigh-strinig child, younger than either of the others. Tlie 
intimacy between these three was still kejit uji in the ]>ale 
winter of their age, when the venerable artist, the saintly 
divine, and the manly jtoct were accustcnried to \isit each 
other fre.|uenlly in their quiet Hostcui homes." The ten 
years' residence of .-VUstoti in Newport terminated in 1796, 
when he entered Harvard College, where he was graduated 
in the class of iSoo. .\mong his cl.issmates were the elo- 



quent Buckminster, of Boston ; Dr. Charles T.owcll, father 
of James Russell, the poet and United States Minister to 
England ; and Judge Lemuel Shaw, of Massachusetts. A 
detaileil account of the life of Allston beyonil this point 
cannot well be given, as it would occupy too much space. 
It must sultlce to say that after a brief residence in Charles- 
ton, .South Carolina, he embarked, in May, 1801, for Eng- 
land, with his friend Malbone, and de\oted himself with 
great zeal to the stuily of art in England, France, and 
Italv, sjieiiding four years in the latter country, a large part 
of the time in Rome, where he had for most congenial 
comj'anions Washinglrm Ir\ingand Samuel Taylor t.'ole- 
lidge. He returned to America in iSoci, and in i.Sii was 
married to .Miss .\iin Channing. Soon after his marriage 
he returned to Europe, where he remained until I.SlS, his 
wife d\ing in 1S15. When he returned to his nati\e land 
in iSiS, he took up his residence in lioston, his studio 
being near the northwest corner of High and Pearl streets. 
While in Europe he had painted between forty and fifty 
pictures, .jf which, we are told, the greater ]iart has dis- 
appeared. Having married a seccuid wife in I.S31, he 
removed to Cambridgeport, where he had built a stu- 
dio, his house being at the corner of Maga/ine and 
Auburn streets. Here he lived the last ten years of his 
life, dying July 9, 1S43. The best known of the paintings 
of Washington Allston are his Bd/i/icizziir's /•\<ist. The 
Dead Man Rrviv.-d by Elisha s B,»n-s, and Tlu- Aii^-^v/ 
i'riel Sttiihi/iv^' in tlir Sun. Some ol Ids |.ictiires were 
destroyed liy fire and others disappeared duiing the great 
Civil War, so that it is now impossible to tell what or how 
many were the pioductions of his pencil. They are counted 
bv scores, and many of them are among the choicest gems 
of modern art. 



'XICHT, Hon. XfiiFMi ah Kici.-., Covernor of 
Rhode Island and Ihiiterl States Senator, son of 
the Hon. Xehemiah Knight, was born at Knights- 
T ville, Cranston, I\ho(.le Island, ] leceiiiber ;i, i 7S0. 
J* His faiher was a farmer aiu.l politician of [udmi- 
nence of the Anti-Kederal jiartv, who represented the 
St.ile of Rhode NLind in Congress from i,So; to t.SoS. 
Xehemiah Rice s[>ent his youth at h'.ime on the farm, and 
received the ordinary schooling of his tiiries, which was 
neither extensive nor of a superior gratle. Ihit he must 
have made the most of such atlvantages as he did have, 
for in after years his career shows that his attainments in 
the jiractical and useful luanches of learning compared fa- 
vorably with those of his coteniporaries wdio had enjoyed 
larger ojiportunities for culture. At the .ige of twenty-two 
he u as choscn to represent the town of Cranston in the 
State legislature, in which capacity he served w ith abilit)' ; 
but before the next election occurreil he had removed to 
Providence, where he continued to reside until his de.ath. 
In I.Soi he was elected Clerk of the Court of Coiumon 




;..//^^' 



BlOGRArillCAL CVCLOPEDl.-l. 



Pleas for the County of Providence, which position he held 
until iSii, when the Federal party got into power. From 
June, 1S12, to 1817, he was Clerk of the Circuit Court for 
the District of Rhode Island, and acceptably performed 
the duties of that ofllce. In 1S17 he was elected Presi- 
dent of the Roger Williams Bank of Providence, which 
position he continued to fill until the time of his death. 
That year he was elected Governor of the Slate after a 
very severe political contest, resulting in the defeat of the 
Federalist party which had been long in jiower. To this 
office he was successively re-elected until 1821. While 
Chief Executive of the State he repeatedly recommended 
measures to the legislature for the establishing of public 
schools throughout the State, and urged the necessity of 
a common-scliool education. Many of his suggestions 
were subsef|Uently adopted, and proved to be eminently 
wise and good. For some time during the War of 1S12 
with Great Britain he served as Collector of Internal Rev- 
enues for the district of Rhode Island, having been nomi- 
nated by President Madison and confirmed by the Senate 
before he had even an intimation that his appointment was 
talked of. This position he fille<l with efficiency, and re- 
signed the same on his election as (Governor. In January, 
182 1, he was unanimously elected by the legislature to 
the United States Senate from Rhode Island, to fill the 
vacancy caused by the decease of the Hon. James Burrill, 
who had served four years of his term. In January, 1823, 
he was re-elected for a full term of six years, and in Octo- 
ber 1828 was unanimously chosen for another term, and 
again, in 1835, he was elected to the same position by the 
National Republican party, with which he became iilenti- 
fied in the reorganization which followed Monroe's ad- 
ministration. During the long period of more than twenty 
years which he served in the United States .Senate he ful- 
fdled the duties of his position with great satisfaction to his 
constituents, and with honor to himself and his State. In 
1841 he retired to private life, though in the summer of 
1843 he was called by the people of Providence to repre- 
sent them in the convention at which the present constitu- 
tion of Rhode Island was framed, in which convention he 
was an active and influential member. From that time to 
the close of his life, .April 18, 1854, he was occupied with 
his own private interests. He was married early in life to 
Lydia Waterman, with whom he lived happily more than 
fifty years. She died in Providence, December 4, 1S54. 
Governor Knight was mild as a partisan, firm in his friend- 
ships, and true to his convictitms of duly. 



'.VYLOR, Captain W'ii.i.iam Vignf.ron, was born 
j^b at Newport, Rhode Island, April 11, 1780. His 

* .s. parents, James and Mary (Vigneron) Taylor, were 

T worthy members of the Society of Frieiuis. Mis 
J" education was only such as the schools of that day 

could afford ; but his opportunities were well improved, 



and with the aid of the library of his uncle, William Vign- 
eron, a successful seaman and merchant, his mind was 
well stored, particularlv in regard to maritime affairs. It 
was the wi^h of his parents that he should become a mer- 
chant, but his reading had developed a love for the sea, 
and at about eighteen years of age he made his first voyage. 
His ad\'ancement was rajiitl, and for some years prior to 
the breaking out of the War of 1812 he was in command 
of a ship. Up to this time Taylor had been employed 
wholly in tlie merchant service ; but when the flotilla built 
at Ne\\ port was placed under the command of Lieutenant 
Oliver Hazard Perry, he joined the navy as sailing master. 
Under Perry he was em])loyed on board of one of the gun- 
boats until he was selected by that officer, with others at 
Newport, to accompany him to Lake Erie. The work 
that was accomjilished at Erie is a matter of history. The 
duty of suj)erintending the rigging, equipping and arming 
the fleet built there, was assigned to Taylor and Lieutenant 
Daniel Turner, who in the battle commanded the Caledonia, 
and who was also from Newport. Taylor was appointed sail- 
ing master of the Lawrence, and he remained on her deck 
during the action. In the engagement he was slightly 
wounded. For gallant service he was made a Lieutenant, 
from which position he rose to the rank of Post Captain. 
With Perry, he was on board the Java during his cruise in 
the Mediterranean. In 1S31 he was made Master Com- 
mandant, and commanded successively the receiving-ship 
Columbus, and sloops-of-war Warren, Erie, and Concord. 
In 1846 Captain Taylor was ordered to the line-ol-lmtlle 
ship Ohio, in which ship he sailed for the Pacific, where 
he was engaged on the coast of .Mexico in tlie \\'ar be- 
tween the United States and that country, until impaired 
health made it necessary for him to resign his command. 
In 1855 he was honorably retired from active service, and 
died February 11, 1S5S, at Newport, where he was interred 
with military and Masonic honors. In 1810 he married 
Miss Abby White, of Newport. Of the children by that 
marriage lait two survive: a son, Rear-Admiral William 
Rogers Taylor, United States Navy, and a daughter. 



^^^^.ATERM.\N, John, manufacturer, was Iiorn in 
^Hfe Providence, Rhode Island, March 22, 1 786, and 
i-l^S^^ was a descendant, in the seventh generation, of 
' ft ^ Richard Waterman, the friend and companion of 
•ri Roger W'illiams. His grandfather, John Water- 
man, was at one time a ship-master, and also one of the 
earliest manufacturers in New England, having erected 
one of the first paper mills in this country, and operated 
a mill for fulling and finishing woollen cloth, and a choco- 
late mill. In 1769 he engaged in pointing and publishing. 
He died in 17S7, leaving one son and three daughters. 
His son, John Olney, who was born in 1760, married Sallie 
Franklin, daughter of Asa Franklin, of Providence, and 
had a family of four sons and two daughters. He died in 



214 



BIOGRAPnrCAL CYCLOrKDI.L 



\~^)(>. His cMfst sun, tlic vul-jcct uf l]u> skctcl). at the \ 
time of" his father's death was })ut ten years of age. lie | 
received sucli an edne.ition as the country schools of that 
day afforded, and was early apj'reniiced to tlie trade of 
house-carpenter, w itli a Mr. ^Villi,nn■^. of l'ro\ idunce. After i 
workin"" at liis trade for a few rnoinli^, he was cmiihivetl 
hy hi- uncU'. Menry 1'. Franklin, who wa^ engac;ed in the 
liu-.iness of cotlmi mniuiiaeturing. He learned every vle- 
jxinnienl <if tln^ lni->iness thoroUL^hly, ami heeanie an ex- 
[x-il in hidldin-^ and running machinery. In iSoS lie ! 
formed a ]'artnershi|i with I >aniel Wilde, an<l contracted , 
to run a cotton-null in Canton, .Ma--saciiusett'^, owned i>y ; 
Kicliard \\ heatley, a wholesale merchant of Boston, wlio j 
agreed to furnish material and take the goods, paying a 
certain juice per yard for manufacturing, ("onnected with ' 
the mill A\as a macliine->hop. in which ihey made their { 
repair^ and manufacture*! maehinery for tliemstdves and 
other--. The chief re--poii-.iI.ditv 'if the business devolved 
U])Oii Mr. Waterman, who maniged it economically and 
efficiently. At the end of three years the partnership was 
dissolved and the proht- diviiled. after which, for about ! 
six months, Mr. Waterman continued to manufacture ma- i 
chinery alone. In iSi2, in company with Henry P. Frank- 
lin, he built au'l put into ojicrati'in a mill at lohnvton. with 
a cajKicity id' hfleen humhed spindles. This was called 
the *' M._ruio Mdl." Mi. Franklin was the Imaneial man- 
ager, and Mr. Waterman the manufacturing agent. At ' 
the end of seven years, in Consequence of lusse-. sustained 
during that period, Mr. Waterman was compelled to un- 
gage in business elsewhere. lie therefore leased the 
Union Mills, owned by IJrown lS; I\ e-^. where he learned 
the busiiu-ss. He ol.)tained a credit of .Sjo.odO from 
I'llcher lS: ( iay of I'awtucliet. htte^l the mill with new 
macliinery and operated it for a term of tour years, and so 
jirotiial'ly that at the end of that lime he had a hand-ome 
balance in his favor, after paying all his indebtedne-s. 
( )n the expiration of his Ica^L-, for the term al-ovc-meii- 
tioiKd. he i-ecanie the re-ideiit agent (T the Pdackstone 
Manufacturing Company, of which Urown «S: Ives were 
the largest sto(.khohlcrs, and removed to Placksione. He 
served in this capacity successfully for three years, during 
wdiich time thu business of the milb largely increased. 
< )n account of ill health, he was then obliged to go .South. 
During his absence the LUackstone Company continued 
his salary, and he purchased cotton for them and others, 
^iwA sold llu-ir gootls. ( )n regaining Ids health he estab- 
lished a permanent business in New ( Jrleaus, where, for 
ten years, he was engaged in purcliasing cotton for north- 
ern manufacturers, his partner, ])art t)f the time, being Hon. 
Thomas M. Burgess, who was Mayor of Providence from 
I.S40 to I.S32. Aftrr leaving New ( )rleans he returned to 
Providence, and built the I-;agh- MdU at Olneyville. in 
1SJ9. He strrted niiil No i m the spring of 1S30. and 
operated it until lS_i'', when he built mill No. 2. which he 
operated until 1S4.S, and soon afterwar-i retired from 



manufacturing. The remainder of his life was spent on 
his farm in Jolinston, Rhode Island. Mr. Waterman was 
not a church mendier, but Ids religious views were in sym- 
jiatliy with the Baptists, and he was largely instrumental 
in buihling the Baptist church in (Jlneyville. For many 
years he was a p^ironnnent member of tlie Masonic order. 
In 1S09 he married Miss Sally Williams, dauglitcr of 
Stephen Wdliams of Providence, and a lineal descendant 
of Roger Williams. They had seven children. John O., 
Alliert, Andrew S.. Sarah A., Mary Frances. Sarah A., 
and Henry, Of these only one is now living, Sarali .\. 
Mr. Waterman survived all of his early associates. He 
died, October 26, 1S79, at the advancetl age of ninety- 
three years. 



ANl »ol .PII, H'lv. RiciiARn Kinni R. was a native 
of \'uginia. The faniih- residence of Ids father, 
who was a weaUhy tobacco planter, was at AVil- 
, toll, on the James River, about six miles from Rich- 

'^ :■ •■■ mond. Alarmed by the invasion of Lord Corn- 
wallis, the family retreated to another plantation of wdiich 
Mr. Rand'dph was tlie i.)wner. and here the sulijcct of this 
sketeh was born on the memorable 19th of ( 'ctober, 17S1, 
the <lay of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Vorktown. 
After a time the family returned to the homestead at Wil- 
ton. Having c<.'nii.leted his preparatory studies, young 
Ramlolph was sent to Cambridge, and enteretl Har\ard 
College ni lyoS. In his class were such men as President 
William Allen, of Bowdoin College. Rev. I»r. John Cod- 
man, Rev. I'r. N. B. Crocker, Hon. Samuel Hoar. ( lov- 
ernor Levi Lincoln. Hon. Leverelt Saltonstall, and other 
eminent men of their times. Mr. Randol|>h was in (he 
hal.iit of passing his college vacations in Newpiort. He 
married Miss Lyman, daughter of Judge L)aniel Lyman, 
and subsc' |UentI\" remo\ed to \'irginia. wdiere he studied 
law with the di^!ingui•^hed Hon. Ldward Randolph, and 
in due time was admitted to the bar. Imt did not devote 
himself to the practice of his profession in his native Stale. 
In iSio he removed to Newport, where he resided the re- 
mainder of his life. For some time he was law-partner 
with Hon. Benjamin Ha?aril, and then practiced his pro- 
fession for a number of years by himself. One of the 
most memorable trials in which he was engaged was that 
of Rev. Kphraim K. Avery, who retained him as one of 
his e<»unse], and to whom he was largely indebted for his 
acijuiital. For several years Mr. Randolph represented 
Newpiut in the ( leneral Assembly. He was also one of 
the commissioners to adjust the boundaries l)elween !Massa- 
clnisetts and Rhode Island. In the '* Dorr War'' he oc- 
cupied an important position as one of (jovernor King's 
Counsel. Although brought U]i in the Episcopal Church, 
he did not in his mature lile accept the creed and form 
of government of that church, but adopted the views of 
the I'nilarians. and was among the earliest friends and 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



215 



supporters of the church of that denomination in Newport. 
He was distinguished for his great integrity of character, 
and commanded the homage and respect of his fellow- 
citizens wherever he was known. In his pr(jfession he 
stood among the foremost lawyers of the Slate, and not 
unfrequently practiced in the United States Supreme Court 
at Wasliington. Mr. and Mrs. Randolph were the parents 
of ten children, all uf whom arrived to years of maturity 
except one, who died in childhood in Virginia. Mrs. 
Randolph survived her husband many years, dying at the 
advanced age of ninety-four. Mr. Randolph's death oc- 
curred at Newport March, 1849, being within a few months 
of sixty-eight years of age. In kS^o he received from 
Harvard College the honorary degree of Master of Arts. 



^.VTERM.-W, Hon. Toiix Rohlnson, son of Deacon 
viwiiL^ John and Welthian (Greene) Waterman, was 
► ■y'lC"^ born at old Warwick, Rhode Island, February 
y 19, 1783. His father was for nearly thirty years a 
J-To deacon of the Old Warwick Baptist Church, and 
was for many years prominent as a public man, having 
served as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and 
in other official capacities. He was a descendant of 
Rrchard Waterman, who came from England in 1630; \\as 
an associate with Roger Williams in Salem, Massachusetts; 
and in 1638 came to Providence, where he joined his old 
friend, and was one of the twelve who bought, the same 
year, the land originally purchased of the Indians by Roger 
Williams in 1636. His son, Resolved Waterman, married 
Mercy, daughter of Roger Williams, and their son John 
inherited, by will, from his grandfather, Richard Water- 
man, all his real estate in '• Shawomut," or Old Warwick, 
which w.as originally purchased of the Indians January 12, 
1642, for 144 fathoms of wampum peage. John Waterman 
settled in Old Warwick about 1 690; died August 26, 1728, 
and was buried on the " homestead," which is still owned 
by the family, having been inherited by John R. Waterman, 
who willed it to his eldest son, Richard Waterman, and 
Jonathan West, during the life of Richard Waterman, and 
afterward to his grandchildren, Abby M., wife of Jonathan 
West ; Elizabeth .S., John, Thomas W., and P'rank A. 
Waterman. Colonel Benoni Waterman, son of John and 
grandson of Resolved Waterman, was a Colonel of the 
Rhode Island Militia, and was for many years President 
of the Town Council of Warwick. His son, Colonel John 
Waterman, defended Old Warwick from invasion by the 
British during the Revolution while they had possession of 
Newport. He was also President of the Town Council for 
several years, and held other public offices. His son, 
deacon John Waterman, the father of John K. Waterman, 
and his brothers, Benjamin and William, were soldiers in 
the Revolution, and for their services received a pension 
from Congress. John R. Waterman had one sister, Mary 
Low, who married Captain William Harrison, of Apponaug, 



Rhode Island. She died October 16, 1870, at eighty-one 
years of age. Mr. Waterman received a good common- 
school education in his native town, and early engaged in 
farming, in which he continued during the most of his life, 
and for many years also carried on a large tannery. He 
entered upon his political career at an early age, and 
throughout his life exerted a wide influence. In the .spring 
of 1810 he was elected a Republican Representative to the 
General Assembly of Rhode Island from Warwick, and 
served acceptably as a member of that body. During the 
stirring scenes of the war with England in 1S12 he took a 
prominent part in moulding public sentiment in favor of a 
vigorous prosecution of the war. He was elected to the 
State .Senate in 1S21, and served as a member of that body 
until May, 1S26. He was next elected to the House, of which 
he was a member until 1S28. During his first term in the 
Senate in June, 1821, he introduced a resolution to establish 
and maintain free schools in Rhode Island, which made it 
necessary to revise the laws of the .State; and, accordingly, 
in 1822, he secured a revision of the laws in conformity 
with the system he had matured. He was the first mover 
in behalf of a liank taN, and it was through the most per- 
sistent efforts that he secured the passage of the bill. The 
Constitution had to be amended, and while serving as a 
member of a joint commiltee of the Senate and House he 
was comjiellcd personally to draft the necessary amend- 
ments. After forcing the passage of the revenue bills in 
the House, he immediately reported on the bank bills in 
the .Senate, which was c«->ncurred in without any alteration 
and sent to the House. A large number of the members 
of l-)oth Htiuses called at his home to congratulate him on 
his success in causing the passage of a measure of such great 
importance to the people of the .State. The revenue system 
brought to the treasury of the State more money than was 
anticipated by its warmest friends ; sufficient to meet all 
demands on it, and to furnish large appropriations for the 
public schools and State prison. Erom 1829 to 1S41 Mr. 
Waterman lived in Providence, having been appointed 
Weigher and Measurer in the Custom House. Here he 
contmued to take a prominent part as a member of the 
Democratic party. By and with the support of others he 
secured the distribution of the public money under the 
administration of President Jackson for the support of pub- 
lic schools in Rhode Island, thus firmly establishing the 
present school system of the State. He was a warm per- 
sonal friend of Thomas W. Dorr, and also of the free suf- 
frage cause, which he advocated from principle. In early 
life Mr. Waterman served for five years in the Rhode 
Island Militia, first as Lieutenant, next as Captain, and was 
appointed Major, but did not accept his commission. He 
was a man of recognized ability, and one of the most suc- 
cessful, popular, and influential politicians of his day. He 
was twice married ; first, November 3, 1805, to Isabel 
Warner, daughter of Captain Thomas and Mary Warnei', 
of Old Warwick, 'Rhode Island. She died January 24, 



2l6 



lUOCRAPIilCAL C YCl.OPEDIA. 



lS;2. a<;c(l f)Hty-fi;^Iil vtMis. Ik- niairk-d. sccniui, J;uiu;iiy 
I, iS;,^ I'Iu-Ik' SKvlc. \\ i.luw of KM^-r I'liilip S!a<k-, of 
Swansea, M.iss.uhusLit-, ilauj^lilcr iA J.niallian and Mary 
Sla<i(.'. of SuiiuTscl, ^la'^^a^_■luw^.•tt^. Slii.- 'lit-'d N'ovcmbtT 
4, 1S67. in the ci^luy-lhinl vtat of Iki ai^f. Ky tla- lir^l 
niarriaiic iIktc wen: tliirlccii tliil<lrcii. of wln.ni uiL^Iil Iivt;il 
to niaturitv, four s'in> ami four <]auL;l)tcr->. Except his 
twelve years lesideiRe in I'iuvi<!cnce Mr. Waterman occu- 
pieil the " homestead." where iie died June 23, 1S76, aged 
ninetv-three vears and foui niciith^. Asa neighbor and 
frit nd he was highly ^■^teenled for hi-, kindness, courtesy, 
and siin-t inlei^rity ; and as a |'iil>lie s^rsant was always 
actuated hy an earnest desire tu jimmote tiie welfare and 
liapjiine^s of [he jienple. 



^r'KX( 'ICK, II'iN. ("hkiskh-hkr, only son of William 
^y an<l W'aile Spencer, was 1m. rn in North Kingstown, 
Rhode Island. N[ay 17. I7'*^,v He was educated 
f- J) in tlie common ^li^triet sehooU. and sjiu-nt his early 
•^k life on his father's farm, leaching ■^ehooI oecasionallv 
in winter. During his l.oyhood hi> juirents removed to 
Kast (ireenwich. ami he afierwanK engaged in farming in 
the town of W.irw iciv. For manv vears he also kept a 
ta\ern and Country store. lie wa- a very energetic and 
industrious man, noted f<.>r his sound judgment and integ- 
rity. In iSjj he was elected t<» represent Warwick in the 
Rhode Tsl.iiid House of Representatives, and served so 
accejitahly that he was re-elected for four successive years. 
He was afterwani^ elected to the State Sen.tte for four con- 
secutive ye.irs. Tlie-^e elecdons were under tlie "old cliar- 
ti-r." when John l!io\\n Kiancw wa^ < ioveriior. He was 
again elected a Meiuher of the Hou^e of Keitresentativus 
in 1S56, under the present constitution. For fifteen years 
he was a menil>cr <i| the Town ("ounci! of Warwick, fieing 
President of that Ko.ly a I'ortion of the time, and held other 
olfiee--. He was tin ice mairied. liis hrst wile being CcHa 
Wi-sKott. daughter of L'aptain Nathan We^tcoit. of War- 
wick, to whom he was married in Xovemher, iSlj. She 
dieil in lS:;7. Thev had six childi en. two of wdn'in are 
li\ing. In iSjS he marriet.1 Sarah (.". Spencer, of Ira. 
\'erniont, who tlied in iS^i. ( )n the 13th of May. rS;:;, 
hf married Weltham Tifianv. of Waiw ulv, who sur\ived 
hint, Mr. Spencer died May 11. 1S70, at hi> residence in 
( »ld Warw ick, where he had resided for forty-nine years. 



i:S'r<"()'Fl\ HnN. Ji'siAll, the fiflh s,.n of Rev. 
John and Amy ((.'larke) Westcoii, was liorn in 
the town of Sciluate. Rlnnle Island, < Ictoher 5. 
I7S1. His grandparents were ( >liver Westcolt 
and Sus.miia Wilkinson. He was a regular 
cndant uf Stukcly Westcutt. one uf the associates of 



Roger Williams. He did not have the advantages of an 
early eiluealion. but by dint of hard labor and close ap- 
plication he attained a high degree of intellectual culture, 
ami was early prepared for usefulness. He taught school 
during the winter and worked at carpentrv in the summer. 
and thus secured the twojold object, a kn<.tw led^e of the 
common branches and the natural sciences, and the master 
of a useful trade. At the age of twenty-six he married 
Marcy I'eckham, daughter of Seth and Marey (Smith) 
Peckham, of Cilocester Rhode Island, by whom he had 
ten children, only two of whom are living, viz., Andrew \. 
and Josiah F. He was engaged in agriculture, and was 
the owner of a large farm, Ujion which he lived many 
years in Iiis native town. From iSoS to jS^o he was 
called to fill various ofhce? of trust, the duties of which he 
discharged with such prom|)tness and hdelity as to com- 
mand the hearty approval of his constituents. He was 
Town clerk during a period of thirty-one years, .\ssociate 
Judge in the Court of Common Pleas, in the county of 
Proviilenee. twenty-four years, Rep>resentative in the lien- 
eral Assembly seven or eight years, and also .Senator 
two or three yeais. He commanded a company of liorse, 
Willi tlie rank of Colonel, eight years. The company was 
called the Captain-i leneral's Cavaliers. They stood ready 
in the War of iSi^.but were not called into active service. 
IudL;e Westcotl was noted for his uprighlnesN of conduct, 
directness of purpose, and energy and decision of charac- 
ter. He died June 19, \%h'j . 



.1 



IHl'PLi:. J- 'UN, FL.T)., son of Samuel and Deb 
orali i lenckes) Wliip|.tle. was burn in I'lovi- 
dence, ( )etober 22. 17S4. He sprang from a 
^I'u "Welsh ancestry, and his progenitors were among 
«l the earliest settlers in PriiVidence. Having pre- 

pared for college in the schools of his nalive town, he en- 
tered llrown l'ni\eisity, and was graduated in the class of 
l8e)2. \\'hen President Maxcy went to .Schenectady as 
President of I nion College, Mr. Whipple accompanied 
him, enjoying the beiieht of his instructions while at the 
same time he was pursuint;; his law studies in the office of 
Henry \'ates. Fsip He hnished his law studies with Hon. 
Samuel W. PridLiliam, and m I S05 was admitted to the 
Rhode Island bar. He entered upon his professional du- 
ties with great zeal, anil soon rose to distinction as an ac- 
eoinjdished lawyer. The manufacture of cotton goods was 
at that pel iod beginning to take that prominent rank in the 
industiies of Rhode Island which it has ever since held, 
and Mr. \Viiipple was constantly employed In the various 
forms (jf litigation conneeteil with the inauguration and 
pirogress of the large enterjMise in w Inch so many capitalists 
ol the Si.ite were einbaiking. lie was called upon, more- 
over, l>y manufaeturers, to represent their interests before 



BIOGRArmCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



217 



Con,'^re'^sional committees. In tlic General Assembly of" 
Rhode Island, where he represented frequently his native 
town, his innuence was of the most marked character. 
His power as a public speaker addressing a popular audi- 
ence was very great, and he swayed the multitude as few 
orators were able to do. For forty-five years he practiced 
his profession in the courts of the .Stale and in the United 
States courts, retiring from the bar in 1S50. His publislied 
writings, besides a large amount of matter w liich he pre- 
pared for the press on topics of interest at the lime in the 
community, were several of hi> j^nliticnl addresses, some 
of his arguments in the .Supreme Court of the United 
States, a Fourth of July Oration, and Discom•^e on the Life 
and Services of Daniel Webster. The honorary degree of 
LL.D. was conferred on him liy Brown University in 
1S44. The last few years of his life were spent at his 
country residence in Warwick. He died in Providence, 
October 19, 1866, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. 
He was twice married, the first time, in 1809, to Maria, 
daughter of Dr. William Binven, of Providence, and the 
second time, in 1839, to Kllen I )e Wolf, daughter of 
Jotham Post, of New York. His widow, with a sen and 
a daughter by his first marriage, survived him. By his 
first wife he had seven children. Mr. Whipple will long 
be remembered as one of the most brilliant and successful 
lawyers of Rhode Island. 



J L 



j^^OWEN, William Corliss, M.D., only son of Dr. 
William and Susan {Corliss] Bowen, was born in 
Providence June 2, 1785. A part of his college 

course \\as taken in Brown University. W'hen Rev. 

Dr. Maxcy was called to the presidency of Union 
College, Schenectady, he connected himself with that in- 
stitution, and was graduated in the class of 1803. Re- 
turning to Providence, he became a pupil of his uncle. Dr. 
Pardon Bowen, and pursued the study of medicine in his 
office for three years. Wishing to avail himself of the 
superior advantages offered by the medical schools of 
Europe for the study of his profession, he embarked for 
the Old World in 1S06, and in Edinliurgh placed himself 
under the instruction of Professor Hamilton and his asso- 
ciates in the medical school in that city. He received his 
degree in 1S07, selecting for Ihe theme of his dissertation, 
" De Sansrtiiiie Miltendo." Instead of now returning to 
America to commence the practice of his profession, he 
spent some four years longer in Europe in order to perfect 
himself in his chosen vocation. Some months were spent 
in Holland, one season in Paris, and for a period of nearly 
three years he was a private pupil of Sir Astley Cooper in 
London. In the early autumn of iSil he returned to 
Providence, and commenced the practice of his profession. 
For two seasons, as Professor of Chemistry, he gave lec- 

28 



tures on that science in Brown University. While thus 
occupied he commenced a course of cxperimenis for the 
purpose of .ascertaining the basis of the bleaching litjuor 
which was just then brought into use in England, design- 
ing to make practical the results of his experiments by 
establishing a bleachery in Providence. The inhalation 
of noxious vapors and gases while he was thus engaged 
proved fatal, and he died April 23, 1815, just as he was 
commencing his career with the prospect of a brilliant and 
.successful future before him. Dr. Bowen was by far the most 
thoroughly educated physician of his time in Rhode Island. 
He had been the pupil of the first men in Europe, and had 
won their confidence and esteem. As a proof of this we 
are told that Professor Hamilton of E<linburgh called him 
in consultation in a dangerous disease of his own wife, and 
.Sir Astley Cooper mentioned him with pride as his pupil. 
His endeavors 10 discover a process by which the wealth 
and prosperity of his native State might be increased 
proved the occasion of his death. His labors, however, 
were not in vain, tethers took up the experiments which 
he was forced to lay aside, and the profitable and exten- 
sive bleachcries of Rhode Island are monuments of the 
scientific attainments and practical skill of Dr. William 
Corliss Bowen. 



^|^?OWEN, Hon. Hknry, of Welsh descent, son of 

i Lieutenant-Governor [abez and Sarah (Brown) 
t 

Bowen, was born in Providence January 5, 1785. 

R?^ He prepared for college in his native town, and 
' w graduated at Brown University in the class of 1802. 
With his classmate John Whipple he went to Schenectady 
with President Maxcy, when he was chosen President of 
Union College. Here he commenced the .study of law, 
which he completed in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the 
oftice of Hon, Levi Lincoln, at that time Attorney General 
of the Unfted States. He entered upon the practice of his 
profession in Providence in 1806. In 1S17 he was elected 
on the Anti-Federal ticket Attorney-fjeneral of the State, 
and re-elected the next year to the same office. He was 
chosen Secretary of State in 1S19, and filled this office for 
thirty years, retiring from it iu lS49on account of inaliility 
readily to hear. It is indicati\e of the esteem in which he 
was regarded by his fellow-citizens, that the tenure of the 
office which he hehl for so many years was not affected by 
changes in political parties. '* His term of office, with two 
exceptions, is the longest in the annals of Rhode Island, 
and his influence was very largely felt in shaping the forms 
of legislation in the .State." He married, in 1808, Harriet 
.A.manda Munro, of Providence, who died in 1S57. Two 
.sons and a daughter, of the eight children that were born 
to them, survived the death of their father, which occurred 
at Providence April 16, 1867. The names of his surviv- 
ing children were William, Charles, and Harriet. 



2lS 



RIOGRAPIIICAL CYCL OrEPIA . 



^i»liiV'I-I.r-N', Ilr.N. I'niill'. G.jvirnor of Kli.i.lc IsLinil 
^■jJml;; from iSsi l'> 1S53. clik-^t m^ii of Z.icliariah aiifl 
'^ ^ Anne iCiawforcl I Allen, was horn in I'rovideiRc, 
(E ^ Si'iitk-mbcr I, 17S5. lie |unMK-.l lii-- ^tmlie-. juc- 
V "-• paralorv to college uii^lir tho luitn.n of 'rmor 
Ii-rcniiali ('lia|iliii. aftl■ru■ar.l^ I'roiilont (.'hai'lni .if W.iltr- 
villc ColK-m'. in tlie I'niNi-rMtv Latin Siln.ol, ami w a-, a 
gradual^ of Hrow n I'nncr-itv, in tlic cla^^ of 1.S05. ( >n 
k-avHi.; colK-';i- Iil- tunu-d liis attention li> mercantile |Hir- 
siiit^. in uldeli his father had lieen ent;a;,'ed for many years 
prior to his ileatli in iSoi. Mr. Alli n carried on an ex- 
tensive liusiness, eNpeeially in the product-, of the West 
Indies. In 1S13 he lieeame interested in the manitfactiire 
of eott.in in Rhode Ishind. and continued in the business 
dinini; the remainder of his life, devotini; himself for thirty 
vears and more to the prinlini; of calico. For ten years, 
from 1S27 to i.S;(j, he was President of the Rhode Island 
Hranch of the United Slates Bank. During; the years 
1S19, 1S20, and iSji, he was a representative from Provi- 
dence in the Cieneral .Assembly. The Democratic party 
lieinj; in the ascendant elected him, in 1S51, Governor of 
the State, and re-elected him the two succeeding years 
to the same olfue. Soon .liter the close of his tliird 
term of service he was clio-en a Senatcjr of the I'nited 
States. He was, in general, friendly to the administra- 
tions of Presidents Pierce and lliichan.in, but opposed the 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise, lie was an impor- 
tant member of Congress, especially as his inlimate and 
extensive acquaintance with nuinufactures maile his juilg- 
menl reliable in matters pertaining thereto. He mar- 
ried, in 1S14, Pho-be, daughter of lienjamin Aborn, of 
Providence. .They had eleven chiklren. He died in 
Proxidence. December I(>, iSoi;. 



returned to Proviflence, where he remained until ^*^I2, 
when he took U]> his resilience in Salem, Massachusetts. 
Here for some four vears he remained, ha\'ing a large and 
successful practice. I'he next four years, from iSitito 1S20, 
he resided in Porismouth, New Hamjishire. In the au- 
tumn of 1S20 he once mine retiuned to his native town. 
\ lew months after o]>ening an olhce in Piovidence he 
was appointed Lnited States Iristrict .Attorney for Rhoile 
Island, and in August, 1S24, I'nited States District Judge, 
which office he held during the remainder of his life. His 
relations to Providence, and to different institutions having 
for their object the social and intellectual welfare of the 
community, were of the most intimate character. He was 
President of the " Rhode Island Society for the Encourage- 
ment of Domestic Industry" for ten years. For eighteen 
years he uas President of the l_'or)ioration of the Provi- 
dence .Athenaum, at the enri of which ]ieriod he declined 
a re election. He was at difTerent times a member id both 
br. inches of the Corporation of Brown L'nixersity, receiving 
bom this in-ti[u[ion, in 1842, the honorary degree of Doc- 
tor of Laws. He was not unfrequently called ujion to 
deliver public addresses on civic and literary occasions, 
some of which were publisheil. He married, October, 
I.S12, Mary, daughter of Benjamin Talbot, of Providence. 
'Llieir children were nine in number, si.\ cif whom survived 
their father. Among these are Henry Pitman, Esrp, and 
tleneral L S. Pitman. He died siuhlenly, being found 
dead in liis bed on the morning of the 17th of Xovember, 
I.So;. He was an upright judge, a wise counsellor, and 
a sincere Christian, and his name will long lie cherished 
among the most honoreil citi/ens of his native State. 



jHM.\.\, Jtl.ia, John, -on of Kev. |olin and Re- 
^i becca (Cox I Pitman, was born in Providence, 
I'ebruary 23, 17-^5. His lather was settled as a 
''^',? '■ Baptist minister in W'arren, and subseipiently in 
Seckonk. He prepared for ccdlege under the 
luilion ol Rev. William Williams, of Wrenthain, Massa- 
chusitts, and was a graduate of Brown University, in the 
class of 170'), before he had completed his fifteenth year. 
He commenced at once the study of law in the oliice 
ol Hon. D.ivid Howell, and was ready to be adinilted to 
the bar of Rhode Island after two and a half years' 
study. .As it was deemed best for him to continue his 
studies until lie had reached a more mature age, he went 
to Poughkeejisie, and was in the law oltice of Hon. 'P. 
l;ai!ey. In June, I.S06, he was admitted to luactice in 
the city of New York, and soon after to |iractice in the 
other courts of the State. He spent a short time in the 
State of Kentucky, whither he had gone with the inten- 
tion of settling. He changed his purpose, and in iSoS 



Jll 



\ rF.RM.W, John ( i., son of John and Sally (Wil- 
'.A Hams) Waterman, was born in Canton, Massa- 
chusetts, November 4, i.Sio. His parents re- 
oved to lohiiston, Rhode Island, in iSli. He 
early acquired habits of industry, alternately work- 
ing in a cotton-mill and alteiuling school until the age 
of eighteen. Iluring the years 1.S27, 1S2.S, and a por- 
tion of 1S20, hewas a cleik in the store of the .Merino 
Mills in Johnston. A part of the latter year he spent at 
Plaintield Academy, Connecticut. In 1830 he went to 
New I irleaiis, where his father was engaged in the cotton 
tr.ide. In the sj.ring of that year he returneil to Rhode 
Island, and was ajipomted agent <d the F^agle Mills, for 
|ohn Waterman ^; to., which position he held until 1S47. 
While connected with these mills he resided in Providence, 
and took a deep interest in in.itters pertaining to the pros- 
peritv of tli.it city. For many years he was a prominent 
member of the Board of Independent Fire Wards, and was 
elected a member of the Common t ouneil of Piovidence, 
from the Sixth W.ud. In 1845 he was elected to represent 
Piovidence in the lower house of the General Assembly, 




^/}'6cZZ. 



; 'L-X-'C^-''' ' 



B10CKAPUIC.il CMLOrEDIA. 



219 



ami re-elected in 1S46. In 1S48 lie remuveil from I'nivi- 
dence to Warren, Rhode Island. The year before his re- 
moval to the latter place he began buildin;; the first mill 
of the Warren Manufacturing Company. The business of 
this company increased to such an extent as to necessitate 
the erection of two other mills, one of wliich was l>uilt in 
i860, from the accumuUtious of the first mill, and the other 
in 1S70, from the accumulations of the first and second 
mills, the present number of spindles being 58,000, the 
number of looms 1400, and the products sheetings, jirint 
cloths, and jaconets. The company represents a capital of 
Jg6oo,ooo, and all of the mills have been remarkably suc- 
cessful. In his position as agent and treasurer of this cor- 
poration Mr. Waterman was widely known in business 
circles as a careful manager and a sagacious financier, and 
he was therefore frequently called upon to fill responsible 
official positions in institutions representing large moneyed 
interests. On the 28th of May, 1855, he was elected a 
Director of the Firemen's Mutual Insurance Company of 
Providence, and was chosen a Director of the Equitable 
Fire and Marine Insurance Company at its organization, 
August 20, i860. He held the same position in the Black- 
stone Mutual Fire Insurance Company from the date of its 
organization, June 22, 1868, and in the Merchants' Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company from its organization, October 
12, 1874. He was one of the prime movers in organizing 
the Sowamset Bank (a State bank) at Warren, in July, 
1855, at wdiich time he was elected a Director. In 1864 
the First National Bank of Warren was organized, at which 
time he was elected a Director, and in 1866 became Vice- 
l*resident, which position he occupied until his death. He 
was also one of the founders of the Warren Institution for 
Savings, of which he was chosen Trustee in 1870. In 1875 
he was chosen a Director of the Old National Bank of 
Providence, and was subsequently elected President of that 
institution, which office he held until his death. He was 
also a member of the Providence Board of Trade, as well 
as other institutions. In 1838 he married Caroline F. San- 
ford, daughter of Joseph C. Sanford, of Wickford, Rhode 
Island. She died in 1840. In 184S Mr. Waterman mar- 
ried Susan J. Bosworth, daughter of Colonel Smith Bos- 
worth, of Providence. There were two children liy this 
marriage, Caroline F. and John, who succeeiled his fither 
as agent and treasurer of the Warren Manufacturing Com- 
pany. Mr. Waterman died suddenly at his residence in 
Warren, April 24, 1881, in the midst of a life of unusual 
activity and usefulness. He represented that class of men 
wdiose untiring industry, superior natural gifts, and strict 
integrity place them at the head of the great manufacturing 
interests, for which Rhode Island is justly celebrated. 
Although not a church member, his religious views were 
in sympathy with the Protestant Episcojial Church, and he 
always took a deep and active interest in the welfare of 
that communion. He was very generous and kind-hearted, 
and often assisted many deserving persons and enterprises. 



He was particularly iiilertrsted in the societies formed by 
the young men of the town in which he lived, and gave 
them substantial aid. 



gl^i^ING, GoVKRNOR S.VMUF.I. W..\RD, was born in 
^1^1 Johnston, May 23, 1786. His name is especially 
Y?Ji| identified with Rhode Island history. In 1 839 
*';M there was no election of Governor or Lieutenant- 
* Governor, and the subject of this sketch being 
first Senator, or Assistant, acted as Governor for that 
year. He was chosen Governor in 1840, '41, and '42. 
A part of the period during which he was the chief 
magistrate of the State was one of great political ex- 
citement, connected with the discussion of what is known 
as the " Suffrage Question." The firm and conciliatory 
course pursued by Governor King did much to alKay 
the bitterness of party strife and secure the satisfactory 
result which was at length reached in the settlement of 
the important questions which had agitated the public 
mind. The wife of Governor King was Catherine, daugh- 
ter of OIney Angell, of North Providence, by whom he 
had fourteen children, seven of whom died young, the 
other se\en survi\ing their parents. Mrs. King tiled in 
184I. Governor King died in Providence, January 21, 
1851. " Few men," said a writer of a brief obituary notice 
of him, " have enjoyed in their day to a greater degree the 
confidence of the public, and few men in their private 
lives have exhibited greater amiability and genuine kind- 
ness of heart. In the troublous times of 1S42 his conduct 
won the approbation of friends and conciliated his oppo- 
nents, and in his voluntary retirement he carried v\'ith him 
the respect and esteem even of those against whom he 
acted in seasons of unusual difficulties." 



^I^^OGERS, WlLLL-VM S.\NKORD, Son of Robert and 
^|S^ Mary (Rhodes) Rogers, was born in Newport, in 
i- ,'■ " 178V He derived his name from William .San- 
j ford, a son of Hon. Peleg .Sanford, at one time 

T» Governor of the .State. Early in life he was en- 

gaged in the mercantile marine, and, for a time, was super- 
cargo in the employ of Messrs. Earle & .Mlston. He was 
appointed a purser in the Navy in 181 2, and remained 
in office until 1S35, at wduch tune he resigned his com- 
mission. He is represented as being a gentleman of varied 
and refined culture, living a life of great purity" and seren- 
ity. The prosperity of his native city was a matter of 
great interest with him, and he testified his regard for his 
early home, as we shall see, in the most substantial, and 
even princely way. On opening his will after his decease, 
wliich took place in Boston, May 5, 1S72, it was found 
that he had made many munificent bequests. Brow 11 Uni- 
versity had already enjoyed the tokens of his liberality in 



BIOCKAl'JllCAL i\C/.OFJi/>/A. 



tliL- fniin i>f a 5I0UO ^i_liularslup. wIulIi lie luuiicd the 
•• Ncwiicirt .Schi.l.u^liii)." lit' li.id .iKo i;i\in S500 fiii' the 
|nn\-lia^i- iif clRiiiical a|i]xir-atii'.. In lll^ h ill was tlie fol- 
liuvin^: ■■ [ ;4ivc ISrouii liiivri sity, la I'loM.lcncc, KIio.Il- 
Ivlaml, (r.Mii uIikIi my lalhi-r t^iaiiuali-M ill 17.S2, an.l my 
U1K-U-, Kcv. Dr. Ko^La^. L;railuali.l in the liiNt ijiaduatin;^' 
cla^^iillhc iiistitiilH'n, .Sso.ooo, I'k.iii tlic iiitciL-.t nf uliicli 
shall liL- sii|i|)<iilcil a ^lor^.■s>ul^ln|l. lu lie called • The New- 
]iort Rni;ers riofes^oisliip uf t_'lieinislry.' I |ireiiinie there 
may he imw a rrufesMirshiji uf Chenusiry in the in~titulion, 
hut this is a faviuite inir^uil uf mine, hesiiles, I wish the 
liirthplate uf my fatlier, unele and self, may apjiear on the 
recurd^ of the Lniversity." In his will Mr. Rogers made 
pros ision for an ailditional scholarship of :>looo. His 
lari;est licipiest was the mnnilicenl sum of 5100,000, given 
under certain conditions, hir the estalili^hment of the New- 
port •• k"t;er^ lliyli Sehoul," an institution v\ liieli already 
takes high rank among the hest schools of it^ grade in the 
country. He gave also S4000 to the keilwood Library. 
$70,000 he gave as private donations. The residue of his 
estate, after paying the l>ei|uesls, was given to his nephew, 
Mr. hdin K. .\llston. The total amount of the estate was 
estimated tn lie over half a million dollars. Mr. Rogers 
never married. " His was an equahlc and gentle life; his 
purposes were all acc'impiished, when, at a ripe old age. 
With no st.iin upon his record, the gate ol death gently 
opened, and he enlered the ]iaradise of rest, heloved and 
lamented hv all who knew liim." 



?vIy^nJ,T.\MS, JmrMIMl, M.D., was horn in Digh- 
■i'**'":'; '""• Massachusetts, .\iigust 5. i7.St). His aca- 
•jtfr.;.', .. , {|^.|i-iii; studies were pursued at the I'.ristol 
.V.>'(..;^ .XcadLUiv. ill raunton, Massachusetts. He com- 
*)j'-^" nicnccd the stud)' of medicine, which was crirn- 
pleled at the .Nlassachuselfs Medical ('ollege, in Boston. 
.Soon after taking his ilegree he removed In W.irien, R. I., 
w here he remained during lile. hor more than thirtyyears 
he was in a very extensive pr.ictice, U'll .uily in Warren, 
hut 111 all llie adjacent Milages. )u all matleis [lertaiuing 
tn his profession he was gie.iiK' luteiesied. He was, at the 
time ol his death, ope of the lew sui\i\ljlg |)h\ sici.ms w ho 
in 1S12 petitioned hir the charter of the Rhode Island 
.Medical Society, of which society he was lor a time one 
of the ViceT'residents. In the estahlishment of the War- 
ren Lailies' Seminary he took an acti\ e interest, being one 
of its most liberal patrons and supporters. To the sup- 
port of the religious and bene\olent otganizations of War- 
ren he was a liberal c nlrilailor. In .iddition to the duties 
of his profession he was e\lensi\ely eng.aged in other 
bl.inches of business, and by an uiiwiaried industry .ind 
perscver.mee he aicomplislied ,iii amount of j.ersonal labor 
sucli lis lew iiicu li.ue been .liile to pcilorm. \\\ his enter 



pirise in \arioiis directions he ac^ptiied a large estate. His 
character was a marked one. He had strong prejudices, 
and ex]uesseil his ojiintnns without equivocation. Ammig 
the families where in his professional capacity he was 
called to \isii,he made strong and life-hmg friends, and 
his death was siucercU' mourned by a l.irge circle ol ac- 
ipiaintaiiccs. No [ihysicinn in IJristol (.'ounty had a more 
eNtensise practice than L)r. Williams. His death occurred 
lanuary I, 1S42. He left a wi<-lo\\ and two (.laughters; one 
daughter now resides in Warren. 



1 iW.\Rli. IIo\. D.VNIEI., son of Daniel and Doro- 
thy (Ll.iik) Howard, was born in Foster, Rhode 
JT- iis? Island, .M.iich 15, 17.S7, He was the sixth of a 
""j'"" family of ten children, eight of whom lived to be 
I upwards of se^ciity-hve yearsof age. His paternal 
grandfather, Isaac Howard, came to tins country from 
Kngland and settled in Foster, about 1755. His son Dan- 
iel came into possession of a [loitioii of the homestead 
farm, and built w hat is the present hmnestead of the How- 
ard family. The subject of this sketch inherited a vigorous 
constitution, a strong mind, and jiowerful memory. He 
was educated in the common schools of his native town, 
and for some lime worked on the farm in summer and 
taught a district sihoo] in winter. In 1S03 his father was 
elected Tow n (_'lerk, and he lieing an excellent iienman, 
sooti began to assist him in the olhee. In lS2j he was 
elected to the State Legislature, in which he served thirteen 
terms, and \\.is legaide^l erne of the most useful members 
of that body. L'pon returning home at the close of the 
week ( Ileal ly always on foot, a distance of twenty miles), 
he would stop at the wayside inns, where the neighbors 
would be g.itliered ti") hear from him the business of the 
week. In Seplembcr. 1S27. his hither died. h.i\ing tilled 
the office of Tow n Clerk Kir ujiwards of twenty-four years. 
The first day of ( )ctober follow ing he was elected to suc- 
ceed hiin. ilesidcs the office of Clerk, he filled that of 
Justice of the I'cace, .Vsscssor of Taxes, and other official 
jiositions. Ileing a man of great practical common sense, 
and id" strict integrity, he was called upon to administer on 
the estates of many deceased |iersons. He was also fre- 
i|Ucntly c.dled upon bom all paits of his ow n and adjoining 
towns lor counsel in matters of |irob.ite and (|Ues|ions of 
law. About 1S40 he was elected one of the judges of 
the Court of ComiiKUi Pleas, in which capacity he served 
for nine years. In jiolitics he w.is .1 lile-Iong Democrat. 
In ihe Dorr troubles of 1S42, although being in favor of 
the extension of the suffrage, he could not countenance the 
tourse puisued to iuiomi>bsh it. and thereioie became one 
of wh.it w.is known as the Law and ( Irder I'aity. .\fter 
tills his pait)' liee.inic the ininoiitv. .ilid in the sjiring of 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



1852, after a vigorous contest, Mr. Raymond G. Place was 
elected Town Clerk in his stead. Mr. Howard having 
served continuously from his first election. Thus did father 
and son fill the otifice for forty-nine consecutive years. 
Afterward he was engaged in agricultural i)ursuits. Toward 
the close of his life he became partially blind, so that he 
could neither read nor write ; yet he coulinue<l to give val- 
uable counsel until his death, which occurred July 15, 
1879. He was twice n\arried. His first wife was Betsey 
Phillips, daughter of Asa Phillips, of Foster, by whom he 
had one son, named Horace, who married Hannah Ran- 
dall. For his second wife he married Lurana, daughter 
of Samuel Wilbur, of Scituate, Rhode Island, who sur- 
vives him. He left two grandsons. Pardon T. and Horace, 
and a number of great-grandchildren. One brother only 
is left of his father's family. Rev. Gardner Howard, 
who lives on the homestead, and is now in his eighty- 
third vear. 



^..WFORTH, Hon. \V.\i,tkr Rali:ii;ii, the son of job 
f! Danforth, was born in Providence, April I, 1787. 
He fitted for college in the schools of his native 
' town, and was a graduate of Brown University in the 
class of 1805. He commenced the study of law soon 
after his graduation, in the office of Hon. James Burrill, 
and for a short time after his admission to the bar was 
this gentleman's law partner. F"or a period of eleven years 
( 1807-1818) he was most of the time Clerk of the Supreme 
Judicial Court for the County of Providence, or m the 
corresponding position in the Court of Common Pleas. 
He became in 1820 editor and joint proprietor of the Provi- 
dence fr/ct'/Zi', displaying great ability and tact in the man- 
agement of this paper and the other papers w hich were its 
successors, the Alierocosm^ the Express, and the Republi- 
can Herald. For ten years Mr. Danforth was a member 
of the Town Council of Providence. In 1S29 he was 
appointed Collector of Customs for the port ot Providence, 
and held this office till 1841. For one year, 1853, he was 
Mayor of Providence. In the various offices he held he 
discharged his duties with fidelity, and secured the respect 
not only of his political friends, but of those who were op- 
posed to him. His acquaintance with the men and the 
affairs of his native State was of the most familiar charac- 
ter. Mr. Danforth wielded a polished pen. " He wrote 
nothing to corrupt or defile the public taste. His language 
was always that of undefiled English. Addison and Gold- 
smith, Drydcn and Pope were the models of his youth; 
and in all after-life he never allowed a paragraph to pass 
from his pen polluted either by coarseness or vulgarity." 
He married, in June, 1811, Elizabeth Ann, the youngest 
daughter of John Carter, Esq., of Providence, who, with 
one son and five daughters, survived him. He died in 
Providence, August II, 1861. 



jS^S^.-XTERMAN, Resolved, merchant, was born in 
giljp™lt| Smithfield, Rhode Island, December 10, I "87. 
%W^^ His native place is now known as the village of 
%\ Greenville. His mother, I. ydia, was the daughter 
X of Resolved Waterman, a descendant of the hon- 

ored Waternians of Rhode Island. Brought up to toil on 
the ancestral lands, and trained in habits of virtue, he gained 
that bodily vigor and those principles of temperance and 
industry that have so happily served him through his long 
life. Until the age of fifteen he assisted his stepfather in 
farm work, and attended school at intervals. In 1S05 he 
went to Centreville, in Warwick, where, through the 
friendship of Mr. James Greene, he w^as employed for sev- 
eral years as clerk in manufacturing establishments. In 
the same year he embraced Christianity, anfl associated 
with the Methodists. In 1812 he united with Dr. Stephen 
piarris and others, forming a company of six, with a cap- 
ital of 512,000, and began manufacturing cotton goods at 
Centreville, now River Point. The business suffering de- 
pression at the close of the War of 1812, he and Dr. Har- 
ris, in 1816, formed a partnership and engaged in business 
together, during the winters, in Savannah and parts of 
Georgia. Two years later, when Dr. Harris withtlrew, 
Mr. Waterman received Mr. .Stephen Arnold as his part- 
ner, with whom he continued in the Southern trade during 
the winters till 1827, wdien he and Mr. Arnold began busi- 
ness as cotton merchants in Providence. They remained 
together and were prospered in trade for twenty years, 
wdien, in 1S47, Mr. Arnold withdrew to unite with his 
sons. In 1S27, Mr. Waterman removed his family from 
Centreville to Providence. In 1847 he began business on 
his own account as a cotton merchant, and was greatly 
prospered till he closed his business on account of the 
Reliellion in 1861. Meanwhile he was also interested in 
manufactures. By integrity and wise economy he ac- 
cumulated a handsome estate, to the care of which and 
the welfare of the community he devoted himself after re- 
tiring from business. Having indorsed for the successors 
of an old firm with which he had been intimate, he found 
himself in 1867 liable for $507,000. Though he might 
have evaded this legal liability, he gave a full and true 
inventory of all his property, and, through the favor of his 
creditors, was discharged by paying Sl0I,4CK> — twenty per 
cent, of the liability. This honest and noble act was justly 
applauded by the community. He at last met the claims 
of the creditors before they were due. It was the rule 
of life w ith him " to ilo as he wouhl be done by." Of 
a gentle and retiring ilisposition, devoted to his home 
antl the educational and religious prosperity of his fellow- 
citizens, he stuiliously avoided political life, refusing to 
accept offices that were urged upon liim. In the Temper- 
ance Reform, from its beginning near 1830, he was re- 
! markably active. Politically he was a Whig, a " Law- 
and-Order man " in the *' Dorr War," a Rejjublican when 
the anti-sla\ery party originated, and a firm Union man 



BlOGRArniCAL CVCL OriiDl. !. 



cliiiiiv,' tlic Civil W.ir. Hi^ (IlvoUmii In llU■.llR■^■^ never 
i|iu-iic1k-(1 the ardnr of liis pulilic s]iiiit. Suili was liis 
aliililv !■> wi.ik, and Muli lii- iiia^lery of lii. alf.iirs, that lie 
iHvci had a iKrk. Ik- manird i i i, in iSij, lauy Cady, 
<laui;hter 1)1" Daiucl Cady. of C, iiti c\ ille, a man of yreat 
religious <levotioii. By tin- niairi ij;e lie had six cliildren, 
all .if whom are deceased. His son. Rev. Henry Water- 
man, 11. 1 1., gr.iduated at licoun L'niversity in 1S31, be- 
eame rector of the Ei)isco|ial Church in Woonsocket, also 
at .\ndover, Mas-,achu-ctts, and of St. Ste|ihen's Chnreh 
in I'rovideiice, and dieil in 1S76 at the ai;e of sixty-three. 
His d.uij^liler Xaiuv inairieil Kt.illin Malhew son, and died 
in iSdj. His wife died in 1S24, aycd thirty-four. He 
married (j), in 1S2.S. .Vnna l.oui^a .Shaw, daughter of Dr. 
William C. and Kli/al.eth (Ihentoni Shaw, of Wickford. 
liy this marriage he had seven children, only one of w horn, 
Eli/.ahelh, is now ( iSSl I living. His daughter Lucia mar- 
ried Ceiieral Horatio Rogers, and died in 1S67. His last 
wife died Fehruary 6, 1879, aged seventy eight. For 
forty veais Mr. W.ilerman ha^ lieeii a Warden of .St. .Ste- 
phen's Cluiri-h, and toward the erection of the cliureh 
edifice and the removal of its indehtedness he |iaid about 
a fourth i>art, nil his coiuiibutions amounting to nearly 
$20,00D. lie ha-,l)een also a generous donor lo \arious be 
nevolent in^titulirm^ and inirposcs. llis life has been one 
of great activity, integrity, kindness, and I hristian benevo- 
lence. Since 1873 he has been conlineil to hi> house on 
lirown Street on account >>{ an aft'ectitui of his limbs. 
Although now in his ninety-fourth vear, he can read with- 
out gl isses, and i^ a great lo\cr of good Itooks. His chief 
book is the Mible. He is a notable type of New England 
\i.^or of liodv and mind, .unl is remarkably hijipy in his 
virong Cdiii^ti.in f.utli aiu-l hope. 



^S^?H-\r'IN. DlAciiN JiisiAH, otton merchant, son of 
Mififi Amari.ih and t.llive (Taft) Chapin, was liorn in 
rt^ ^-xbri.lge, Massachusetts, July 27, 17SS. Hewasa 
(' 1' '■ descen lant of Deacon Samuel ( li.ipm illie ancestor 
b;J i of all of tliit name 111 ihi^ country], who came here 
frrmi Engl.md about the year I')J5, bringing willi him a 
familv of live children, and after residing for a time at 
Rovliury, settled in Sjiringheld in 1642, where he remained 
iinlil his death, being one of the most prominent citizens 
meiilioned in the early histiu-y of that place. The Chapin 
family i^ one of the large->t in this country, and embraces 
many celebrated names. At a family gathering in iSoj, 
at Springlield, M.issachusetts, nearly hfteen hundred of the 
descendants of De.icon .Samuel Chapin weie present. The 
proceedings were of a most interesting character, consist- 
ing of an addres, of welcome by the Mayor of .Spiingheld, 
an oration by Hon. Henry Chapin, of Worcester, and a 
poem by Dr. J. (i. Holland. The subject cl this sketch 



bore the name of one of the most noted of his ancestors. 
He was employed on his father's farm during his boyhood, 
and receive'l a good common-scho.ol education. In iSlo 
he went to Savannah, (ieorgia, where he kept a store of 
general snp]ilies for one year. Returning to I'vbridge in 
181 1, he there eng.iged in business with his father in a 
large country store, which supplied Uxbridge, Northbridge, 
and iJouglas. He remo\'ed to Providence in the autumn 
of 1S15, and estaldished a wholesale grocery store on 
W'eybossct .Street, where the post-office now stands. He 
united with the s.ile of groceries that of manufacturers' 
supjilies, and later that of cotton and cotton goods. The 
cotton business gratlually increased, and he was for many 
years the leading merchant in that line in Providence, sell- 
ing one-half of all the cottcm sold there. His younger 
brother, .\mory Chapin, became his partner in 1S22, and 

I they continued together, doing an immense business, under 
the style of Josiah Chapin & Co., until lSj7, when Amory 
Chapin withdrew from the firm. In 1839 Josiah Chapin's 

! son, William C, anrl in 1842 his other son, (_Ieorge W., 
were admitted as members of the firm, which partnership 
conlinued until 184;, when Josiah Chapin withdrew from 
active business with a large fortune, acqiiireil sulci)" through 
his own exertions. He purchased '* Chop])et|uonsett," a 
large estate one mile below Pawtucket, intending to de- 
vote the remaining years of his life to agriculuire. Here 
he engaged in farming until 1849, when he sold the prop- 

j erty to General Charles T. James, and it was subsequently 

I sold to the late Nicholas Brown. -Mr Chaj'in's life was 
one of great business activity and Usclulness. He was a 
hiunder and one of the blirectors of the Merchants' Xa- 
tiimal Bank of Providence from its incorporation, January 
II, 1819, and served as Director until l875,when he de- 
clined a re-ele<.tion. He was also President of this bank 
from Tanuary 14, 1S50, umil julv 27, i8dS, when he re- 
signed the olfice. In Novendier, 181 s, he married Asenath 
Capron, of Cxbridge, who died in Providence, September 
3, 1863, in the seventv first \car of her age. But three of 
his chihiren reachcil a mature age, his scms, \Villiam and 
Ceorge, and a daughter, who married Hon. Benjamin T, 
Kames, an ex-member c>f (.'ongress and a prominent lawyer 
in Prrnidence. In earlv life -Mr. Cha|)m united with the 
Beneticcnt Congregational (^'hurch. Providence. He was 
one of the original members, and prominent in the estab- 
lishment of the High Street Congregational Church in 
1S34 ; was chosen first deacon and served until 1S49, when 
he returned to the Beneficent Congregational Church, with 
which he w .is pujininenlly connected, holding the ottice of 
deacon until his death, which occurred A|iril 17, 1881, 
Ml. Chapin took an active interest in all matters jx-rtaining 
to the conunercial prosperity of Providence, and was noted 
for his purity of character. Christian .^eal, great simplicity 
of manners, cheerfulness of disposition, and the readiness 
and generosity with which he ,tlwa_vs contributed to works 
of benevolence. 




<r . 



/ / 



, Y r- ,.^ O ^' ■^ ^^r/V-r ■ . / 



B I OCR A FIIICA L C ) XL OP EDI A. 



^IfODDARD, PROFEssnR William Gilk, LL.D.,son 
of William and Abigail Angell Goddard, was born 
in Johnston, Rhode Island, January 2, 1794. His 
I grandfather on the maternal side was Brigadier- 
General James Angell, a descendant of one of the 
early settlers who came with Roger Wdliams to Providence. 
His grandfather on the paternal side was Dr. Giles God- 
dard, a physician of New London, Connecticut. His 
mother, Abigail, has been represented as a wonmn of rare 
moral and intellectual graces of character. His falher, 
William, was iKjrn in New London, Connecticul, in tlie 
year 1 740; removed to Providence, where in the year 1762 
he established and edited the Providence Gazette and 
Country jfournal, which was the first ne«'spaper printed 
in that town. He afterwards edited at different periods of 
his life newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, and Balti- 
more, in the management of which he displayed enterprise 
and ability. He was appointed Surveyor of the Post- 
Roads and Comptroller of the Post-Ofhce by Benjamin 
Franklin, the Postmaster-General. In the year 1792 he 
returned to Rhode Island and died in Providence, in the 
year 1817. William Giles Goddard, the sul)ject of this 
sketch, was graduated from Brown University in the class 
of 1812. He immediately commenced the study of law in 
the office of Hon. Francis Blake, Worcester, Massachusetts, 
devoting a portion of his time to his duties as associate 
editor of the Worcester Spy. His literary tastes, however, 
led him to abandon the law as a profession, and to return 
to Providence in the year 1S13, when he became sole edi- 
tor and proprietor of the Khode Island American^ a news- 
paper which he conducted til! the year 1825, Professor 
James D. Knowles for a short time being associated with 
him in its management. During the latter year he was 
appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy and Metaph)sics 
in Brown University, .\fter holding this chair for nine 
years he resigned it, and was immediately made Professor 
of Belies-Lettres. This Professorship he resigned in the year 
l842in consequence of ill health. He wasafterwardselected 
a member of the Board of Trustees, a member of the Board 
of Fellows, and Secretary of the Corporation. Professor 
Goddard was married, May 22, 1821, to Charlotte Rhoda, 
daughter of Thomas Poynton and Hope Brown Ives, the 
la.st of whom was a sister of Nicholas Brown, her husband's 
partner in business. Professor Goddard died without a 
moment's warning, February r6, 1S4'), leaving seven chil- 
dren, two having died in their infancy ; Charlotte Hope, 
since deceased, who married William Binney. a son of the 
late Horace Binney, of Philadelphia ; William, Thomas P. 
I., Elizabeth Anne, who married the late Thomas Perkins 
Shepard ; Moses B. I., Francis W , and Robert H. I. God- 
dard. The name and memory of Professor Goddard are 
associated with valuable services to the cause of religion, 
education, philanthropy, and social order and law. For 
many years he dedicated his varied powers and accomplish- 
ments to the highest ends, the promotion of enterprises 



which had for their object the moral and intellectual im- 
provement of the present and of future generations. The 
devclojiment of the system cif public education in Rhode 
Island was largely due to the influence he e.xerted in their 
behalf by his frequent appeals to the ])ublic through the 
press. He was always an earnest advocate of popular 
education, and he believed that upon the diffusion of the 
light of know ledge very largely depended the preservation 
and perpetuation of our Republican institutions. " Let us 
not forget," wrote Professor Goddard, " that in the United 
States the people are the source of all power, and that their 
good is the end of all government. Let us not forget the 
fearful power intrusted to the majority. If the mind of 
the ma.ss be left to stagnate, the passions of the mass will 
not stagnate. They cannot sleep amid the noise of our 
factions. They w ill be armed with the <lestructive energies 
of the volcano. If the mind of the mass be half educated 
it will be liable to the mistakes of ignorance, and it will be 
full of the conceit which is the proverbial concomitant of 
a ' little learning.' If the mind of the mass be thoroughly 
and substantially educated, but without a corresponding 
culture of the heart, it will acquire only an increased capac- 
ity to work evil ; it may disdain the joys of a gross sensual- 
ity, but it will become enann ured of the varnished profliga- 
cies of fashion ; it may demand an artificial polish of 
manners, but it w ill resent no accredited impurity in morals. 
If, however, the mind of the mass be properly trained, if 
it lie imbued with the influences of learning and religion 
it will manifest its power only for good. It will go forth 
only to seek and to win fresh triumphs for freedom and for 
truth." Professor Goddard was a master of the English 
language ; and his writings, w Inch are models of tliought 
and expression, are full of subtle grace, rhythmical beauty, 
and exquisitely polished and eloquent periods. Perhaps 
no higher specimen of Professor Goddard's literary aliility 
can lie fijund than his address to the Rhode Islaml .Society of 
the Phi Beta Ka])pa in the year 1836. After the publication 
of this discourse Chancellor Kent wrote that "Mr. Goddard's 
pam])hlet satisfies me of his distinguished taste, scholarship, 
and genius;" and Dr. Wayland in speaking of the same 
discourse expresses himself as follows : " I have read this 
discourse lately and was struck with the similarity of its 
thoughts to those of Lord Bacon's Essays, a book which I 
had just laid down ; while the exquisite finish of the style 
sometimes remindeded me of the vigor of Johnson ; and at 
others of the splendor of Burke." Professor Goddard's 
powers as a political writer are best shown in tlie address 
which he delivered in Newport, May 3, 1S43. on '''^ occa- 
sion of the change in the civil government of Rhode Island 
by the adoption of the Constitution which superseded the 
Charier of 1663. This discourse reveals a mature and well- 
settled understanding of the genius, the scope and spirit of 
republican government; and it drew encomiums from 
De Tocipieville and Judge Story, the last of whom has 
recorded his opinion of it in these words : " I have read it 



224 



/i/lu;A\ir///CAL i'Yl T OPEDIA. 



willi the hi-^lifst jiJLMsurt' ;iii<l sntisfacthiii. h i-, a ma^trrly 
i-fviu'w uf llic principk's aiul iiisliuiliun^ of Rhmle KLuhI, 
and aliciin'K wiUi rctlfclions, just, appropriate, and striking,', 
and I mav adrl. innst LdM(]UL'ntIv and elegantly ex pressed. 
I play (It'd that ihe Ics-<ins of nistnicliim lluis t^iven may 
sink deep into the lieails ot ili..- people, not o:dy of Ulmde 
Island, hnt of all liei' ststi.-r State-. If our n;puMic is to 1)^ 
saved from the misrule of dL-niai^oi^nes and scltish adventur- 
ers, ii i-, hv drinkini; dee])iy from sduuls k\{ ihnUL;lit id^e 
those njH-ned I>y Professor Coddard." The following; grave 
ancl earnest words in respect to the judieiary, whieh are 
extracted from thi-- discourse, wdl partially disclose to the 
mind of tlie reader the vigorous manner in which Professor 
Godtiard handled his sul)ject : " In the ("onstitution, which 
you, niv lellov\--Lili/ens. have adopted, vou lia\'e declared 
that certain es-,ential riylu^ and ]>rinciples shall lie estah- 
lished, ni.ontained, and preserved, an'I shall he of para- 
mount ul'Iigation in all lej;i->luive. judicial, and executive 
proceedings. With-iui a judiciary essentially independent, 
of what avail for the security of | ojiular freedom would he 
this grave declaration of constitutional rights and jMinciplcs ? 
Why suhject the executive power and the legislative power 
to restricti'Uis if the judiciary be left jHiwcrless to enforce 
them? Why solemnlv reserve t*.' yourselves the rights of 
freemen, if, either throui^h the timidity or the cruruption 
of your Courts, those riL^hts cannot, whenever thev are 
nivaded, he inlrepidiv and effectualjv proteited ? In 
truth, my fellow-citi/ens. without a imlici.uy which fecK 
itself to he independent i>f the legislative power, no 
eon-,tilution is worth the parchment upon which it is 
engrossed. With.out such a judiciary tliere can he no 
freedom under a po]»ular government. Without such a 
jmliciary civilisation, in its higher lorms, can make no ad- 
vance. Beware, then, men of Rhode Island, of that |io- 
lilical man or that political party w ho may hereafter seek to 
inllame you with a jealousy \.y{ that department in your 
goveriimeiu w Inch, froni the very nature of its functions, is 
least dangerous, -wmX wliich, sii long as tlie a'linini-tratl'Ui 
of justice is the chief end of government, you are most in- 
tei e^teil to cliLii --h and to defiiid. In a nionai ch\' the king 
who i^ impatient of restraint upon his will tolerates no 
lieiich coiiipeteiit to shield the suhject against the power of 
the throne. In repuhlics lilve uur ^^^\\w tlie case is essen- 
tially the same. No strangers to the inipuKes whieh ani- 
mate royal l)osom-. are the majority which seeks to opjiress 
the nunorily, and the demaL^ogiie who hales every institu- 
tion 111 the Stale which he cannot make tributary to liis 
aims. When have not factious majorities and protligate 
demagogues sought to persuade the people that an mde- 
]»endent judiciary is their master and not their shield? 
AVhen lia\e tliey not affeeted to believe that learned and 
ui>righl iudges. who <lispense no patronage aU'I exercise 
no political power, who .n-e endowed with tn) sjiontaneous 
energy to arrest the operations of the cxecutiM- or of the 
legislature, and whom it is never difticult to remove for 



malfeasance in office, arc entrenched in some stronghold, 
which the peo|ile should watch with a jealous eye? Easily 
imleed must that ]ieople l)e duped who sulVer such morbid 
aj'prehrn-.ion-> to trouble their |ieace. Need I tell y<iii, 
lellow -citi/eiis, th It the danger all lies in another <|uarler 
— in the oec.i^ional excesses of pt)pular passion, in the arti- 
lu:es of the tlemai^ogue, who makes himself Iioarse in jiro- 
claiminL; the wisdom of the people and \\\ declaring hi-^ mar- 
vellous love for the ]">cople ; in the tendencies of majorities 
til o])press minorities ; in the de-ires of the vicious and idle 
to make spoil of the accumulations, whether amjde m- lim- 
ited, of indusirv, honesty, and enterprise. These are among 
the dangers mo-t huanidable to cnustitutional rights and 
]i:ipular freedom, and tlie^e are the dangers which render 
a learned and uncorruj't judiciary an essential component 
part of every tree government." The /\>ii//.,i/ anif A/is- 
ir//ii/iroii.< ll'r//hi:^s o/' ll'il/ia/ii O. ijoddiirj were edited 
in lw(i large volumes by his son. Francis W. (ioddard. in 
the year I.S70. The-^e volumes are a valual)le conlribu- 
lion to the literary and political history of Rhode Island, 
Containing a record, in a ]iermanent form, of utterances 
upon ])assing events, of sentiments and princijdes of per- 
manent utility and wide application, which mu->t always 
be classed with the models f)t our language. Such writ- 
ings are a rare example of the manner in which ret'iiied 
culture may be coujiled with .\w active interc-t in the jio- 
litical duties and the practical affairs uf life, ddie services 
Professor Goildard rendered his native State during the 
civil commotion, w hich threatened to overthrow Us govern- 
ment, together w ith his services to scholarship and taste, 
learning and sound morals, give to his name a prominent 
and enduiing interest in the history of Rho<le Island. lie 
wielded a ])owerful and fearless jieii during the I )orr Re- 
beUum in -support of the principles of the Paw and ( )rder 
partv ; and the j'apers con"ipri->ing the second \olume ot 
his publishe<l writings, whicii originally appeared in the 
ProridiHce yoitruo/, show a philosophical ctmceptioii of 
the ])rinciples of go\ernment, a complete acquaintance w ith 
the nature and spirit of our American Constitution, and 
contain enduring axi«nns in politics, the fruit of a compre- 
hen-'i\'e and wcll-discij)lined mind. These essa\'s are none 
the less valuable because they were written with reference 
chielly to the affairs of Rhode Island, d'he moral signifi- 
cance of the ([uestions and events to wdnch they relate is 
not limited to the si/e of the stage cm which they were 
presented. Professor (.ioddard constantly labored to en- 
force the view that wdiile the jiarticular illustration of the 
spirit which in the year 1S42 sought to overthrow the gov- 
ernment of Rhode Island, was local, the spirit itself was 
not local ; that it was the spirit of revolution and rebellion, 
whuh. unless checked, w ould sooner or later impair the 
slabili;y of the tJeneral ( iov ernment, and eventually deluge 
the w hole country with blood, ddie motives wdiich inducetl 
]'rofe>>or t ;<.ddard to emerge from the repose and <|Uiet of 
a literar) life to assist in njiholding the pillars of the State 



BIO GRA P/J/CA L CYCL OPED/ A . 



225 



are best (iefincd in iiis own uttrds: '* Tlie politicians of the 
day are sadly puzzled to understand the motives which should 
induce citizens, habitually quiet and unoljtrusivc, to come out 
and show their colors at the present crisis. They seem 
to think that the field of discussion and of action on all 
occasions belongs exclusively to them. When they are en- 
gaged in shrewd contrivances to frustrate the intentions of 
nature, and to vote little men to be great men ; when they 
seek to make men governors of the people who have 
never yet learnt to govern themselves ; when they are try- 
ing to make men senators to whom God has refused wis- 
dom ; — why, in all such manufacturing processes, in all 
such paltry manipulations, I am content that they should 
do all the work. I, for one, prefer to keep out of the 
mill. But when they attempt to manufacture a constitution 
of government, and especially when they attempt to force 
a constitution of goveinment upon the people, as one of 
the people I claim the right to be heard, No array of 
numbers, however fonnidable, no political combination, 
however strongly cemented, no proscri|)tive fren/y. how- 
ever epidemic, no factious dommalinn, however insolent, 
should ever fright an honest man, huntble though he may 
be, from the intrepid maintenance of his great legal and 
constitutional rights. I have thought it nut improper to 
say these things ; because living as I do, near the crater of 
a belching volcano, I may be i)resumed to know something 
of the materials w'hich cause the mountain to burn and the 
sky to Hash with tempest." It remains briefly to refer to 
the character of Professor Goddard's mind. It has been 
said that " Mr. Goddard's mind was of an intuitive ratlier 
than dialectic character. It delighted not so much in co- 
gent argumentation as in the utterance of philosophical 
truths, which were apprehended and put forth with instinc- 
tive comprehension, force, and clearness. There was no 
deficiency of the logical element in the composition of his 
mind, but the intuitive perception, to which 1 have alluded, 
was so far predominant in its structure as generally to 
maintain the ascendency in all its operations; and yet 
more, he so loved to reveal the beauties and graces of 
language that his sentences were adorned almost uncon- 
sciously with Attic touches, such as more logical periods 
would be incapable of receiving." While this is all true, 
it does not in the slightest degree detract from Professor 
Goddard's merits as a dialectician, which are of a high 
order. His writings may contain no vast exhibition of 
the forms of the school ; but in the enunciative form { 
of argument they are completely sequent in reasoning j 
and conclusion. Space will not permit a further enume- 1 
ration of the public services of William Giles Goddard. 
His character was one of singular jiurity, and it was 
adorned by the highest Christian faith. His life was 
one of unselfish aims, elevated usefulness and honorable 
distinction; and his death deprived Rhode Island of one 
of its ablest, wisest, most accomplished, and honored 
citizens. 
29 



^I^VES, Moses Brown, merchant, eldest son of Thomas 
M^ P. and no[ie (Brown) Ives, was born in Providence, 
"^(^ luly 21, 1794. Having gone through a course of 
I preparatory stuily, he entered Brown University, 
1 and graduated therefrom in the class of 181 2. Soon 
after his graduation he commenced the study of law, and 
attended the lectures of Judges Gould and Reeves, at the 
Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. Although he was 
admitted to the bar in 1S15, it was not his purpose to prac- 
tice the profession which he had studied, as he had decided 
to engage in mercantile pursuits. He entered the count- 
ing-house of Hrown & Ives about this time, and for the 
next few years travelled extensively both in this country 
and in Europe, attending to the business of the firm with 
which he was connected. His life assuming a more set- 
tled character, in 1S20 he devoted himself with great assi- 
duity to the duties of his vocation as a merchant, and 
interested himself in enterprises and institutions which 
were designed to elevate the character of his nalive city. 
Upon the death of his father, in 1835, he was chosen 
President of the I'rovidence Bank, the oldest institution of 
its kind in the city or the State. This position he filled 
until his decease. He was also connected with the lead- 
ing financial corjiorations of the city, and was regarded as 
authority in matters pertaining to the welfare of these in- 
stitutions. F"or nearly thirty years he was a member of 
the Fire Department of Providence, ready to respond, in 
person, to the calls of duty by day and by night In the 
cause of pujiular education, as affecting all the best interests 
of the city, he took ihe most lively interest, and for many 
years was one of the most eilicient members of the School 
Committee. Of the l'ro\idence Athencvuni he was one of 
the founders, anil a generous contributor to its j)ermaneiit 
endowment. He was elected a Trustee of Brown Uni- 
versity in 1822, and held this position until his death, a 
period of thirty-five years. He was chosen Treasurer of 
the University in 1S25. " For thirty-two years he person- 
ally superintended its financial concerns, and gave gratu- 
itously his tune and his services to the promotion of its 
various interests, with a fidelity an<I wisdom wdiich have 
seldom been paralleled, and never surpassed in the history 
of literary institutions." While he was in office large sums 
of money were raised from time to time to give stability 
to the institution, and increase its resources as a place of 
liberal education. Among the most generous and constant 
donors to these funds was the subject of this skelch. In 
like manner he was to the end of his life the Treasurer of 
the Butler Hospital for the Insane, of which he was one of 
the earliest corporators and founders. The tlej^arture from 
this life of so useful a citizen and so upright a man created 
a great void in the community, and the expressions of the 
appreciation in \\diich he was held were numerous, and 
met with a response in the hearts of those wdio had known 
him only to respect and admire a character of singular 
beauty and harmony. The " Social Club," of which he 



226 



BIO GR. I P//IC.I L CYL 'L OPEOIA . 



was a iiK-nilici" fur scnriiUHn \i-ars, in spi-akiiii^ of the loss 
wliieli il \\m\ sustaiiK'il, saitl ; " In his sevunlccn yt-ais' 
nuni! 'fi ship he hatl lucMne i-iKJeaieii in iis, ainl had coni- 
nianiled our hiL;hcst rei^aiil I'mi iIil- lemailval'le union in 
him ol" (ii^nifieil urhanity \\ i(h uiioliliiisi\c SLJt-rchance, 
of cahn. iicnulralin;^ intc-lliL;cncc, \\ illi tlic must j^cnial 
social (jualities. and for ilie same [luncUiality and integrity 
in his connei tioii w ith us. wiiiili so luL^idv distlngiuslieii 
liis coniniercial tliaraetcr, and winch, in cuinliination with 
a sound judgincnt, e\tensive linowledgc, a cultivated udml, 
aiul many iKthle i|ualnies, made him a central i)oint of in- 
fluence and usefulness \\'liere\ er he was associated inpultlic 
or private relatuins." Mr. Ives was withdrawn from the 
active duties of life for only a comparatively short time. 
lie ilied al his country residence on Potowomul Neck, in 
Warwick. .August 7, 1S57. He married, A)iril 17, 1S33, 
Anne Allen, ilaugliter of Sullivan and Lydia (.Mien) Dorr. 
They had twn children, Thomas P., born lanuary 17, 1S34, 
and Hope I'.rown. wife of Henry (_;. Kussell, Esip, of 
I'ro\ idence. 



;.\MM1';LL, Ri v. Whmam, clergyman in Newport, 
j;. was liorn in liostcm. Massachusetts, J, muary 9, 178(1. 
"S^ He was the son of J'llni and Margaret (L'rann) 
(■'(''■;> Gammell, anfl receiverl his early education in his na- 
'¥ tive town. His parents were members of the Federal 
.Street Congregational Church, of which the Rev. Dr. 
Channing was for many years the minister. .At the age 
of about twenty-one years he was bapitized by the Rev. 
Dr. Samuel SliUman, and became a member of the I list 
liaplist ('hurch in liostoii. He soon afterwards began to 
[irepare for the (_"liristi.iii ministry, and for this jiiirpose 
bec.ime a pupil of the Rev. William Williams, of Wren- 
tham, .Massaclniseits, a welbknown teacher of theol.igy 
in that d.iy. (_)n the completion of his prejiaiatoiy studies, 
he liegan to pieach for the liaplist church in Ijellingham, 
Massachusetts, where he was ordained in I.S09. In iSlo 
he took charge of the Haptist church in Medtield, Massa- 
chusetts, where he remained for thirteen years the jiastor 
ol a prosperous rural church, by wlicise members he was 
greatly beloved and res|)ected. In .August, 1SJ3, he 
nio\cd to New}>cirt, ha\ing accepted the imit.uion of the 
Second ILijitist (.'liiirch in that town to become its pastor. 
Here he inimeiliately entered upon a conspicuous career, 
which termin.itcd only with his early death. His rare 
gills as a public speaker attracted large congregations, while 
his line social ijualities and his public spirit as a citi/en 
secured for him a commanding inlluence. He was very 
early engaged in the movement for establishing the hrst 
public school in Newport. — an undertaking which encoiin- 

tereil strong oppositi bin which was s|ieedily carried 

into ellcci, with imineiise .id\.iiitage to the town. He 
wrote very ire'|uenlly on lojiics .if public interest, both lor 



the secular and the religious ]iress. Besides this, and 
now and then an occasional address or sermon, no other 
production of his pen w.is published. His personal 
presence was commanding, his voice was singularly suited 
to oratory, and his mode of adilress in the pulpiit re- 
markably winning and impressi\e. In the midst of his 
usefulness, and in full health, he w.is suddenly stricken 
with apople.vy, and died, .May 30, 18^7, at the age of 
forty-one years ami nearly five months. He received 
from lirown University, in 1S17, the honorary degree of 
Master of Arts, and in lS.ro he was chosvn a Trustee 
of the University, a position w liich he held until his 
ileath. In iSli he married Mary .Slocomb, of Belling- 
hani, who died m iSjo. They had four children — three 
sons and a daughter. In 1S2J he married Maria .An- 
toinette Madey, of Medtield, who died in 1S44. They 
had three daughters. 



VE.S. Ri iBi-;uT II.AI.K, merchant, second son of Thomas 
I'oynton, and Hope (15rown) Ives, was born in 
l'ro\idence, Rhode Island, .September id, 171)8. 
[.,, J He was titled for college at the L'niversity (irammar- 
'•i Scl I, under the tuition, chiefly, of Hbenezer Bur- 
gess — subseiiuently the Rev. I)r. Burgess, an eminent Con- 
gregational clergyman of Dedham, Massachusetts, and 
graduated at Brown University, in the class of 1816, with 
high rank as a scholar. Immediately on leaving college, 
he entered the countiiig-lniu>e of Messrs. Blown ^: I\es, 
intending to de\oie himself t<i meicaiitile piursuits. He 
w .Is thus emj'loyed f< .r se\'eral years, when, lor purposes 
of rehixation and iinpro\emeiit, he passed twii years in 
Europe, his coiiipianion in tra\e], for a piait of this time, 
lieing his cousin and classmate, John (_'arter Bun\n. On 
his return b'om abrriad.in 182(1, he again took his place 
in the counting-house, and, in 1832, was admitted a part- 
ner in the hrm of Brown & I\cs, being the youngest mem- 
ber of the tirm. Tlie foundation of the fortune of this 
eminent Inin was laid in the prohts derived from foreign 
trade, in which, for many years, they were engaged. But 
deeming tli.il the manufacture of cotton-goods, which, from 
humble beginnings in I7')0, under the management ot' 
.Samuel SI, iter, had grown to be the great industrial emjiloy- 
iiKiit of Rhode Island, would be a more protitable busi- 
ness, they gradually withdrew their capital from foreign 
commerce, and invested it in cotton mills. With great 
skill, good judgment, and untiring industry, Mr. Ives de- 
voted himself to this new branch of business. Buildings 
were erected at Lonsdale, and for inany years he was the 
treasurer and managing agent of the company which was 
formeil to carr)' on business in that village. While thus 
de\ uting himself w ith great energy and success to business, 
he was also deejil) inlerestei.1 in a variet)' of movements 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



227 



whicli had reference to the social, intellectual, and relig- 
ious elevation of the community in which he lived. Of 
the Butler Hospital for the Insane, which was founded in 
1844, he was one of the original trustees, and the secretary 
of its corporation thirty-one years. Of this institution he 
was a munificent patron and devoted friend, caring for its 
interests down to the close of life. Tlie Rhode Island 
Hospital was established in 1863. Of this institution Mr. 
Ives, more than any other man, was the founder. He was 
the first President of its corporation, and contributed to its 
funds over $60,000. Of Brown University he was a trustee for 
forty-five years, during nine of which he was its treasurer. 
He was a generous friend of his alma }nn/f>\ and through 
life contributed liberally for its advancement. He was a 
devout member of the Episcopal Church, of which, early 
in life, he became a communicant by connecting himself 
with St. John's Church in his native city, and took a special 
and Ufe-Iong interest in promoting its prosperity. Few 
educational institutions of his church in the country but 
failed to receive some tokens of his regard for their wel- 
fare. His thoughtful attention was turned to the new and 
rising States in the great West, and with a sure foresight 
and the same sort of sagacity which had guided him in 
his business affairs, he contributed largely to establish 
churches, colleges and schools in different sections of that 
part of our common country. The amount thus contributed 
for these various objects of benevolence will never be 
known, but it was unquestionably very large. Modest, 
and seeking no outward distinctions among men, the gen- 
erous donor was satisfied to give, without ostentation, sure 
that his gifts would result in promoting the best interests 
of humanity, and be pleasing to Him whose steward he 
loved to regard himself. It was said of him, by an emi- 
nent fellow-citizen, after his decease, " No man, perhnps, 
has lived among us who gave away so much money during 
his life ; certainly no one who gave so much in so unosten- 
tatious and so judicious a manner.'' In the affairs of the 
General Government, wdiile he never sought, and, with rare 
exceptions, never accepted any civil trusts, he took a lively 
interest. In the days of the Whigs, he belonged to that 
party, and was a member of the Baltimore Convention in 
1852, and did what he could to secure the nomination of 
Daniel Webster for the Presidency of the United States. 
In the civil strife in Rhode Island of 1S42, he was a 
" Law and Order" man, and, in the great Civil War, he 
was a warm friend and generous supporter of his country, 
giving to it not only his treasure, but what he valued in- 
finitely above all his earthly possessions, his only son. Few 
citizens of Providence have, in many ways, left deeper and 
more enduring marks of an influence for good in the com- 
munity in which he lived, and the country which he loved, 
than Robert Hale Ives. He married, in Oclol)er, 1827, 
Harriet Bowen, daughter of Thomas Amory, of Boston, 
who died in 1868. Of their children, three lived to adult 
age. He died in Providence, July 6, 1875. 



'RflWN, Nicholas, 3d, Lieutenant Governor of 
Rhode Island, the eldest son of Nicholas, 2d, was 
born in Providence, October 2, 1792. He gradu- 
ated at Brown University, in the class of 181 1. 
After his graduation he went to Europe, where lie 
spent many years. On his return he took up his residence 
in Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. President 
Polk appointed him, in 1845, Consul of the United States 
at Rome, Italy. He represented the Government in the 
Papal States during the excitement connected with the 
revolution of 1848. In 1853 he returned to this country, 
and took up his residence at Providence and at his country 
estate in Warwick. In 1856 he was chosen Lieutenant 
Governor of Rhode Island. Mr. Brown was fond of rare 
and costly books, of which he made a valuable collection. 
Having gone to Troy, New York, on business, he died in 
that city, after an illness of but two or three days, March 
22, 1859. Mr. Brown was twice married. His first wife 
was Abby Mason, wdiom he married July 7, 1820. She 
died November 7, 1822, leaving no chiUlrcn. His second 
wife, whom he married November 22, 1S31, was Caroline 
Matilda Clemens. She survived him twenty years. They 
had six children: Nicholas Alfred, born September 16, 
1.S32; Ann Mary, born February 10, 1835, died March 
22, 1S37; Ann Mary, born March 9, 1837; John Carter, 
born March 16, 1S40; Charlotte Matilda Clements, born 
October 28, 1S41 ; Robert Grenville. born June 16, 1746. 



jJk^'ROWN, Hon. John Carter, second son of Nich- 
^^^) olas and Ann (Carter) Brown, was born in Prov- 
|S| idence August 28, 1797, and was a graduate of 
4m Brown University in the class of 1S16. Having 
4 completed his collegiate education, he entered upon 
mercantile pursuits, and in 1832 became a partner in the 
house of Brown & Ives. In 1841, by the decease of his 
father, he came into possession of an ample estate, and 
was in a condition to gratify his tastes for other employ- 
ments besides those connected with his special calling as 
a merchant. It is said that his love for active business 
was never very strong or controlling. He did not like the 
daily restraints which it imposes, and he had little relish 
for the excitements which it involves. Guided by his 
peculiar tastes, he became a traveller, not only through 
many sections of his own country, but in the different coun- 
tries of Europe. He lived abroad several years. Early in 
life he began to develop a love for rare and curious books, 
and with unwearied pains and at great expense he collected 
one of the best libraries, if not the best library, of American 
histon- in this country. He procured nearly all the publica- 
tions found in different languages relating to this subject, 
beginning with the Columbus letters of 1493, and ending 
with the political pamphlets of iSoo. The catalogue of 



228 



lUOGRAPinCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



llil> tnilv im-oiiipnr,il'!e co]li.-(.nimi of works on Amcvican 
hislorv. wliuli, with i-\[>lan.ilory iiotrs, was ]iri.-i>arc(l by 
H.>n. I. K. KartKll. ( .Milamc!. al t!ir linif ol its pulilica- 
tion, 502s U'lti-rs, ill a !ai_;c luiiiilicr ul" in^tanCL-^, rcprcsenl- 
iiit; luo 01 more volunu-s. This minil'cr has hi-cii cun- 
bitlfial'ly iiKica-nl siiK«.- ihi- (alah>;^uc was iniiitcil. The 
colluctioii is a iicrfccl thesaurus of the li^si hooks on the 
history of the entire cniuinciil ol America; an<l. as a tasle 
for Iii-toii( :i! inve-lii^alioii _l;io\\ s stroUL^er among the schol- 
ars of our eouiitry ami of olher countries, it will assume a 
value as a reference lihrary t;rcater than we can well esti- 
mate. Indeed. It lias alwa\s l)een " accessihle." remarks 
I'lofessor (iamnu'li, "to sthol.irs and authors who were 
sludjiriL; the snhjects to wiiich it relates. laiiinent men 
from oltur Slates, and even from lMn*o])e, Iiave \isited 
I'roviilence on jnirpose to eonsuU or to study sume work 
which they etuild find nowhere eNe than in Mr. i'.rown's 
Iilirarv. S() L^reat, indeed, has lieen his readiness to make 
this colieclion useful to liistorians in other couniries. that 
m at lea^t three instances he has sent across ihe Atlantic 
lui.tKs which, if thev Iiad heeii lost. Coultl never have been 
replaced. In one iiisianre this was done to meet the 
wishes of Sir Arthur IlLdps. the histnrian of The SpanisJi 
Coxqiicsf in .h/uyira, who, in .nie of the volumes of that 
work, makes a gracelul aLkiiowdedgnient of the unex- 
ain|iled courtesy which he had thus experienced."' Mr. 
iJrown was i_hosen a I ru^tre of Brow 11 Uni\ersiiv in 1S2S, 
and a Fellow m 1S42. IIis gifts lu the I'niversity were 
numerous and co-^tly. The Uhrary in some of its depart- 
ments, especially in the departments of pjiglisli and Con- 
tiii<-iital liieiature, was greatly cnrieheil liy his liherality. 
lie added, loo, to the value of the [ihdoM.iphical apparatus 
l»y his timely gifts, and conliiluited liL^erally to the erection 
of some of its liiiihiings and the enlargement of its real 
estate. Ili> gifts in the-e \aiinus directions amounted to 
upward of 570,000. The new library building with the 
land ow w hicli it stands, tlie wdiole valued at not far from 
$100,000, was his gift. lie has thus given to his d/nm 
inatt'y not much less than ^175, 000, and his name stands 
thus far in tiie tVont rank of the benefactors of Iliown Uni- 
versity, his father's name only taking precedence of Ins. 
To other institutions of learning all over the country he e\- 
teiidrd a hrlpiiig hand, at ciilical junctures in their history, 
when, but lor such timely aid as he and men of kiiidivd 
sjiirit bestowed, they must have sunk into heljjless embar- 
rassment, lie was interested, moreover, in the benevolent 
instiunioiis of his own city and Stale. Me was one of the 
(original corporators of the Butler llosplal for the In- 
sane, anil contril'Uted generously to its support. At I lie 
lime of his death he was rresuleiit of the Corj-oration. 
E'|ualiy interested was he. in a practical and most snb- 
stanti.il way, in the founding of the Rhode Islantl IIo-,- 
pit.d. to wiiich at diflereiit tinurs he conliibuted what in 
the aggregate amounted to over S.S4,0[x:i. I-'or a year or 
more he was the I'lesidcml of the New England Kmi^ 



grant Aid Society, vvhfise ol)ject it was to assist emigrants 
who wished to settle in Kansas and make out of that Ter- 
ritory a free Slate. l>uring the Civil War he was a warm 
jiatriot, responding to every proper call made ui>on hini 
lor sympathy and pecuniary aid. It was never lii^ wish 
to make liimself ]>ersMnally promiiR-nt in ei\il or |~)o!iiical 
matters. His preferences were lor the ipiiet of an un- 
ostentatious life. His habits of li\ing were simple and 
without show. He loved his library, and ti)ok a never- 
ceasing interest in adtling, in every possible way, to its 
real value. While he was decided ami very hrm in the 
possession and maintenance of his own opinions, he was 
charitable and tolerant toward others. Hu reputaiioii lor 
mercantile integrity and hoiioiable dealing in all the trans- 
actions of business life was without a st.dn. A life of such 
Usefulness, extending on through su many years, is a bless- 
ing to any community, the worth of which it is impossible 
to estimate. I'y his liberali'Ly. wisely an<l generously be- 
stowed, Mr. Ilrown set in motion trains o! beneiicent in- 
fluence which will make themselves felt for generations to 
come. The possession of large wealth falls to the lot of 
t omparati\ el) few persons, and \\liun these few ha\e the 
heart to leel m\<\ the wisdom to plan for tiie highest good 
o\ humanity, we may be grateful to Him who inspires right 
purposes and guiilcs to the performance of right deeds. 
After an illness of a few weeks Mr. Ihown died in I'ro\i- 
ilence June 10, 1S74, in the seventy-seventh year of his 
age. In May, iS^o. he married Sophia Augusta, daughter 
of Hon. I'atiick iJrowne, who livetl in the British Island 
of NeW'- l'ro\idence. Her mother and maternal ancestors 
li\ed in Rhode Island. Mrs. Urowii sursi\es lier husband, 
with three children, John Nicholas, Harold, and Sophia 
Augusta. 




r?ARRIS, Hon. Kdw.vrk, manufacturer, son of David 
^| F. an<l Fydia (Streeter) Harris, was born in 
Smillilield, near lame Rock, Rhode Island. Ucto- 
ler 3, iSor, and died at his houie in Woonsocket, 
Rhode Island. November 24. 1872. His lather 
was a native of Nantucket, MassachusLtts, and his mother 
was born in Smithtield, Rlio<h.- Island. In his early child- 
hciod his parents removed to I )utchess (_'ounty. New V(.»rk, 
anil remaincil tin re until iSiS. when he removed to Ash- 
tabula County, f ihio. IK- received only ordinary advan- 
tages of education. His boyhood and youth were spent 
at home, his time being enijiloyed in farming, studying, 
and teaching school. Wh.it he lacked in literary at- 
lainmenls lie made goo. I by a critical observance t)f men 
and things, and thus laid the h)umlation of character that 
luted him to become one of the ablest business men of the 
c<iunlry. Previous to the age of Iwenty-onc he had no 
connection with manufacturing interests. In 1S2J he re- 
turned Irom the West to his place of nativity, having only 
twenty-iive cents left after J'aying his travelling e\i)enses, 
and became an assistant in the counting-house of his uncle, 




© 



^- ^€C0'~,U^- ^^y' //P^^^r^^^:^ 



y c 




BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



229 



Willinm Harris, who wns then one of the most extensive 
manufacturers in Rliode Island, his [)lace of business being 
at Valley Falls. In 1S24 he entered the Albion Mills, 
then owned by his two uncles, \\'iniam Harris and ^ianiuel 
B. Harris, and Abraham and Isaac Wilkinson, After 
working here for a short time for his uncle W'illiam, he 
began to work for his uncle Samuel, for one dollar and 
thirty-three cents a day, and at the end of eighteen months 
had saved from his earnings one hundred and six dollars, 
with which he paid all his debts. Uuring his second year 
he received higher wages, and soon afterwards was pro- 
moted to the position of superintendent of the factory, and 
continued as such until 1828. In November of that year 
he became the agent of the Harris I,ime Rock Company, 
which was engaged in manufacturing lime, and held that 
agency until November I, 1830. In 1831, with a capital 
of S35OO, which he had saved from his earnings, except 
$1000 borrowed from his father, he bought a small woollen 
null, now known as " No. I " of the Harris Woollen Com- 
pany, with one set of machinery, on the Blackstone River, 
at Woonsocket, and in March, I S3 1, began to manufacture 
satinets, with Edward Seagrave and Willard B. Johnston 
for his associates. A decline in woollen goods, which re- 
duced his capital to SIOCK), necessitated his turning aside 
from this enterprise, and he returned to the Albion Mills, 
as superintendent, still retaining an interest in his satinet 
mill. During the following year the advance in his fabrics 
netted him §5000, and this may be taken as the starling- 
point of his great success in business. In 1837 he dissolved 
partnership with Mr. Seagrave, and ever after carried on 
business alone. In 1836 his stone mill in Woonsocket was 
built, designated as " No. 2," in which he began to manu- 
facture his " Merino Cassimere," and in 1842 he began to 
make his all-wool fabrics, extensively known as the " Harris 
Cassimeres." In 1844 was built his factory " No. 3," a 
large brick and stone structure, in the central part t>f Woon- 
socket. In 1845 factory " No. 4 " was erected and work 
commenced in it. All of these mills were run by water 
from the Woonsocket Falls, and partially by steam power. 
They are known as the "Old Mills." They contained 
twenty-five sets of wool cards, and turned out 12,000 yards 
of the best quality of " Harris Cassimeres" a week. His 
cotton mill, known as " No. 5," has 7000 spindles. In 
1S60 he commenced his factory " No. 6," called the " New 
Mill," on Mill River, a little north of Woonsocket, and 
this was the last great work of his life. The building is 
of brick, upon deep-laid foundations, in the form of an L, 
and the entire length of both sections is 442 feet, 60 feet 
wide, and five stories high. It contains a Corliss engine 
of 175 horse-power, and a water-wheel of 28 feet breast and 
40 feet diameter, capable of running the whole mill. The 
mill has 25 sets of woollen machinery for jirodueing fancy 
cassimeres and staple woollens. It was finished and set in 
operation in 1865. Connected with tliis mill are a dye- 
house, picker-house, foundry, planing, and sav\ -milU. and 



So houses with 250 tenements, Mr. Harris made over 250 
styles of cassimeres a year, having for his standard of work, 
" Make the best goods possible." His attention to the de- 
tails of his immense business was no less diligent than that 
to the outlines of his plans, and he as critically studied the 
characters of his ]>rincipal employes, as he did the capacity of 
the larger water-wheels of his machinery, and it was a great 
misfortune for one in his counting-room to be found " out of 
gear," or wrongly " balanced." He would not be restricted to 
the usual customs of trade, and stipulated an exclusive 
agency with a heavy dealer in New York on condition that 
all notes taken for " Harris Cassimeres " should be kept in 
a package by themselves, and that no notes from those 
holding or dealing in slaves should be put into that pack- 
age. In 1855 he opened a warehouse in New York City, 
and made his bills payable two months shorter than those 
of other houses, allowing from two and a half to five per 
cent, to his patrons for early payments, and was thus surer 
of his pay, and suffered much less than others in the crisis 
of 1857. When others suspended operations he bought 
supplies cheaply and drove his mills the more vigorously. 
When others declined all credits in 1861, Mr. Harris al- 
lowed three months' credit, and thus increased his business. 
His robust constitution, clear head, and great energy car- 
ried him through perplexities and responsibilities of great 
magnitude. What would have overwhelmed some, was to 
him a pleasing stimulant. Rising early, he attended to the 
details of his extensive business, anil would not trust to 
others what he could do himself. His new mills produce 
an average of 750,000 yards of exjiensive cassimeres an- 
nually, and the products of his other mills are about the 
same, the cotton mill producing 150,000 yards annually, 
the aggregate business transactions of his estate amounting 
to $3,000,000 a year. These various interests he incor- 
porated into the " Harris Woollen Company," to be con- 
tinued as such after his death. Of this company Mr. Har- 
ris's son-in-law, Oscar J, Rathbun, is President, Joseph E. 
Cole, Treasurer and Secretary, and the jiroperty is divided 
by will among the heirs to the estate. While Mr. Harris 
was amassing his great fortune he was mindful of the wel- 
fare of others. There is reason to believe that the sum of 
his donations was half a million. His elegant home- 
stead bespeaks his care for his family. He spent about 
5100,000 constructing ne.v streets in Woonsocket. He 
also donated the site for the Woonsocket High .School, the 
site for a district school, and the laud for the new and 
beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery. In June, 18G3, he donated 
to his townsmen the elegant block and grounds known as 
the " Harris Institute," whose first trustees were Dr. Ariel 
Ballon, Oscar J. Rathbun, Joseph E. Cole, Samuel S. Foss, 
and Reuben G. Randall, " with perpetual succession, for 
the purpose of promoting the moral, intellectual, and social 
improvement of the inhabitants of the district " named in 
the second section of the act incorporating the Institute, 
which embraces a free library, a large hall for free lectures, 



BIOCRAFIIICAL CYCLOPED/A. 



ainl (in tlu- i;romi.l-llu.ii- tlirco stores ami the Post-Office, 
fniin wliioli tlieie i-. an iucie.isinj,' revenue for the sup]iort 
of the leetures anil increase of Hlirary, tlie whole building 
anil site h.ivini; eost Mr. Harris 575,000. He donated 
$2500 to form a nnc Iru- of the lilirary, which now has 
7000 volumes. The Inslitute li.ls SSooo in its treasury. 
The aliove-nanied Moek is of liriek, 100 feet loni;, 60 feet 
wide, and llnee sturies liiu;li. 'I'ci the banking; institutions 
of Woonsoeket Mr. 1 lairis conlributed lartjely in p.itronaije 
and influence. He was ..ne of the miginalors and the Ih-t 
rresi.lent of the f^ailroa.l Hank, oryani/ed in 1S51, and 
ludd that ofliee until his death, the name of the bank hav- 
ing; been changed in 1S65 to that of the First National 
)!ank. In I.S62 he became President of the Teople'.s Sav- 
ings Lank, which was organized in I.'s57, ami continued to 
Serve as its President mnil lii^ de.itli. In miildle life he 
was a niend'cr of both iir.uuhes of the Rliode Kland t_;ene- 
ral .Xssembl)-. He wa> a strong I'pponent of intemperance 
and slavery, and was intimate with the leading abolition- 
ists, and while know n as such was de-ired to omit his name 
from his fabrics to increase the Sonlhern sales. Instead of 
this he ordered his name to be placed on both ends of each 
piece of his cassinieres. He ciuUriliuted much to the anti- 
shnery cause, and greall\' rejoiced at the emancipation of 
the slave. Wilde John lirown was in prison under sen- 
tence of death, Mr. Il.rriis wrote liiin a \ery Christian and 
consoling letter, accompanied with a check for one liun- 
dred dollars for the bereaved fimily. This check was re- 
cei\*ed and acknow ledged in a letter written by John Brown 
the (l.iy behire he was executed. Mr. Harris married first, 
Hecember 2, 1.^35, Rachel I'"arnuin, daughter of Moses 
Farnuni, of Blackstone, Massachusetts, and sister of Wel- 
come and I)arius I.». I''arnnin, c\tensi\e manufacturers of 
woollen goods at \V,iterford, Massachusetts. She died Feb- 
ruary 7, 1S46. Their cdiildren were I lavid F. ; Rachel F., 
who niarrie<l,( ictober 24, i.Sbo, ( Iscar J. Rathlmn, of Woon- 
soeket, son i_)f .\aron and luha I-".. ( lenckes) Ratlibun, and 
is highly esteemed by his townsmen. The second wife of 
Mr. Harris was Abby P., daughter of Joseph Metcalf, of 
Cumberland, Rhode Island. Their cliililren are Joseph M., 
I'annia ( 1.. Isabel, and Helen. Josejih M. Harris died in 
I'.eibn, I'rll^si.^, ( Ictober 21. I.S72,ili lii^ twenty-fourth year. 
He had an interest in liis l.illier's business, an-.l gave 
])romise of becoming his w orlhy successor. He was greatly 
beIo\ed; his joss was deeply lamented. He was a grad- 
u.ite of Ilrown L'ni\eisitv. 



^irV.URFEE, Hon. J..n, s..n of Hon. Thomas and M.117 

fJLJr (Louden) Ijurfee, w ,is born in Tiverton, Rhode 

j"'.';'"' Island, .September 20, 17110. His father, of Rhode 

(:\"l I ..land anceslry, was a soldier in the Revolution, 

* engaged in llie b.lllle of (Ju.iker Hill, afterwards 

studied l.iw .did bei. line ('liief [ustKe of the Com t of Com- 



mon I'le.as. Ili^ mother was a devoted Christian woman. 
The family residence was located near Tiverton Heights, 
overlooking some of the fairest portions of Narragansett 
Bay. The subject of this sketch was well educated in his 
rural home and in the public schools of his time, being an 
eager and thoughtful reader of books. He fitted for col- 
lege in Bristol, Rhode Fland, and in 1S09 entered Brown 
University, then under Dr. .-Xsa Messer, and graduated 
with high honor in the class of 1S13, with Hon. Zachariah 
,\llcn, l.l..|i.,Rev. Romeo FIton, li.I »., Rev. Joel Hawes, 
il.n.. Rev. laioch pond, H.H,, ami Rev. Thomas She|.- 
ard, Il.Ib in the same year hedelivered a F'lUirlh of July 
Oration. He early developed rare poetic talent, and the 
year after his graduation delivered a poem — " The Vision 
of Petrarch," — before the United Brothers Society of the 
University. He pursued the study of law with his honored 
father. In iSiii he was elected liy his native town a Rep- 
reseniative in the Cieneral .Vssembly, which office he held 
by re-election for four years, and was distinguished as a 
sound and ready debater. In 1S20 he was elected by the 
State a Representative to Congress, and served till 1S25, 
and stood conspicuous in the national councils. In I.S26 
he was returned to the C.eneral Assembly, and in October, 
1S27, was chosen Speaker of the House, a position which 
he also ably lilled in 1S2S, and until May, 1829, after 
which he refused a re-election to the Cener.il .\ssembly. 
In I.S;; he was elected Associ.ite Judge of the Supreme 
Court of the State, and in June, I.'^j5, w-as chosen to the 
seat of Chief Justice, a position wdiich he held w itli pecu- 
liar honor to himself and to the State through the trying 
period of the •' I lorr Rebellion," and until his death. The 
first edition of his poem, '■ What Cheer," was brought out in 
lSj2. The work had an enthusiastic reception in Eng- 
land, winning golden opinions from the critics, even from 
John F'osler in the famous E,-li-ilic Rei'icw. In January, 
lS:;b, he delivered fiefore the Rhode Island Historical 
Societv, two marked lectures on .Aboriginal History. 
A year or two later he deli\ered, Iiefore the Massa- 
chusetts Hi-torical Society, a lecture on the "Idea of 
the Supern.itiiral among the Aborigines." His memor- 
able charge on Treason, printed and widely circulated, 
was delivered to the I iranil Jury during the excitement 
occasioned bv die " I )orr War." He delivered an elo- 
quent oration on the Progress of Ideas — or Human Prog- 
ress, before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Brown I'ni- 
versitv. in r.'s4_5. His largest and most labored prose work, 
Paiudi-a, fhst aiipeared in 1.S40, under the pseudonynie of 
TJicopff!. The work was profoundly metaphysical and 
evinceil the great intellectual power of the author, yet it 
failed to attract w idc attention. Ihe w inter preceding his 
death he delivered an able discourse on the Rhode Island 
Idea of Covernmenl. A life so full of activity and usel illness 
justly won a noble and enduring niche in Rhode Island 
history. The pure and solid character of the student, 
iudge. and author, w.is manifest in all his rleeds, and 



BlOGRAPmCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



stnncU conspicuous in his writings. Me married, in the 
autumn of 1S20, Judith Borden, daugliter of Simeon Bor- 
den, and had seven children, two sons and five daughters. 
The younger son died February 23, 1S58, in tlie twenty- 
ninth year of his age. The eldest son, Hon. Thomas Dur- 
fee, is the present Chief Justice of the .Supreme Court of 
Rhode Island. Judge Durfee died July 26, 1847, in the 
fifty-seventh year of his age. He requested tliat his tomb- 
stone should be engraved with the Rhode Island Coat of 
Anns, and the words, ** His trust was and is in (iod." 



'■jRAN'CIS, Hon. John Brown, Governor of Rhode 
Island from 1833 to 1838, son of John and Abby 
(Brown) Francis, was born in Philadelphia, May 
- 31, 1791. The place of his parents' residence was 
J" Providence, to which they removed soon after his 
birth. When he was five years of age his father dieil, and 
he was made the subject of the fostering care of his grand- 
father on his mother's side, John Brown, the leading mer- 
chant of the town. He prepared for college at the Uni- 
versity Grammar School, and graduated at Brown University 
in the class of iSoS. After leaving college he spent some 
time in the house of Messrs. Brown & Ives, and at a later 
period attended the lectures of the law school at Litchfield, 
Connecticut, rather for the purposes of mental culture in 
certain departments of knowledge and intellectual disci- 
pline, than for entrance upon the onerous duties of pro- 
fessional life. After completing his term of study at the 
law school he devoted several years to the management of 
the large estate bequeathed to him by liis grandfather, 
spending a part of his time among his paternal relatives in 
Philadelphia. Upon the decease of his mother he took up 
his residence at .Spring Green, Warwick, the country-seat 
of his family. Very soon he was called to represent the 
town of Warwick in the General Assembly and was an- 
nually chosen to fill that position from 1821 to 1829. He 
was chosen a member of the State Senate in 1S31. In 
1833 he was elected Governor of Rhode Island, and was 
annually re-elected to this office until 1838, when the party 
opposed to him came into power. For the next few years 
he took but little active interest in politics. During the 
troubles which disturbed the State in 1842 he was chosen 
a member of the Senate of Rhode Island, and represented 
in that body the " Law and Order " party. A vacancy 
having occurred in the Senate of the United States in con- 
sequence of the resignation of Hon. WUliam Sprague, he 
was chosen to fill it in 1844, and was in Congress until the 
session closed in March, 1845. Having completed his 
term of service in Congress he was again elected to the .State 
Senate, and annually re-elected until 1S56, when he retired 
from political life. For twenty-nine years, from 1S28 to 
1S57, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Brown 
University, and from 1841 to 1S54, a perio^l of thirteen 



years, he held the office of Chancellor. He identified him- 
self warmly with the interests of pojjular education in the 
State, and was the friend of all good causes which in any 
way promoted the moral and intellectual elevation of his 
fellow-citizens. Governor Francis was twice married ; the 
first time to Anne Carter, only daughter of Hon. Nicholas 
Brown, in 1822. She died in 1828, leaving two daughters, 
of whom one only is now living, Mrs. Marshall Woods, of 
Providence. His second marriage was with his cousin, the 
daughter of Thomas Willing Francis, of Philadelphia, in 
1832. She with one son and two daughters survive her 
husband. Governor Francis died at Spring Green, War- 
wick, August 9, 1864. He was one of Rhode Island's 
most distinguished and useful citizens, " regarded by the 
people among whom he always lived with a mingled af- 
fection and respect which they have accorded to no other 
public man of his time." 



j.\wy<y|NOWLES, Prokessor James D.wis, second son 
l| of Edward and Amey (Peck) Knowles, was born 
t ^ . in Providence, in luly, 1798. His father was a 
: respectable mechanic, and both his parents \\'ere 
I persons of exemplary character. His father great- 
ly desired that his son should enjoy the advantages of a 
collegiate education, but his death prevented the fulfilment 
of this wish. At the age of about twelve, the subject of 
this sketch was placed in the printing-office of John Carter, 
a gentleman of high repute in Providence, and at that 
time editor of the Providence Gazelle. In this position 
he not only became thorough master of his trade, but 
he learned, with rare facility, the use of his pen. While 
serving his apprenticeship he prepared many articles, both 
in prose and poetry, for the newspapers of the day. Some 
of these articles, copied by his i)rother from his manuscripts 
that the authorship of them might not be detected, were 
published in the Gazelle, and we are told that he enjoyed, 
in secret, the satisfaction of hearing the first-fruits of author- 
ship warmly commended by competent judges, and by them 
ascribed to some of the practiced writers of the day. He 
remained in the office of the Gazelle a short time after the 
decease of Mr. Carter, and was a frequent contributor to its 
columns. When he was twenty years of age, he was em- 
ployed as foreman in the printing-office of the Rhode Island 
American, and on reaching the age of twenty-one, July, 
1819, became co-editor of that paper. Here the productions 
of his ready pen found a place, and commanded the respect 
and often the admiration of the patrons of that paper. 
Such mastery had he over his thoughts, and so well-trained 
had he become in expressing them tliat he sometimes gave 
form to them without the intervention of pen, ink, or paper. 
"On one occasion," says Profesosr Goddard, "I .stood by 
his side and saw him arrange his ideas in the composing- 
stick with as much rapidity as he could select the types and 
adjust them. The aiticle thus eomposcj was so distin- 



232 



!ih)(:RAl'lHC.\I- C\CLO/'E/>;.l. 



f;iiislicil Imi- viL;.ir ..f thoiiLjlil :iii'l Kc.iiit) uf cN|>l■L■■-^i()^ that 
it w.^^ tran-.ci il'i'd iiit.i ilir c^)lunln^ nf tlic NiUioiial Gin,t/i.\ 
then editL-il l>y our CL-lcluatciI <nimli vin.in, K<il>rit \V.il>1>, 
1-N(|." Snoii altrr hrtooklhefcliliiii.il |iost. wliicli lie so 
well liUeil. he hecaiiH- a < 'hri -ti in.- and joined the First 
liaptist CluM.h, in I'iovidenee. lluai under the pastoral 
charge of K^v. Ur. ( lano. The threat ehaiiL^e throueh 
which he had ])assed alteied all his plans, ami he decided 
to ])repare for tiie C_'iiristian niinistrv. He went to I'hila- 
delphia and lieeanie connected with the Ilaptist Seminary 
under tlie caieof Rev. Dr. StauL;liton and I'rofessor Chact. 
(In the removal of the seminary to Washington, where it 
was attached to the tlien new college, known as (■oliini 
hian College. Mr. Knowles decided to t.ike a full course 
of collegiate study. Ileie he not only l.ioK the highest 
rank as a schol.ir, m liis class, hut he edited at the time the 
CoUimhiau Star, a weekly religious paper, with an ahility 
wliich gave it an e\cellcnt rciniiation in the periodical lit- 
er. itiiie of the day. He graduated with the valedictory 
honors, in l.fecemlier, I,S24, and at once was appointed 
one ol the tutors of the College. The duties of his olTicc 
he discharged with eminent success until the summer of 
1S25. Ill the autumn of this year he was called, liy a 
unanimous vote, to succeed Rev. I)r. IJahlw in as pastor of 
the Second Ilaptist Church, in Boston. For seven years 
he bore the burdens anrl cares which fall to the lot of a 
minister of a large city congregation. His vigorous con- 
stitution at length yielded to the ]'ressure wdiicli was laid 
on him, and in lS;j he felt compelled to resign, and to 
accept the ch.iir of I'r.d'cssor of ['astoral Duties and Sacred 
Rhetoric in the Newt<ui Theological Institution. Amid 
the i|uiet and congenial ]nirsuits of this new position his 
health and stieiigth rallied, and his old vigor of boily and 
mind rcliinied. Adiled to his duties as professor were 
those which devoKed on him hir more tlian two years as 
the editor of the I'/ii n/inii A'.tvVjc', for which oliice his 
])rcvious exjiei ience had given linn rare ■|ualilications. Pro- 
fessor Knowles w.is fa\oiably known to the public. In 
1S29 he luiblislicd his ^/,,ll,■l,^ ,y Mrs. .lull If. JiiJum, 
one ol tin- most popular religious biogra|ihies ever issued 
from the press in this country. After he became a I'rofessor 
at Newton he published \\\-^ Mi-moirs nf Ki'S'-r^^'illuiiui. He 
dedicated this weak to the citizens of his native .Stile, in 
whose history .nvX iiistituticuis he never ceased to take an in- 
terest. He also publisheil several add 1 esses, scrim ms, a in I re 
view articles, lie had the ])oet's gift. and wr.ili' inanv fugi 
tive pieces, which •' would not dislnmor the most gifted of 
the living bards of laigkmd." Believing that the immortal 
lilixv oi Cray was s.idly deficient in its religious tone, he 
wrote nine stanzas which he lln)Uglil might well follow 
the stanza beginning " hroin the nia.ld'niiig crowd's igno- 
ble strife." These lines breathe the sweetest and loftiest 
spirit of true <levotion. Tiny in.iy be found in I'rofessor 
(.iiidikml's obituary notice of I'lofessor Knowles, in Vol. 
I., p. jlo. of U'liliuf^s of IVilliiini C. GuJdaiil. His death. 



which occurred at Newton, May 9, 185.S, was caused by 
sniall-i>o\, wdiieh disease, it is su]:ip<jsed, he had Contracted 
in .\ew York a few tlays before his tlecease. He w.is 
liuried, at midnight, in a beautiful, (|uiet s]iot on the grounds 
of the Newton Institution, and a suitable monument marks 
the place w Iieie his mortal rem.iins were laid .iway. I'lo 
fessor Knowles was niairied, l.iniiaiy II, iSjb, to .Susaii 
Langley, daughter of Joshua H. I.angley, Esip, of I'rovi- 
dcnce, by whom he had two sons and two ilaughters. It 
may be safelv said that Rhode Island has produced few 
men of more symmetrical character or riper scholarshij> 
than James Davis Know les. 



J J 



V^'XTHnW. IIk/i.ki.\H, son of David and Suhmil 
(Wlieclur) Anlhrniy. was liorn nt Sonicrsel, Mas- 
sachusetl-., April 3. 17SS. 1 lis falhcr was a 
farmer, with a family uf ten ehiMren. Mr. An- 
thony was educated in the jiuMic schudN ot Som- 
erset, and at an early age became clerk in a factory store 
at hij^litun, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1S07, 
wliL-n lie reninvcd to I'rovidence. Here he was at first 
clerk f«ir John Helen, in a crockery store on Weyliosset 
Slieet. He soon went into lui-siness for Iinn->eir as a whole- 
sale i:;n)cer. in Whitman's Ulock. in the same street, after- 
ward added the sale of cott'in an(.l manufacturer--' supi'lies, 
and for many years enj^a^ed exclusively in cotton liroker- 
age. kor forty-eight years he remained in the same huihl- 
in;4 in winch he commenced husiness. He was noted h)r 
honesty, punctuality, good judgment, and systematic habits. 
Nittvvithstanding his close ajiplication to business, he de- 
voted much lime to the advancement of the general in- 
terests of [he cnmmunitv. k'or several years he was a 
nieuilier ot the tow 11 council of I'n_i\ idence, antl after the 
town became a city he served a>> Councilman, from the 
k'ilih Wanl. from \)>\i to 1N35 ; and as Alderman from 
iS;5 In 1.S3S. He a!s..( served as Mayor, p) o t,-i)ipoyc. 
He was one ot the organizeis of the L'ninn Hank, in 1S14, 
and was elected a director in 1S24, in which capacity he 
served until 1S76, when he declined a re-electiiui. I )uring 
this long period he was seldom absent from the Hoard 
meetings. lie was also a charter-member t.if the Tc'-iplc's 
Sa\ings Hank, nf which he wa^ chnsen a director in 1SJ4, 
a menilirr of the Standing Committee in iS5i,and Vice 
I'lesidcnt in iS:^5.all of whuh positions he resigned in 
I.S74. In politics Mr. Anihonv has always keen a k)emo- 
crat . Since lune 21, iSiS, he has keen an active member 
of the Chestnut Street Methodist k^^iiscopal Church. In 
iSlo he married Sally Rowers, of iJighton, Massachusetts, 
who died in 1S60. 'ihcy had eleven children, six sons 
and fi\e daughters, three of whom are living, Mr->. Sarah 
Ann Cnok. of Providence. Mary Ik .\.. widow of the late 
Cnlonel William \'ia]l. of I'rovidence, and [ane A., widow 
of the late Rev. James H. Kames, VsX).^ of Concord, 
New Hampshire, 




Jc^yA^J ■J'^dT^^^^^ 




BIOGRAI'llli A I C\ XL OPED/A. 



233 



''^EXTER, Nathanikl Gregokv Haich. was liDrn in 
the town of Grafton, Massaclniselts, June 25, I7S<S. 
■t . t Me was a descendant of Gregory IJexler, an asso- 

j ciate of Roger Williams, and a man of vigorous in- 

1. tellect. Gregoiy Dexter was several times elected to 

I>ul)Iic office, and in the discharge of his official duties 
exhibited sagacity and conscientiousness. Many of his 
descendants are to be found in Rhode Island, and in suc- 
cessive generations six have borne the name of Gregory. 
The subject of this sketch spent the fn-^t ten years of his 
life in his native town. In 1797 his parents removed to 
the village of Pawtucket, North Providence, Rhode Island, 
and he followed them two years thereafter. Samuel Slater 
had already started here the business of spinning cotton by 
water, and his little mill, on what is at present known as 
Mill Street, afforded employment for a few operatives. 
Young Dexter soon found employment in that mill, and 
enjoyed the privilege, of wdiich he was wont to boast, of 
being oneof the numberof lads who constituted the Sunday- 
school organized by Mr. Slater, in the fall of 1799. The 
school was conducted on the same principle of that carried 
on by Raikes, and is suppo.sed to be the first Sabbath- 
school organized in the State. As Captain Dexter used to 
say in his old age, " The school consisted of seven boys, 
and their class-books and library were two Testaments and 
five Webster's Spelling Books." Two years afterward Mr. 
Slater hired young Dexter for a year or two to teach a 
Sunday-school for the instruction of the children of his 
mill. The firm by which young Dexter was employed 
bore the style of Almy, Brown & Slater, and he remained 
in their service about thirty years. In 1S20 he began to 
make knitting cotton on a small scale on his own account, 
and in 1830 he left the above-named firm and engaged 
more largely in the business. By skill and integrity he won 
an enviable reputation, and his goods were the standard of 
excellence in this country. Dexter knitting cottons are in 
equal demand beyond the Mississippi as in the Eastern 
Slates. Captain Dexter celebrated his golden wed<ling in 
November, 1858, and the occasion was notable from the 
circumstance that the clergyman who ofticiated at the 
wedding, and the printer who set up the marriage notice 
were present, and both of them had also celebrated their 
golden weddings the same year. Captain Dexter died 
April 8, 1866, in his seventy-ninth year. He was noted 
for his cheerful, genial spirit, his love for children, his 
humane disposition, and strict alistinence from strong drink. 



I^^T.AFFORD, RuFUS Judson, manufacturer, son of 

IJe™ Stukley and Dezoy Stafford, w-as born in Uxbridge, 

> T^ Massachusetts, December 6, 1S18. Losine his 

T father at an early age, he was under the necessity of 

i looking to his own maintenance and the welfare of 

his needy relatives, acquiring an education as best he could 

in the schools and by reading. He became an apprentice 

?,o 



boy in a c<'tton-fact(uy, where his natural talents, good 
habits, industry, and faithfulness secured him advance- 
ment. After completing the work of the day he devoted 
the evenings to such scientific and general reading and 
study as qualified him to hold new positions. He sub- 
sei|uently went to Ulica, New York, and directed putting 
into working order the Utica Steam Cotton Mills, the first 
establishment of the kind in that region. In 1852 he set- 
tled in Central Falls, Lincoln, Rhode Island, which was 
ever afterward his home. Purchasing a controlling in- 
terest in the old Brick Mill, built in 1825, but the largest 
in the place, in connection with II. H. Wood, he put it in 
order, and commenced the manufacture of cotton cloth. 
In 1S60 additions were made to the mill, and in 1862 he 
changed machinery and engaged in the manufacture of 
spool cotton. The discerning, industrious, energetic man 
was apparent iu all his work. As his business became 
large and pros[)cr(nis it was transformed into a joint-stock 
association, and incorporated, a short time prior to his 
death, under the name of the Stafford Manufacturing Com- 
pany, now one of the best-kno«n and most successful 
companies in Rhode Island, Being an ingenious man 
and a machinist, he built the I'awtuckct Gas-Works in 
1S54. He also wove the first h.iir-cloth made in America 
by power-looms, and devised important improvements in 
hair-cloth manufacture, so that now the best cloth of this 
kind in the world is made in this country. Mr. Staft'oid 
was a man of fine personal appearance, and noted for his 
uprightness, intelligence, kindness, and benevolence. All 
looked upon him as a safe adviser and warm friend. He 
was remarkably efficient by his pecuniary aid in the Civil 
War in support of the Union, just before his death he 
became an earnest Christian. He was an attendant at the 
First Baptist Church in Pawtucket, where his wife was a 
member. He was twice married. His first wife was 
Catharine WheelocU, daughter of Simeon Wlieelock, of 
Mendon, Massachusetts. They had four children, Kate 
|., Sarah L., An<iiew A., and Louisa W. His second 
wife was Mrs. Milla Cole Talt, whose maiden name w-as 
Milla Cole Brown. Mr. Staff nil <lied February 7, 1864, 
in the forly-sixth year of his age. He was a prince among 
our manufacturers, and deservedly ranks as a representa- 
tive man of the State. 



rjHEELER, Bennett 1L, the fourth son of Bennett 
and Zerviah (Field) Wheeler, was born in Provi- 
{'^a^ dence, August 18, 17S8. The following memoir, 
; from the Nccrological Report published in the 
" Transactions of the Rhode Island .Society for the 
Encouragement of Domestic Intlustry,*' for 1864, was 
written by Judge Staples, auth(jr of the Aniia/s of Prtn'i- 
dcncc. Mr. Wheeler was the survivor of six brothers 
and one sister. His father, generally spoken of as 
Major Wheeler, was a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 



234 



lijLHIKAPHIfAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



\W left lluie s.i.in after aU.unini; tliL- agL- nf twenty- 
OTlL- year-., anil lanic to I'nnicK lu u. lanilni;,' ln>l at I'.os- \ 
ton on tlir louith ilay of July, 17711. IK' «a^ iK-cply 
iniluK-il with the pinn i|.lr> of ih,- Wing- of tho,f .lays, 
anil licarlilv uniteil wnli tlu-m in tliLir -Irugyle for lili- 
eitv. Major W'heelia was a jiriiitir, Wlan Ir- arrived 
in rrovicleiui' there were two |ii inting-oHiccs in the j 
ylaee; at one, Mr. John Carter's, f/ir ProTiiifluc Gtizct/c, 
tile only nius|.a|iei' ni town, w.l^ luil'lisheil weekly; the 
other, Mr. |ohn .Mr I loui^.il's, w as a job olfiee, where he 
at once en^aijeil to work. The fnst work he did was a 
reprint of I'ope's Essay on Matt, an edition of 750 copies. 
He staid liiit a few months, and went to Mr. ( 'aiter's olifee, 
which place he left I )eeeirilier, I77.S,,uid went to work for 
.Mr. .Solomon Sonthwiek, in Attlelioroiigh, who had keen 
driven from New [loit on the occupation of Rhode Island 
bv the r.ritish troop,, in December, 17711. In >kireh, 
177c), Mr. Soutliwick and Mr. Wheeler removed to I'rovi- 
dence.and commenced pnlilishiiii; I'J:,- Aiiii-iiciii Journal 
and Ctiiira/ A,/;'cifii,y, in company, Mr. Wheeler retain- 
in;.^ his interest in the j'aper until .\ueust, 17.S1. The ]iaper 
was pulillshed until 17S4. kUuine; this perirjd he was a 
member of the United Train of .\rtillery, under Coliiiiel 
Daniel Tillinyhast, and says in his journal, " When the 
British troops landed on the 111,1 in, from Rhode IT.ind, and 
burned a part of Warren and liristol, our corps j^ot a lew 
sln.ts at them from our held pieces, when they quickly 
relieated." In lanuar), 17S4, .Major W'hecler commenced 
publishing; T/u- L'nitid States Chtoiiiclc, political, com- 
mercial, anil historical. The C/iipnii/c was printed in 
the liuilihii;.; that formerly striod at the corner ot We-tmin- 
ster and K\ehange streets, and in which the K\ch.iiii;e 
Hank was afterwards located. Mr Wheeler eieeteii th.il 
building, and there earned on an extensive business as a 
printer, publisher, and bookseller. .\ linely preserved copy 
of {loldsiilith's Dri(it,,t I'illiv^,', with his inipiint, is now 
held here a r.ire euriodty,as beiiiy probaiily its lii-t repiint 
in this country. The ClnoniJo was eontiiiued until 1S04, 
a weeklv ]iaper. It was comlurted with great ability, ami 
in Its oi'posuion to the paper money measures ol i7.S(i-7-8, 
which was decided, 1 oiisi,teiit, and effectual, great credit 
\va- justly awarded to 11. In .\piil, 1S06, Major Wheeler 
clo-ed Ills evenlbd life 111 l'ro\idence, after a shor( illness, 
'llie wife of .M.ijor Wheeler was Zerviah, second daughter 
of Deacon John Field, of l'ro\nUnce, who was a descend- 
ant of one of the early settlers of New England. The sub- 
ject of this skelch was the fourth son of this marriage. His 
parents intended tri educate hiin for a |iliysiciaii. but events 
occurring changed this intent. lie was at 'Uie time a 
siholar in wli.it he afterwards called "Dicky .MaiMii's 
Si hook" l\ii hard Marvin, wdio is so irre\cienily alluded 
to, was by biiih an Ijiglishni.m. lie was, in 1777. third 
lieutenant of the ship W.irien,one of the vessels of the lirst 
lleet of the L'niled St. lies. Wlieli he entered the l.'nited 
States Navy cannot now be readily ascertained, lie made 



hinisell prominent in 1777 I'y his couipkiiiits to Congress 
against ( "onmiodore Hopkins, and was acti\e in causing his 
removal, .\ller the peace of 17S;, Mr. Marvin opened a 
school on the west side of the ri\er, in l'ro\ idence, and 
ga\ e instruction in Nasigation, among other branches. He 
will be reniembered by a few now living as a loud talker, 
whose opinions on ptilitics and religion were at war with 
those of a large majority of the citi/ens. Mr. W^heeler 
could not have attended " Dicky Marvin's school " long, 
for in 1700 he was an apprentice in his father's printing- 
oHice, where he remained until i.Vo4,wlien he went to Hus- 
ton, ill Messrs. Manning lS: boring's piinting-oflice. In May, 
1S06, he removed to Portland (then in the district of 
Maine), and oittained work as a journevman while yet in 
I his eighteenth year. He left Portland in December. 1S06, 
\ from a <lesire to visit liis relatives, and because he liad re- 
ceived letters from Mr. [osiah Jones in relation to the pur- 
chase and publication of The Prcvideiice PIteni.x. His diary 
gi\es very minute jrarliculais of his journey to rrovitlence. 
T/ie Proi'ii/tiitt' P/ieni-\ oHice at this time kielonged to 
Mr. William Oiney. This paper was started in ^bay, 1S03, 
by Messrs. Theodore .\. b'oster and William Dunham in aid 
of the election of Mr. Jetferson as I'resident of the I'liited 
States. It sul-isequently [lassed into the hands of Mr. 
(.llney. During the liisi week in januarv, 1S07, Mr. 
Wheeler, in comiiaii)- with Mr. Josiah Jones, hired the 
printing-ollice of .Mr. ( lliiev. The following week Mr. 
(.llney dierl. Messrs {ones \ Wheeler crintinued the lessees 
of the e-talilishment until March, iSog, when they pur- 
chased the same of the repi escnt.itis es of Mr. Olncv. They 
continued the weel^l)' newspaper under the same name, 
until iSio, when the name was changed to that of 77/c 
/\ o7'/,/( ni (' Pahiul and Colnmhiaii Plunix. In l.Slij 
Bar/dlai Cranston became interested in ihe establishment, 
and from January rif that year the paper was published 
semi-weekly. Mr. Cranston's connection with the paper 
lasted only one year. In 1S2; Mr. Wheeler disposed of 
his interest 111 l!ie concern to Mr. Eaton W. Maxcy, after 
whiLlihchad no lurlher connection with the publication 
of the Pahii't. The political character of the paper re- 
mained unchanged during the owneishi|i of Mr. Wheeler. 
In May, iSiS, Mr. Wheeler received the a).pointment of 
Clerk of the Court of Coimiion Pleas for the County of 
ProviiieiKc. This olfice he decbned lo accept, although it 
was then the most lucrative office in the State. In 1S19 
he was elected a Public Notary for the County of I'rovi- 
dence, and a justice of the Peace for Providence. In 1S20 
he w.is appointed Adjutant-General of the Militia of the 
State. He also received from the electors of President 
and X'ice-President, in the same year, the ajipointnieiit of 
.Messenger to carl) their votes to Washington. In May, 
1X24, President .Monroe appointed Mr. Wheeler Postmaster 
of Providence, after the death of Mr. ( iabriel Allen, w hich 
otiice he held until removed, in 1S30, by President Jack- 
son, to make room for a political partisan. This was the 



RioaRArincAf. cyclopedia. 



235 



last public office held by Mr. Wheeler. After his removal 
from the post-ofifice he passed his days in the quiet of 
home, without engaging in any particular business. His 
garden occupied much of his attention. For thirty-two 
years he discharged gratuitously the duties of Treasurer of 
the New Market Association, resigning his charge only a 
very short time before his death. In 1809 Mr. Wheeler 
married Betsey S. Gardner, a daughter of Captain John 
Gardner, of Swansey, Massachusetts. .She died in 1S55. 
They had four children, — three sons, now living, and one 
daughter, who dietl in infancy. Ho died in llie house in 
which he was born, on the 17th of May. 1S65. His re- 
mains are deposited in Swan Point Cemetery. Mr. Wheeler 
was admitted a life member of the Rhode Island Society 
for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry on the lyih of 
October, iS2i,atthe second annual meeting of the society, 
when the publishers of all the papers in Providence were, 
by vote, admitted members. 



^I^^kIhITE, Rev. Joski'II, was born in Standish, 
pilillS M^'"^' Vi3.y 24, 17S9. He entered upon the 
U3 Si work of the ministry at an early age. He first 
p»h4i>> visited Rhode Island in 1 81^, and preached ex- 
^v '■? tensively in the towns of Burrillville, .Smithfield, 
and Glocester. From 1S18 to 1826 he made the Slate 
his permanent residence, and was regarded as the successor 
of Rev. John Colby in carrying forward the work com- 
menced by that eminent evangelist. Mr. White took a 
leading part in organizing several Free Baptist churches 
in the State, especially the one at Greenville, organized in 
1820, of which he was pastor, and also in the organization 
of the Rhode Island Free Baptist Quarterly Meeting, now 
the Rhode Island Association, which was effected in Octo- 
ber, 1821. He \^'a5 a man of fine personal ajipearance, 
impressive manners, persuasive in his style of utterance, 
and earnestly devoted to his calling. He was one of the 
earliest advocates of the temperatice reform. After his 
removal from Rhode Island, he continued his useful work 
elsewhere. Mr. White was twice married. He died in 
the town where he was bofn, in (S36. He abounded in 
all those qualities which constitute a good and useful 
Christian minister. 



giKE.^RCE, DuTF.E J., was born on Providence Inland, 
April 3, 1789; graduated from Brown University, 
and began the practice of the law in Newport, 
Vpy where he took an active part in the politics of the 
^v day. In 1819 he was elected .^ttorney-Cjeneral of 
Rhode Island, which office he held till 1825. when he 
was succeeded by the late .\lbert C. Greene. In 1S24 he 
was made District Attorney of the United States for Rhode 
Island^ wdiich ofl'ice he resigned the following year. In 



1S25 he \\'as the Repiiblicnn candidate for Congress, ran 
against Judge Durfee, and was electetl on tlie second trial. 
Mr. Pearce was annually elected to the same office till 
1S37, when he was defeated by Robert B. Cranston. He 
died in May, 1849. 



^>^ilBBS, Governor Wii.I.iam Ch.\nning, was born in 
Newport, in 1790. His family came from Eng- 
land in i66t, and settled first in Salem, Massa- 
I chusetts. Afterwards his grandfather, George Gibbs, 

Ti. removed to New Vork ; and his father, George 
Gibbs, look up his residence in Newport. Brown Uni- 
versity, in 1800, Conferred on him the honorary degree of 
Master of Arts, and \'ale College the same degree, in 
1S08. He died in 1833. For several years the subject of 
this sketch was a Representative from Newport, in the 
General Assembly, and in 1 82 1 was elected Governor of 
the State, which office he held until 1824. He was also 
for some time M.ajor-Gcneral of the Rhode Island Militia. 
He married ^Ia^y, dau-.Thter of Elias Kane, of Albany, 
New York, in 1822. Their children were George Wil- 
liam, Camelia V., Ellen E., Frederic .\., Mary K., Charles 
E., Eugene B., Theodore K., Sar,\h, and Sidney. He 
died in Newport, February 24, 1S71. 



I.TON, Romeo, D.D.. son of William Ellon, of 
' Burlington, Connecticut, was born in 1790; the 
' -v '" exact date of his birth not being known. In early 
-;>■>' life he developed a taste for books, and his fiither, 
5? although in reduced circumstances, encouraged him 
in his wishes to obtain an education. He was a graduate of 
Brown University in the class of 1S13. Among his class- 
mates, whose names are familiar in Rhode Island, were 
Zachariah Allen, LL.U.. Jurlges Drury and Durfee, Hon. 
John Ruggles, and Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepard. Having 
studied for the Christian ministry, he w.as ordained June 
II, 1S17, as pastor of the Second Baptist Church in New- 
port, Rhode Island, where he remained five years (1817- 
22) and then resigned on account of ill health. .After two 
years of rest he again became a pastor, taking charge of a 
church in Windsor, Vermont. In 1825 he was appointed 
Professor of the Greek and Latin l.inguages in Brown 
University, and spent two years in Europe; the most of 
this time in (Germany, (]ualifying himself for the duties of 
the chair to which he had been elected. He remained in 
office, as a Professor in the University, for sixteen years 
(1827-43). On leaving Providence he spent some time 
among his relatives in Connecticut, and in the spring of 
1845 went to England, and resided in Exeter twenty-two 
years ( 1845-67), and two years in Bath. He was engaged 
in literary and other w-ork wdiile abroad, and greatly en- 
joved his life in Engl.nnd. Returning to this countrv' in 



236 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPFniA. 



1869, Ik- ^pont iIk- rciiKtiinK-r of liis life in I'rm i<lcnri-, 
Ni-wpoit. aiiil i!o-!<'n. i Ic u a^ in.ii lifd tlircc ^imL■^. 11 is 
tii^t wilr, to whom In- \\■,l^ iii.iiiu''l in iSlh. wa-^ Sarali 
Ann (innvhcf, of Kfliolmtli. wlm <li..[ at Waiiiiairy in 
1S44. ![is sriontl wife was I'n.tluiia * 'iioss, of Kxctcr, 
Knglanil, a ln<iy ot tniL- lilrr.iiv cuiluic. whom lie niarrtud 
in 1S47. She .hill ill l]i.!t tily in iSh;. In XoVL-nilier, 
i.S(M,, hr niarricil Mariiairi A. Ahrn.of i;o-,tou. llcUird 
in Jlovton, Ma^^a(,•hu-.L■lt-. !-rhinary 5. I.S70. 'I'hc puli- 
hshcd \\iil;ni;s of Dr. KUon wlto an edition of Rev. John 
(*a]k'ndcr'-> Ccnfurv S:rm<in, a volnnn- of tlie sermons, 
oration-., and liacLahuncate adihc^scs of i'rc'-idem Maxcy, 
with a MLnioir of rresidcnt Maxcv, and a Memoir of 
Roj^er \\ i^iam^, wliieli was wiillen m I-'aiL^Iand. lie left 
a generous snni in Itis will lo Ilrown University, to endow 
a rrofcssoiship of " Natural Theology." 



ILLIAMS. Kk\. I)ami:[., was horn in (docesier, 
fij/^^j Rhode Island, October ^^, I7<)0. He was the 
t'^'i"^''' ^"'^ "'^ John Wdhams, and a descenilant in the 
j; ,'i,' " sixth L^eneration of Roger Williams. i k- was 
converted umler the revival laln)rs of Rev. John 
Colby, become a nu lubei of the I-ree llaptist (.hiuxh in 
Rurriilville, the first of the denomination in the Stale, and 
soon commenced the work of the ministry. In 1S17 he 
went to Foster, the adjolnin;^ town, where his labors were 
very sueeesslul. In iS22 he was ordained, and soon afler- 
war<l the ehnreh in I-'osier was mganized, of which he 
eontinne'l to Iil- jiastor until his deilli. a half century 
later. I)nring hi> ministry he bapti/ed scpuie seven luin- 
dred persons, unitetl between thiiteen and hturleen hun- 
dred, in marriage, and attended more than two thousand 
funerals. His life was not eharacleri/ed by striking inci- 
dents nor widespread notoriety. l>ut large results were 
graduall)' reali/fd. In iSlo he niarrinl Xancy Smith, of 
Glocestcr, who died in iShi. Mr, Wdlianis died |uly 
16, 1S73, in the eighty third \ear of his age. He eon- 
tinne<l his mini^-terial labors until his death. In 1X77 a 
granite inonuuu iit was erecti-d over his grave in I'^ast Kd- 
lingly. CtiiineCtieul, where he resided lor some vears pre- 
vious to his death. His memory is warndy cherisheil by 
all who knew iiiin. 



Piineiple Rai'lists. Thomas had. two cousin^, Rev. fohn 
'i'lllinghast and Rev. Thomas Tillinghast, who were Reg- 
ular I>ai'ti>ts. The former died in West CJreenwich March 
2S, 1S7S; the latter died in (Irisuold. Connecticut. The 
subject of this sketf,h was converted and received into the 
Coventry Six-I'rincijde Haptist Chuich in 1S14, hands bc- 
I ing laid upon him by Rev. Thomas Manchester. His 
talents, jiiety, and activity won for him a prouuneni place 
and great esteem In his denomination. He was llnallv 
orttaincd a Deacon by Fdders John Westcotl. Richard 
Knight, and Thomas Manche-ter. lli^ diacon.ite pio\ed 
to be prepar.itot y lo his i"ull career in llie ministrv, to wliicli 
he was tailed by the Church, and publicly ordained June 
19, 1S23. The pai tic ipaiits in the ordination were Tliomas 
Manchu-ter, the ]iasior, Rev. I'ardon Tillinghast, his father, 
and Revs. ]\\\\\\ Westcotl, Riehanl Knight, and John Gard- 
ner. His ministry, much of it being o! a missionary char- 
acter, reached widely ihrough Rhode Isiaml and the neigli- 
boiing Slates. Everywhere his abilitii;s and de\otion won 
for him fiieiids and iavor. On the death of his father in 
1840 he became the successor in the |>astorate of the Co- 
ventry CIun\h, which he served with signal lidelily and 
success liil hi-, de.ith. whicli i.)ccurred while al his post 
(if ihitv lulv 22, lNl'3, in the seventy-second year of his 
age. His uile, ("athaiinc, was ln.rn February 16, 1795, 
and died ( tctober 30, 1S7S, agei^l Sj years. His son, Rev. 
Gilbert Tillinghasl. an eminent and successful preacher in 
his denomination, died in 1877. 



i^ILFINGHAST, Kkv. Tik.mvs. was born in (Iran- 
ville, New York. .August 19, 1791. Ik- was a 
descendant of Rev. I'ardon Tiliinghast. the suc- 
\}\A^ cessorof Roger Williams a^ ])ast(n" of the lir^t 11 ip- 
■J \ J tist Chureh in Fiovideiice. The father t^f Ihonias 
was the Rev. I'ardon I illinghast, ol b^ast Greenw ich, KlH)de 
Island, who died hill of honors in lS4(), while pastor of 
the Coventry Church, having succeeded the disbnguished 
Rev. Thomas MancJiesler. .Ml these were dev».ted Six- 



nid IN(;HAST. II. .n. Josi rn Lkonaiu.. was born 
/iVi in Taunton. Massachusetts, in 1791. When ((uile 
fAj'V y*-"^'".^ ^^^ removed to I'ro\idence, where he re- 
0^ ceived his eibication. Rrown University in 1S19 
* conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. 
Mr. Tillinghast studied law. being for some time a pupil 
of Hon. William Hunter, and commenced the ]^ractice of 
his profession in I'ro\idence, where he rose to eminent dis- 
tinction. He was for several years a member of the House 
of K,e]>rcsenlatives in the (ieneral As-^embly, anii was tlie 
Speaker of the House from May, 1S21) to October, I.S32. 
As .1 Whig he represented Rhode Island in the Twenty- 
tifth Congress, ami was re-elected to the Tw enty-sixlli -awA 
Twenty-seventh Congresses, serving the State from Sep 
tember 4. I'^XJ^ to March 3, 1S43. Roth as a Representa- 
tive in the State Assembly and in Congress Mr. Tilling- 
hast niatle his mark, and was recognized as a man of more 
than ordinary abilily. "To him," in the hrst of these re- 
lations, says Professor (iotldard, *' more perhajjs than to 
any <'tlier jniblic man, shtndd be ascribed the enduring 
honor (.if effecling a most valuable rehtrm in the judiciary, 
and of establishing' on a more libeial foundation a sys- 
tem of popular education throughout the Slate. These 
were great measures, — and for these great measures Mr. 
Tillinghast battled manluUy against an array of talent and 




(( 



V /y,v 



/ / / / r -I 



RIOCRAPHICAL CYCr OPF.DIA. 



237 



of partisan influence which would have driven from his 
purpose a less intrepid man," In like lununer, as a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives in Congress for six 
years in succession, he has left a record ttf which lie might 
justly he proud. lie brought to the performance of his 
duties the ripe fruit of much thought on the great questions 
which were discussed in the halls of legislation, and was 
a faithful cNponent of- the principles for the advocacy of 
which he was sent by his constituency to Congress. He 
was elected in 1S33 a member of the Board of Trustees of 
Brown University, and held that position until his death, 
lie died at Providence December 30, 1S44. Among the 
scholars and cultivated men of Rhode Islarul, Mr. Tilling- 
hast holds the first rank, lie luid ih.it Inve for elegant 
letters which "neither the toils of his profession nor the 
fascinations of politics ever had power to conquer." Most 
approj^riately is his name ].ilaced high on the roll of Rhode 
Island's ablest citizens. The wife of Mr. Tillinghast was 
Rebecca, daughter of Nicholas Power. Their son, Rev. 
N. P. Tillinghast, was an Episcopal clergyman and an ac- 
complished scholar, a graduate of Brown L'ni\'ersi[y in 
the class of 1837. 



)fe.\NIEL.S, Geni;r.\i, HuR/VCe, manufacturer, was 

I' 9) 

W§'-> born in Graflon, Massachusetts, Marcli 15, 1S23. 

His parents were Charles and Eli/a ('•. Daniels. 
e^H He was the eldest of eleven chiMren. During" 
cf" his minority he remained at home and assisted his 
fatiier, %\ho was a farmer in moderate circumstances. Hav- 
ing a thirst for knowledge he devoted his spare time to 
study, and made such progress that at the age of twenty- 
one he was competent to teach the district school in his 
neighborhood. By rigid economy he saved enough to ena- 
ble him to attend for two terms the Baptist Academy, in 
Worcester, after which he taught school in Shrewsl.)ury, 
Massachusetts, and at a later ]jeriod in Ilartfortl and Nor- 
wich, Connecticut, making a specialty of penmanship, in 
which he had acquired great skdi. In 1849 he removed 
to Central Falls, Rhode Island, and took charge of a school 
there, but in a short time was compelled to resign his 
position as teacher on account of failmg health. Previous 
to his removal to Central Falls he married, in February, 
1847, Matilda E., daughter of Clark and Mary Card, of 
(Jreenville, Connecticut. Having formed the acquaintance 
of Mr. Benjamin F. Greene, who had carrieil on luisiness 
in Central Falls for many years, but in 1844 removed to 
Mapleville, and in 1850 to Richmond, Rhode Island, where 
he was engaged in the manufacture of spool cotton, Mr. 
Daniels was employed by him as bookkeeper soon after 
retiring from his position as a teacher, and proved himself 
so competent that in 1852 Mr Greene accepted him as a 
partner. Mr. Daniels's health was restored by ihe change 
of employment. In 1855, in order to increase their manu- 
lacturing facilities, the lirm of Greene iS; Daniels renroved 



to Central Falls, and thenceforward for a period of twenty- 
one years General Daniels was an honored and influential 
citizen of that town. When he removed there Central 
Falls was a part of Smithfield, but subsetjuently that old 
town, which was originally cut otT from Providence, was 
subdivided, and the southeastern part named Lincoln. 
General Daniels was a resident of the latter town at the 
time of his death, which occurred December 14, 1876. In 
i860 he and his partner began to erect a mill on the eastern 
bank of the Blackstone, in the town of Pawlucket, which 
was soon afterward completeil, and in 1S66 their business 
having greatly increased the mill was enlarged until it 
assumed its present dimensions. It is now 407 feet in 
length, and 67 feet wide, ami 5 stories high, being one of 
the largest and handsomest buildings of the kind in Rhode 
Island. Here, and in the numerous subordinate buildings 
adjoining, have often been manufactured 1, 800,000 dozen 
spool-cotton per year. General Daniels was held in high 
esteem by his fellow-citizens, and was frequently called 
upon to fdl public stations. He represented the town of 
.Smithfield in the General Assembly, and served with gre it 
satisfaction to his constituents. During the war of the 
Rebellion he was chosen Colonel of the Pawtucket Light 
Guard. He manifested so much capacity for that position 
that he \\*as soon ajipointed Commander of the Second 
Brigade, and was subsequently chosen Brigadier-General 
of the Rhode Island Militia. He w.is an active and influen- 
tial member of the Baptist Church, and for many years 
Superintendent of the Sunday-school. He was also a Free- 
mason and the Jirst Master of Jenks Lodge. As a Knight 
Templar he attained to the rank of Grand Generalissimo 
in the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island. He erected an elegant residence in Central Falls, 
which stands as an ornament to the town. His wife died 
January 3, 1876. They left one son, Horace. In the death 
of General Daniels ("entral Falls lost one of its most use- 
ful, enterprising, and pulilic-sjurited citizens. 



wjfiilf? ARRIS, GnvERNciR EllsHA, was Ixirn in Cranston 
ijM»| in 1791, and was the son of Joseph Harris, and 
'^S^ a lineal descendant of William Harris, the associ- 
i ate of Roger Williams in the settlement of Rhode 
J* Island. After completing his school education, 
he became interested in manufacturing, to which he devoted 
the larger portion of his life ; his residence being in the 
place where he died, which, for him, was named Harris- 
ville. In his early manhood he visited the site of what is 
now one of the most flourishing villages of the State (Har- 
risviUe), but then an unbroken wilderness, and becoming 
convinced by personal explorations of the value of the 
water privilege, which he subsequently utilized, he pur- 
ch.ased it, and in due time commenced the erection of mills 
on the stream. We are told tliat his careful and sagacious 



2^^ 



BIOGRIPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



mana^emi-nt. his unnaji^^iiiL^ imlii^tiy. his wise economy, 
liis -siuivily aii'l iiitr_L;ritv, rrmlcit'.l hi^ succfss sure. Biisi- 
lU-Ns |ii-ns]H"-if(I ill his liand-.. ihi- xill.iL;^." i^rew, wwA evi- 
(k-ncc> of prns])Lilly were In he scm m every <Hrecti<ni. 
With increase nf we.ihh tlicre was the exhihilion y^\ a 
f^enerous and hin.Tal si>ul, in yifts cunfi'ired U]ion educa- 
tional and luhi^inus institulions both in tlie State and else- 
whne. which came inidLT llu' supervision of (lie Mvthoih->l 
]-!|us».i)|)aI ('hiHLli. id" whi( h, loi many years, he was a du- 
\nul and laithfnl adliereiit. I )uvin;_; thL- lon^ years .if his 
lui-'iness cau-vr the lesiimony witli ix\i;;rrd to liini was. that 
" iie was univvrsailv rL-s|)ected for his unfliiichln;^ inte;4ritv, 
1 lis unaffected modesty, and Iiis winning ami al)i lily of spirit," 
While ( iovernor Harris did not com I puldic life, he accepted 
office when il soii<j;ht him, and for several sessitms repre- 
sented his felh'w-eiti/ens in the r.eneral Asr,emMy. In 
1S46-47 lie wa> the ! jentenant-(.iovernor of the Slate, and 
for tlie next lw'> years. 1S47-4Q. its Chief Ma;^istrate. In 
earher life he was a WhJL; in jMiIiUes, Imt suhseijuently be- 
came an earnest Republiean. and was one of the I'resiilen- 
tial electors w lien Abraliam Lincoln was i.li.tseii I'lesidenl 
of the Uniteil States. Fm many years he was President of 
the Jiank of Nt'itli Aineiiea, Providence. After a Inief 
illness, he died February i, iSoi. in the scvcntietli year of 
his aire. 



'^AF1\ liKMR.;!.:, D.I)., s.,n of Zacheiis ami Abi^^ail 
Tafl. was bi.rn al Mendnn, Mas^aehusetts, Aui^ust 
27. 1701. lie fme<l for enlle;^^e at ihe Academy 
^ ,[ in Leicester, ALassachusetl--, and was a graduate of 
1 i" Rrown University in the class of 1S15. Soon after 
his graduation he became a leaeiier in one of the pubUc 
schouls in Providence. ILning become a coinmunicanl 
in the I£i>iscn])al ('hiireh. he decided to enter the ministry 
of that chureii. In order to pre|)are himself for the sacred ■ 
oftice he plaeed himself under llie tuition rif Kev. I)r. I 
C'rneker. Recloi of Si, Joim's Cliureh. Providence. Pi-vhop 
(b-iswohl adiiiilled him to deacon's orders, .\Lirih 7, iSiS, , 
and to pres]i)ter's mders, Septeinlier 2, 1819. For some j 
time he had officiated as lay reader at St. Paul's Church, 
I'awlucket, and after his ordination, as preacher. In Octo- 1 
ber, 1820, lie became the rector of the chinch. It was then 
in lis mfancy, and unable to support Us mini-'ter, who eon- 
linued to teach tlu- selioo] with whicli he had been ctm- 
nected for several years, [n 1S22. arrangements for his 
full support having been made, he removed to PawtiicLet, 
and theneeforth devoted all his time to his parish woik. 
His min!^trv (.oyere<l the l"iig period of nearly half a 
eeiiluiy. Wnli .ill tile be•^t inlere-^ts of the community in 
which he lived he thoroughly ideiuified himself. He wit- 
nessed the growth of what, when he took up his residence 
in 11. w.is a comparatively sni.dl village, until il reached 
the proptiitioiis to whuh it had atlained at his death. In 
the soeial. intellectual, moral, and religi'.ns prrigiess of the 



town lie felt and ever manifested the deepest concern. 
lie was a good citi/en as well as a faidiful mini'-ter of the 
go-])el, and held a warm j'lace in the re^jiect and affec- 
tions of the people for whose welfare he lalK)red for so 
many years. The honorary degree of Doctor of Di\ inity 
was conferred upon him by Brown University, in 1S60. 
His death occurred in Pawtucket, December li, 1S69. He 
was married, in 1831, to Eli/a M. Haldwin. of Paw- 
tucket, who, with three sons and a daughter, survived her 
husband. 



^\- 



p^HEXFA', Rkv. MAiiTi\,son of Joseph and Susannah 
)k Cheney, was born in I )over, Massachusetts, August 
\o'\'^ 2g. I7<")2. Hi-, father served in the army of the 
Mp'^ Revolution. ( M' his ancestry he once wrote: " The 
(- I ia? family c<iat of arms was poverty, Honesty, Pii-ty.'' 
His parent^ were strict Congregationalists, and trained him 
in the Assembly's catechism. I lis school advantages were 
limited. \\dNle a lad he spent nearly a year in Boston 
w ill) his brother, in a retail grocery, w here he saw the evils 
of city life, and learned to al'hor the sale and use of spir- 
ituous liquors, h'or a short time lie was employed as a 
servant in P)i>sion. In 1810 he came to reside with a 
brother in Olneyville, Rhode Island, and was engaged as 
a butcher. Tlie village at this time con^i-ted ol about 
twenty dwellings, from four to six rum shops, and a di-til- 
lery, with no church. Siinday-sLliool. or common school. 
In such society he fell to a poor moral level, and learned 
by bitter evperieiice what was afterwards turned to advan- 
tage in his career as a reformer. With his brother he -['cnt 
the winter of 1815-16 in Krooklyn, New York, in an un- 
successful effort in trade. In iSibhe returned to (_)lneyville, 
which was to be the theatre itf his labors and triumphs. 
He was converteil in 1S20. In June, 1S21, he was bap- 
ti/eil by Rev. Zalmon 1 oby. united w ith a Papli^l eiiureh 
in North ProNulence, and began to ]ireacli in 1S23. His 
theological views soon leil him to unite with tlie Freewill 
Baptists, and m 1S24 he began to hold meetings in < Hney- 
ville. lie also went on an e\angelistic lour into ^L\ssa- 
ehusetts. ]n .\pril, iSjc;, Ik- w as ord. lined and commenced 
his regular preaching at Olneyville and Fruit Hill. The 
house of w orship in Olneyville, necessitated by the success 
of the meetings and the smallness of the hall that had lieen 
Used for three years, was dedicated July 2, 1SJ7, and (!ie 
Freewill Baptist Church was organi/ed Xovember 7, 1S28, 
with eleven members. Here Mr. Cheney laboretl with 
remarkable results the rem.iinder of his life. He thought 
deeply, spoke fervently, and dealt with men's consciences 
faithfully. He was prc-emmently a leader in all reforms, 
lieing an earnest advocate of anti-slavery, temperance, and 
peace doctrines. His watchword was jirogress, and he 
was always a growing man. He was a most skilful de- 
bater, and attained wide reputation as a pulpit orator. He 
was thrice married ; lust, in iSi ^. (o Ann l>rown ; second. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA . 



239 



in iSig, to Nancy Willioiir; and lliinl, in iSjj, to Lydia 
Sheldon. His liealtli failed in tlie autumn of 1851, and 
he died January 4, 1S52, in the sixtieth year of his age. 
A marble monument has been erected over his grave in 
Pocasset Cemetery, Cranston. His biography, by Rev. 
G. T. Day, D.D., was published soon after his death. 



^j^^OSS, Rev. Arthur Amasa, was born in Thonip- 
™ter^ son, Connecticut, in 1791. While cjuite young 
^; " he joined a Methodist church in his native town, 
T and conducted meetings as a licensed preacher. He 
•t afterwards united with the Baptist Church, and in 
1819 received ordination as a Baptist minister Native 
talents and close application to books supplied the lack of 
school advantages. A great revival acccompanied his first 
pastorate of four years in Connecticut. About 1S23 he 
removed to Chepachet, Rhode Island, where he labored 
two years, when he accepted a call to Fall River as pastor 
of the First Baptist Church. Here followed one of the 
greatest revivals ever known in that city. A new meeting- 
house was built, and all the churches were increased. 
Near 182S he settled with the Baptist Church in Bristol, 
Rhode Island, and was greatly prospered in his work. He 
ne.Kt assumed the pastoral care of the Coventry and War- 
wick Church, where another remarkable revival followed, 
increasing the church membership about threefold. In 1834 
he accepted a call from the First Baptist Church in New- 
port. In 1838 he published an important historical vol- 
ume, entitled A Discourse embracing llie Civil niul Re- 
ligious History of R/ioi/e Island ; delivered April 4, /SjS, 
al the Close of the Second Century from the First Settle- 
ment of tile Island. After seven years in Newport, he 
settled with the Baptist Church in Lonsdale, where his 
labors were disturbed by the Dorr War, yet he accom- 
plished much good. While here he published a pamphlet 
On Communion and Baptism. He next removed to Natick, 
where he organized the Baptist Church. His last settle- 
ment was with the .Second Baptist Church in Pawtucket, 
where, amid severe labors and great sacrifices, his health 
failed, compelling him to retire from public service. Dur- 
ing his ministry he baptized more than fourteen hundred 
persons, and won the high regard of all who knew him. 
He died in Pawtucket, June 16, 1S64, in his seventy-fourth 
year. 



I^hSRNOLD, Governor Lemuel Hastings, was born 
^RA^ in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, January 29, 1792, and 
fj^'^g' was a graduate of Dartmouth College in the class 
!» " of iSlI. He came to Providence in the month 
bi y of October, 181 1, and studied law with his brother- 
in-law, James Jiurrill, Jr., and was admitted to the bar in 
March, 1814, but did not ]iractice, having decided to en- 



gage in mercantile pursuits. He was chosen as a Repre- 
sentative of Providence to the General Assembly in 1826, 
and, with the exception of one year, filled this office till 
1 83 1. He was Governor of the State from May, 1S31. to 
1833, having succeeded Governor James Fenner in this 
ofiice. During the " Dorr Rebellion " he was one of the 
Executive Council. Having changed his residence to 
South Kingstown, he was elected in 1845 Representative 
to Congress from the Western District, where he served 
one term. He died June 27, 1852, and was buried in 
Swan Point Cemetery. Mr. Arnold married, in June, l8ig, 
Sally, daughter of Hon. Daniel Lyman, and great-grand- 
daughter of Governor Gideon Wanton. Their children were 
Louisa, who married Dr. William H. Hazard, of South 
Kingstown ; Lemuel H., who married Harriet, daughter 
of Edward S, Sheldon ; Sally, who married General Isaac 
P. Rodman, who was killed at the battle of Antietam ; 
General Richard .Arnold, United States aniiy ; Mary Ly- 
man, who married George C. Robinson, of New York ; 
Daniel Lyman, killed during the late Civil War ; Mar- 
garet, who married Benjamin Aborn ; and Cynthia, who 
married F. H. Sheldon. The \\ife of Governor .\rnold, 
who was born July 14, 1799, died February ig, 1837. 
He married for his second wife, in June, 1S47, Catherine 
Stennard, of Washington, D. C. 



aj^RREENE, Hon. Albert Collins, was born in East 
\^B Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1792. He was the 
J I'^l youngest son of Perry Greene, a brother of General 
i^{-.% Nathan.ael (.Jreene. After completing his studies at 
1 oiJ the Kent Academy, at East Greenwich, he read law 
with (leorge Brinkerhoff, in New York, wdiere he was ad- 
mittet-l a practitioner; afterwards he lelurned to his native 
State, and commenced the practice of his profession in East 
Green\\ich. He entered at once into the political contro- 
versies of the day, espousing with all the ardor of his youth 
the principles held by the friends and compatriots of Wash- 
ington, many of whom were at that time living in Rhode 
Island. His first appearance in public life was in 1S15, 
when he took his scat in the General Assembly as a Rep- 
resentative from the town of East Greenwich. In 1S16 
he was elected Brigadier-General of the Fourth Brigade, 
and held his connnission until 182 1, when he was elected 
Mnjor-General of the militia of the State, which office he 
held for two years. In 1822 General Greene was elected 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and was con- 
tinued in that place until 1825, when he was elected .'\ttor- 
ncy-General, without having received the nomination of 
any political party, Iiut solely upon the .strength of his own 
personal popularity. He continued in this ofiice, by an- 
nual election, unid 1S43, the year "f the adoption of the 
present Constitution. During this long period his arduous 
duties were performed with singular ability and fidelity, 



240 



A/C'i/A' ; /7//( ■. // (■ 1 CLOPEi)/. I. 



and »ith a liK-mlfci ClUlllc•^y and di^nit\ llial coniniaiidid 
universal a|>|ir(il>atinn, scciirini; for liitn an cnrlutinn ]H.|ai- 
lantv. lU- was tlic tir^t Sun iloi finm Fast (iicLnwicii 
under tlie new Cun^liluli.m. Whde Idlini; lliis uliice he 
was edccted. in < Kluher, 1S44. I'l svu » erd I Ion. |uini I'row n 
I'raneis as une d' tlie Senators iVuni Kln.)de Irl.ind tu Con- 
yress. After scrxinij a term of six yeats in tlie National 
Legislature, lie aj^aiii served Ka-t t^recnw ich as State Sen- 
ator. In 1S57 he was relumed as a member of the House 
of Representatives of Rhode Island, and at the end of tliat 
year reliied from pulilic lile. He died in l'to\ idcnee. 
January S, iSo;. (ieneral (ireeiie was remarkably fitted 
to win popular esteem. His manners were bland and 
affable, liis temper kind and i^enial. He ne\ er fori^'..t the 
amenities of the i^entleman in the ardor of the |"iartisan, or 
the zeal of the advoeate. He was eminently suited, both 
by nature and edueation, for the praetice of the profession 
which he h.id ehoseii in his joutli, and which he looked 
uponwitli |uide and reverence to the close of his lilc. 
He Won reputation anil fime ; liis integrity w.is nexer 
ipiestioned; his honor w .is ne\er t.irnished. He was 
not only faithful to his clients and to his friends, but 
sciii|iuloii^ly observanl of those higher and more solemn 
respon^ibibiies and duties ii|ion which rest the wliole fabric 
of civil society. He wa^ twice married — fir^t, on the Iljlh 
of March, 1S14, to Catherine Celia Greene, daughter of 
Wdliani (ireenc, by whom he had seven children, four of 
whom survi\e linn. His second wife was [alia B. lones, 
willow of .\l)cl lunes. and daughter of Uenjamin liouine, 
one of the most distinguished lawyers and statesmen in 
Rhode Inland. llieie were no cliildren by the second 
m.irriage. 



i 



^iiDX, Rn. Ii.VMKi., son of Rev. .\biam and I'm 
deuce (Kdwaids) l.'oon, was born in Hopkint-ni, 
"■ .-\J Rho.le Island, January 9, 171,2. He united with 
the Sabbatarian Church June 2S, 1.S06. (.)n the 2^tli 
of December, 1817, he mariied h'annie, d.iughter of 
I'eleg liabeock, Ksip The Cluirch licensed him to j, reach 
M.ueh 22, iSiS, and ord.iiued him to the niini^tiv .\pril 4, 
I.Sii). Trior to hi, ordination he resided one vear in l.hcs- 
tcr. MasvaellUsats. Alt.r ordination he wa, I'a^lorof the 
'ihinl Sabb.itarian (hurch in liio.ikheld. New \ork, and 
w.is occasionally eng.iged in missionary labor until his re- 
tina to Hopkinton in iSjO, after which he tilled the ]ias- 
toral ohice of the .Mother Church till his death. Revivals 
attended his whole ministry. He was a man of line jires- 
ence and of a genial, sympathetic nature, lie spoke with 
ease, iluenc)', and \ehemence, and was fei\ent and ini. 
pas-ioned in pi.iyer. While argument. ilive and decnied, 
he had a riili im.igination. He died May 21, I.S5S, in his 
si-\t)' se\enth year. 



ORH.aM, J.MiK/, original founder of the I iorliam 
>biniilactiiring Companv ; son of labe/ and 
.■^t-J- Catherine (Tvlerl Gorham, was born in I'rovi- 
J dence, Rhode Island. Februar\' i.S, 1702. He was 
•i a lineal descendant of Ciptain [ohn (iorham, a na- 
tive of Rennelield, Kngland. who came to I'lvmouth. Nbis- 
saehusetts, in 1643, being then nineteen years of age, and 
married Desire, the eldest daughter of John Howland, who 
came in the Mayflower. His ancestors, in England, ac- 
companied William the Conqueror from Normandy, and 
for services at the Rattle of Hastings, received a manorial 
estate at a place afterward called (iorhamsbury. Many 
members of this family have been prominent in the various 
walks of life, and, to use the words of an English work 
on genealogy piertaining to them, " ha\e added something to 
the theology, literature and civili/ation of Englaml." In 
1645, Ca|.tain John Gorham removed to Marshheld, Mas- 
sachusetts, and in 1651, to Yarmouth (now Yarmouth Port), 
where he purchased a tract of land and built a house. In 
1654 he purchased an additional farm in Barnst.able, where 
he resided until his death, February s, 1676. He was 
Commander oi the niililarv of the town, an impoitant po- 
sition in those days, and was noted for hi- aliility, industry 
and integrity. He commanded a portion of the Plymouth 
forces in King Philip's War, being accompanied by his son 
John, and was a prominent participant in the perilous and 
e.xciting scenes of that memorable contest, which have be- 
come matters of liistory. Captain Ciorham died while in 
command, bom the effects of exposure cluiing the cam- 
paign, and was buried with militarv honors at Wanna- 
nioiset. His son John then returned to his widowed 
mother, at Rarii table. Soon after the war, the govern- 
ment gr. lilted to the heirs of Capitain (iorhani, and one 
hundred and nineteen of his sui\i\iiig comrades, a tract 
of lani-l located about ten miles fioni w hat has since become 
['ortland, Maine, 'lliis was first called Xarragansctt, Imt 
is now known as Gorham. ,\ granite monument, erected 
liy the low 11, renuds its origin. Cajitain (iorliam had 
eleven children, all of whinn became jirominent citi/ens. 
In 170; his sons, John and James, were the wealthiest 
men in R.iriistable. Among his descendants. John ( ior- 
ham, in the fouitli generation, was the hero of the capture 
of l.ouisbuig. in 1745. dining the French War ; Nathaniel, 
in the fifth generation, was a Judge in Massachusetts, Presi- 
dent ol Congress under the Confeileration, a leading mem- 
lier of the comeiition which framed the present Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and of the Convention of Massa- 
chusetts that adojited it, and who was iVeiiueiitly called 
upon by Piesident Washington to fill the ch.iirwhen he 
left it. Of his descendants, one \\ as the wife of Peter 
Chardon Brooks, a millionnaire of New England, whose 
daughter was the wife of Edward l^vcrett ; another was 
the wife of George Bartlett, whose daughter is the wife of 
James Wall^er, Piesident of Harvaril Universitv ; and an- 
other is the widow of Hon. John Phillips, who liberally 



BIOGKAPinCAL CYCL OPED I A. 



241 



supported Massacluisett^ literary institutions. 'I'he subjeet 
of this sketch attended the common schools of his native 
town until he was fourteen years of aj;e, at whicli time his 
father died, and he was soon afterward apprenticed to Ne- 
hemiah Dodge, a jeweller, with whcjm lie remained during 
his minority. Soon after attaining his majority, he formetl 
a partnership with Christopher Burr, William Hadwin, 
George G. Clark, and Henry G. Mumford, with \\'hoin he 
engaged in the manufacture of a variety of gold jewelry, 
in the second story of the building at the northwest corner 
of North Main and Steeple streets. They built up a large 
business, and became widely known as leading manufac- 
turers in their line. At the expiration of five years, the 
firm w^as dissolved, and Mr. (jorham continued the busi- 
ness alone, at the same place. He visited Boston and New 
York twice a year in the interests of his business, and 
among the articles manufactured by him, the " Gorham 
Chain" was quite celebrated. About 1828 he bought 
property on the south side of .Steeple Street, which now 
forms a part of the establishment of the Gorham Manufac- 
turing Company, to which he removed. In 1831 he adtled 
the manufacture of silver spoons to his business, and asso- 
ciated with him Henry L. Webster, of Boston, with whom 
he continued, under the firm name of Gorham & Webster, 
until 1839, when Mr. Gorham retired from the firm, but 
continued the manufacture of the "Gorham Chain." In 
August, 1841, he repurchased the silver interest, took his 
son John into partnership, and began to manufacture spoons 
and silver-ware, the firm-name being J, (jorham & Son. 
The spoons were made by forging them, and two men by 
hard work could make but two dozen per day. In 1S47, 
Mr. Gorham retired from active business, and his son con- 
tinued alone, at the same place, under the same firm-name. 
Mr. Gorham w-as also one of the original projectors of the 
Eagle Screw Company, and was influential in promoting 
the interests of that corporation until it attained a prosper- 
ous condition. Although accustomed to give close atten- 
tion to his business, Mr. Gorham found time to serve the 
public vei7 acceptably in various official capacities. For 
several years he represented the city of Providence in the 
General Assembly of Rhode Island, and from 1842 to 1844 
was a member of the Common Council of Providence from 
the First Ward. In politics he was formerly a Whig, and 
was afterward identified with the Republican party from its 
organization until his death. In early life he commanded 
a militia company for several years, and was familiarly 
known as Captain Gorham. He was a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and also of the Charitable Mechanics 
Society. He was twice married; first, December 4, 1816, 
by Rev. Stephen Gano, to Amey Thurber, daughter of 
Samuel and Mehitable (Dexter) Thurber, of Providence. 
She died November 26, 1820, in the twenty-si\th year of 
her age. On the iCth of April, 1822, Mr. Gorham was 
married, by the Rev. Henry Edes, to Lydia Dexter, daugh- 
ter of Lewis and Lydia (Comstock) Dexter, of Smithfield, 
3' 



Rhode Islaiul. .She died September 4, 1S73, at the age of 
seventy-six. By the first marriage there were three chil- 
dren, Benjamin, Amanda, and John, of whom the two last 
named are living. The children by the second marriage 
were Benjamin, Amey, Susan, and Charles Field, of wdiom 
the two last named are living. In early life Mr. Gorham 
resided at the corner of Benefit and Star streets, but about 
1858, he built the brick dwelling at the corner of Benefit 
and Bowen streets, where he continued to reside until his 
death, which occurred March 24, 1S69, at which time he 
was seventy-seven years of age. 



|r*jRANST( )N, Hon. John Dykr, manufacturer, was 
M^^ born in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, August 
-^™* 31, 1816. He was the son of William S. and 
f@> Lydia (Carr) Cranston. He was a descendant of 
''v Lord Cranston, \^ hose marriage with a daughter of 
the distinguished Earl of Bucclcugh is immortalized Ity 
Scott in his "Lay of the Last Minstrel." Lord Cranston's 
family h as descended from the ancient Earls of Crawford, 
Bothwell, and Traquair, and through them related by blood 
to the ))resent royal family of Great Britain. Lord Wil- 
liam Cranston, who received his title of nobility from James 
VL, King of Scotland, November 19, 1609, had a son, 
James Cranston, who married Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of 
Sir p"rancis Stuait, Earl of Bothwell, and grandson of 
James V. James Cranston had a son John, who married 
Christian Stuart, daughter of .Sir Robert Stuart, predecessor 
of the Earls of Tratjuair, also descended from the royal 
family of Stuart. This John Cranston, in early manhood, 
came from Scotland to Newport in the time of Oliver 
Cromwell, and married Maiy Clarke, daughter of Jere- 
miah Clarke. He was one of the petitioners for the cliar- 
ter granted by Charles H.. and was afterwards Governor of 
the coUmy, which office he held at the time of his death, 
May, 1680. He was the father of tlovernor .Samuel Cran- 
.ston, whose gubernatorial career extended over a period of 
twenly-nine years, being in office at the time of his death, 
April 26, 1727. The town of Cranston, Rhode Island, 
takes its name from this family. John D. Cranston, the 
subject of tliis sketch, received a common-school educa- 
tion, and early developed a ta-te and aptitude for business. 
He removed to Providence in 183S, and afterwards became 
prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of 
that city. In 1846 he commenced liuying and selling cot- 
ton waste, then a new business, and in 1S59 formed a co- 
partnership with Darius (loff and Stephen Brownell, under 
the (irm-name of lioff, Cranston & Brow nell, manufacturers 
and dealers in paper stock and wadding. Mr. Cranston 
displayed remarkable tact, energy, and perseverance in his 
business career, and despite many reverses, accumulated a 
large estate. For some years he was President of the Citi- 
zens' Savings Bank of I'roviilence,and greatly contributed to 
the prosperity of that insliuttion. In order to gratify his 



242 



A lO f ; RAPflli \I L C 1 'CI OPED! A, 



ta^Ic fill C'lunlrv !ilr aii-l rural luiisiiil^, lie |nirohasC(l, in 
kS6(), an estate at WicUfniJ, North KinL;stn\vn, wliith lie 
j^roally iiuiirDVutl. 'I Iiis lie iikhIo liis iHTiiianciu Imiiie. ru- 
m(i\iii|^ \v\ rrovidciice temi'i'iarily *hiiiny the winter, lie 
admiieil fine stuck, ami ha<! a spci ial inndness for fast 
horses, t if wliiLh he .iluav^ uwiird and lai^etl a inuiiher. 
In 1S73 and iSyj In: wa-. elected State Senator fruni North 
Kingstown, and served with i^reat satisfaction t<> his felKnv- 
citi/ens. lie was a meinher of the Masonic Fraternity, 
and look an acti\e interest in the temiierance cause, being 
a nieniher of the Temple of lIi>nor and the Sons id' Tem- 
perance. He married, first. Amy S. Aldrieh, 'Liiighter of 
J.yman :\iui Sarah Ahlrich, of Scituate, Rliode Island, the 
issue of the marriage heing one chiUl, John Hcniy 
Cranston. His tirst wife died March ^o, 1S5S, and in 
lSC|0 he married Carrie t.iardiner. daughter of Captain 
i^eriah ami I-'ranee^ f iardiner, of Noith King-town. She 
(li.d August 20, 1^7;,. On the nth of (.)ao!ier, 1875, 
Ml. < 'ran--ton niairicl Anieiia W. Ham, daughter of Kd- 
waid 1. an<l Alnura T. Ham. There were two children 
bv tiiis marriage, Milton Mor^u and Helen Wardswoith. 
Mr. Ciaiiston's son, John H. Cranston, who was liorn Sep- 
tember 28, 184^. married, September 26, 1871, Clara Wil- 
kinson, daughter of lerenriah .\. and ( 'al ha line \\. Wilkin - 
snn, t.'l New Voikf'ity. John 1 >. (/ranstnii diuil January 
IS, 18S0. He was one ol the iiRorpi iralors and eliief ]'io- 
nioiers of ihe Washington Agrimltuial .^ociclv, and at a 
meeting of the Standing < onimilee, to take appn.ijiri.ite 
action in regard to his death, the indel tedness of lliat so- 
ciety to the zealous eOorts of Mr. Cranston was exjiressed 
in a menu trial which appear^ (in ihe society's record-^. 



-^(JPKINS, M\,ioR Ai-cfsirs. s<m of Tim.. thy ami 
"■' Sarah (L'arver) Hopkins, was bom ni SLituate, 
Rhode Kland, June 0, I7')2. He is a lineal de 
; .-" scendant of Thonm^ Hopkins, one of (he as^ol i.ites 
•*• of Roger Williams, who eamc with him lr<im .Mas- 
sachusetts, and became a large lan<lo\yner in Rhode Island. 
The genealogy of the family has been tiaeed a^ follows; 
Thonias Hoj)kins. son of William and Joanna lAriioId) 
Hopkins, was jiorn in Knglaml, .\jiiil t, idU), and mairied 
Kh/abeth AiiiMh! ; 4 h,,nias Hopkiii-^. s, .11 nf the last -named. 
married Mar\ Smith, (kuighter of [nlm Smiih, dieil A|>iil 
21, l7iS,and had a sun Ihiunas, who was married in I7<"'7, 
hi^ wife's given name being i-!li/abelh ; 4'im<'thy Hopkins, 
son of Thomas Hopkins, married I illix Simmons, and hail 
a son Timothy, bom in i 751. married Sarah < arver, tlaugh- 
ler of Joseph Carver, whose son, Augu--tu>, is the subjei t 
of this sketch. Sarah Carver was a lineal descendant of 
John <'arver, the first Covernor of I'lymouth ("olony. Augus- 
tus I Iii|ikins s])L-nt liis early years on ihe farm .it home, and 
reeeivi-da common school education. In 1S24 he removed 
bom Scituate to ilui iilK die. and w as apprenticed to .Andrew 



Harris, a spindle manutacturer. He soon became general 
manager of the business, in which capacity he served for 
several years. On the 20th of May, 1S34, he engaged in 
the same business in company with Horace W. Hopkins 
(his nephew), in Laurel Ridge, having bouglil the interest 
of Asa Churchill. < )n the 2d of June, 1835, they [lurchased 
the interest> of Cornelius Toster and Levi Lapham, since 
which time the manufaclure of spindles and fher-. has been 
carried on uiuier the firm name of A. Hopkins Cv: Co. Their 
facilities fur manufaLturing have been greatly increased, 
antl their factory has the reputation of furnishing the best 
w ork of its class made in this country, and for more than a 
quarter of a century has furnished the larger part of the 
s]»indles used by the leading manufacturers of spinning 
machiner)-. In 1S45 Mr. Hopkins became sole proprietor, 
and although now m his eighty-ninth year, he still visits 
the factory regularly, and takes (.leep interest in the business, 
which ii now condueted b\' his son-in-law, [ames A. Rot- 
ter, and hi-. grand-.on, Addi^on S. Hopkins, He is a man 
ot great energy, and by his indomitable perseverance suc- 
ceeded in building up a large and successful business. He 
was a mernlier of the first chartered military conipany in 
the State, known a^ the Captain-Cenerars Cavaliers, in 
which he held the office of Major. He married, in 1814, 
I.)i!ia Harris (daughter of Charles Harris), who died 
Angust 23, l8j2. Major Ib']-ikins\ second wile was Han- 
nah Rrayton, daughter of l.odowick Rra)ton, to whom he 



\ as mariied Mj 



1834. 



\\\ September, 1871. 



Hecember 16, lS74.Ma|or Hoi>kins mariied K!i/.a Mathew- 
son Maker Hojikins, now living. There were seven chil- 
dren by the fir t marriage. Watty I'.. Horatio I,aw-.on (a 
sketch of whom appears in tlii-^ volume ), Lemuel Slack, 
\\illiam Augustus, Mary h'.. w luj mariied James A. Tot- 
ter, Charles Harris, and Andrew Augustu?. The issue of 
the -^eLiiiid maiiiage was a si mi. Stcfihen Manchester (a 
sketch of whom will also be lound in this volume), who 
served with di-.tinelioii m the L'nion amiy in the war of 
the Rclicllion. atiaining the rank of 1 ieulenaiU, and died in 
Washington, I ». ('.,111 180^ from the effects ot wounds 
received at the battle of f redehcksburg. 



'y^RKLNL, Ib.N. Ri< llAKi) Wai;i). LL.H.. son of 
IMCTV. Chrisli'jiher and I )eborah (Ward) ( b eeiie. w as born 
Ot' at iV'tiiwoinul, Warwick, Rhode Lland, January 21, 
I I/O-- Hew as p;e]>arcd hir i ollege under the tuition 
*p uf b'^cpli I .. dillinghast, principal of the aca<lemy at 
Last <ireenwich, and was a graduate of Rrown University 
in tlic clas^ (tf i,Si2. He studied law in the law school at 
Litchlield. Connecticut. an<l l\ir a short time was in the 
ofhce of Hon. Kbene/er Rockwell, in Roston. He com- 
menced the jtraetice of his [uofe-^sion in Roston, having been 
admiUed to the bar in the summer of 1816. Shortly after, 
September 9, 1810. he w a-, admitted to the Rhode Llaiul 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



243 



bar, having removed to rrovidence, where it \\ as liis purpose 
henceforth to practice his profession. He soon obtained 
chents and was successful in liis vocation. He received the 
appointment of r)itrict Attorney of the Lhiited States for 
Rhode Island in 1S26. This office he held for nineteen 
years (1826-45). For two years (1847-48), he represented 
the State in the .Senate of the General .■\sseuihly. He was 
elected in May, 1848, Chief Justice of Rhode Island. .After 
a service of one year he resigned, Imt \\ as ininiediately re- 
elected, and was in office until June, 1S54. Widiing to 
resume the practice of his profession he resigned a second 
time. For seven years (1S65-72), he represented his native 
town (wdiere he had taken up his residence) in the General 
Assembly. For over half a century (1823-751, 'it^ "'^^ ^ 
Trustee of Brown University, which institution, in 1S4S, 
conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. 
" He was a typical Rhode Islander, ever wntchful for the 
interests of his native State, and ever loyal to the college 
in which he was educated." The wife of Judge Greene, 
whom he married in November, 1S54, was Celia Larned, 
daughter of Hon. Albert C. Greene, of Providence. He 
died in Providence, March 14, 1S75, in the eighty fourth 
year of his age. 



I^HEPARD, Thomas, D.D., 
sachusetts, 



, was born in Norton, Mas- 
JS) sachusetts, May 7, 1792, and was a graduate of 
- Brown University in the class of 1S12, and of the 
Andover Theological .Seminary in the class of 1S16. 
•I Having completed his studies in these institutions of 
learning he accepted from the American Home Missionary 
Society an appointment to enter their service,the field of his 
Christian labor being in the State of Georgia. He devoted 
four years to this work, and then returned to New England. 
He was ordained at AshfieUl, Massachusetts, June 16, 1819, 
as pastor of the Congregational Church in that place. Here 
he remained until 1833, and then resigned to enter the ser- 
vice of the American Bible Society as a Bible Missionary, 
and continued in their employ for two years. At the end 
of this period he received a call from the Congregational 
Church in Bristol, Rhode Island, to become their pastor, 
and w.as installed April 30, 1835. For the unusually long 
period of thirty years he continued in office. He resigned 
in the spring of 1865. He remained " pastor emeritus " 
during the rest of his life. His long residence in Bristol 
and the prominent part he had taken in the affairs of the 
place, caused him to be greatly respected and beloved in 
the village which for .so many years had been his home. 
He belonged to the old school of clergymen, and came to 
be regarded as a religious patriarch. He was elected a 
Corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions in 1846. Brown University conferred 
on him in 1853 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. 
His long and useful life was ended by a peaceful death, 
October 5, 1S79. Dr. Shepard married. May 8, 1S21, 



■Sarah Williams Barrett, daughti-r of John and Martha 
Dickinson Barrett, of Northlield, Massachusetts. Mrs. 
•Shepard died in Bristol, January 17, 1864. Of the nine 
children, the issue of this marriage, only three are now 
(1880) living: Abby, the wife of Lafayette Burr, Melrose, 
Massachusetts; and two unmarried daughters at home, 
Charlotte Maria, and Helen Southworth. 



ai^ENSH.WV, Rt. Rev. John Prentiss Kewi.ey, 
^1 D.D., first Bishop of Rhode Island, was born at 
Middletown, Connecticut, June 13.1792. When 
^ I '=' he was about nine years of age the family removed 
j to Middlebury, Verinont, where his father, Daniel 
Ilenshaw, engaged in mercantile business. His mother's 
maiden name was Sally Prentiss. Voung Henshaw made 
such rapid progress in his studies as to enter Middlebury 
College when he was twelve years of age, and graduated 
at sixteen. The same year he was admitted ad etindem 
gyiuliim at ll.irvard University, where he spent the follow- 
ing year as a resident graduate. During this time, while on 
a visit to his nalive place, he received his first deep and 
abiding religious impressions. Soon afterwards he was 
baptized bv the Rev. Mr. Kewley,at that time the honored 
rector of the Pntestant Episcopal Church at Middletown, 
Connecticut, in token of respect for whom he assumed his 
name as part of his own. He at once became a zealous 
worker in the church of his adoption, and was desirous of 
entering the work of the ministry; but he found his father 
and the family, who were Congregationalists, seriously op- 
posed to hi^ taking such a course, and that they had planned 
a different career for him. After his return to Vermont, 
however, by daily contact with the family, his burning re- 
ligious enthusiasm not only overcame all objections to his 
course, but led them to give up their hereditary faith, and 
embrace the truth as taught by the church into w hich they 
were afterward received by Mr. Kewley, who visited them 
for th.al purpose. In a short time Bishop Griswold, then 
recently consecrated to preside over the Eastern Diocese, 
embracing all of New England, except Connecticut, went 
to Middlebury to extend the Hiirk begun there. He com- 
missioned young Henshaw as a lay-reader, and by his 
labors in that capacity several congregations were estab- 
lished in different parts of the State. Feeling the need of 
better prep.iration for his work, he entered on a course of 
study under the direction of his venerable Bishop at Bristol, 
Rhode Island, where, .still officiating as lay-reader, he was 
instrumental, in the absence of the Bishop, in bringing about 
a great religious aw^akening. in 1812. In 1S14-1815, though 
still a lay-reader, he w-as established for a time at Marble- 
head, Massachusetts, where he labored with signal success 
in building up an expiring church. He was ordained Dea- 
con by Bishop Griswold, in St. Michael's Church, Bristol, 
Rhode Island. June 13, 1813, on his twenty-first birthday. 



244 



lUOGRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



th.it lu-inLi ''i*-' t-";iilifsl tlati- at wliicli lu- (■i>uM l>e canoni- 
c;i]ly aiiniiitcil to Iiuly ■l^(k■r•^. AIiih>^i iiiiiiK-iIi.itcly afler 
his (inlination h".- \\a- calk-il I<i serve in ^t. Aiinc's (.'hiirch. 
Ihotiklvn. Nl-w ^'u^!■;. w hi-i f he was unhiiiied Priest, by 
iiishnp Ilohait. liiiif I j^. iSit). In the ^piini; nf iSiy he 
was ealleit tn St. I'eler's ( "luuxli, llaltiniorc, Marykmd. 
wheie lie sjieni twenty si\ years in the tlischarL;e nf the 
mii-t ihlfnuh ami anUioii^ (hities. His lllini^t^atilln in Bal- 
tiniort.- was altiinicil w i h eminent success anii haj'jiv re- 
suits, lie ntil oiilv snvcii St, Peter's ('luireh fioni ini|)enil- 
iut; ruin, hut uiaiie it a centre of pDuer. 'Iwootlier places 
of \\iir-l)ip were elected in Piallimore ihruugh his ])eisonal 
etfurts, ani.l in suhseipient vears the r.M St. I'eter'-. was 
vacated, and a new St. Peter's, haviii;^ a tahiet to Pishop 
Henshaw'N nieuinrv, and < irace Church, hoth elei^ant struc- 
tures, were luiiU hy thfterent parN of the ohl paridi, while 
in an-'iher part uf the citv a Ilen^haw MennMial (InirLh 
has heen erected. In iS^o Iiis alina y//,/A r t< Milerred Ujiin 
him the det^ree of I )octi)r of I)i\inity. I »r. llenshaw was 
noted Inr lii-- 7eal in mis^ionarv wtuk. lie was tur a lon;^ 
time a meniher i<l the (leneral Hoard of Missions, and 
spared no ])ains in his. efforts to advance this threat cause of 
the Church. * >ne of the last labors of hi-, life was to ori^ani/e 
the Providence City Mission. He was eminent, aKo, in 
Conventional work. He was a rei>resentalive in the House 
(►f Clerical and Lay I'cputies i\{ tiie Central (invention, 
almost without interruption, from 1S14. when still a deacon, 
to 1S43, when he was transferred to the House of Pi^hops. 
His inlluence and reputation in llmse Imdies were pr'")piir- 
lionate to his hiL;h standin,; at hiime. He L:;a\e nuieh 
attention to the siilijet.! of clerical educition, and some of 
tile most Useful ministers uf his dav studied under hi> direc- 
tion. At the time of his death he was one of the Vice- 
Presidents of the Thenhi^ical .Seniinarv at Alexandria, 
Virginia. Notw!thstan<lini^ his intense <1ev<ttion to the 
duties of his sacreii ofhce, he fennnl time, in the mitlst of 
his active career, to perform a cunsideraltle amount of lite- 
rary w ork. He w as the author of several \ oluminous 
works, besides many occasional pam|ddets and papers. 
He wrote a hook on doifh matiou ; one on the II\>ly don- 
mtoiiofi : a lar^e treatise on Didactii Theology; lectures 
on the SttoiiJ Aili'cut of our I.-ord : and a M, nioir of 
Bh/iof' Moort\ of Virginia, who was his beloved friend. 
He was several times nominated for the Ei'isco])ate of Mary- 
land, and always receive*! a larL;e and gratifvini; v<»te, 
ihoui^h not elected. ]u I S4 ; he was chosen P.ishop of 
Khode Island, w hi» h. .ifter the death of Pishop Criswold. 
became a separ.itc diocese. At the same time lie was 
elected to the rectorship of ( hact- Church, Providence. 
Pjoth of these offices he accepted. His episcopal labors in 
Rhode Island were characterized bv the most marked and 
rapid [trtiL^ress in all direction>. In the faceof great obstacles, 
he built the ]>resent sjjacious and stately edihce of Grace 
Church, and L;reatly extended the mission work of the Stale, 
besides oceasioii,dly l.d'orin^' with i^rral earnestness rnul 



success in various jxirts of the country. He was also several 
years Provisional Bi-'hoj)of the P^iocese of Maine. Pishop 
Henshaw was endowed by nature with rare combination of 
jiowers ; a strong, elastic temperament, a comprehensive 
mind, and a hne manly sj)irit, all blended into a symmet- 
rical and vigorous manhood, consecrated by a high moral 
purpose and a vivid spiritual discernment. As one of his 
biograjjhers said of him ; " Though not a man of genius, he 
was an eminently wise and able man." He died suddenly, 
near h'rederick, Mar\land, pdy 20. 1N52, from an attack of 
apoplexy, while i>erforming pressing episcopal duties for 
Bishoji Whitlingham, w ho, on account of failing health, had 
gone to Euiojie. Pi^hoji Henshaw married. July 19, 1X14, 
Mary, daughter of Isaac and .Sarah tiorham, of Pri^ttd, 
Rhode Island. They had eleven chlhlren. four of wdiom 
are now (iSSo) living, vi/.. Rev. I )aniel Hen-^haw, rector 
of All .Saints Memorial Church, Providence; Marv (ior- 
liam. w ife ot Mr. ( ieorge C. Nightingale, a prominent manu- 
lacturL-r of i'rovidence ; Charles H., and Richmond Hen- 
shaw, also of Providence. 



■,R(")\\XE. Win i \M. the eldest son of Dr. Solomon 
^, and Kli/abeth 1 Russell) 1 )n_iw ne, was born in 
Morgant»"wn, Montmgalia <.'ounty. \irginia, Oclo- 
•-"^""* ber 2(', 170V He was a lineal descendant of 
rJ k Leonard Hrowiie, who is mentioned by jiackus, 
in his hi-tory, as being one of the founders of the First 
Church at Kitter)', Maine, in it)S2, and whose grave is in 
the Copp's Hill P.urying-Cround, Boston, Massachusetts. 
His grandfather, Solomon Drowne. Senior, wa'^ a merchant 
in Providence, and was one of the Assistants of the colony 
lor several years during the colonial period, in iSoi the 
subject of this sketch, with his father's family, a!ter resid- 
ing a short time in Union, Layette (.'ounty, Pennsylvania, 
removed to Mount Hygeia, Foster. Rhode Island. When 
(]uite young he attended school in Providence, became a 
clerk tor a time in the Hope Manufacturing Company, and 
in 1S15 joined the Cadet Cum])any, in connection with 
which he was engaged in throwing up fortihcalions at 
1-ieM's i'oint, when the British were expected to advance 
on the city. A few years later he travelled extensively in 
the West, and embarked in mercantile business in Cincin- 
n.iti. < )hio, which, however. ]»ro\ecl unsuccessful. While 
heie he took great interest in the establishment of Sunilay- 
st_ii<iols. to whivli he was ardently devoted, and publi>hed 
a sniall volume entitled A}i Appc-al in Behalf of SHUiiay- 
SJiooh, afterward reprinted in Providence and widely 
circulated. ( )n his return tt) Rhode Island he commenced 
the |)rejiaration of the I-nrmcr s Giiuit\ under the inspection 
of his father, L>r. L)rowne, w hicli was published in 1824, 
and conniicnded highly by a special committee of The 
khoile fslaivd Sotiutv for the Encouragement of I >omestic 



BIOGRAPHlCAr. CYCLOPEDIA. 



245 



Influ^try, of which society he was a memlier. On March 
4th of the same year he unitLiI willi tlic l■'ir^t Baptist 
Church ill Providence, of wliich 1 Ir. ( iano \\as then 
pastor. After studying medicine for a time with Dr. Par- 
sons and Dr. Wheaton, of Providence (which he did not 
find congenial to his tastel, he concluded to enter Hamil- 
ton College, New York, where he remained for five years. 
Having completed a course of theological study, he com- 
menced officiating as a clergyman, and though not accept- 
ing any permanent charge, yet at intervals during his whole 
life he was engaged in ministerial duties. Mr. llrowne at 
a very early period identified himself with the anti-slavery 
movement, and in 1S35 established an office in the .Vrcade, 
Providence, to which he personally devoted his time and 
means, making it a reading room and headi|uartcrs for 
those who sympathized with this reform. For many years 
he was warmly engaged in lecturing and in disseminating 
information on the subject through the press. Besides this 
he was also devoted to the Peace .Society, and was ap- 
pointed President of an organization in 1852 at Killingly, 
Connecticut, before which he delivered the annual ad- 
dress in 1854. In the summer of I<S44 he settled in Dan- 
ielsonville, Connecticut, where he resided fifteen years. 
Here he was engaged quite extensively in horticulture, 
and maintained a large nursery, from which were distrib- 
uted fruit and ornamental trees to all parts of the country. 
In July, 1851, he sailed for Europe for the purpose of at- 
tending the " Great Exhibition of All Nations " and the 
" Peace Congress," as well as for general travel. On his 
return he-was invited to publish articles and lecture quite 
extensively on subjects connected with his tour through 
England. During his latter years Mr. Drowne residetl in 
Providence, and afterwards in Poster, where he died on the 
15th of June, 1874. He was twice married, fir^t to Mary 
Sprague, October 10, 1S32, and second to Emily Day, 
May 10, 1836. Of his five children three survive him, 
one having died in the service of his country — Edgar M. 
Drowne — whose name is inscribed on the Soldiers' and 
Sailors' Monument in Exchange Place, Providence. Mr. 
Drowne was during his long life an indefatigable reader and 
student, and amassed a large store of interesting and varied 
information. A short time before his death he ]irepared a 
lengthy sketch of the life and times of his father, for the 
Rhode Island Historical Society, and he had nearly com- 
pleted a condensed commentary on the Holy Scriptures, 
designed for family reading and for Sunday-schools. In a 
private journal, which covers upward of sixty years, he has 
recorded not only the details of a somewhat diversified 
life, but numerous facts and events relating to the history 
of his times. His advocacy of reforms, not jiopular in their 
day, but which he believed to be right, and for which he 
ardently toiled, reveal a moral courage and zeal highly 
praiseworthy. His general culture and taste rendered his 
society and conversation remarkably agreeable, while his 
readiness to encourage all educational arul religious enter- 



prises, especially for the improvement of the young, was a 
marked characteristic and will be long remembered. 



il^il'.ROWNE, HiiNRY Bi-,RNARniN, a lineal descendant 
of Leonard Drowne, who came from the West of 
England to Boston, about 1660, was the youngest 
son of Dr. .Sulomon and Elizabeth ( Russell ) Drowne, 
and was born on the 6th of ,\pnl, 1799, in Union, 
Payette Countv, Pennsylvania. His father being a great 
admirer of the writings of the celelirated naturalist, James 
Henry Bernardin de .Saint Pierre, gave that name to his 
son, but the latter retained only a part of it. Dr. Drowne 
removed with his family, in 1802, to p*oster, Rhode Island, 
where Henry passed his boyhood, attending school for a 
lime in Providence, in the old edifice still standing on 
Meeting Street. Before reaching twenty years of age he 
was the proprietor and manager of a farm in the town of 
Woodstock, Connecticut. Mr. Drowne married Julia Ann, 
daughter of Thomas and Polly (Rhodes) Stafford, of War- 
wick, on the 24th of .'\pril, 1821. Early in 1823 he left 
Woodstock for Fruit Hill, North Providence, Rhode 
Island, where he purchased land, built a house, and lived 
for the next twenty-five years. On the 1st of January, 
1830, Mr. Drowne and his wife became members of the 
Baptist Church at Centredale, then under the pastoral care 
of the Rev. H. N. Loring, and was afterwards chosen dea- 
con. He took a deep interest in local affairs, was Town 
Treasurer, and for several years a member of the Town 
Council. In the spring of 1S35, conjointly with his sisters, 
he founded the school known as the Fruit Hill Classical In- 
stitute, by securing the large hotel and adjacent hall, w hich 
w'ere admirably adapted for educational purposes. His 
wise forecast in originating an in-titution of a high order 
was seen in the success wdiicli attended the effort, attract- 
ing to this quiet little village pujiils, not only from this, but 
the neighboring States. Mr. Drowne, from being con- 
stantly called to Providence to look after inqirovements to his 
real estate and other interests, moved into the city in 1850, 
and soon after erected the house at 127 Benefit Street, in 
which he passed the remainder of his days. His time was 
chiefly occupied in the management of several estates and 
other financial trusts, in which he was noted for his probity 
and sound judgment. Intervals of leisure were devoted 
in his latter years to an extensive course of reading, in 
which history and antiquarian researches liore a prominent 
part. His kindly spirit was obvious in many unostenta- 
tious acts of beneficence, and in cases of sickness and afflic- 
tion his sympathetic nature prompted him to cheerfully 
render his friendly ser\ ices. .At an early date he became 
connected with the Rhode Isl.ind Society for the Encour- 
agement of Domestic Industry, and served on Committees 
during the periled when the annual fairs were held at Paw- 



246 



iucn:h'ArincAL c \ 'ci. orEDi.-i. 



tiiMi. Ill' wa* a dirottcir in tlu> \h-rcl)am>' S.nint;-^ Bank, 
(if l'rn\lilcnco, ami (if ^(inu- iilhci' in-tiuiti'ins. anfl a re^i- 
iltait iiKinln-r and officer nf tlic Klm.lc l^lanc| IlKlniical 
Scicu'ty, ill llu- yirncccclinL;-. of uhirli lie always t'^ok a 
warm inUiwt. lie ilird -udiknly in I'nividi-ncL' on the 
fvcnini; of tlic 7lh of l-Vlnnaiy. 1S73, lca\in:; a widow 
and four ?*ons, and wa^ lauiud in Swan IViint Ccnielery. 



i li. 



fllLlNtiS, EiMiiiilKT RHniiKs. -^on (.f Hon. Al- 
|iluii> ami Lv"lia Mann ( Cnrpcntcii i'.illhiys, was 
born in I'li'vidcntx-. May 22, I7'i4. He roccived 
I a ])rai-Uc;iI business ethicalion. ami in iSoS became 

\> a clerk in tlie drygoods store ol his uncle. John R. 

Carpenter, \\ ilh whom he remained until 1S13, and then 
served in the same capacity in the store »»! Wecden tlv Bil- 
liui^s. I'jion the death of Mr. Weedeii, in 1S15, Mr. 
Billinj^s became a partner with lii> father, the style of the 
firm beini^ A. Itilhngs t\: Son. In May of that year he 
married l'"li/a Smith, dauj^diler of John Sniidi, of Smith- 
fiehl. Rhode Island. In 1S17 Mr. I;illini,'s removed with 
his family, accompanied by his father ami brother, to Au- 
gusta, GenrLjia, where he 0])ened a store of i^eneial mer- 
chandise, wdiich he carried on until 1S20, when he returned 
to Providence. Soon aflervvanls he went to the city of 
New York, ami engaged in the general commission busi- 
ne->s, in the house of Alley, Lawrence iS: Trimble, sultse- 
(|Uentl\ I.auience \' Trinilile, having the geneiai nunai^e- 
ment of the business of that firm. So extensive was the 
trade of this iiou-^e tiiat having sustained a loss of seventv- 
five tliou^and dollars iluring the general hnancial depres- 
sion of lS_57, tlie amount was made up from the protits of 
the business the following year. In iS.^b loseph Danne, 
a German merchant, married Mr. Lillings's daughter 
Catharine, and in iS4C>, Mr, I'.ilbngs and liis son-in law 
engaged in the importation of dernian drygoods.in which 
they conlimied successlully foi- (wo years, their store being 
in New \'oik. In I.S42. with WiUiam L'. Aniohl, he em- 
barked in the woo] business. Jn which he continued about 
three year-., and afterwar<ls. until 18^(1, engaged in the 
brokerage and conimi-^sjon bu-^iness. In the meantime he 
made an extended tour through Europe. In iS<>i, his 
brother Alpiieus died, leaving him a large fortune, to ob- 
tain posses-ion of which he again went to Kurope, where 
he remained for some time, visiting various places of inter- 
est. Mr. Hillings was one of the found(■r^ of the Prv7-i- 
t/tfitr Diiily //rr<i/,/, which became a ])opuIar and inlhien- 
li,d journal. In early lite he took a |)rtiminent part in 
nnlilary matters. During the War of iSijhe commanded 
a eonipany of militia, and while residing in Augusta, 
(ieorgii, raised a companv for servii_e ni the Seminole 
War. He die<l in l'rn\ iihau e, June 12. kSSi, in the 
eighty eighth \ear of his age. 



r.r.()'r, CoMMiUmKr, J'lr.i., son t,f loel and I.ydia 
(Cummings) Abbot, was born at ^^'e-tfo^d, .Mas- 
sachusetts, lanuary iS. 170^^, and was deseended 
-^^->: from one of the oldest families in the St.ite. Soon 
^) » aflei- the connnencement of the second war with 
Kngland, he was appointed a niRKhipman in the I'nited 
States Navy, and was attached to the frig.ate " Presideni," 
under command of Commodore Rodgers, whose aid ami sig- 
nal officer he became. W'hile in charge of a valuable ]iri/o 
he was captured by a Priti^h cruiser. After being held for 
a lime as prisoner he was exchanged and appointed to ser 
vice on Lake Chanijihiin, under comniancl of Commoilore 
McI»onough, who conimi-sioned him to undertake a most 
hazardous eriambin wddch he was entiiely sueCessiul. lie 
was ordered to proceed to a certain spot and destroy a 
(pianlity of masts and spars which were to be used liy the 
Pritish in hlting out the naval force with which they in- 
tended to attack the Americans. Such were the hardships 
he enilured in the performance of the task assigned him, 
that he never wholly recovered from the effects of the cx- 
posvu'e and sutfering to wliich he had been subjected. He 
took an active part in the naval battle on Lake Chamjdain, 
w liich was soon after fought, and for Ins liravery was pro- 
moted to a lieutenancv, and presented by Congress with a 
haiiiLome swiird. In iSiS he was attached to the "• (iuer- 
riere," and cruised in the Mediterranean for a time. Sub- 
seipiently he served on the " Alligator," on the African 
coast, and was successful in bringing to Bo.ston a Portu- 
guese pirate ship which had been taken off the coast of 
.Africa. His efforts in exposing a serie■^ of stupendous 
fiauils in the Na\y \'ard altiacted the attentiim and seeured 
the coniinendalioii of ilie Hepartment. In 1^43 he took 
command of the "Decatur," one of Commodore Perry's 
African squadron. While at Cape Palmas Connnaiider 
Abbot learned that Pishop Payne was in immini^nt danger 
at Cavalla. He promptly sailed to Ids aid and was instru- 
mental in saving him from a force of five hundred armed 
native--. Histondiut on the African coa--t was warmly 
oommeiidi.'ij by ( 'oiiimoriore Perry aiul the Secretary of the 
Naw. In iN:,2, when (Commodore Perry was intrusted 
with power to select the olficers who were to accom])any 
him in his famous la|>an Ex]iedition, he chose Cajitain 
.\bbot, wh'.i was with Iiim until the objeet forwhiili he 
went to lapan. — the negotiation of a treaiy which wmild 
open the potts of the country t<> the commerce of the 
I'niled States, — was accomplishetl. ( )n the return of Ctun- 
modore Perrv to this countiT, Commodore .\blioI was aji, 
jioiiued to surceed him in cnmman<l of tiie Cnited States 
naval force on the coasts of China and Japan. .At that 
time the Chinese [lirates were committing acts of barbarity 
upon our vessels, and the subjects of the United States en- 
gaged in business in the various Chinese ports were urgent 
in their demands for protection and relief. The course 
whieh Commo<lore Abbot pursueil received the emphatic 
apjiroval of the gfU'ernment. He had not accompli-hed 




'J ,. 



/' / )>/y,:..y J 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



247 



the task given him to perform without seriously affecting 
his health. He was strongly urged by his physicians to 
return home, but with a rare devotion to his duty, he de- 
clined to leave his post until his work was done. At length, 
his relief ship was orderetl, anti, having already been out 
of the United States three months, would have seasonably 
reached him had she not been unexpectedly detained. He 
died at Hong Kong, China, December 14, 1855. aged sixty- 
three years. Commodore .Xbbot was the twenty-sixth in 
the order of seniority on the navy list. He was twice mar- 
ried; first to Mary Wood, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, 
January i, 1820, who died April 15, 1821, leaving one son, 
Joel Wood Abbot; second, to Laura Wheaton, daughter of 
Charles and Abigail ( Miller) Wheaton, to wdiom he was mar- 
ried November 29, 1825. Their children were I.ydia ; John 
P., M.D. ; Charles W., of the United States Navy ; Trevelt, 
deceased, of the Uniled .St.ites Navy; Nathan Miller, de- 
ceased; Laura; Mary; and Walter, deceased, of the United 
States Navy. Commodore Abbot was an earnest, devoted 
communicant in the Episcopal Church, and took a deep inte- 
rest in the prosperity of St. Mark's Church, in Warren. 



^jpy ?NOW, William Cory, son of John and Hannah 
^^g(| (Cory) Snow, was born in Providence, Rhode 
j'"\'-', Island, November iS, 1794. Iking the eldest of 
Jtjl |(_a large family of children, and his parents being in 
i 1 J reduced circumstances, he was compelled to enter 
upon the active duties of life at an early age. His earliest 
school-days were spent at Little Compton, Rhode Island ; 
his first teacher being William Watkins, an Irishman, who 
taught in the Town Hall on the Common. The Rev. 
Mace Shepard, who was then pastor of the Congregational 
Church there, assembled the children in the church for 
catechizing on .Saturday afternoons; there being no Sunday- 
schools at that time. His parents having removed to Provi- 
dence in 1S04, he was sent to the free-school, located on 
the hill west of Chestnut Street, over which the Rev. 
James Wilson presided. Among his schoolmates were 
many who afterwards became prominently identified with 
the early history of Providence. At the age of thirteen 
he entered the grocery store of John Young, as clerk, con- 
tinuing there until iSii, when he obtained a clerkship in 
the Providence post-office; Dr. Benjamin West being at 
that time Postmaster. He remained at the post-office for 
several years, winning the confidence and esteem of his 
employers, and then secured a situation as clerk with 
Messrs. Smith & Sessions, prominent business men of that 
day, who were agents of the Providence Manufacturing 
Company; one of the largest establishments then in Rhode 
Island. The factory was located at Warwick, and was 
the origin of what is now known as the Crompton Print 
Works, Sullivan Dorr then being one of the largest own- 



ers. Mr. Snow remained with Messrs. Smith & Sessions 
until 1S20, wdien he became coiniected with the Providence 
Calendering Company, now called the Providence Dyeing, 
Bleaching and Calendering Company, having charge of 
their books until 1835,' when he was elected agent and 
treasurer of the corporation. Upon the organization of 
the Arcade Bank, in 1831, he was elected Cashier, and as 
Charles Dyer was President of the bank, and Colonel Smith 
Bosworth one of the directors, and both were also direct- 
ors in the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering 
Company, it was arranged to have him discharge the duties 
of cashier, and devote his time, after bank hours, to the 
books of the corporation; which he continued to do for 
four years. He filled the position of treasurer of the last- 
named corjioralion, without intermission, from I S3 1 until 
his death, having served the company with efficiency and 
strict integrity, for the long period of fifty-two years. After 
his retirement as cashier of the Arcade Bank, he was 
elected a director of that institution, continuing to hold the 
office during the remainder of his life. He was a member 
of the School Committee for twenty-eight years in succes- 
sion; about fifteen ye.ars treasurer of the Providence 
Charitable Fuel Society ; six years a trustee of the Provi- 
dence Reform School ; and several years a member of the 
St-ite Legislature. He was never active in politics, but 
was prompt in the discharge of all duties required of him 
as a good citizen. At the age of twenty-five, he united 
with the Beneficent Congregational Church, of Providence, 
and a year later was elected Deacon, in which capacity he 
officiated faithfully until his death. His religion was nur- 
tured and strengthened by daily practice, and whether in 
the home circle, or amid the cares of business, his upright 
Christian character was ever manifest in word and deed. 
Unambitious of worldly honors, or wealth, he went through 
life cheered by the consciousness of duty faithfully per- 
formed, and won the esteem and respect of his fellow-men. 
He was twice married; first, November iS, 1816, to Nar- 
cissa Lippitt, daughter of John I.ippitt; and his second 
wife was Mary Dexter Nightingale, daughter of George C. 
Nightingale. Mr. Snow dieil at his home in Providence, 
April 28, 1S72, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. His 
chddren, all by first marriage, were Ann Bowler, born 
August 26, i8i7,and died August 28, 1847; Frances Har- 
riet, born March S, 1S19, and died February 4, 1S20; Wil- 
liam Megee, born December 30, 1S20; Christopher Lippilt, 
born August 24, 1S23, and died September iS, 1824; Wal- 
ter Bowler, born June 9, 1S30, and died February 23, 1863 ; 
Maria Bowler, born June g, 1850 ; and John Lippitt, born 
September 29, 1S37. Colonel John Lippitt Snow, the 
youngest son, graduated .at Brown University in the class 
of 1858. He married, July 16, 1S62, Sophronia Earle, 
daughter of Benjamin D. Earle. He is a member of the 
firm of Snow & Earle, of Providence. His children are, 
Amey Narcissa ; Walter Bowler; Lippitt Cory, deceased; 
and Maria Foster. 



24S 



BlOCl^AI'lllCAL CVCI. OFFDIA. 



II r.rU, [.liailN \M -<'lll.oNl.l. ItLINl'K I'KoM 

wi.i I.. Mill cif I'l-li-i; an. I Maicy iD.in.liaj^i Wil- 
tS'ir.'ji'i^ l>iii'. "a^ l'"iil at Apiii.iiau^. Warwick, RIidiIc 
^'0.f^^ Maii.l. (M.il.ii- 4, 17.1-1. Ihc aiue-l..!' <A tliis 
'^ fainilv wli.i lir^l iMiiu- t.^ tlii^ miintry w a^ 
Saimii-1 Wiiliin, wli.. xittl..! 111 ll..st.in, ami \vh..^c ■..in. 
William, Ni-iilcl in I'. n tMn. .iitii, Kli...k- NIan.l William 
ha.l a ^..n, liami'l (li.niiin I i.di. I, w h. 1 hail a si)n. Thomas. 
'I lie l.iUia" had a s.m, 'rhumas, wh.i was ihc father of Pelei;, 
iIr- f.illiLa ..f ihc sul.JL'il ..I this skcl. h. rck-y was li.un 
l'\-liruaiv JJ, 1704, an. I irmi.vcl t.. A|.|"iiiauj; in 17114. 
I'liin' t.' his iii.irii.iL;^ he was a larmt-r, Imt afterwards lic- 
c.ime a successful ineich.tnt and manufacturer. He. lied 
at the .ii;e nf si\ly-seven. llis wile, the .laui;hter of .Mat- 
thew (;.>.!. lint;, Ir., was hmii in lli;4ht.rn, Massachusetts, 
in 1771.1, an. I ilie.l at the ai^e of llfty-two. They had five 
. liiMien, I'clc;;, |r., Marcy (;., Matthew G., ( lliver C, anil 
'1 li. nil, IS LI. 1 ilivev ('. was eihicate.l in private schools, at 
the seminary al .\i.|i. uiaui;, aii.l ai the Kast (irecnwich 
Aca.lemy. At the a_t;e ..f eii^lileeii he entere.l as a clerk 
the St. ire of Chri-ti.|.ilier l.i|i]iitt, in Jewett City, Connecti. 
cut, the trade lieini; in c.innecti.'ii \vilh the nianufactuiinL; 
interests of the Slaters. .Ali.mt iSls he returned home to 
Aiiponaug, and finally entere.l into mercantile business in 
])artiiership w itli liis lather. HaviiiL; secured an interest 
in what was known as Ihayton's Mills, now Washington 
Xillage, he left the business with his father, and, about 
l.SjO, remo\'e.l t.. W.ishiunt.ui \'ilkli;e. The old hrnr was 
Willair i .Sou, the hrst members beiu^ I'eleg, Sr., and 
rde;^, Jr. 'llieii i)li\er (.". entere.l the iirm. Soon after- 
war. Is Peleg, Jr., wilh.lrew t.i euui.ige elsewhere, and 
(ili\er (_'. ah.ne w.is ass.ni.ite.l with hi^ Lillier. I'eleg, 
Ii., who was a \ei\- able business man, remlered the lirnr 
c-aitiuueii assistance. 'I'homas I'.., a brother ..f Oli\er C, 
c.ime into the hrm about lSj<|. .\l lust, on remi.ival to 
Washington, the establishment was kii..wn as the Wash- 
ing;.. n M.mufacturing Comjiany, but tiiially as the Wash- 
iiigt.in CoinpauN. The present ..wners .ire members of the 
Williui f.iniil)'. \\. one time it was wiioll)* in the liaiuls of 
I ilnei ('.. who has c..ii-t.intly been eoimected with it fr..m 
iSjo. and is 11. .w 111. ire tli.in half owner, h'or mer tweitt\' 
years he was closely dev.ited to the business, and for about 
t.-ii ye.irs w .IS al ..» I'.istniaster of \\'.isliiiigton \'illage. For 
se\eral }e.irs In- w ,is aeli\e in military affairs, lieing a 
member of the Keiilidi .\itillery, an. I f.ir about five years 
h.ildiug tile i.iiik i.f 1 ieviteliant-l "1.I..1U 1. He continued 
his resi.lenc.; at Washington \"lllage till .lb. Hit I.S40, when 
he remo\e.l t.. riini.lence. His j.rineipal business in lite 
h.is Ill-en llie mauulai- ture i.f e.>tt..li. in which he has been 
umisiiallv successful. His bn.ther I'eleg .lit d at the age 
of eighty live; Thomas II. at the age of eighty une; Mat- 
thew (i. .It the age of si\t\ nine, and M.ire\" (j. at llie age 
of fift\-nine. ( )li\er ('. is the only member o( his father's 
fanidv now li\ing, and he is now in his eighty-seventh 
year. I'olitii.illy he w.is .1 W lug. is now a Kepuhilican, 



and was alwa\s ..pp.ise.l t.> sla\ery. Religiously, he ha^ 
been asMieiated with the Melh.iilists, yet occasionally at- 
ten. ling the ineetings of the I'riends. His ancestors were 
IJaptisis and » '.>ngregationalists. He married, lannary 6^ 
iSjo, I.uev .\nn (iieene, .laughter of t/a] tain Ilenjamin 
lireene, of Warwick, Rhode Islan.l. She was .if the sixth 
generati.in from John (ireene, of Aukley Hall, Salisbury, 
Warwickshire, Knglaiiil, who came to this country in 1636. 
She was born ( Ictober 25, lyqS, an.l died ( Ictober 15, 1879. 
Mr. Wilbur's children have been, (.iemge (l.ioding, Marcy 
Oooding (ileceaseil), Lucy ;\nii (decease.lj, (_)liver Crom- 
well, [r. (.leeeasetl). 



iQp'iMMiiXS, Hon. y..\Mr;s F.iwler, manufacturer, son 
jj^™ "' l''>^'s .Simmons, was born in Little Coiupton, 
.'''^" Rh.ide Island, September ro, 1795. "'^ '-'•'"■'>' 
'f vears were spent on his father's farm and in New- 
.-' piirt. He attended the public schmtls in winter, and 
while li\iiig m Newport was a pupil f..r three m.inths in 
Mr. Tower's pri\ate school. In 1S12 he came t.i I'rovi- 
dence. and soon after removed to North Scitiiate, where 
h.ir a time he was bookkeeper f.ir the Scituate Manufac- 
turing ( oinp.iin'. I laving closet! his engagement with 
the company whose em|iloye he had been, he not l.uig 
after recei\eil an a]ipointment as .Superinten.leiit ol the 
Rockland haetory in Scituate, and subse.|Ueully had 
charge of the Wan-kiick .Mills in North Providence. 
Here he coiumeiKed the luamifacture of yarns. After this 
he went t" M.iinille, and then to ( Jineyville. In 1.S22 he 
biiilt a mill in Siinmonsville, lohnsteiir, and here he suc- 
cessfully Carrie. I .111 the business of manufacturing. T'-aily 
in life .Mr. Siunnoiis beg, in to take an interest in politics. 
He was chosen to re|. resent tire town ..f y.ihnst.m in the 
Ceneral .\ssembly e\ery year Ir.un 1.S27 to 1S40, with the 
exception of the years 1.S30 ami l.Su- Among the Rep- 
resentati\*es were s.mie of the ablest men of the State. He 
took high rank among tlie,e. his speeches lieing li-tened to 
with respect, ami his ju.lgmeiit on matters which he h.id 
ma.lc the subject of special examiliati.m being .lelcrred to 
b\- caii'li.l men of .ill parties. Wdien committees were sent 
to \\ ashingt.iii lioiii manufacturing corporali.ms in New 
England to h. ok .iltei their interests and to urge the necessity 
of a |ir.itecti\e taiiit, Mr. Sinrmons ticcupied a prominent 
place on such .leleg.iti.uis. So also in the great financial 
cri is of I.S;7. when committees chosen li.mi the large 
cities were sent to New York t.i c. insult ..11 the state of 
affairs, he was (.■hairman of the cmnmittee sent Ironi l'io\-- 
ideiice. In 1S41 he was eleete.l Senator to C.mgress ii.im 
Rho.le Islan.l, an.l rcmaine.l in ofliee until 1S47. He iden- 
tified himself with tho-e who were in fav.ir.if protecti.m 
as ag.iiiist free tra.lc, an.l w.is the warm persuii.il iiieiid ..t 
Henry Clay. When his term cxpire.l he was a candi.late 
for re-election, but w.is defeated in conseipience of his 
having advocated the liberation of I homas W. Dorr from 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



249 



prison. Subsequently, in 1851, he was again defeated, lint 
in 1857 he was once more chosen to represent his native State 
in the councils of the nation. In August, 1S62, he resigned 
his office and returned home to look after his private affairs, 
w-hich had become deranged while he was in Washington. 
Mr. Simmons was twice married. His first wife was Kliza, 
daughter of Judge Samuel Randall, of Johnston, whom he 
married October 21, 1S20. They had five children, — Wal- 
ter Cook, James, Seabury, Samuel, and Eliza. Mrs. Sim- 
mons died April 12, 1S32. The second wife of Mr. Sim- 
mons, whom he married in 1S35, was Sarah Scott, daugh- 
ter of Major Simon Whipple, of Smithfield. They had four 
sons, — Frederic Fowler, Simon Whipiile, Charles Winfield, 
and William Wuodbridge. After a life of great activity, 
during which he was as prominently before the community 
as almo.st any citizen of the State, Mr. Simmons died 
July 19, 1864, in the si.\ty-ninth year of his age, leaving 
a widow and seven sons. 



glKaeVMAN, Henry Bull, manufacturer, was born at 
sJraS Newport, Rhode Island, November 13, 1795. He 
i>'i '•; was a descendant of Richard Lyman, who came to 
"s^rVthis country from England, in the ship Lyon, in 
Is 1 63 1. The ship's passengers consisted of about si.\ty 
persons, among whom were Eliot, the celebrated apostle 
to the Indians; Martha Winthrop, the third wife of John 
Winthrop, at that time Governor of New England ; the 
Governor's eldest son and his wife and their children. The 
Lynians in Great Britain trace their ancestral lineage back 
to the Norman Conquest. From the Genealogy of the 
Lyman Family, published in 1872, we learn that Richard 
Lyman first became a settler in Charlestown, Massachu- 
setts, and with his wife united with the church in what is 
now called Ro.>ibury, under the pastoral care of Eliot. He 
became a freeman at the General Court, June II, 1635, 
and oil the 15th of October, 1635, took his departure 
with his family from Charlestown, joining a party of 
about one hundred persons, who went through the wil- 
derness from Massachusetts into Connecticut, the object 
being to form settlements at Windsor, Hartford, and Welh- 
ersfield. His name is on the list of the original proprietors 
of Hartford in 1636. His descendants number over seven 
thousand, many of whom have lieen distinguished in the 
various walks of life. Daniel Lyman, the father of the 
subject of this sketch, was a graduate of Vale College, in 
the class of 1776. He served as Colonel in the Continen- 
tal army ; assisted at the capture of Ticonderoga, Crown 
Point, and St. John's ; was at the battle of White Plains, 
and had a horse shot under him ; was a lawyer, judge, and 
for some time Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ; member 
of the Hartford Convention; and a President of the Society 
of Cincinnati. Many years before his death he retired from 
the law, and engaged in the manufacture of cotton cloth, 
32 



at Providence, where he died, in 1830, in the seventy-fifth 
year of his age. In powder's History of Durham he is 
spoken of as an "able advocate, a firm, intePigent, and 
high-minded man." His wife, Mary Wanton, was a daugh- 
ter of John Wanton, of Newport, a brother of one of the 
Coloui.il Governors of Rhode Island. Their son, Henry 
Bull Lyman, spent the early part of his life at Newport; 
but when he was eleven years of age the family removed 
to Providence. He was educated at home and in the 
schools of that day, and though prepared for college, pre- 
ferred to enter business life, which he did in company with 
his father, when about twenty-one years of age, the firm 
being known as the Lyman Manufacturing Company of 
North Providence. They w-ere among the first to intro- 
duce the use of the power-loom in this country, the weav- 
ing at that lime being all done by hanil. Mr. Lyman also 
became interested, with his father-in-law, Elisha Dyer, in cot- 
ton manufacture, at Dyersville, Rhode Island, but disposing 
of that interest about 1845, he built two cotton mills at Che- 
pachet, Rhode Island, where he continued in the business 
until within a few years of his decea-se, still retaining his 
interest in the Lyman Manufacturing Company, which he 
bought in 1S44, and owned at the time of his decease, 
which occurred in Providence, April 4, 1874. He was 
also identified with manufacturing interests at Woonsocket, 
Rhode Island, and at one time was a large ow'ner of that 
town- For nearly twenty years he was a director of the 
Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company; 
also a director of the Union Bank, of Providence, and for 
many years a trustee of the Raw-son Fountain Society. He 
was a Captain in the .State Militia, and in the Dorr troubles, 
in 1S42, was identified with the Law and Order party. 
Though always interested in, and identified with, the lead- 
ing public enterprises and improvements of his day, he 
could not be induced to accept public office. He was a 
man of large general intelligence and classical ta^te, and 
an honored member of the Athen.vum Society of Provi- 
dence. Mr. Lyman was a member of the P'irst Congrega- 
tional Unitarian Church of Providence. He took an active 
personal interest in the various religious and benevolent 
enterprises of the day, and was noted for his quick sympa- 
thies and generous, practical chanties. He married, March 
2, 1829, Caroline, daughter of Elisha Dyer, of Providence, 
and left one son, the Hon. Daniel Wanton Lyman, a gen- 
tleman of culture and leisure, and an honored citizen of 
North Providence. 



Rjs-ji^LDP'IELD, John, horticulturist, eldest son of Wil- 
SgSs liam Oldfield, was born in Bradford, England, 
(£;t^ April 9, 1796. His taste for scientific gardening 
■^j^ was early developed. When he was about twenty- 
y one years of age he came to this country, and took 
up his residence in Philadelphia, where for several years 



250 



/.'/() (7 R.I rilICA I. C YCL OPED 1. 1. 



he- ilcvotcd hiiiisflf t.i his profcssi.ni. After resiiling for a 
liiiK- in \(.\v Vc.rli city, mill in ( lurlcslun. South Carulina, 
he rrniciv(.a, in i.Sj.j, to I'lMviiKniL'. I k-re lie was eni- 
ploveil for four veins liy ■Hlo^l.l^ 1'. he-, I':s.|., ns his gar- 
(kiier. He is said to lia\e lii-I iiitioiliieiil llie tomato as 
a table vegetalilc in Klunle Ishinil ; also, the egg iilant. 
lie also iiilroiliiccil the liiuleii as a shade tree, planting 
v\ ith his own hands those which add so much beauty to 
Brow n Street. Mr. ( )ldheld was in the employ of Mr. Ives 
for four years, and then embarked in the lumber business, his 
yard being on what is n<'W Canal Street, on the corner of 
a narrow lane opposite Meeting .Street. Here he cariied 
on bu-iiiess for tw enty-live years. The capital w ith w liieh 
he started was the accumul.ttions of a sum of money. gi\en 
to him by his father when he lelt England, which he had 
safely invested in Philadelphia, and w hich, w ith the savings 
from his earnings, amounted to a sum sufficient to com- 
mence business with. He was fortunate as a lumber mer- 
chant, and secured for himself a handsome fortune. On 
retiiing from bu-iness he purchaseil a f.irm in Cranston, 
where he was able to gratify his early love for agricultural 
]nir>uits. .Sulise'jUently he ino\ei-l to bis fomier residence, 
I'rovidence, which was his home for the rest of his life. 
He had a great lo\e for travel. In 1N45, and in 1S62, he 
visited the 1 lid \Vorld, and gathered much inleresting in- 
formation, which it was always his pleasure to communi- 
cate to his friends. He ni.nried, in June, l8j4, Martha K., 
daughter of Earl Sampson, of Massachusetts, who with 
two sons and one daughter survive him. For much of 
his life he was connected with the Episcopal <-'liurch, Ijut 
for a number of years he was a S\\ edenborgian. His 
death occurred in Providence, January S, I.SS0, in the 
eighty-l'ouith year of his age. 



1 nT.M.AN.CuRIsTcU'llER .-\..son of Judge Elisha 
Whitman, w a- born in Warwick, Rhode Island, 
.■ .■'." 'j May 2S, 170V His father was a well-known 
["'^f, citi/en in Kent County, ha\iiig for some time 
^.•' hlled the oliice of Judge of the Court of Com- 
mon I'leas of liis county, and acleil as a local magistrate. 
'I be subject of this sketch recei\ed such an et-lucation as 
Could be oljtained in the public schools of his time, and at 
the early age of seventeen commencetl business vn his (.iw n 
account. He engaged in the business of cotton manufac- 
ture, in the infancy of that department of labor, which has 
done so much to builtl up Rhode Island. We are toUl 
that in those early days, before the introduction of power- 
looms, the yarn s])un in the factory was put out hi be 
woven all over the countrw and every farm-house had its 
hand-loom, on which the busy fingers of the lemale mem 
bers of the family were engaged, while the men were at 
work in the fields. Mr. \\'hitnian, although cautious and 
Conservative, was ready to make use of all the improve- 



ments in the manufacture of cotton which he felt were 
woitliy to be introduced into his business. Regarded as a 
safe aiUiser in jiecuniary matters, he was chosen to lill the 
office of Hirector in se\eral money institutions, the Rank 
of Kent, the Mrrihants' and Weybosset Banks of Provi- 
dence, and the Warwick Institution for Savings. Of the 
Coventry Bank he was the originator, and its President 
until his death. He was the counsellor of widows and 
orphans, and largely interested in the management of the 
estates of his deceased fellow-citi/ens. His wisdom and 
prudence in the discharge of these functions saved many 
a patrimon\' from being wasted by sjieculation. He rep- 
resented the to« 11 of Coventry for several years in the (Jen- 
eral .\ssembly, and was greatly respected in that body. 
His long and useful life, adorned by many virtues, termi- 
nated May 30, iS(ii). His funeral was solemnized in the 
meeting-house of the Society of Friends, with whom, al- 
though not a regular member, he had fraternized for many 
years. He was twice married. His first wife was Bet-ey, 
daughter of Thomas Arnold, of Warw ick, and his second, 
Mary, daughter of Daniel .Vrnold, of Coventry, who, with 
a son and three daughters by his first wife, survived her 
hu^Iland. 



?^lj^iK.ARI-E, Gi'.oRiU': Brown, one of the founders of the 
^ra^ express business in New England, was b(jrn in 
If? i(^ Cumberland, Rhode Island, January 28, iSlI. His 
^^^',".''^' parents were William and .\bby Greene (De.xter) 
"'[■'■"" Earle. He w as a descendant, in the fifth generation, of 
Raljih Earle, who came from E.veter, t!ngland, in early 
Colonial days, and settled at Portsmouth, Rhode Island. 
His father was a ^eafaiing man, and died at Sa\annah, 
Ceorgia, about 1S13. Hi- mother was the daughter of 
Benjamin (1. and Mary ( L)extcr) I)e\ter. Benjamin (1. 
l)e\ter \\ as a descendant of (Iregory 1 lexter, the fouith 
pa-tor of the First IJapiti-t Church, in Providence, who \\ as 
born in ( tlney, Northampton Couiit\', ICngland. in lOIO, 
and in 1644 accompanied Roger Williams on his return 
from England to Providence, where he died in 1700. A\'il- 
liam Earle li.id three children, llenjamin D., Cieorge B., 
and Martha T., who married William Simmons, of Provi- 
dence. .\t an early age George B. was employed on the 
steam-propellor from I'rovirlence to Xew York, and after- 
wards, with hi- bidtlicr, engagcl in the bu-iness of a ship- 
chandler, in Pn.nidence, an<l .acted as Bank Messenger be- 
tween Boston and Providence, for the Merchants' Bank of 
Providence, and the Suffolk Bank, Boston. The tiips be- 
tween Providence and Boston were made by stage until 
the opening of the railroad betsveen those two cities, in 
I.S;5. .Mr. Earle and his brother i)erformed any errand 
iiitiu-tcd to them, and ga\e special attention to the de- 
liver)' of packages, thus laying the foumlation fiir that 
mctboil of transportation carried on so extensivel) b\ the 
\.iiiiius express coiiijiaiiies now in existence. (_in account 





: 4^!k^(7^^^Ci-^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



25' 



of the rapid increase in this branch of their business, Mr. 
Earle and his brother sold their store in Providence, and 
devoted their entire attention to the conveyance of pack- 
ages and messages. On the death of Benjamin D. Earle, 
George B. continued in the business alone until he and 
Freeman M. Cobb, William B. Lawton, and others organ- 
ized the " Earle Express Company." This corporation 
was succeeded by the " Merchants' Union E.xpress Com- 
pany," and finally William H. Earle, son of George B. 
Earle, formed a copartnership with Henry Prevv and es- 
tablished the " Earle & Prew Express Company," which is 
now engaged in an extensive business. Mr. Earle's sons, 
lohn D. and George W., have also become members of the 
firm. Mr. Earle was a Director of the old National Bank, 
and otherwise identified with the business interests of Provi. 
dence He was a mcmlier of the Common Council from 
1866 to 186S, and an Alderman from 1868 to 1875. He 
was a member of the Marine Society of Providence, a 
Freemason, and a Knight Templar. For about twenty 
years he was a member of the Central Congregational 
Church. He married, June 14, 1836, Cornelia Arnold 
Rhodes, of Pawtuxet, Rhode Island. They had seven 
chilriren, John I)., George W., William H., Charles R., 
. Cornelia A., deceased, Hope A., and Benjamin D. Mr. 
Earle died July 10, 1878. 



IY^^USSELL, Charles Handy, was born in Newport, 
^^S^ Rhode Island, .September 13, 1796. He is the 
^ZiyL^A, Sim of Major Thomas Russell, an officer of 
'^i/^'" the Continental army, and grandson of Charles 
^y Handy, a distinguished merchant and landowner 
in the last century. Mr. Russell lived for many years in 
Providence, where he received his mercantile education as 
a clerk in the employ of Charles Potter, with whom he 
afterward became associated in partnership in the foreign 
importing business, spending several years abroad between 
1817 and 1823. In 1825 he removed to New York, where 
he continued in active business for a period of over twenty 
years, during which time the house of Charles H. Russell 
& Co. became prominently known both at home and abroad. 
His brother, William Henry Russell, was his associate and 
partner in business, living in Europe for a considerable 
time as the resident foreign partner of the house in Eng- 
land. Both during his active business life and since his 
retirement Mr. Charles H. Russell has taken an energetic 
part in many undertakings of important public interest. 
He was one of the early directors of the Boston and Prov- 
idence Railroad, a pioneer railway company of New Eng- 
land, and one of the managers of the Steam Transporta- 
tion Line, making the connection of that railroad with the 
city of New York, which positions he held for nine years, 
and has subsequently been, at different periods, a Director 
of the Hudson River Railroad, the New York Central 
Railroad, and the Pacific Mall Steamship Companies, and 



of various other associations and institutions. He was one 
of the original projectors of the Bank of Commerce in New 
York in 1838, and has ever since continued to be a mem- 
ber of the Board of Directors. In 1866 he accepted the 
presidency of this bank, whose capital had been increased 
to $10,000,000, and which had become a national bank. 
He resigned this office in 1868. He was for thirteen years 
a Commissioner of the New York Central Park, under the 
first appointment of the Commission. He became a mem- 
ber of the Chamber of Commerce of New York in 1828, and 
of the New York Historical Society at about the same time, 
and has been for nearly fifty years a Trustee of the Atlantic 
Marine Insurance Company. He was also for more than 
twenty years a Trustee of the Redwood Library at Newport. 
In 1842, at the commencement of the insurrection in Rhode 
Island, since well remembered as the " Dorr War," Mr. 
Russell volunteered his services to his native State, and, 
at the request of the Governor and Council, accepted a 
position on the staff of the general commanding the " Law 
and Order " forces, where he served during the continu- 
ance of that short-lived outbreak. In politics Mr. Russell 
was a W'hig, from the formation in 1834 of that party, and 
during its existence, and has since been an active Republi- 
can. In that year he was placed on the ticket for Congress 
with Gulian C. Verplanck, Ogden Hoffman, and James G. 
King, but declined to accept the nomination. Although 
repeatedly tendered nominations for political positions, he 
has always declinetl such honors. During the Civil W'ar 
he contributed of his time and means to the support of the 
government, and, as a member of the " Union Defence 
Committee of New York," gave, with other prominent 
citizens of New York, a prompt and energetic support to 
the administration antl measures of President Lincoln. He 
married first Ann Rodman, daughter of Captain William 
Rodman, of Providence, April 13, 1818, who died August 
iS, 1842, and second, Caroline, daughter of Samuel S. 
Howland, of New York, October 29, 1S50, who died March 
7, 1863. Mr. Russell s])ends his winters In New York City, 
and his summers at his country home, " Oaklawn," at 
Newport — the place of his birth. 



H^^NGELL, Hon. Joseph KiNNlcfTT, only son of 
Nathan and Amey (Kinnicutt) Angell, was born 
in Providence, April 30, 1 794. Among the ori- 
l;^:i'i* '''> ginal companions of Roger Williams was a lad 
ciij d) who, according to tradition, was Thomas Angel 
or Angell. His name appears in the original com- 
pact signed by the thirteen associates of the founders of 
Rhode Island, who became proprietors of the soil of 
which they had become possessors. The subject of this 
sketch traced his lineage back to the early settlers of Pro- 
vidence. He entered Brown University in i8og, and 
graduated in 1813, having as classmates Z. Allen, LL.D., 
Judges Drury and Durfee, Professor Romeo Elton, D.D., 



252 



BIOCKArillCAL CYCL OPED f. 4. 



Rev. I)rs. |ui,l Ilawfs. Kiiocli I'unil. anj Tlnnna^ Slicpard, 
and II 'ii. Jiiliii Rui,'i;lc-s, M.C. I )n leaving college, liaviny 
(lociiictl to enter tlie lethal ])ntfe^sioii, he became a student 
in the fammis I,au--choul at I.itelilield, u here he foinied 
the acijiiaintanee of several Ljeiitlenien who reached etni- 
ncnt distinctinn in their cli'isun caIIinL;s. lie coinpletetl 
his studies in the iiHiee uf Judge 'I'linnias Hurgess, and in 
the ini.nth of March. 1S16, was adniiited to the l>ar, and 
coniinenccd piactice in his native citv. So far as ajipears 
he was regarded lather as a counsellor than as an advocate 
(luting the early years of his [jraclice. In the winter of 
lSli> occurred an event which had a marked influence on 
all his future career. A letter had been written to him by 
Mr. (."haltuers. ati Knglish counsellor, residing in Lotidon, 
conveying to him the iritelligeitce that, befoie the C'ouits 
of Chancery, there was, at th.it time, under discussion the 
cjuestion as to the heirshiji of a large estate in Knglaml, 
and expressing the belief that he was the pvison entitled to 
this estate. He decided th.it it waswortli his while to 
make a jiersonal investigation of the matter thus liroiighl 
to his notice. He left his home early in Feliruary, and 
proceeded to New \'ork, where he embarked on board the 
shi]! Amity, and after a voyage of twenty-sis days, arrived 
at Liverpool, and in due time leached I.tui Ion. Immedi- 
ately he found hiinsrlf fully engrossed wi;h the business 
which had taken him over the water. The ground of his 
suii])osed title t'i the estate in England is set forth as fol- 
lows : ■' I'.y the w ill of John .Angell, nude in 177S, he gave 
aiul devise(.l to the heirs-male, if any such there were, of 
William .\ngell, the liist inirchaser at ('row luir-t, and father 
of his great-grandfather, John Angell, Es.|,. and their male 
heirs forever, all his lands and est.Ues both real and per- 
.sonal, in Suiiey, Kent, and Sussv\, nevertheless subject 
and liable to such conditions as shuuld lie thereafter men- 
tioned, and should not l>e otherwise disposed 'A and given." 
The claim which was advanced by Mr. .-Viigell was that he 
was the male heir by coll.ateral descent, his ancestor, Thomas 
Angell. being the only brother of William Angell. Hav- 
ing collected what he conceived sullicient evidence to 
establish his title, he returned to this country to lav the 
whole matter before his friends, ami, if they advised it, to 
return to England and renew his efforts to make good his 
title. In the spring of \S22 he tiled a bill in the Court of 
Chancery. Without going intn the details, it must suftice 
to say that he did not succeed in securing the English e-tate. 
Returning to Rhode Island, he mice more resumed the 
practice of his profession, making a specialty of law-writing. 
The lirst production of his pen lieing a treatise cm the law 
relating to watercourses. The vidume was issued from 
the press in I<S24, and had an extensive circulation. In 
1S26 appeared a second volume, en'iiled 7'lu Ri;^'lil of 
Pro/>,rty in Ti./r U'a/rn and in III,' S:>i/ and S/lans 
llur,i<f. lioth these wiuks became standard authoiilv 
upon the subjects of which they tre.it. Eleven vears 
elapsed and .\Ir. .\ngell once more appeared before the 



' public as an author. His tliiid work was An hiqniry 
iftfo tht- Kitle iif Laio ndiich ciwtles li Kighl to an Inoor- 
porcal ILroditanifnt by an adr'onu' £>i/orm,n/ of 'J'-vinty 

\ y,ars, with Krmarki on the Application of iho Knit- 
to I.ii;/it, and in critain oasrs to a ll'ator Pri7'i7o^'o. 
The same year, iSjy, was published. An Essay on t/io 
A'ixi't of a State- to 7\ix a Body Corporator to)lsittorcd 
in rotation to tho PSank J'a \ in Rliode Idand. Mr. 
Angell Commenced, in 1829, the publication of the i'nitod 
Statt-s La-io Intcltii;enit-r and 7\'ovio7o. After being inib- 
lisheil in Providence for one year it was transferred to 
Philadelphia, its editor having charge of it for two years 
longer. Three volumes only were published. Amid the 
jiressure of all his other work he found time in l82(> to 
jiut to the press another volume, A Troatiso on tlio Liiai- 
tittions of .htions at La:o and Snit-^ in Eqnitv. Six etli- 
tions of this valuable w oil; were [Hiblishei-l, A cojiy of this 
work was sent to Lord IJrougham, who in acknow letlging 
its receijit says he had " found it to be bv much the best 
treatise cm this very important snliject." jointly with the late 
Judge Ames he published in 1832 a Troatisc on tin- Law 
of Eri-oate Corporations Ag^rci^ato. More than twelve 
thousand copies, embraced in ten editions of this work, have 
been sold. Not far from three years later appeared his 
P^'raituat Snfnniary of the Laio of .hsi^-ninont in 'J^ritst 
for tilt- Bonofit of Creditors. For several years he publishefl 
no new law book, but contentetl himself with the re\'ision 
and re-publicithm of wmks .already given by him to the 
public. In 1849 was printed an octavo of more than eight 
hundred pages on the Laii' of Carriers of Gootis and Eas- 
se/tx'e''s 7v I^and and Water, a volume which he dedicated 
to his friend, Jidm Carter Brown. For a short time he acted 
as reporter of tlie I lecisions of the .Supreme Court of Rhode 
Island. Two more works were prepared bv him, one in 
1854. a Ereatise on the Laio of Eire and Life Pnsnranee, 
and the other in 1857, a 7'reatise on the Laio of J7ii;h- 
7oavs. In 1S42 ajipeared an article in (Mie of the daily 
papers of ]'ro\Klence which awakened much interest in the 
community. It was published in the March i6th number 
of the Daily Li.xpress, and is now preserved in a more per- 
manent form at the close of No. 1 1 of the Rhode Island 
Historical Tracts, in which numlier inav be found a more 
extended sketch of the life of .Mr. .\ngell, written by S. S. 

Ruler, .\.M., to which the writer of this aiticle is indebted. 
I 

Tlie article bears the title of A'ixht of the L\-ofle to form 

a Con\titnti(>n, anc\ is known in Rhode Island history as 
" 'I'he Nine Lawyers' ( )[iinion." A brief analysis of the 
article is herewith given in the language of Mr. Rider: 
•■ It claimed that the power to prescribe a form of govern- 
ment rested with the people; that the legislature was the 
creature of the peojile. and was not superior to its creator; 
I that before the Revolutiim the sovereign power was di\'ested 
fidiii the king and passe<l to the peojile, the w hide people 
of the Colony, and which became the State; that the char- 
ter contained within itself nopower of amendment or change. 



BroGRArmvAL cyclopedia. 



253 



and that since the Revolution no way hati cxi^ted for 
amending the form of government ; tliat the legislature tjeing 
the creature of the people possessed no power to enforce 
the people to change their form of government, their utmost 
power was to request them to change it ; that the I'"reeholders' 
Constitution rested on the request of the General Assembly, 
while the People's Constitution rested on the rccjuest of the 
people themselves, and therefore rested on the firmest pos- 
sible basis." This document was signed by nine lawyers, 
Messrs. Atwell, Angell, Carpenter, Daniels, Thomas \V. 
Dorr, Eaton, Knowles, Dutee J. I'earee, and White. Al- 
though the document carried with it the weight of the care- 
fully prepared opinion of the gentlemen so distinguished in 
the legal profession, it failed to secure the end aimed at, and 
the " Dorr Rebellion," so called, was not a success. Mr. 
Angell was nevermarried. His death occurred suddenly, in 
Boston, May i, 1857. " He died as he had lived, without 
an enemy; distinguished through life by the simplicity of 
his character, by his kindly feeling towards all around him, 
by his attachment to his friends, by his freedom from preju- 
dice, and by the total absence of all malevolence of spirit." 
His amiable qualities had won for him many valuable 
friends w'ho, throughout his life, remained strongly attached 
to him, and after his death provided his body with a resting- 
place, and adorned the walls of Rhode Island Hall with his 
portrait. 



^^jSaRPENTER, Eari., was born in Cranston, Rhode 
|fc& Island, March 24, 1794. His father was Nathan- 
^y'ly iel Carpenter, a worthy farmer, who resided at the 
®t'j*same place during his long life. He was a descend- 
I I ant of William Carpenter, who settled near I'awluxet, 
in i6;S, whose name is occasionally mentioned in the old 
records as a prominent citizen of the infant Colony, and 
the record of whose will, dated nearly two hundred years 
ago, stands upon the first book in the Probate office in 
Providence. Mr. Carpenter's mother died in I.S21, in the 
seventieth year of her age. Her maiden name was Deliv- 
erance Greene. She was a descendant of the family so 
prominent in the history of Warwick, Rhode Island. 
Earl was the youngest of ten children, six sons and four 
d.iughters, eight of whom attained their m.ajoriiy. He as- 
sisted his father on the farm, and attended school at inter- 
vals, until about eighteen years of age, when he liegan to 
learn the trade of a carpenter, which he soon after aban- 
doned. When he was al^out twenty-one years of age he 
opened a grocery store in the basement of the old building 
on Market Square, Providence, now known as the City 
Building, from whence he was temporarily dislodged, with 
considerable loss, by the high tide of the great gale, Sep- 
tember 23, 1815, when he came very near losing his life, 
as the water broke down his barred doors. He continued 
in the grocery business for several years at this stand, and 
in the autumn of 1S19. intrusting others wiih the charge of 



his store, he, with other young men, sailed from Provi- 
dence for Savannah, tieorgia, in which city he opened an 
oyster house and restaurant, which being destroyed by the 
great fire of January, 1820, he returned to Providence and 
gave close attention to his grocery business, adding there- 
to the manufacture and sale of spruce beer, favorably 
known for a period of forty years as " Carpenter's Beer." 
Beer required ice for its cooling, and hence, in 1822, he 
purchased a piece of land bordering on wh<at is known as 
Benedict Pond, erected a small storehouse capable of con- 
taining about three hundred tons ; that quantity being 
deemed very great in those days. For many years he 
served the small amount called for by storekeepers, fam- 
ilies, and others, and although there was more or less com- 
petition, his trade gradually increased until he was obliged 
to resort to additional ponds in the vicinity of the city in 
order to supply the demand. Besides the house at Bene- 
dict Pond, he had hired a house at Long Pond, and owned 
two at Dexter's, or Hospital Pond. All except the Bene- 
dict houses have long since disapj^eared. In 1849 Mr. 
Carpenter erected the tine ice houses on the southeast side 
of Mashapaug Pond, and employed an endless chain 
moved by stenm-jxiwer, to elevate the ice from the water 
to the houses, his establishment being among the first in 
the country to use steam-power. In 1851 and 1853 addi- 
tional houses were built by him upon Randall's Pond in 
North Providence. In October, 1854, he associated with 
him his two sons, one of whom stdl carries on the business, 
the other son having died in December of the same year. 
The firm name. of Earl Carpenter & Sons is still retained, 
and the capacity of the ice-houses used at the present time 
(18S1) is about 68,000 tons. The firm still has its office 
in " Union Buildings," to which place Mr. Carpenter re- 
moved his grocery business in 1827, continuing it thereun- 
til 1855, vvhen he gave it up to devote his entire attention 
to the ice business. From November, 1S20, to 1S37, he 
also carried on a restaurant on Canal Street just above 
Market .Square, which was well patronized. The business 
and characteristics of its proprietor made his name familiar 
throughout the community. Never wealthy, he obtained 
a competence, and made for himself and family a pleasant 
home, where relatives ami acquaintances were always re- 
ceived with genuine hospitality. Mr. Carpenter held some 
positions of responsibility, but not so many as his fellow- 
citizens would willingly have bestowed upon him couKl he 
have been induced to accept them. He was, however, a 
military captain, and at the time of La Fayette's visit to 
Providence, in 1824, Colonel of the Second Regiment of 
Rhode Island Militia. He was a member of the Common 
Council of Providence from June, iS4i,to June, 1S42. 
For several years he was fire-warden, or director, of the 
volunteer fire department. He was one of the first share- 
holders and directors in the Traders' Bank, organized in 
1836; and at the time of his death had been its President 
for more than t\\ent_\-twi.) years, hor many vears he was 



254 



niOCRAmiCAL CJ CL OPKDIA. 



alM) a iliixTtuv of tilt: I'loviiU'iu-i- Mutual Mn: Insurance 
Cniiiliaiiv. Mi-wa, a UiiivcrsalUt in lit-lii-f, anJ, tli"iit;li 
lint a mciiilin- uf the churcii, » as, fnr aliuiit twriity years, 
an lioiinreil ami useful niemlier (..I'leii an (iflicer) of tlie 
Kirst Universalis! Seieiety. Iieini; a eniistanl attendant upon 
rcliijiiiiis seivieos unlil his last illness, (in the 26th of 
(.)etol)er, I.S20, he niinied Sarah A., ehle^t daughter of 
Josejih Harris, of Cranston. She was the seeoiid of eiijlu 
children, live sons and three <l.iu;.;hters, and was descended, 
on hotli her lallur's .uid mother's side, iVoni early settlers 
ill the (.'oloiiy, William Harris having; been one of the live 
coni|iiiiions i.f Roger Williams, when, in l6;6. he crossed 
the Seekoiik River and hninded Pro\idenee. Four sons 
and a d.iughter were the fruit of this union. The first 
horn died in his see.jiid year, the fourth in his fifth year, 
and the third in his tweiit)' ninth year. The second si_)n, 
Chailes Karl, sidl sur\ i\ e-, and, as hefore stated, contin- 
ues the ice Ir.ide heguii li)- his hither. The il.uighter, widow 
of 1 ia\ id ( '. Anthonv, is .lUo !i\iiig, and resiiies in rro\i- 
denee. .Mioiit the middle of yaiiuarv, 1S03, Mr. Car- 
penter was atlackeil with paralysis, which eonlined him 
to his home, and on the 29th of the same month was 
prostrated by a second attack, so violent that on the loth 
of February hdlowing he passed away, being nearly sixty- 
nine years of age. His widiiw survived him more than 
four je.iis, d\'iiig July 25, iSTij, at the age of seventy-four 
)'ears and one month. Mr. ('aii.ienter was a man of line 
]ihvsi.[ue, and in sjiite of many rheumatic attacks, active 
anil vignidus in a large degree. He delighted in manual 
labor, anil until ])ast middle life, in gunning and fishing, 
when business peririitted. He possessed great presence 
of mind, .mil was noted hir his promptness, cheerfulness, 
and generosity. 



?irSk-I',RK\", ('iiMMiiiiiiiu', Mattihw Cm i;r,\ith, L'. S. 
[^jK^ N., was descended from Falwaid l'iir\. who was 
ir'^-J born in De\'mishire. h'.ngland, abniit 1620, re- 
^ % moved to I'lvmouth. Massachusetts, about lbj;5, and 
i ? died at Sandwich, .Massachusetts, .liiiiiit 1054. .Among 
the passengers on board the ship .\bigail, with Kdward 
I'erry, \\eie Kdward Freeman and his daughter Mary. 
Kilward I'erry married M.ir)- I'reenl.Mi, ,iiid had a son 
Samuel i'eii\', bom at Sandwich about 10^5. Samuel 
I'erry reniii\ ed to Kingston, Rhode Fhnid. where his de- 
scendants resided hir se\eral gelieratiiuis. 1 liie of his tle- 
sceiidaiits w.is [udge I-'reeman I'erry, w liosc eldest son was 
Chiisfnplu-r Rayniiuid I'eri\-, the father tif the subject of 
this skitih. Christopher Raymond I'erry had eight chil- 
dren : ( ilivi r I la/a id, born August 21, 17S5, married Fili,?.i- 
bcth I'lianijilin .Masiui.nf New pi n t . d ied .\iigust 23, iSlo. 
R.nniiiiid Ibnr)- Imus. In .111 Kbiu.iry II, I/Sg, married 
.Maiy Ann I ii Wolf, ,,f Ih istul, died at Huntington, Long 
Island, Maiih 12, I.S2I). Sarah W.dlace, born Ajiril 2.S, 
170I, died iinmariiid at New lundun. |anii,ir)-, lSc;i, 



] Matthew Calbr.iith, the subject of this sketch, born at 
New|ioit, Apiil 10, 1794, married Jane Slidell, died at 
New York, March 4, 1S5.S. Ann Maria, born Novenilier 
10, 179S, married Commodore Oeorge W. Rodgers, U. S. 
N., died December 7, 1S5S. Jane Tweedy, born Decem- 
ber 15, 1799, married Dr. William Butler, of South Caro- 
lina, died 1S75. James Alexander, born June 26, iSoi. 
He was a Lieutenant in the Na\y,anil while ser\ingin 
that capacity on bo.ird the t'. S. Ship Franklin, off Valpa- 
raiso, March 19, 1S22, was drowiiL-d in an attempt to save 
the life of a friend. Nathaniel I la/ard, born November 
27, 1S02; a purser in the Na\y. married Lucretia Mumford 
Thatcher, of New London, died 1.S32. Christopher Ray- 
mond Perry was trained to the sea in the merchant service, 
and had become an experienced captain when the war 
broke out between the United States and l'"raiice. At that 
time he had given up the sea, but he at once offered his 
seruces to the government, and was commissioned as a 
Captain in the Navy. The frigate Cieneral lireene, to 
which vessel he was assigned, was then liuilding at Warren, 
Rhode Island, anil he was ordered to that place to super- 
intend the construction of the ship. When she was launched 
he came with her to New]iort, and when ready for sea sh.e 
sailed liir the West Indies, June, 1799. One of the mid- 
shipmen on bond of her was Oliver Hazard I'erry, his 
eldest sun. Through the inlUience of Ca|itain I'erry a 
w.irrant was obtained hir his son Matthew Calbraith Perry, 
who joined the schooner Revenge, as miilslii|iinaii, in Jan- 
uary, iSoo. .At the exjiiration uf a year young I'erry was 
transferred from that vessel to the frigate President, then 
under the command of Captain Rodgers, and remained on 
board of her for three years, when, 1S13. he was ordered 
to the frigate Lhiited Slates. The next year, .April, 1.S14, 
found him again on board the President, then under the 
coinmand of Commodiire I)ecatur, w ith whom he saw a 
' great deal of scr\ice in a short time. From the President 
he was transferied to the (.diippewa, and remained on board 
of her till the close of the war, when he was ordered to 
the Jirooklyn Navy Yard. He had then the rank of Lieu- 
tenant, his commission d.iting bom July 24, 1S13. In 
August. iSii), Lieutenant I'eiry was ordered to the U. S. 
Ship Cyaiie, then about to s.id fir the coast of .Africa, 
under (_"aptain 'I'rench.ird, to aid the Coloni/.ition Society 
in its elTuils to loiind a colony of free blacks, at .Sheluo, an 
island in the vicinity of Sierra Leone. Finding that the 
jiroject could not be carried out, owing to the unhealthiness 
of the location. Cape Mesurado was selected as a more 
favorable spot, and there a colony, now known as Liberia, 
was* founded. In this colony Lieutenant I'erry took a 
li\ely interest, and in the Shark, a schooner of t\\el\e 
guns (to which \essel he was appointed in r.S2I) he twice 
visited the si tllement. From the coast of Africa he was 
lec.dbd to t ike jiait in the elTorl made by the I'niled States 
to rid the waters of the West Indies from pirates. For this 
purpose a si|n,idion was fitted out in 1S22, embiacing the 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



255 



frigates Macedonian and Congress, slooiis of war Adams 
and Peacock, five brigs and a number of schooners, one 
of the latter being the Shark, nnder Lieutenant Perry. This 
service extended far into the following year, when the fleet, 
increased in size under Commodore Porter, brought the 
war to a close by cajituring a large number of piratical 
vessels. When the Shark returned to the United States, 
Lieutenant Perry was ordered to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 
wliere, as First Lieutenant of the receiving shi]i, he was 
employed for two years ; at the expiration of wdiich time 
he was ordered to the North Carolina, and was under Com- 
modore Rodgers for one cruise in the Mediterranean. His 
commission as Commander dated from March 21, 1S26. 
During the wdiole cruise of the North Carolina lie served 
as captain of the fleet. From 1S26 to 1830 he was em- 
ployed on recruiting service, at Boston, and was then 
placed in command of the corvette Concord, in which 
vessel he conveyed John Randolph to St. Petersburg, as 
United States Minister to Russia, and then cruised for three 
years in the Mediterranean, making a part of the squadron 
under Commodore Bidtlle. In 1S33 he spent a year at 
home, and then, for a peiiod of three years, he superin- 
tended the school of gun-practice, at Sandy Hook, and in 
perfecting plans for a steam naval service. He also did 
good service by systematically studying the titles on the 
American coast ; for wdiich duty he was selected at the 
suggestion of the British Admiralty. February 7, 1837, he 
was promoted to tlie rank of Captain, and was tendered 
the command of the South Sea Exploring Expedition; 
which honor he declined, and the position was given to 
Commodore Wilkes. In 1838 Captain Perry was in Eu- 
rope, under instructions to inspect light-houses and dock- 
yards, and the following year he made an able report to 
the government, with suggestions that were favoralily re- 
ceived. One of the results of this mission was the intro- 
duction and use of the Fresnel light at Navesink. This 
was the hrst light of the kind set up in the country. On 
his return to the United States Captain Perry resumed his 
duties as superintendent of gun-practice. While so em- 
ployed he prepared plans for the construction and equip- 
ment of the Missouri and Missis-sijipi, the first steam frig- 
ates built for the American navy. At the same time he 
was in command at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. .At tlie 
expiration of two years, at his own request, he was ap- 
pointed to the command of the African squadron, com- 
prising the Macedonian, Saratoga, Pori)oi-.e, and Consort, 
sent out under the provisions of the Ashburton Treaty. 
The manner in which his instructions were carried out, 
and the skill he displayed on this important mission, re- 
ceived the commendation of both the English and Ameri- 
can governments. The war with Mexico, in 1S46, called 
the army and navy into active operation. Commodore Perry 
was given the command of the Mississippi, which vessel 
made a part of the stjuadron under Commodore Conner. 
The flag-ship was the Raritan, and the other important 



vessels were the Potomac, Alliany, Adams, .St. Marys, 
Princeton, .Spitfire, Yixen, and Porpoise, with a number of 
smaller vessels. Commodore Perry, in the Mississippi, with 
five smaller vessels, was sent .against Tobasco. The expedi- 
tion was successful, and re.sulted in burning the town and de- 
stroying the depot of stores gathered there for the use of the 
Mexican army. He also bore a prominent part in the ex- 
pedition against Tampico, and had command of the boat 
attack. Soon after this he was placed in command of the 
Gulf Squadron. The siege of Vera Cruz followed, and 
in a short time the reduction of the whole coast was com- 
plete. The aid that the squadron had rendered in the com- 
bined attack on the enemy was cordially acknowledged by 
General .Scott in his official dispatches. In November, 
1S4S, Commodore Perry was ordered to New York as tlie 
(ieneral Sujierintendent on the part of the Navy, of the 
construction of the ocean mail steamers, on which duty he 
remained till March, 1852, when he was placed in com- 
mand of the Japan Expedition. The United States Gov- 
ernment, in consequence of complaints made to it that 
American seamen wrecked on the coast of Japan had been 
harshly dealt with by the authorities of the country, dis- 
patched this expedition to demand protection for American 
seamen and ships wrecked on the coast, and to negotiate, if 
possible, a treaty, by wdiich American vessels should be 
allowed to enter one or more ports to obtain supplies for 
purposes of trade. In February, 1S54, Commodore Perry, 
with a squadron of seven ships, the Mississippi, Susque- 
hanna, Powhatan, Macedonian, Saratoga, Supply, Lexing- 
ton, and Fredonia, entered the Bay of Yeddo, and anchored 
a few miles from that capital. With great skill and tact 
Commodore Perry succeeded in securing a treaty witli 
Japan, which instrument was signed March 31, 1S54, and 
sent home in the United States .Ship Saratoga. The Ilis- 
loiy of the Japan Expedition was written wliolly by Com- 
modore Perry, who preferred to write in the third person, 
and wdien completed, it was placed in the hands of the 
Rev. Dr. Hawkes, who wrote the preface, and whose name 
appears on the title-page as editor. After the return of 
Commodore I'erry to the United States, the citi.?ens of 
Rhode Island, desirous of showing their appreciation of 
the valuable service he had rendered the country by secur- 
ing a treaty with Japan, presented him with a piece of 
plate. This was done by a vote of the legislature, and the 
plate, a silver salver of three hundred and twenty ounces, 
was presented by Governor Hoppin, June 15, 1855. It 
bears the following inscription : " Presented to Commodore 
Matthew Calbrailh Perry, in the name of the people of the 
.State of Rhode Island, by their General Assembly, in tes- 
tinKjny of their appreciation of his service to his country 
in negotiating a treaty of amity and commerce with Japan, 
and in acknowledgment of the honor he has conferred 
upon his native State in ever maintaining the renown of 
the name he bears, and adding to the triumphs of his pro- 
fession those of liiuiuiuity ami peace." The city of Boston 



256 



BIOGKJ rn/CAL C \ CL OPKDJA. 



prcs.iUt<i (\'mniii(li)ie IV-ny with ;i l^"!'! nicd.il. in jl-col;- 
niti n\ (it liis st-rviccs in nci^nlialinj^ tlu- iicaly. The mer- 
chants of New \'<)rk pic-Nentfd liini with a h^ij^e silver <Iin- 
ner service, and tlie nieicliants of C.uit'in. China. |nesente(l 
him with a hii^^e silver eamUdabnini. (/oniniodoie l*errv 
did not live long alti-r his return to the L'nileil Stales. For 
some time lie was in faiUni; health, and after an attack of 
gout in tlic stiiniach. died at his resilience in New Voik. 
March 4. l8t;8. Hi-- remains, with tliose of Mrs. I'crry 
and siinie of his children and grandchildren, lie buried in 
tlie Island Cemetery, at Newpnit. He had three sons, — 
Matthew Calbrailh. ( )liver Ila/ard, and William, and four 
daughters, Sarah, who married Robert S. Kodgers ; Jane, 
who married John I hme ; Caroline S., who married Au- 
gust iJelmont; and Isabella li., who married George Tif- 
fany. In 186S Mr. and Mrs. Belmont caused a very tine 
bron/u statue to be erected to the memory of Commodore 
I'erry. 'I he figure, lieroic in size, stands upon a granite 
peclestal. The extreme heiglit is sixteen feet ; the statue 
being eight feet, and the pedestal of the same height. The 
die is encircled 1a' three l>as-rcliefs in ijn.m/e, dlustralive 
of Commodore Perry's services in Africa. Mexico, and 
Japan. The inscriptions are, "Africa. 1S43; Mexico, 
1846; Treaty with Japan. 1S54;" and "Commodore Mat- 
thew C. Terry, I'nited States Xavy, died 1S5S, aged sixty- 
four." ( hi the front of the plinth (here is cut an American 
ensign; on the north and south sides an anchor, and on 
the rear. "Erected in !8()8, bv August and Caroline S. 
Ilelmont." The monument stands in Touro ParU. and the 
site was given by the citv of Newport 



giTHPV?RNOTD, Anihmny i;K(.wN,the fifth son of Ne- 
^^ liemiah and Alice (Brown) Arnold, \\as born in 
Providence, Rhode Island, May 14. 170I. His 
^^■^ I -- motlier w as a descenciant. in llie seventh geiiera- 
L* tion, from I'uritan ancestors, who settled at Ply- 
mouth soon after tlie landmg of the I'dgrims, as will lie 
seen in the following brief sketch of family history: "(I.) 
John P.iown, ilie brother of Peter, who came in tlie NLiy- 
ihiwcr in ifi.20, emigrated to i'lynmuth in 1(126, from Ley- 
den, w liere he had previously gone from England, bringing 
with him his wife I >onilliy, and two children, John and 
James, bolli born in England, and after his arrival at Ply- 
mouth he had a daughter Mary. He became much dis- 
tinguished ; was joint grantee with Edward Winslow in the 
Indian deed of RehoboLh and Massasoit ; an Assistant to 
the Covernor lor sixteen years ; several times a Commis- 
sioner U\\ making Irealies with the- Indians, and was a large 
jiroprit tor of lands. He ren)o\ ed to Huxburv in It. ^6, to 
'launlon in i''43, and died at Swansey, where he had 
a large estate, .\pril m, 1002. His wife died in 1674, 
aged ninety years. Ili^ son James became a minister of 
the Bajitist Church, anil is named in Mather's thiid class, 



and (bed in 1710, aged eighty-seven years. His daughter 
Mary married, July o, ioj6, the celebrated Thomas Wil- 
lelt, sulisequently Mayor of the city of New York, and 
ancestor of Colonel Marinus WiUctt of Revolutionaiy fame. 
(2.) John, his son, married a daughter of William Buck- 
land, and dying in March, 1662, left several children, and 
among them a son, (3.) John, born in September, 1O50, 
who was the distinguished Cajitain in King Philip's War, 
and who married Ann Mason, November 8, 1672, and had 
several children, am'Uig whcmi was (4.) [ohn, l)orn April 
2S, 1675. He mariied, July 2, 1696, Abigail Cole, and had 
a son, ( 5.) James, who was born in 1706, and died in 1777, 
leaving, by his wife Ruth, among other children, (6.) 
James, who was born at Taunton, September 14, 1731. 
He mariied. in 1 753, at Providence, Mary Anthony, who 
was born in that city, December 22, 1737. By her he had 
seven cliiUben." Their second child was Alice, whii>,e 
son, Anthony B. Arnold, the subject of this sketch, is now 
living (iSSi) near the spot where he was born. Mr. Ar- 
nokl received a very limited education, embraced within 
the first twti years from the commencement of the pul'lic 
schools in Providence. He was an active business man 
for more than sixty years. The Jiist two years after 
leaving school he was engaged as a clerk, half of that time 
in the di^goods business, and the remainder in a lar^e 
grocery house, after which, for about forty years, he was 
associated \\\\\\ his brother in an extensive merchandise 
and ci'inmi--~ion business, and in navigation. Mr. Arnold 
controlled the business at the South for about foutteen 
years, and his biother ojierated at Providence, where they 
were large shipowners, having many vessels, several of 
which were built at Pro\idence, two of them being the 
largest ships ever built in the State. Their large vessels 
were employed in freighling cotton and other merchandise 
to Europe, returning with freight and emigrant passengers. 
Their smaller vessels were in the West India trade, and 
the fruit trade of Malaga and the Mediterranean. Mr. 
Arnold was one of the pedtiiuiers for the corporation of 
the i.ity Bank, and was its hrst President, w hich position 
he tilled for many years. He was also President of an in- 
surance company of Providence. After the i.lissolution of 
the lirm "'f S. «.\: A. B. Arnold, in i84(). he was engaged 
for about twenty years as ticket agent for all the principal 
railroads of the country, and selling tickets and bills of ex- 
change for emigrant passengers from Europe. He retired 
(rom business in 1S69, at the age of seventy-eight years, 
and has since found sufficient employment in the manage- 
ment of his own property. He has never been a jiarty 
jHilitician, nor ofhce-seeker, but at times has occujiied 
}Hisitioiis of public tuist. He was a mendier of the Town 
(-"ouncil, a body of live chosen men to administer all the 
interests of the town of Providence before it became a city; 
was a member of the Committee of Public Schools, and an 
Assessor of Taxes, In the great revival of religion in 1805, 
Mr. Arnold, then a lad of fourteen years, became a member 







V/ v^>^ r:~3-^ 



</ /^-^ /p'yy,- A/ 




B lO GRA P/JJCA L C YCL OPED /A. 



257 



of the Beneficent Congregational Church of Providence, of 
which the Rev. James Wilson was then pastor, and is still 
a member of that denomination. He has always been a 
ready contiibiitor to all Christian effort, both in means and 
personal labor, and an earnest assistant in most of tlie 
moral and benevolent efforts of the day. He was de- 
cidedly opposed to slavery from early life, and although 
fourteen years of his business life were sj^ent in the Southern 
States, he never consented to own a slave. From his youth 
he has been an earnest and consistent advocate of temper- 
ance principles, having throughout his life totally abstained 
from the use of intoxicating drinks, as a beverage, even 
including cider, and having always refused to let any build- 
ings for the sale of intoxicating licjuors, nor has he used 
tobacco in any form. For many years he was President 
of both State and city temperance societies, and was one of 
the most zealous and efficient friends of the cause at a time 
when their efforts were most successful. He has also been an 
active worker in .Sunday-schools for more than fifty years, 
having been engaged much of that time as teacher of im- 
portant classes of both young and aged persons. For many 
years he had charge of an adult female class of more than 
one hundred members, and was for a long time President of 
the Sunday-school Teachers' Association, an institution 
doing great moral and religious good. He has ever taken 
an active interest in missionary societies, tract, Bible, and 
peace societies, and institutions for the welfare of the poor 
and the protection of destitute children. He was one of 
the founders of the Fuel Society of Providence, and wrote 
its first constitution. He is the author of a volume of 
poems, of 220 pages, chiefly the result of his Sabbath-school 
teaching, having for a long time written a poem every 
week, pertaining to the subject of the iessun, to l>e read 
before his class. The edition was limited to two hundred, 
and was issued solely for the pleasure of his particular 
friends, by whom it w.as received with much approbation. 
He has also been an occasional contributor to the piess. 
Mr. .■\rnold was married, at the age of twenty-five, to Miss 
Abby Potter Fuller, only child of Joseph and Lucy Fuller, 
whose affectionate companionship he enjoyed for thirty- 
eight years, and whose rare virtues were a subject of admi- 
ration with all who knew her. She was a useful member 
of society, and highly esteemed for her labors in the church, 
of which she was a member for twenty years. Although 
more than twenty-seven years have passed since they were 
separated by her death, he has never felt that his loss could 
be repaired. They had no children, but Mr. Arnold's family 
at different times has embraced, beside himself and wife, his 
wife's father and mother, his father, his adopted daughter 
and her husband, Edwin B. Day, all of whom, except Mrs. 
Day, who is still living, died while members of his family. 
He has also provided for the education and training of six 
children of other parents, three males and three females, 
who have grown to manhood and womanhood as members 
of his family, the last of whom is .Anthony B. Day, who 



graduated at Amherst College in 1S81, at the age of twenty- 
one. Mr. Arnold has not only contributed to the welfare 
and happiness of those who were the special objects of his 
benevolence, but his aid and sympathy have been extended 
to others of every class and condition in need of help and 
encouragement. He is a man of marked individuality and 
great force of character; firm in adherence to his convic- 
tions, and in the exercise of those sterner qualities essential 
to worldly success, yet uniformly courteous, and of a kindly, 
sympathetic nature. Although now in the ninety-first ye.ar 
of his age, his penmanship is remarkably beautiful, and he 
continues to give personal attention to the varied interests 
of his estate, and otherwise exhibits great mental and bodily 
vigor. 



^Wl^^dMAN, GovKRNOR Byron, eldest son of Jeremiah 
[jj^fl and Hannah (Luther) Diman, was born in Bristol, 
jifi'i Rhode Island, August 5, 1795. In his youth he 
' ^ij ' enjoyed the advantages of an excellent private school 
•^ kept for many years by the late Bishop Griswold, 
Here, according to the tesumony of one of his classmates, 
the venerable Bishop Smith, of Kentucky, he held the first 
place, his devotion to study creating a tie between teacher 
and pupil which was only dissolved by death. The literary 
tastes thus early formed were cherished and developed. 
Up to a late period in his life he was a diligent reader, and 
few men not belonging to the class of professed students 
possessed more varied and accurate information. He was 
well versed in English literature and general history, and 
especially at home in topograjjhical and antir|uarian lore. 
At an early age he entered the counting-house of Hon. 
James De Wolf, and continued in the most confidential 
relations with that gentleman until his death in 1S37. He 
engaged in the whale fishery, which at one time was largely 
prosecuted at Bristol. In various other ways he was closely 
identified with the business interests of that town. He was 
at one time Treasurer, and afterward President of the 
Bri-tol Steam Mill; a PJirector of the I'okanoket Mill; and 
for many years President of the Bank of Bristol. In all his 
business relations he was actuated by the most generous and 
forbearing s],irit. The distressed applied instinctively to 
him for aid, and seldom were they refused. Mr. Diman 
was early and actively engaged in politics. He was an 
enthusiastic Whig of the school of Henry Clay. For many 
years he was a member of the Legislature, and he was a 
delegate to the Harrisburg Convention which nominated 
General Harri-^on for the Presidency. During the exciting 
days of the Dorr War he was a member of the Governor's 
Council. His official duties, however, did not prevent his 
shouldering his gun and marching to Chepacliet. When 
the new Constitution was adopted he was elected Lieutenant- 
(Sovernor, and in iS.i6, at the disruj^tion of the Law and 
Order party, he was elected Governor. No persuasion could 
induce him to hold the office longer than a year, and he 



258 



luocKArmcAL cyclopedia. 



was (leaf lo all solicitatiniis ti> accept a lii^licr pLisitinn, c-ven 
that of Unitcil States Senatur. The only otficial connection 
that he ritaineil with the Slate was as ("iinmiissioner of the 
indigent Mind, deaf. an<l dninh. To the duties ot" this 
ofTice he i^ave threat aHeiiinjii. ile i^s^led tlie call for the 
first meeting lield in llii>tol for the organisation of the 
Repulilican paity, and he gave lo the |)olicy of I'residcnt 
I.incidn a cordial and unhesitating support. He died of 
apoplexy, at his residence in liristol. .Vugiisl i, 1S05, .\ line 
portrait of him liy Lincoln giaces the chamber of the State 
House in I'lovidence. (governor I)iman was twice mar- 
ried ; first 10 .\l.liy .\l(kn Wight, daughter (jf Rev. Henry 
Wight, 1)11., hy whom he had four children, including J. 
I,, and 11. \\'. Iiiman, both of wdiom graduated at Brown 
LniNersiiy. His second wile was Kli/abeth .\nn Liscomb; 
b) her he had <ine cliild, who sur\ives him. 



f/T^^rrWEI.l,, Hon. S.\mi It, Vm no, fijr many years 
^j a leading member of the Rhode Island bar, was 
born in I'rovidence, June 24. 17911. His father, 
\i>i'i ''"^ descendant of an old and honor.ible English 
•*,?■ family, was a man of considerable means and 
cultivated literary tastes, and bestowed on his son superior 
educational advantages. .\t the age of twenty he giadu- 
,ated from Diown rni\er->ity as the valedictorian of his 
class. His favorite -tudies were iihilosophy, the sciences, 
and general literature, .'\fter devoting a year to the study 
of medicine he entered the ollice of the Hon. John Whij)- 
pie as a law student, and u]>oii being admitted to the bar, 
at once entered upon a -ucLe-sfnl practice. In 1S55 he 
was elected, without ojiposunm, to the (icneral .Assembly, 
from the town cjf Gloce^ter, and, two years later, chairman 
of the State Commission on Hanking. The following year 
he was elected Speaker of the House of Represent. itives, 
which position he hcM until the close of the session of 
1S40. .\t the outset of the " r)orr Rebellh.n" he was in 
earnest sympathy with the side of the ]ieople. He coni- 
liated as urn institutional, liow'e\'er, a lesoii to arms, and 
correctly antieipateil its disastrous results. While acting 
as counsel for the defence in the trial of the allegetl mur- 
derer of .\masa Sprague, his protracted labors, in addition 
to a c.dd, induced nervous ]irostration, which shortly after- 
wards resulteil in his death, ( ktober 2^, 1S44. He was 
at this lime in the ^mith of his power and usefulness. 
According to the tesiiiuony of his colleagues he was the 
fir-t jurist ill the State. lo his ]>rolound erudition was 
allied great oiatf jncal pow ers, a reaily e|jigrammatic wit, and 
a deep insight into human character and motives. His 
appearance and characteristics are thus described by a con- 
temporary : " I lis |>resence was grand, although he was not 
finely formed; neither u .is his head shaped as though with 
a chisel; but he was a great, suong, burly man, with a 
presence (|Uite as p,,werlul as that of Mr. Webster. He 
always dressed in bl.nk, and spuke with great iligiiitv and 



earnestness, and his ]iersonal habits were of the plainest 
and sim|)lesl character. His power of concentration of 
mind was wonderful. He lived at Chepachet, and he used 
to say that all the tliinking in his business was done .as 
he drove to toHii. He bestowed the most painstaking 
care and minute attention to det.cils in the preparation of 
his cases, and rarely lost a case. His power over a jury 
was wiuiderful, and his eloquence was heightened by a 
voice ol peculiar magnetic properties. He seemed lo speak 
like a m.m who h.ad sounded the lowest depths of human 
expeiience. .■\.s a presiding officer he discharged his duties 
with singular urbanity, impartiality, and good judgment, 
and with a lofty courtesy that never deserted him, even in 
the most heated deliate." In his social and domestic rela- 
tions he was esteemed for his generous, kindly dis|)Osition, 
his lilieral ln)spitality, and his unostentatious benevolence. 
He married, in his twenty-sixth year, the tlaughter of a 
prominent l'ni\idence merchant, the issue of the marriage 
being live chddien, — three sons and two daughters. 



I MONT), GovrRNoR Fr..\ncis M., was born in 

W-'fl, Bristol, in 1711(1. When a young man he went to 

'\vh the island of ( uba, w here he lived forseveral years. 

A He afterwards reiiresenled the L'niled .Stales fin' some 

time as Consul at I'oit au I'lince. hor several ye.irs 
his residence was in .\ew I )ileans. He was subse.piemly 
I'nited .States' Consul at \'era Cruz, Mexico, in w Inch po- 
sition he acc|uired such knowledge of the country and the 
government, that when war brol<e out between the two 
countries the infiirmation which he was able to communi- 
cate to the authorities at home was of great value. We are 
told "when the ex|)edilion against Vera Cruz was planned 
he was suinm^>ned t<' Washington, where his accurate 
memory ([uickly supplied the greatly needed chart of the 
Mexican h.irboi." Inoiilerthat he might be an e) c-w it- 
ness of the bombardment (if the place, he sailed from Ha- 
vana in time, as he reckoned, to Lie present when the pilace 
should lie attacked. (.)n the ]iassage, the vessel in which 
he hail embarked was wrecked ; for two days and nights 
he was exposed, in an open boat, to the perils of the deep, 
and did not reach the place of his destination till the day 
after the biimbardment. He w.is in time, however, to enter 
the Lit) with the .\merican arm)-, and, as long as his ser- 
vices were icijuiicd, was the olfici.d interpreler. He was 
appointed (."ollector of the captured cit)'. He afierwards 
returned to his native town, and was elected LieiUenaut- 
tlovernor of the State for the ye.ir 1:^53-54. ( )n the 
resignation of ( lovernor I'hiliii .\llen, to accejit tlie office 
of Uiiiteil States Senator, he was his successor for the im- 
expired part of his term of service. .Subseiiuently he took 
a deep iiitiiesl in the construction of the Southern Pacific 
Railw.iy, and w .is elected President of the company wdiich 
had slatted the enlerpiise. His connection with this com- 







C'^CC{.€^iy , 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OTEDIA. 



259 



pany was of short duration, being terminated by his death, 
whicii took pbace in Bristol, in 1S58. at the age of sixty- 
three. 



^BhSlLEN, Rev. Reuben, was born in Gihnanton, 
^jjR^fc New Hampshire, Septemljer 4, 1795. He was 



J 



^i^S-l converted October 4, 181 1, and soon began to 
■Afep hold meetings. His preacliint 



career was com- 
menced in Northfield and attended by a great 
revival. Having served an apprenticeship with a black- 
smith during his boyhood, he worked at his trade for a 
short time, and then resumed preaching in Ilillsijorough 
County, whence he \\'ent to Wheelock, Vermont, where he 
was ordained in the autumn of 181 8 as pastor of the Free- 
will Baptist Church. Here he ministered for three years, 
but meantime preached in Burlington, St. Albans, and the 
towns about the lake. In October, 1S21, he came to 
Rhode Island, and reached Burrillville on the day of the 
organization of the Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting of the 
Freewill Baptists, and on the next day preached the sermon 
at the first Freewill Baptist ordination that occurred in the 
State. In 1822 he .settled in Rhode Island, and preached 
on a circuit embracing Pawtucket, Rehoboth, Taunton, 
Blackstone, and Chepachet, revivals usually following his 
labors, and churches being finally formed in Taunton, 
Blackstone, and Chepachet. In Decemlier, 1S24, he set- 
tled as pastor in Pawtucket, and in 1S26 in Taunton. Re- 
turning to Rhode Island in the autumn of 1S29, he settled 
at Greeneville, in Smithfield, giving half of his time to 
Chepachet. In 1830 he began to preach at North Scituate. 
The churches under him at Greeneville and North Scituate 
were greatly prospered. In December, 1840, he removed to 
North Scituate, and remained there until 1845, when he re- 
signed, and gave himself to the help of feeble churches in 
Coventry, Natick, West Greenwich, and Warwick. In 1S47 
he fonned a new church in Coventiy. Again he settled as 
pastor of the church in North Scituate, serving that body in 
all seventeen years. After this he acted with feeble churches 
as a missionary and evangelist. He baptized about 1400 
persons, attended 1600 funerals, and solemnized 650 mar- 
riages. Mr. .A-llen was widely known as a bold, earnest, 
and able preacher. He married (i), in October, 1816, 
Alice A. G. Sanborn, of Northfield, and (2), May 5, 1824, 
Phebe Leonard. He died in North Scituate May 30, 1872, 
in his seventy-seventh year. 




pj^i^AIN, Rev. John, evangelist, was born in Fish- 
kill, Dutchess County, New York, February 14, 
1795. M^ w^^ t'^^ youngest of five children of 
William and Mary Elain. During his chddhood 
his parents removed to Newtown, and afterwards to 
Palatine, a new settlement in Montgomery County, New 
York. His early education was acquired chiefly in the 



home circle and from books within his reach. He was 
trained to hard work and economy. At the age of fifteen 
he embraced Christianity ; at twenty -three was baptized 
by Rev. John Bradley, and united with the Bapti-.t church 
in Albany, the only one then in that city. While en- 
gaged as a travelling trader he felt a call to preach the 
gospel, and at once began to prepare himself for the work 
of the ministry. He pursued his studies in Fairfield, and 
afterward in Middlebury Academy in Western New York. 
Duly licensed and ordained, he commenced preaching in 
November, 1819. His principal settlements in the minis- 
try were Aul)urn, New York; Stonington, Connecticut; 
Pawtucket, Rhode Island ; Providence ( Pine Street), Rhode 
Island ; New York City ; .Syracuse, New York ; Charles- 
town (two churches), Massachusetts; Central Falls, Rhode 
Island; Providence (Broadway), Rhode Island; Mans- 
field, Massachusetts. Yet he was always more of an evan- 
gelist than a pastor, and as such preached in many places 
in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachu- 
setts. During his niinisti-y he had charge of fourteen 
churches, baptized al«)Ut three thousand persons, labored 
in about one hundred revivals, preached in more than one 
thousand different places, delivered over nine thousand 
five hundred sermons, and married over two thousand 
couples. He gave, while living, upwards of nineteen thou- 
sand dollars to the cause of home and foreign missions, 
besides giving numberless smaller sums to meet minor 
cases of need ; and in his last will he bequeathed his prop- 
erty to mission causes. Having been a soldier in the War 
of 1S12, he received a small pension from the government. 
In 1S23 he married Lucy Carter, of New York State, and 
had a daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who died at the age of 
thirteen in Syracuse, where also the mother died. In 1S43 
he married Amy Ann Bliss, a native of .\ttleboro', Massa- 
chusetts, who died January 16, 1S78. His three brothers 
all became preachers, and one. Rev. Jacob Blain, is now 
living, at the age of eighty-seven years. He died in Mans- 
field, Massachusetts, December 26, 1S79, in his ciglity- 
fifth year. He was a man of impressi\-e and pleasing 
presence, noted for his scriptural knowledge, strong faith, 
and fervent spirit. 



f> 



*j^\^ riah and Anr 



HiiN. Zach.\ri.\h, LL.D., son of Zacha- 
ne (Crawford) Allen, \\'as born in 
Providence, Septemljcr 15, 1795. This ancestral 
|)'ll' name is found in the earliest records of Plymouth 
el Colony. It appears by the statistics of the New- 

York Historical Society (I. G. Dudley, 1852,) that "the 
first calico printing in New Engl.and was done by Zacha- 
riah Allen (his father), who largely imported India cotton, 
and employed Hermann Vandeusen from Mulhausen." On 
the mother's side was a Scotch ancestor, Crawford, and a 
P'rench ancestor, Gabriel Bernon, a Huguenot, who fled to 
Boston from La Rochelle in 168S, after the revocation of 
the Edict of Nantes, and obtained a grant of twenty-five 



26o 



BIOCRAPinCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



lumdrcd acres of land at Oxl'md. Massacliusctt-, ami phiitod 
a I-'rcnch colony ilicrc. In tin- ii-cokN of ilic Ma^saclui- 
sftts Ui-lnrical Sutitiy (\'ol. II., 31! sciios- il is slntcl, 
•' Cial'iif! Hern m came from an ancient lanuly in France, 
lie Imilt a mill at Oxford for manufactures, and a fort for 
pr^itcction a^ain^^ the Indian--." Alter the destruction of 
his jilantation by the Indians. Ik* removed to Newport. In 
Arnold's Hislory of Khodf hlnud il is recorderl, '• To the 
per^e\erln_L^ jiiely and untiring zeal of (ialiricl Hi-rnon tlie 
t'lrst three i'^ii-^ci ipal c!uirelu's in i-ihode Island owe their 
orij^in, \i.'., rrinity Church, in Newport, the Xairai;ansctt 
Churi- h and St. |ohn\ Churcli in I'ro\iilence." The lirotlicrs 
of /acbariah Allen were (lovernor I'hilip Allen and Craw- 
ford Allen, and his great grandmother was Mary Ilanis, 
daip^hler of Thiunas Hani-., brother of William Harris, 
one of the oriL;inal settlers who came lo Providence with 
KoL^er Willi inis. Mr. Allen was educated at a sciiool in 
Metiford, Massachusetts, at Philips Exeter Academy, in 
New Hampshire, antl at Prown L'niversity, iVoni which he 
graduated in 1S13. He studCd law two years in the o'Tic^- 
of James Punill; was adauttjd to practice in the Rhode 
Islam! courts in 1S15, and is at present the oldest lawyer in 
the State. In 1S17 he was married to Eliza Harriet Ar- 
ii'dd. daugliter of Welcome ArnoM^ a di>tin'^ui--hcil mer- 
chant of Provi<lence. She dii-il in 1^73, K-aviiiL; three 
daughters; one married to .Andrew Rrilirsun. '>ne t<» Wil- 
liam D. I'"ly, and Canilace Allen. Mr. Allen scrvL-d sev- 
eral years as a member of the old Tv)wn Councii of Pnjvi- 
dence, at a time when the duties included tho^e cif a 
Probate (;ouit. Police, Sehool i ■uinmittr,;. Hoard of Health, 
I liL^hway and Eire DepartnienS. Tlie 1 ow n Atlas ( No. i ), 
made umler the direction of Mr. Allen. e\idences the first 
systematic survey of the streets; and the inlroiluttion by 
him, in 1S22, of powerful fire-engines, with snction ami 
leading lio^e, superseded the previous mode of pa-sin^; 
water by hand in Inickels, ami was the conmiencenieni of 
the present inijiroved hre <:lepartiiK-nt. This system was 
shortly after ad'ipted by Maycu- ( juincy for the eily of I'oston. 
In the History of Ayho)-iLiiIturt\ published by Pr(lfes^or 
Charles S. Sargent, of Harvard Uni\ersity, it is shown 
that Mr. Allen tool, the lead in New luiglaiid, in the vear 
lSi(), in ])lanting acorns, chestnuts, and locusts, for fuel and 
timber, sDiiie of which ^\■as sold to contractors for supply- 
ing hjcust li.rthe ( 'harlestnu n Navy \'ard for building ves- 
sels during ihe War of the Rebellion. In I.S22 nianufac- 
tilling oper.itions were commenced bv Mr. Allen in 
building the mill and village of .-Mlendalc. on the Wonas- 
(|U.itucket River, in Noith Pmvidence. To improve the 
water-iiower of this river, it appears by the State records 
that a ehaiter was granted, in 1S22, to " Zachariah Allen 
ami others hjr con-structing reservoirs for retaining flood 
waters for use (buing the droughts of summer." This 
^vas the first charter in the Cniied States pursuant to sys- 
tematic i.)]ans i){ making reservoirs fur hydraulic piirjHjses. 
To obtain a more perfect knowledge of ci\il engineeiing, 



' Mr. Alien went to Europe, in 1S25, where he passed a 

I ^ear in examining public and private works of scientific 
skill, and subscipiently jiub'idied the result of Jiis observa- 
tions in a volume entitled 'J'/it- St u'/ue of Mt\-/iiun\s af- 
plitd to the iht-fiil Arts in Europe and Amcriio, which 
was valued by .\uieriean manufacturers. Soon after ap- 
jteared from his pen two volumes of Ski-dhi-'; of Socictw 
SoiUt-ry. .luii of the Arts i>i Great Britain, Franee, aiui 
If<'lla)iJ, which were also favorably received at tiic time. 
A sjiecial \isit to examine the oiigiiial steam-engine ma<le 
and used by Poulton l\; Watt, then remaining in its place 
at their works, led to an im[H>rtant improvement of the old 
mode of regulating steam-engines by a throltle-valvc. He 
devised a method for allowing the full jiressure of the 
steam to act on the piston during a longer or shorter p'ution 
of each stroke by means of variable automatic cut-oiT valves, 
|ilaced under the control of a centrifugal ball-regulat()r. 
ddiis hr>l and original use of automatic cut-off valves was 
patented by .Mr, .Vlleii in 1N33, and is now in general use 
with improvements. In domestic economy, an intproved 
method of ilistiibuting heat for warming n.»oms in dwelling- 
houses from a single stove, or furnace, was originally in- 
troduced by Mr. Allen, in the year 1S21. by emjiloying 
conducting-jiipes for conveying hot air. After the use of 
anthracite coal was introduced, in 1S25, this labor-saving 
sy-tem was sj>eedily adopted elsewhere. FiU' perfecting 
the process uf rai-^ing a ni)rous nap by teasels in the manu- 
facture of cloths, an "extension roller," for smoothly 
spreading the cloth, was patented by Mr. Allen profitably, 
:^\^y\ is still continued m use in woollen-mills. Huiinga 
summer excursion to Niagara Falls Mr. Allen made the 
earliest, if not the only admeasurement of the volume of 
water and extent of motor power of that great cataract of 
one hundred and sixty feet of perpenclicular descent; an 
account ot wdnch, with apian of survey, was jmblished in 
Sillinian's SAe)itife yoiojiaf April 1S44. showing the 
ellective forces to be over seven millions of " horse power." 
In originating and jironioting the c<ui^truction of the Provi- 
dence Water Works Mr. .Mien laboie<.i lor several years, 
until the community was finally induced to construct them. 
dhe publi-.hed annual repiuts of the P>utler Hospital for 
the Insane in the City of Providence record the services 
of Mr. Allen in superintending the constructii'U of the 
buildings and general management. The recently pub- 
lished reports of Mr. Edward Atkinson, President of the 
Postun Manufacturers' Mutual Eire Insurance Conipany, 
give details of the very successful results of "the 
system of vigilant inspection, and of effective a]iparatus 
for extinguishing fires, ad(tpted by the Manufacturers' 
Mutual Eire Insvirance Company of Providence, as origin- 
ally ]>ro])osed and organized by Zachariah Allen nearly 

j fifty year-> ago." In the Reports of tlie Smithsonian Insti- 
luie in Washington, published in 1S62, are contained the 
tletails of another of his efforts for the preservation of 

I both life and property from destruction by fire caused 



BrOGRAPIlICAL CYCL OPED [A. 



261 



by the explosion of kerosene oil, with the modes of testing 
dangerous oils, which have since been generally adopted 
and en''orced by municipal laws for the safety of the peo- 
ple. The New En:;land Cotton Manufacturers' Association 
having invited Mr. Allen to deliver an address in Hoston, 
in April, 1S71, on the "Best Modes of Transmission of 
Power from Motors to Machines," he gave an account of 
some ori'.;inal improvements made by him for superseding 
the common use of heavy shafts and cog-wheels revt>l\ing 
slowly, by substituting therefor lighter shafts and pulleys, 
with swifter revolutions, for transmitting power by leather 
bands. In tlie illustrated History of Ii)ipro7'emfiits of the 
Cotton Maiiiifittitre, recently published by Mr. Evan Leigh 
in England, the rules for transmitting power from motors 
to machines, given by Mr. Allen, aie copied, with the f il- 
lowing remarks : "The time has now arrived for an inno- 
vation of the old system of transmission of power from 
motors to machines; for with our present knowledge of 
the laws of motion, there is now room for improvement as 
great as that made by Fairbairn and Lilly, half a century 
ago, which has had an undisturbed reign ever since. Their 
speed of shafting and l")elting is certainly too slow." He 
further adds, " LiglU, hollow pipes of iron (snioothly 
turned gas-pipes), may be advantageously used with quick 
revolutions in all cotton mills, to drive machinery from the 
bare shafts, both simply and neatly, if coupled as described 
in the address of Mr. Allen." Indeed, were it practicable 
to employ the same velocity of transmission of power in 
terrestrial, as is employed in celestial, mechanics, by the 
solar action (190,000 miles per second), Mr. Allen main- 
tains that a single thread, capable of lifting one pound, 
might transmit 1,824,000 horse-power, being sufficient to 
operate all the machinery in Great Britain. As an evidence 
of his interest in the general diffusion of useful knowledge, 
the records of the Providence School Committee state, 
" We are assured by Professor S. S. Greene, that in the 
year 1S40, he visited a public Evening School taught by 
Samuel Austin, under the auspices of Zachariah Allen, 
Owen Mason, and other public-spirited individuals." This 
was probably the commencement of puljlic Free Evening 
Schools for working people in New England. For the 
promotion of the welfare of this class, Mr. ;\llen has long 
identified himself with their interests and pursuits, while 
acting as the President of the I'roviilence Association of 
Manufacturers and Mechanics, and co-operating with them 
in obtaining contributions for the endowment of the present 
successful Free Public Library in the city of Providence. 
His labors in originally establishing and sustaining the 
Providence Athenceum, now containing 37,000 volumes, is 
certified to by the vote of the directors, on receiving his 
resignation, in the following words; " Mr. Allen was fore- 
most among the founders of this institution in those early 
days, when its progress was difficult and uncertain. The 
records abundantly testify that he has never ceased to ex- 
tend to the institution his valuable counsel and assistance." 



To his Alma Mater, Brown University, he has continually 
manifested a pious devotion, having served as trustee for 
more than half a century, and he is now the oldest mem- 
ber of the corporation. The fir^t published volume of the 
Rhode Island Historical Society is prefaced with the ac- 
knowledgment, that it was " printed from a manuscript 
copy of Roger William's Key to the Indian Languages, 
procured by Zachariah Allen from the Bodleian Library, 
at O.xford, in England." Numerous historical sketclies 
and public addresses in relation to the early settlement of 
New England, and to the treatment of the Indians, show 
his long-continued interest in sustaining the usefulness of 
the Rhode Island Historical Society, of which he is now 
President. The most recent scientific work of Mr. Allen 
is a volume just published on the Soitree and Supply of 
Solar Light ami Heat, and of the Gravitating and Molec- 
ular Forces ; being the sequel of a previous work pub- 
lished in 1 85 1, entitled, The Philosophy of the Mechanics 
of A^atnre, and of the Source and Modes of Transmission 
of A'atural Motive Po-oer. Although now (iSSi) eighty- 
si.x years of age, Mr. Allen continues vigorous and active, 
both physically and intellectually, in the enjoyment of " a 
sound mind in a sound body." 



^^KREENE, LiF.UTEN.^NT-GovF.RNOR William, son 
iSsfe of Ray and Mary (Flagg) Greene, was born in 
f-asTf Warwick, Rhode Island, January i, 1797. His 
mm father for many years was Attorney-General of 
4> Rhode Island, and was a .Senator in Congress 
from October, 1797, to May, 1801. His mother was the 
daughter of George Flagg, of Charleston, South Carolina. 
His grandfather, William Greene, was Governor of 
Rhode Island from 1778 to 1786; and his great-grand- 
father, William Greene, died while Governor of the colony, 
after having been elected to that office four times; first, in 
1743, next, in 1746, and in 1748, serving to 1755, and 
lastly, in 1757, closing his useful life February 22, 175S. 
The suliject of this sketch received his primary education 
under the teacher then familiarly known as "Master" 
Franklin, who distinguished himself in the use of Solo- 
mon's " rod and reproof." His preparation for college was 
completed in Kent Academy, at East Greenwich, Rhode 
Island, and at George J. Patton's school, at Hartford, and 
he graduated with honor at Brown University, in 1S17, 
delivering the valedictory of his class. Among his class- 
mates were the subsequent Chief Justice Sta]>les, Governor 
Charles Jackson, and others of distinction. Soon after his 
graduation Mr. Greene entered the law school of Judges 
Reeves and Gould, at Litchfield, Connecticut, which then 
had a high reputation. While there Governor William 
Beach Lawrence was his room-mate, and J. Y. Mason, 
of Virginia, and John M. Clayton, of Delaware, were then 
attendants at the same school. After his graduation from 
this school Mr. Greene rode on horseback from Warwick 



262 



mOGRAPHICAL CVCL prFDIA. 



to Cdliimlni'-, (>tiio, wlu-re lie lief.mic |irivate secretary to 
Cidvenmr r.r.nvn, ami suhseiiuenlly settled in Cincinnati, 
where lie lUUMied lire piarliee (if law until 1S62. While 
there he dnl much Un the cause i)f education, ill the for- 
nialioii ,.f the ^;li.iid s\^triii uf ( llii.i, aciiiv^ as I'resiilent 
of the Sclionl hluard of < iiuiiinati. In the year last men- 
tioned he returned to lii^ aiice^lial faiiii in Rhode Island, 
where he lias since rcinaim-d. 'I his farm wa^ owned by 
his falhers from the time of its purchase of the noMe Chief 
Mianlononii to the present lime, ami the dee<l, now in pos- 
ses^iiui of Mr. ( Iieciie, has the Chief's mark of conveyance. 
In ( diio Mr. Creelle took an aclt\e j'art in llie j)olitics of 
the St.ile, llr^t as a \\hi.L; anil aflerwaiai as a Re|"iulilican. 
1 le wa^ perioiially inliuiate with Clay and Wcb^ler, from 
\ehoin he received many letters. Mr. Crecne was electeil 
Lieutenant ( ioveinorof Rhode Island in iSoOand iSoy.and 
wa^ a dele;:;ate to the Chicago Convention that luuniuated 
Ceneral Craiit for the Presidency. Latterly the iiihrinitie> 
of age have kept him in retirement, where he has enjoyed 
his well-earned affluence and much domestic happiness, 
amid the ielii.s of his honored ancestin's, who there \\el- 
conied to their liospjilality such men as M,ijor-( General 
I ireeiie, Lafayette, Rochamlieau, Franklin, Estamg, and 
others, wlic) met in the room still preserved and distin- 
guished as the place wheie councils of war were held 
during the Revolntionary struggle. The chimney then 
standing now exhibits to the jiasser-by the date of '* 16S0," 
and will proliably long remain there to indicate the home 
of a family distinguished through successive generations 
for \iriue, intelligence, patiioii,m, and integrity. Mr. 
Cieeiic married, .\pril }p, i8jl, .\liby Lyman, daughter 
of I'hastus Lyman, of Norlhampton, Mass.ichu^etts. She 
died luly I.S, 1S02. Thcv hail two ihildrcn. .\nnie Jean 
and ( '.ilh.iriiie Ray. The last-nanied m.inied I )r. Fred- 
crick Roelker, in February, 1S5;, and died May 22, 1S64. 
Mr. (;reene's^econd marriage was to .Mi ,. Caroline Mathew- 
.son, Xovember 20, 1S17. 



/(^ 



'AIl.K, Hon. Li vi, was liDin in W.irnn. Rhode 

I-l.aul, In 17<I7, nii'l L;r,Mlunt!.-(l ;U I'.rown Univer- 
sity in iSji. Anionj; his (.la^sni.ilc- weiL- several 
w lie tilk'il iiii[H.i-taiU an<l hnnmal-I'j imsitions in tlicir 
J* priifvs^idns in life, vi/.. Kw. Kufus Ilabcock, I >.I)., 
i'rcsi.iciU Kliphaz Fay, of \Vati.T\ ilK- ( 'ollft^f, now Colby 
rnivei^itv, Hr. K^ckiel Ilohnes. I)i. Sanuiel Gridloy 
II..WV, Rev. joM-ph Mucnschvr, D.D., ( Icoii^e R. Russell, 
I.1..1 ».. an.l 111, 'Ihunia^ ll.Wchh. On leavin;^ coIk\L,^e, 
the siil.j.et of this skelcli Lummi-ncr"! the stuily of law in 
lli^ native town, where, upon luin-^ a-lniitteil li' llie hnr, he 
opened an ulliee. Il In a ]U' «- .f uf llie |)laee which he hehl 
in the ieL;ai(U ->! his fellow eili/ms llial llu-\ eleeted him, 
in 1S24, very soon after he opened a law oflice in Warren, 
as iheir Reitresentative to the (ieneral Assembly, and re- 
turned hini to ihi^ oMiec iinid lS;^5. wli.n he was appointed 



one of the Associate Judges of tlie Supreme Tunrt of the 
Stale, Jiidi;e Job Durfee being Chief, and Jud^^e W. R, 
Staples bein^; the Associate. In Ji^'ric, lS4^, a law was 
passed by the Ceneral Assembly jn'oviding that the Su- 
preme Court shoulil eonsist of one Chief and three Asso- 
ciates. Ceorge A. Ihayton was elected the third Associate 
Judge. While Judge Haile was on the bench, there oc- 
curred events which will always find a phnce in the history 
of Rhode Island. We allude to those connected with 
\\ hat is know n as tlie " L>orr War." The chief actor in 
the scenes was in <lue time arrested, tried befen'e the judges 
to whom reference has been maile, and condemned to be 
imprisoned, "lie was tried before a court," says Pro- 
fes><)r ( Jodilard, "composed of men upon whose integrity, 
indepemlenee, and impartiality, calumny will in vain essay 
to fasten a reproach.'' This \ ertbct in favoi of all the gen- 
tlemen then on the lieneh is corroborated in the words of 
another, as applied to fudge Haile. ** The arduous and 
laboriou-, duties of his high office he discharged ihnvn to 
the (lav of his ileath. He was a man of amiable temjier 
and much blessed in all the relatnms c-f life. As a niendier 
of the Court he was patient, attentive to business, and kind 
and courteous in his intercourse with the bar. No member 
of the bar was more familiar with the judicial history of the 
State, and with questions of local law and ]>ractice than 
Judge Haile." In iSjohe waselecled a Trustee of Rrown 
Universiiv, and Lontinued in ofhce until his death, which 
oceuired, after a biief illness, July 14, I^S4- 



KRN( )X, Rkv. Thomas. M.D.. the son of Samuel 
and I'di/abeth :\lmy (EUcry) Vernon, was born 
v,..,.^ Ueceuibcr 20, 1 797. in Newport, where his an- 
&\-^ cestors for Tive generations had lived. He was 
4* tilted for college in his native place, ami was a 
grailuate of Ihnw n University, in the class of 1816, taking 
a liigh rank as a scholar. ( )n leaving college he com- 
menced the study of law in New York with the intention 
of duvoling hinistdf to the legal jirolessi.in. Having be- 
come a ( "hri-.tian. he <lecided to give up the pi a(.tice of 
law and devote himself t<.> the work of the (Christian min- 
istry. He sUnlicd theology wilh the celebrate<l Rev. Dr. 
John M. Mas..n, of Nl-w Voik. After completing his 
course of siudv he was settled as pastor of the Congrega- 
tional (luirih in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Here he re- 
mained sixteen years, and then retired from his pastorate. 
in conse<|Uence of a (hseasc of the lungs and throat, which 
rendereil him unable to use lus voiee. l'"or sc\eral years 
after leaving the ministry Mr. Vernon resided in Kingston, 
and was oecupieil in instructing young men w ho, as jmjiils, 
were |ilaced in his f.imih', j'reaching. as lie was able, in 
tlie pulpit of the ( 'ongregational ( liuri. h in that place. 
Satisfied that In- wrnihl never l.'C able to resume his chosen 
jirofession <if llu- ministry, he decided to study medicine. 
To lit himself foi the duties of a phvsician he attended the 



BIOGRAPHICAL C\CLOPEDIA. 



263 



full course of instruction prescriljed in the I'nivcrsity of 
Pennsylvania, and received the des;ree of M.D., in 1S52. 
lie pursued the practice of his profession in Perth Aniboy, 
New Jersey, for sixteen years. An attack of pneumonia 
CtMnjiclled him, in 186S, to spend a year at the South. 
Recovering in good measure from his illness, he removed 
to Providence, and never resumed the regular ])ractice of 
medicine. He did nut cease, however, to l)e usefully em- 
ployed. In benevolent works, both as a minister of the 
gospel and as a physician, he devoted much time to the 
spiritual and physical welfare especially of the poor and the 
unfortunate, and deservedly secured the respect and esteem 
of the community in which he lived. For si.xteen years, from 
1S44 to 1S60, Dr. Vernon was a member of the corporation 
of Brown University, in its Board of Trustees. He mar- 
ried, in May, 1831, Adelaide Augusta, daughter of John 
Winthrop, of Boston, who, with a son and two daughters, 
survived him. He died in Providence, May 9, 1S76. 



filLLINGHAST, Ch.\ri.es Foster, son of Stephen 
and Theodosia (Foster) Tillinghast, was born in 
the city of New York, June iS, 1797, his parents 
at the time of his birth being temporary residents 
of that city. His ancestors were among the ear- 
liest settlers of Providence ; one of them, Pardon Tilling- 
hast, at one time an elder in the Baptist Church, being one 
of the first proprietors of the town in 1645. He was fitted 
for college in the schools of Providence, and graduated 
from Brown University in the class of 1S14. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 1S16, having pursued 
his legal studies in the office of Hon. Samuel W. Bridg- 
ham for two years previous. For a short time he practiced 
in Chepachet, Rhode Island, and then, in July, 181 7, be- 
came a partner with his former instructor, Mr. Bridgham. 
This relation continued for six years, when he opened an 
office by himself. Mr. Charles S. Bradley, afterwards 
Chief Justice Bradley, was received into ])artnership with 
him, in 1842, the relation continuing until 1S5S, at which 
time the connection was dissolved, and his son, Mr. James 
Tillinghast, became associated with him in business. Mr. 
Tillinghast ranked very high in liis profession, and in cer- 
tain departments of that profession he had but few peers, 
and not many superiors. He shunned publicity, and never 
sought political office. For a single term he represented 
the city of Providence in the General As.sembly, and was 
appointed on an important Committee, where his legal 
knowldge and abilities rendered him an efficient helper in 
the service to which he had been called. In 1S22, May 
22, he married Susanna Richmond, daughter of William 
Richmond, of Providence, who died before her husband. 
One son, James Tillinghast, Esq., and one daughter sur- 
vived their father, who died at his residence in I'rovidence, 
August 3, 1S64. 



c IK iJI^AURAN, Joseph, M.D., the son of Joseph Carlo 
and Olive (Bicknell) Mauran, was born in Bar- 
inigton, Rhode Island, December 22, 1796, being 
\l\s the youngest of a family of ten children. He was 
•i of Italian descent on his father's side. His father 

was a native of the Mediterranean port of Villa Franca, 
near Nice, and was impressed on board of a British man 
of-war when a mere lad. After several yeare he escaped 
from service, on the arrival of his vessel ofi' the shore of 
Connecticut, and subsequently took up his residence in 
Barrington. During tlie Revolutionary War he held a 
naval command for a time. He died in 1813, leaving 
several chiklren. His son Joseph prepared for college 
under the tuition of Rev. William Williams, of Wrenthani, 
Massachusetts, and was a graduate of Brown University, 
in the class of 1816. Among his Rhode Island classmates 
were Dr. S. A. Arnold, Hon. John Carter Brown, Robert 
Hale Ives, Esq., and Rev. Dr. T. Vernon. Bishop Smith, 
of Kentucky, and Rev. Dr. Solomon Peck were also in 
the same class. Dr. Mauran studied medicine with Dr. 
Pardon Bowen, attended medical lectures in the Medical 
School of Brown University, and tinished his course of 
study at the College of Physicians and .Surgeons in New 
York, which conferred upon him his degree in March, 
iSig. During the remainder of the life of Dr. Bowen, he 
was his associate, and on his decease took charge of his 
practice. For thirty-six years he devoted himself with 
great diligence and success to his profession, securing a 
very large practice in Providence and its neighborhood. 
In 1S56 he retired from the active duties of his profession, 
and spent nearly two years in fcn'eign travel, accompanied 
by his family, in his tour in Europe. Returning to Provi- 
dence in 1S58, he partially engaged in practice, chiefly 
among the families who, for so many years, had been accus- 
tomed to rely on his professional skill. He relinquished 
his practice entirely when he had reached about the seven- 
tieth year of his age, and spent the greater |)art of his time 
either in New York or at the South. During his long pro- 
fessional life in Providence, Dr. Mauran interested himself 
in many ways in departments of service connected w^ith 
his profession. He was one of the consulting physicians 
of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, and a Medical At- 
tendant at the Dexter .\syluni fiom the commencement of 
the existence of these institutions to the lime when he gave 
up practice. Twice he was chosen President of the Rhode 
Island Medical Society. Of the college in New York 
which had conferred on him his degree, he was a Trustee. 
In 1851 he was Vice-President of the National Association 
of Physicians for Revising the Pharmacopceia. The pres- 
ent system of the Registration of Marriages, Births, and 
Deaths, and the office of Superintendent of Health are 
due to his interest in everything that concerned the sani- 
tary condition of his adopted home. He took a great 
interest in the founding of the Rhode Island Hospital. 
Among llie somewhat numerous jiroiluctions of his pen 



264 



BIOCKAPiriCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



were, A)i Aiiiiii; rsnrr Dii'ony.s:-. wliirli lie ilclivt-red Vie- ] 
fore tlie Associatiun "f llic Aluiiiiii "f llir Nlw Ymk 
Medical College, and article^ which appeared in the medi- 
cal journals on the efli els of the llaluuial L'^e of Tobacco 
on Health and Longevity, on the .\on-( 'ontat;iou^ness of 
\ellow I'ever. and on the LVes of 0|)iiini in Rheumatism. 
He nianied, in ()aolier, 1820. Sophia (Russell) Sterry-, 
wh.j died in Aui,;ust. 1854. \\\^ death occurred in the 
citv of .\'ew York, June S, 1S73, in the seventy-seventh 
year o{ liis age. 



^S^^i^tJODS, Al.VA, P.n., son of Rev. .\ljel and Mary 
g;fV|il!il (Smith) WooiK, was horn at .Shorcliam, Ver- 
\fl^\j} mont, August 13. 1 794, being the eldest of a 
'I't family of six children. His father was a Bap- 
,L° list minister, and for fifteen years the pastor of 
the chinch in Shorehain, w here his ministerial labors were 
eminently successful. He died in Hamilton, Xew York, 
August II, 1S50. He was the lirother of tile distinguished 
Rev. Leonard Woods, I).l).,of the ,\ndover Theological 
Seminary, and uncle of the accomplished scholar, Rev. 
Letmaril WoiuK, Ir., 1).!)., President of Howdoin College. 
ALiine. The subject of this sketch was fitted for college 
at I'hillips Academy in Andover, and was graduated at 
Harvard College in the class of 1S17. Several members 
of that class have attained to distinction in their respective 
professions, .-\mong the^e m.iy be mentioned Hon. George 
liancro't, Hon. Caleb Cashing. Rev. Hr. S. H. Tyng, and 
I'rofe.M.r John I lo.uu- WelL. Mr. \V Is pursued his theo- 
logical studies at .Xndover, wdiere he was graduated in the 
class of iS2i,some of his classmates being Professor T. C. 
I'pham, U.D., and Rev. l)rs. Samuel Spring, J. Clement, 
and H. Jackson. (.)n leaving Andover he was chosen Pro- 
fessor of >Lithematics ami Natural Philosophy in Colum- 
bi.m College, Washington, L). C. He was the incumbent 
of this office for three year-., one ot which w.is spent in 
Kurope in the collection of funds for the cidlege, and in 
attending courses of lectures in London. ( >.\roril. ami 
C.nibridge. In 1S24 he resigned his position in Colum- 
bian College to accept the Chair of Mathematics and 
Natural Phdosophy. to w hich he hail been chosen by the 
Corjioiation of lirown L'liiversity. He was in this office 
four years, and during a part of the year KS26-27 acted, 
[•10 It-mporc, as President of the University. In 1S2S he 
was elected Picideiit of Tr.insvlvani.i Cniveisity, Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky, and remained in otiice until iXji, when 
he removed to Tuscaloosa, .\labama, to take the I'resi- 
denlial Chair of the State L'nivei -ity. In this po-ition he 
remained until the close of lN;,7. His baccalaureate ami 
inaugural addresses at these two institutions arc models ol 
grace and vigor. They wmild make an interesting vol- 
ume if iiublished, and a valuable contiibnti >n to le:ters, 
Leaving the South, he took up his residence in Providence 
in iSjy, where he now resiiles. The honorary degree of 



lloctor of Divinity was conferred on him by Urown Vm- 
\'ersitv in 1S2S. lie was niade a member of the Pioard of 
Trustees of the L"niversit\' in 1843, and of the Board of 
pellows in 1859. I'^vf scholarships in IJrown I'niversity, 
a lectureship in elocution in Newton Theological Institu- 
tion, of w hicli for many ye.ars he has been a Trustee, a 
scholarship of $1000 in the Worcester .-Xcademy. and a 
generous contribution to the endowment of the Academy 
at Saxton River. \'ermont. atte-t the sincerity of his in- 
terest in the cause of education, to which he has devoted 
so many years of his life. ( hi the i itli of I leceniber, 1S23. 
about a month after his return from abroail. I >r. Woods was 
married to Almira Marshall, eldest daughter of Josiah and 
I'riscilla Marshall, of Boston, Massachusetts. With this 
most lovely and accomplished woman he was permitted to 
live happily nearly forty years, she dying A|iril 5, 1863, in 
the sixtieth year of her age. Two children were the fruits 
of this marriage — a daughter, who lived liut a few months, 
anil a son, Marshall Woods, M.D., the honored and effi- 
cient Treasurer of Brown University. 



i!I.LINGll-\ST, lliiACiiN' .\i.i,i;n. son of Deacon 
Pardon and Mary (Sweet) Tillinghast, was born 
in West (ireenwich, Rhode Island, May 20. 1796, 
■ •'• .1 in the old Tillin'diast homestead, and w as a descend- 

"a I r 

<? ant of Rev. Pardon Tillinghast. the associate of 
Roger Williams. lie was the fifth of twelve children, 
and brother of Rev. John Tillinghast, elsewhere sketched 
in this volume. His fither was among the first to fell the 
forests of West ( ireenw ich, and rear his home in the w ild ; 
and was a man of mark and honor in his day. Though 
not favored w ith school advantages, he received the best 
of home-training, and grew up to self-reliance and great 
thoughtfulness. He was noted for his integrity, decision 
of character, kindness, economy, and perseverance. He 
early accepted the Christian faith, and made the Bible the 
textbook of his life. In I lecemlier, 1S15. he united with 
the West Greenwich Ila]itist Churcli. and was elected a 
Deacon. June 12, 1824, which oliice he held with honor to 
himself and great good to the church, until Ills death. Un- 
ambidousof public place, he persistently refused to accept 
political oflices ; vet he w as ever reatly to serve his fellow- 
townsmen in all hiinilile stations. L'ncoiisciously to him- 
self, and. indeed, to most of his associates, he was, by 
his weight of character, a controlling power in the town. 
He was a model farmer, and accumulated a competency. 
His hired men worked liy his side and fared like himself, 
and all loved and reverenced him. The West tireenwich 
(.'emctery — one of the most beautiful rural burying-jilaces 
in the Stale — located cm his farm, in the rear of the Plain 
Mecting-House. was laid out and incloseil with a heavy, 
faced granite wall at his expense. He ever stood firmly 
by his two brothers. Thomas S. and John, who were 
jireachers. His co-laborers, as deacons, were Jason P. 




t <'^M«i--^, 




yflL^trpi^ ' H'^ra^cU 



BIOGKAFIIfCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



265 



Stone anil Josiah Greene. He married, August 28, 1S17, 
Marcy Tillinghast, of Providence, daughter of Rev. Joseph 
Tiliingh.ist, of Voluntown, Connecticut, and liad four cliil- 
dren, I.ucy, Ira A., James A. (deceased), Lydia (Mrs. 
(Jalhip, deceased). Ira A. served with honor in the Sev- 
enth Rhode Island Infantry during the Civil War. Dea- 
con Allen Tillinghast was one of twelve children, only 
three of whom are now (18S1) living; Charles, in his 
ninety-third year; Abigail (T.) Bowen, in her seventy- 
eighth year; and Tabitha (T.) Love, in her seventy-sixth 
year. Deacon Tillinghast died at the residence of his son, 
Ira A., in Coventry, December 30, 1S79, at the age of 
eighty-three. 



^^^RNOI.D, Richard James, merchant, son of Wel- 
^if(A^ come and Patience (Greene) Arnold, was born 
t^J'^ in Providence, October 5, 1796, antl was a grad- 
j uate of Brown University, in the class of 1S14. 
J* P^or a short time after leaving college he studied 
law in the office of Hon. Tristam Kurges. .Soon, how- 
ever, he abandoned the purpose of following the legal 
profession, and engaged in mercantile pursuits, having 
formed a partnership with his brother, Samuel G. Arnold, 
who was largely interested in the China trade. He spent 
two years at this period of his life in foreign travel. He 
withdrew from his partnership with his brother in 1S23, 
and went to Georgia, where he became the proprietor of 
a plantation in Bryan County, near Savannah. It was 
his practice to spend the winters on this plant.ition, 
and his summers in Rhode Island. .'\t tlie South his 
pleasant home was the seat of genuine hospitality, where 
his friends were always welcome. When the Civil War 
broke out he decided to remain at the North. During his 
absence from his plantation he was subjected to great 
losses by the fortunes of war. He was connected in Provi- 
dence with institutions of various kinds, and proved him- 
self to be a good citizen and a lover of everything which 
tended to promote the prosperity of his native city. He 
was appointed a trustee of Brown University in 1S26, to 
take the place of his brother, Samuel G. Arnold, made 
vacant by his death. He married, in 1823, Louisa Caro- 
line Gindrat, of Bryan County, Georgia, who died in Octo- 
ber, 1871. Mr. Arnold died in Providence, March 10, 
1873. His children were Harriet, Louisa G., Richard, 
Thomas, Cornelia, Elliot, and Susan. 



a|fa|ARPENTER, General Thomas Francis, was born 

S^y in Cranston, February 21, 1796, and was a gradu- 

i^jPr" ate of Brown University in the class of 1818, with 

I the second honors of his class and with a high repu- 

•r tation as a scholar. He pursued his law- studies in 

Providence, and during life practiced his profession in this 

city. At one time he held the office of Major-General of the 

34 



Militia of the State. Twice his name was used as a candi- 
date for Governor, his popularity being such that it was 
supposed he would commaml more voles than any other 
man of his party. He was not, however, an aspirant for 
public office, and declined the District Attorneyship of the 
District of Rhode Island, under the administration of Gen- 
eral Jackson. So also he declined the appointment of Col- 
lector of the Port of Providence, made by President Polk. 
He preferred the practice of his profession, in which he 
achieved eminent success, in preference to the uncertain- 
ties and dependence of public office. As a lawyer he 
stood in the front rank of his profession. It was said of 
him that "no man has ever risen to eminence in this State 
with less aid from circumstances. Nitor in adversum has 
been his motto. If at any time within the last ten years 
of his life any member of this liar had been asked, who, 
all things considered, was the most valuable ally, or the 
most formidable op[)onent in any case of litigation before 
the courts of the .State, be would have named General 
Carpenter. His skill in the management of his causes was 
a topic of common remark. For several years he was the 
most successful advocate in the State, and few jury causes 
of much importance were tried in which he did not appear 
as leading counsel." The reader will find a highly appre- 
ciative notice on the character of (jeneral Carpenter, both 
as a lawyer and a private citizen, in Tlu Providence jour- 
nal for July 15, 1854. He died at his residence on West- 
minster Street, Providence, Friday, July 14, 1854, at the 
age of fifty-eight years. 



'^.\Z.\RD, Governor Jeferev, was a descendant 

^ from Thomas Hazard, the common ancestor of 

the Rhode Island Hazards, in the si.xth genera- 

fi tion, and was born in the town of Exeter. For many 
years he w'as in public life, occupying prominent 
and honorable positions, to which he was called by the 
suffrages of his fellow-citizens. For several years he rep- 
resented his native town in the (;eneral Assembly. He 
was chosen Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of 
the State in May, iSlo, and continued in office until 
May, 1S18. During his term of service the Chief Jus- 
tices with whom he was associated were Peleg Arnold, 
Daniel Lyman, James Burrill, Jr., and Tristam Burges. 
He was also for a time Chief Justice of the Court of Com- 
mon Picas. In 1833 he succeeded Charles Collins as Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of the State, and was in office for two years 
— 1833-35. His successor was George F.ngs, who was in 
office one year — 1835-36. He was then chosen a second 
time, and held the office one year — 1836-37. Four of the 
Hazard family have been lieutenant-governfirs of the State. 
Governor Hazard spent the last year of his life on his 
estate in Exeter, where he lived in the enjoyment of the 
respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens. His death took 
place in December, 1S40. 



266 



BIOGRAPmCAL C\ CLOPEDIA. 



vAl.LKl T, Ci.MKAi. Ijavakd Ji'M.s, wasljornat 
I'ayi-llc\ illc. North Lnr.'lina, M.iy 1, lyi?. Hi^ 
i.y-^.^..-.v ])an.'nls wfiu C'«'1uik'1 \\W\ arnl Sarah ( M iim- 
^,*i^ " lunl ) M.ilk-it. Ili-. ] atcrnal L;rainlfalhL'f was a 
el" llugucnui. u hu. wiih a ii>l..ny of in- countrymen, 

emi':;ralu<l lo Ameiica ami v^ulcd at what i^ now known 
as \c\v Ri-chellc, Xew Vtirk, wliieh ]tlacc thuy foumicd 
ami named ni honor of I. a Roihcllc, France, from wlience 
they came. He was a comnli^^aI■y for the British troops 
in New \oik an'l < "anada, ami died in 176S. His son, 
whom he ofi,;n took with him in his foraging expeditions, 
and educated for a like hu^iiiess, succeeded hnn until 
1776, when he tlirew up lii-^ ihitivli commission and ac- 
cepted a siiiiihir jiositiou in the American army, went 
South, soon alterward resigned, ami was appointed com- 
missary for the colony of North Carolina. His maternal 
grandfather was Captain Kol inson Mumford, of New 
London, Connecticut, a seafaiing man, who removed to 
North Carolina in 1777. General Mallett's father was a 
jirondnent and suLces^ful merchant of North Carolina, 
and died in iSos. w hen tlie sukject of this sketch was nuic 
years of age. His mother was a native of New London, 
Connecticut. Ceneral Malletl graduated from tlie Univer- 
sity of North Carolina in 181S. He then studied law for 
nearly a year, but being obliged to relinquish his studies 
on account of impaired health, went to Wi'mington, 
chartered a brig, loaded on joint account with the owners, 
ami went as sujicrcargo to the West Indies, thence, on his 
return voyage, to l'ro\idence, Rhode Island, with a cargo 
consigned to the late I »aniol .\rnohl of tliat city. A month 
thereafter he located at WUmington. North Carolina, where 
he engaged in business as a commission merchant and ship- 
j)ing agent. While in I'rovidence lie made the ac'|uaintance 
of Sarah Fenner, second ilaugiiter of the late ( io\ ernor James 
Fenner, whom he married in \%20. In l-'^-J lie renvned 
to rro\idence, whei'e he engaged in the conimis--i(in and 
shipping business until 1S21J. when, on account of Iman- 
cial cmbarra-.~ment occasioned by the great commercial 
crisis of that year, he retired bom mercautde bfe. and be- 
came assistant editor of the rro\idenee Jlcrii'd. Si.on 
after the election of (iencral Jackson to the I'reMdency, he 
was appointed Postmaster of I'rovideiKc, w hich oftice he 
held for hlteen years, and resigned in 1S44, two years be- 
fore the expiration of his otTicial term, his last appointment 
in that capacity luuing been received from I'resident I'olk, 
wln.i was his college classmate and warm per-onal friend. 
His lir>t wife having ilied in 1S41. he married, in I.S44, 
Abigail Jane, second daughter of the late 1 favld 1.. Haight, 
of New \'ork, and in 1S45 removed to that city, where he 
engaged successfully in business. In 1847 he invented 
and obtained a patent bir the famous " Ikdl Telegraph,"' 
sii generally used m hotels and ocean steamers. In lS>3 
he was elected I're>ident of the St. Nicholas Hank, wlmh 
po-ition he resigned, and aci <ple<l the appointment of 
I hit-'d Stales Consul ( ienera! h-r Italy in iS^S. < )n le 



tiring fn^m the ])re-idency of the St. Nicholas Bank, he 
received from the directors a handsome testimonial of 
their esteem and of their a]ipreciation of his services. He 
resigned the consulate an<l returned home in 1802, when 
he was appointed jiayma-.ter in the United States army by 
I'resident Lincoln. Although by birth and education a 
Soutlierner, (ieneral Mallett opjiosed secession, ami was an 
ardent su|)j)oiter of the government. Since the ( ivil War 
lie has neither l.)een engaged in bu-iness in.ir held any 
official position, and for several years has spent the win- 
ters at home and tlie smnmers \'isiting his* chiklren, who 
I are widely scattered. In lS:;v during his residence in 
I'rovidence, he removed the ancient house, in which the 
I venerable Moses Brow 11 was born, and erected the brick 
block now known as Nos. 16, iS, 20, and 22 South Main 
Street, the basement of which was for some time occupied 
i by the post office. (_)n the rear of the same lut he built 
the tirst court-house ever erected in the State. These 
buildings were occupie<l by the .State and the United States 
fur the purposes above mentioned until the erection of the 
Customhouse and I'o^t (.)f1ice on Wevbosset Street, and 
, the Courtdiouse on Benelit Street. General Mallett and 
I the late Colonel William S. Patten were appointed liy the 
I Governor to escort General Lafayette from Plain tield, 
I Connecticut, to Rhode Island, and the former was a]i- 
pointed l.iy the Ma\or Chief Marshal when the city of 
j Providence gave welcome to Presiilent Jackson and Pres- 
ident Tyler. He was elected to the Common Council of 
I Providence in 1837; appointed Ma)or-( 'icneral of the 
\ RhodL- Lland Militia under ( iovernor b'hn Brown Fran- 
, cis, and has held office under seven different Presidents, 
' all of whom are dead. He spent fifteen years in the civil, 
four in the diplomatic, and two in the military service, 
(hiring which time he received and di-^bursed millions of 
1 ublic nniiev. His\aiied oft'icial Ljiei-rwas marked by 
' a |)rom|it and faithful discharge of the du:ies rc'inired of 
liim. and he retired from the [aiblic service with an hon- 
orable record. In 1S28 he retcived the honorarv degree 
of Ma-tcr of Arts from (he I'niveisity of Noitli Carolina, 
and in iS3t^> a similar honor was conferreil upon him by 
I Brow II Univeisity. In 1851) he was elected a life-member 
' of the New York Historical Society. Throughout his 
life General Mallett has been a strict total abstinence man, 
! and to his temperate habits may be attributed his present 
mental and bodily \ igor ; for, notwithstanding his atU 
vanccd age. he enjoys perfect health, and exhibits great 
buovancy of spirits. He has had ten children : Sarah 
Feuner, who married Colonel .S. S. Lee, of Fkdtiniore ; 
James FLiiner, who married Louisa .Steinhauer, and now 
icdde> in Milo. Illinois; Charles Peter; F'dward Jones, 
deceased ; Fallen de Bernier, who married Hon. J. Hell- 
vard C.inieron. and now resides in Toronto, Canada ; 
( leorge Russcll, deceased ; Arthur F'enner, deceased ; 
Alki. fleccased ; Amy Fenner, wli<' married William H. 
Murrav.Liiid resiiles in 'Foruiito ; Falward lones, who mai- 



BIOGRArillCAL C\ CLOPEDf-l. 



267 



rieil Mary Ada McNally, and resides in Denver, Colo- 
rado. ■ 



KAZARD, CiF.ORCK, died at XeMport, Alit;ust 10, 
Wl ■797- H^ ^^'^* engaged in mercantile aflairs 
and held various offices of honor and trust 
|l|( during his active life. In 1762 he was one of a 
committee to prepare an address of thanks to his 
Majesty for giving his royal consent to the repeal of the 
Stamp Act, and the same year, with others, was appointed 
hy the General Assembly to ascertain ami report to tliat 
body the amount of bills of credit issueil l>y the colony. 
He was a deputy from Newport ; for more tlian thirty years 
he represented the town in the General .\sscnil>ly, and for 
twelve years held the office of Chief Justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas for Newport County, which office he 
resigned in 1776. In 1784, when Newport received its 
first charter, Mr. Hazard was elected mayor, and was a 
member of the convention that adopted the Constitution 
of the United States. At his death he had attained to his 
seventy-fourth year. Mr. Hazard left a number of descend- 
ants. One of his sons, the late Nathaniel Hazard, was a 
Member of Congress from 1S19 to December 1 8, 1S20, 
when he died. 



S|^HACE, Harvey, manufacturer, .son of Oliver and 
1.& Susannah (Buftington) Chace, was born in Som- 
erset (then a part of Swansey) Massachusetts, 
August 31, 1797. His ancestor, in the sixth gene- 
ration back, was William Chace (then spelled 
Chase) who came from England in 1630 and settled in 
Koxbury, Massachusetts, where he remained till 1637, 
when he removed to Yarmouth, Massachusetts. His son 
William, Jr., had a son Joseph, whose son Job had a 
son Jonathan, the father of Oliver, the father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch. The second William was a mem- 
ber of the Society of Fnends, to which his descend- 
ants have generally adhered. Joseph removed to that 
part of Swansey now included in Somerset, where Har- 
vey was born. Many of this fainily, however, removed 
to and became important citizens of Fall River. Job 
and Jonathan were substantial farmers. Oliver was a 
farmer, a carpenter, and a skilful millwright. Remov- 
ing to Swansey he built a cotton factory in 1806, hav- 
ing acquired knowledge and skill in Pawtiicket, Rhode 
Island, in connection with the manufacturing operations 
of Samuel Slater. His spinning-frames were after the 
pattern introduced by Mr. Skater. He started his mill in 
Swansey and operated it successfully till 1S13, when he 
removed to Fall River, where, in connection with Eber 
Slade, Benjamin Slade, Amey Borden, and others, he 
erected the celebrated Troy Mill for spinning and weaving 
cotton, — the first cotton-mill erected in Fall River. (The 



place, it may be remembered, was then called Troy.) In 
this enterprise of the Troy Mill, Oliver was the guiding 
mechanic and ciinlrolling mind. He was a man of great 
strength of body and intellect, of remarkable directness of 
purpose and integrity of con<luct. Until his death he was 
identified with the growth and prosperity of Fall River, as 
agent first of the Troy and second of the I'ocasset Mills. 
An anecdote illustrates his tact in dealnig with shrewd men. 
Boarding a vessel, lately arrived, freighted with shingles, 
and asking their price, he was answered by the owner, " If 
you pick them out they will be five dollars per thousand ; if 
I |)ick them out they will be four dollars per thousand." 
He promptly responded, " Thee may pick them out and I 
will take the whole cargo." He married Susannah Buf- 
fington, September 15, 1 796, ami hail seven children, Har- 
vey, Samuel 13., Aseneth, Mary, Jonathan, Elizabeth, and 
Oliver, Jr. He died in Fall River, in 1852, aged eighty- 
three years. He was the first to spell the family name Chace 
instead of Chase. Harvey was e<lucated at the coinmon 
schools, and in the faith of his fathers. At the age of si.x 
years he began to w*ork as a bobbin-l)oy in the mill managed 
by his father, and gradually acquired his father's taste and 
skill as a manufacturer. At the age of fifteen he went to 
Burrillville, Rhode Island, where he put in the machinery 
and started the mill known as the Tar-Kiln Factory, run- 
ning five hundred spindles. Here, working for his father 
and others, he remained one year. In 1S13 he entered the 
employ of the Troy Company, Fall River, and before he 
was twenty-one years of age he was often sent to Boston to 
sell yarn, and to purchase cotton. He remained with this 
company till 1S43, becoming a stockholder, and for fifteen 
years acting as its agent and treasurer. In 1839 his father 
bought the mill-estate at Valley Falls, Rhode Island, on 
the Cumberland side of the Blackstone River, and leased 
it to his sons Harvey and Samuel B.. who firmed a co- 
partnership, under the firm-name of H. & S. B. Chace. 
Samuel B. then removed to Valley Falls. Harvey fol- 
low^ed in 1S43. They were steadily prospered. In a 
few^ years they w-ere able to meet both ])rincipal and in- 
terest of certain obligatiims thai, in the pressure of 1837, 
in a company interest with Joseph C. l.ulhcr, had been 
necessarily settled by a com[uomise with creditors. They 
were pained because one of their notes could not l>e found. 
Years a^ter tlie claim had been outlawed, this note was 
found in the hands of a person that was in need. The 
brothers now experienced one of the greatest joys of their 
lives in paying both principal and interest of this outlawed 
note. The money thus paid was the means of building 
up the man who received it. In a few years the brothers, 
by industry and economy, were able to enlarge their busi- 
ness. On the death of their father, in 1852, and the dis- 
tribution of his estate, their brother Oliver became con- 
nected with them in business. The three formed the Val- 
\ ley Falls Company, and purchaseil the property across the 
river on the south side (now in Lincoln). In 1854 H. & S. 



268 



BlOGKAPIin \\L C\\ 'Z OPED I A. 



B. (.'Iiace pnrcha^c<l the All-ion MilN, aii'i.in 1S56, pur- 
clu^scd tliL- Moodiis <"ottna Kaoloiy, in t ■(iiiiiccticut. In 
1S6S the pi()]t(.rtv of tlu-sL- tirin> w.is (li\i(lril. Harxcy lie- 
coming ownt-r of the All'i.n Mills. Moodus MilK. and cer- 
tain jnojicity in I-';dl Kivrr. nnd SLinuicl I>. hccnniini; owner 
of the Willuy KalU piojicitv. Ilatvoy now received hi> two 
sons, Jame-> L. and Jonathan, as topartncr^, and tiie three 
fi.irnicd a new coiporatlun, ol which llai\t\ was the Presi- 
dent, and JaniLs ]I. nn<l Jonathan wure agents and treas- 
urers. This hrni (always really two corporations — one in 
Rhode Island, awA one in ("onnecticiit ) still remains ( iSSi ), 
and is widely know n as the All.)i<.)n Company, and Mooilus 
Company. Harvey lias been lari;ely connected with other 
interests. Before leavnij:; Fall River, he was one of the 
jn'omolers and ci.>ri">orators of the I'all River RescTvoir 
Company, and was afterwards deeply intcresicd in the 
Reservoirs in the Biackstone River. lie was one of the 
fouiniers ..if the Fall River Savin^^s Bank, and a leading 
spirit ni svir\eying and ojienin^ new roads and turn[iikes. 
No one surpassed him as a surveyor of new routes, and a 
calculator on the travelling needs of the country. He was 
a prime mover in the Pawtncket Gas Company. He was 
Iianicularly active in laying out the Prosidence and Wor- 
cester Railroa<l, and in seeming ihe course of the s.nithern 
poition, and was one of the In-st director^ of the company. 
Me w as the master spii it in secui ing the Massachusetts and 
Rhode Island Railroad, connecting Valley Falls and 
Franklin, hecoming President of the conipany. His re- 
ligious connections ha\e heen with the Swanscy, the 
Fall River, and the Providence Monthly Meetings, the 
Rhode Island Quarterly Meeling, and the New Fngland 
Yearly Meeting. Ti> all the interests of the Friends he 
has Peen a btea'ly and large contributor. He was e\er 
earnest and active in the cause of anti---laverv. even when 
that cause was unjtopular. his home heing a safe wavstation 
of the ** underground railrriad " fiom L);\ie to Canada. 
Politically he has been a Whig and a Republican, but has 
declined to accept political ofticcs. He has been promi- 
nent in all moral reforms. To the cause of temperance he 
lent the strong influence of his voice and his example. 
While a young man in Hallowell. Maine, he formed the 
first temperance society in the lown, of winch lie was the 
tirst nieml.>er. Alike ready for every good woiil and work. 
he has done much to ad\ance the welfare of the commu- 
nity. He marrie'l, Septend'cr S, 1S24, Hannah Wood, 
daughter of William Wood, of i )arlinoitt!i, Massachusi tts. 
The Woods, like the Chaces, were members of the Society 
of Friends. Mrs. Chace died in 1S33, being the mother 
of three children, only tv\'o of wdioni are living : fames H., 
born in l-'all River. Novenitjcr 12, 1S27. and jonalhan, 
born in Fall River, July 22. 1829. These sons, after being 
e<luc,iled in the New Fngland \'early Meeting Boarding 
Schoi.l, in i'rosideiice. became associ.iled in business witli 
their latiier, and are now the managers of tlie Albion and 
Moodus mills. They and_ their father reside at \'alley 



Palls. Mr. Chace married, second, .Septend)er 2b, 1SJ5, 
Anna Earle, daughter of Silas Earle, of Leicester, Mass. 



A/ARI>, Hon. R..\vL.\.\r. Gn;snN, FL.D.. son of 
Rowland and Mary Peace Hazard, was born in 
■'■■•^ the family mansion where his grandfather resided, 
on the southern slope of Tower Hill, in South Kings- 
town, Rhode Island, October 9, iSoi. His gene- 
alogy is given in the work entitled Old Time Rfiol/citions, 
by 'J'homas R. Hazard, of Vaucluse, near Newport. His 
boyhood was favored with the ordinary advantages of edu- 
cation, fnst at Burlington, New Jersey, next at Bristol, Penn- 
sylvania, and tin.dly at the Friends' Boarding School, at 
Wesitow n, Chester Countv. Pennsylvania, where he became 
especially interested in the study of nuUhematics, which 
has ever since been to him a la\orite recreation. Before 
leaving school, which he did in the spring of 1818, he dis- 
covered a new and simple mode of descrihing the hyperbola, 
by w hicii its jtroperty of forever a])proaching a certain right 
line w ithout the possibility of ever reaching it was maile 
obvious even to the unscientific observer. Though he left 
school thus early without any instiULtion in comiiosition or 
in thrise abstract sciences which he sub•^e(.|uently pursued, 
he had in his jiaternal home a<l\antages of daily intercourse 
with minds of rare intelligence and elevation. To the 
special influence of his mother and --i^ter-. he has gratefully 
alluded. In 1S19 he returned to his native town, and in 
connection with his eldest brother, the late Hon. Isaac 
Peace Hazard, engaged in the manufacturing business, giv- 
ing close attention to all its details during a period of over 
forty \ear>. In 1S66 he retired from that business w ith an 
ample fortune, leaving his factories in Peace Hale in the 
care of his sons, Rowland and p)hn N. Hazard, wlio are 
still carrying on an extensive business there. But the finan- 
cial abilities of the subjeel of this sketch could not remain 
in retirement. His clear insight into the complicated rela- 
tions of corporate bodies to the jnibPic, and his sense of 
justice have freipiently l)rouglit him into prominence as a 
defender of public interests and of the rights of individuals. 
About the year 1S51 he introduced a bill into the Rhode 
Island (leiieral .Assembly concerning railroad corporations, 
claiming tliat a^ they took private ]^roperty they were b^nind 
to give a reasonable public I'enelit in return, and that a 
public lienefit was that to which each individual had an 
equal right. 'Phis limitation of the assumed abs(dute right 
then claimed by said cor])orations arrayed them in solid 
op]ic)sition to Mr. Hazard's bill, and naturally drew to their 
aid the wealth which owned the njads, and with it, ti) a 
great extent, the inllueiice of financial institutions and the 
pres^. This antagonism raised a storm of debate seldom 
witiicsseil ill legislative bodies, in which Mr. Hazard'.s 
ability in argumeni ami eloquence was fully demonstrated. 
I'he result was that his powerful presentation of the rights 



Bt«i«- 







BIOGRArniCAL C\ CI.OPEDIA. 



269 



of the pulilic ami nf iiidividunls in relation to railroad cor- 
porations secured ttie triumph of the principles for which 
he so earnestly contended, and which have since been uni- 
versally acknowledged as sound and equitable. His own 
business transactions in which large amounts were involved 
were successful, and have established confidence in him as 
an adviser in regard to public finances. At a time when 
the Union Pacific Railroad Company was seriously em- 
barrassed by their want of funds and credit, those most 
deeply interested appealed to Mr. Hazard, at I'eace Dale, 
to go to New York and give his personal attention to its 
finances. This he refused to do, and reminded them that 
he had united with them in the enterprise on the express 
condition that he should not be expected to bestow any 
labor or thought upon it; but on their statement of the ur- 
gency of the case, that otherwise bankruptcy was imminent, 
he went and spent several months in persistent, arduous, and 
eventually successful efforts to retrieve their financial con- 
dition, and left with the expectation that his services would 
not be further needed. He, however, on several occasions 
thereafter found it necessary to give not only much thought 
and labor, but to aid by direct advances of money and by 
individual indorsements to a very large amount. His tic- 
termination that a prominent officer of the Company, to 
whose dishonesty Mr. Hazard attributed its financial dif- 
ficulties, should be prosecuted, led him into very arduous 
litigation, requiring from its complicated character his per- 
sonal attention in procuring and presenting the proof of the 
numerous frauds which he charged had been committed. 
This case has now been in the courts over \\\ elve years, and 
the arguments written by Mr. Hazard in it and in one other 
important case \\ Inch has just been decidetl in his favor, 
February. l8Sl,arc more voluminous and required more 
study and labor than all his other writings. During the 
Civil War he did much to sustain our national credit at 
home and abroad. His newspaper articles on the public 
finances were collected and published in pamphlet form 
mainly by bankers in New York for foreign readers. 
Collections of them were published in London, and 
epitomes were translated and published in Amsterdam, 
and had much influence there and at Frankfort-on-the- 
Main, and through these and Mr. Hazard's personal inter- 
views, Euroijean l)ankers who at that crisis were becoming 
distrustful were induced to hold and increase their invest- 
ments in United States bonds. This action was taken after 
conference with President Lincoln and the Secretary of the 
Treasury, in which an official position was suggested, but 
he preferred to act unofficially. From tile beginning of 
the war Mr. Hazard svas in frequent conference with the 
authorities at Washington. At one time the Treasury was 
depleted, our bonds unsalable, and there was great need 
of money. Secretary Fessenden was advised that to effect 
sales it was necessary to increase the pajier circulation, and 
thus by making money more aliundant, induce investment 
in the (TOvernment issues. Mr. Hazard \\'as alarmed by 



the suggestion. To him it seemed clear that such a course 
would lead to national bankruptcy, but so also would the 
want of money. He applieil himself to the problem and 
then visited Mr. Fessenden, whom he found, very despond- 
ent, at Portland, Maine. He represented to the Secretary 
that the proposed expansion would be followed by speedy 
ruin; that the efti^ct of expansion would be to diminish the 
purchasing power of the currency in a ratio greater than 
its increase, which would thus augment the cost of the war, 
and lessen the credit of the Government, and in the pro- 
cess expansion would make money scarcer; but that con- 
tracting the currency would increase its purchasing power, 
would niiike it more plentiful, and release a portion of it 
from the channels of trade for the purchase of bonds. 
.■\fter two interviews with Mr. Fessenden at Portland, 
and others by arrangement with him in New York and 
Washington, and after some correspondence, the Secretary 
accepted Mr. Hazard's views so far .as to abandon the idea 
of expansion. These views at tirst struck Mr. Fessenden, 
as also the financiers who had advised expansion, as para- 
doxical, but they were very generally convinced by Mr. 
Hazard's reasonings, and the views themselves are now 
generally accepted. It was a rare illustration of the influ- 
ence of abstract thought on the course of practical affairs. 
His arguments on this subject were published in the New 
York Evening Post and other newspapers, and were sub- 
sequently reprinted in a pamphlet with other articles under 
the title of Our Resources, .\ljout the year 1S33 he began 
spending the winters in New Orleans for his health, and 
continued to do so aliout ten years, combining business 
with those visits. In the winter of 1841-2, while there, a 
colored citizen of Rhode Islanil applied to him for relief 
from the chain-gang. Captain Samuel C. Bailey, of New- 
port, was then in New Orleans. He says " the chain-gangs 
were made up of criminal slaves and negroes from the free 
.States, who were there seized for being on shore from their 
ships, and others who had attempted to escape from bond- 
age. About twenty were in a gang. Around their ankles 
were iron clasps with ox-ehains attached about five feet 
long. The gangs were employed in cleaning the streets. 
If a person chanced to speak to one of them the lash of the 
driver would fall heavily on the poor negro spoken to. 
Their quarters were in a wretched prison, lower floor, 
damp and dark. Not one man in one thousand would 
have dared to manifest sympathy for them." Mr. Hazard 
sought to obtain justice for these suffering negroes. He 
proceeded openly through the courts of Louisiana, and as 
he could not converse with the sufferers in the streets, he 
visited them in the jirison very early in the morning before 
the gangs were taken out to their tasks, or on Sundays. 
The prison officials soon denied him admission, but he 
procured orders from the courts. At this time public sen- 
timent there was very irritable on the subject, and he was 
constantly threatened by officers of the municipality, and 
by others, with the extremity of " Lynch law." Mr. Haz- 



270 BIOGRAPllIC.lL CYCLOrEDIA. 

an! was fearless. He was nuieh as^isteil liy Mr. Jacob with llie ]>liilMsci]ilier |olin .'^tuait Mill, and liU nun ])liilii- 
Uarker, wIid was ilieii iloinL; a lartje liankinj; husincss in i sn|iliieal pioductiuns have receiveil altenlinn fruni eminent 
New Orleans, and h.ninL; llie |iii\di^e <d apinMrint; as minds both in America and Enrojie. (.)ne of tlie most 
attorney in the cunils, dicl -.n \\liene\er liis ser\ices were ' wonderful thini;^ about his ])roductions is that ihey have 
desiieil. for which In- i^encrously declined any fee. Their ' come from a mind constantly employed in business affairs, 
united efforts ri'sulted in libei.iiini; a lai^e number from the , Ih'. (.'h;umiiiL; had this in \iew when he said of tlie Essnv 
chai)i i;an^'s. .md in procuiini^ a presentnu-nl by the grand on Liin^Hiif;i- — Mr. ila/ard's first literary production, ami 
jury in New Orleans of a number of the officials, with in- his hrst effort in composition: " I have known a man of 
structions to tile i)rosecutinLi off'icer to ])rocee<l ai^ainst them \ igorous intellect, whose mind was almost engrossed by 
imtnedialely I'or cruellv to those ireyroes. An interesting j the details of an extensive business, but who composed a 
letter from 1 )r. (_"hainiing to Mr. Hazard, in reference to book of much tiriginal thought, in steandjoats and on 
the courage aiul liumaniiy of the latter, uilh Mr. liarker, horseback, while visiting distant customers." This Essny 
may be found in the M.-tiwifs of Channiii!^,\\\\Ki\ volume, on Lan^^tia.;,- was |iul)lished in 1S34, and in 1S40 ap- 
and page ly]. I'olitically, .Mr. Hazard has exhibited no peared an essay by Mr. Hazanl on The .-U/'iptation of //to 
fondness fin- the arts of the selhsh ]>oliticinn, bui his eourse i /;/:■< w,' /,i ///,■ Cnllinilion of the Min<l. In 1.S4I was 
has been marked as one of phdanthropy and welbfoundefl published his Crnui of Doolinr of rolilioal Moinlitv, a 
moral principles. He was early identilleil u uh the h'ree treatise that had a great influence in aliolisliing lotteries 
Soil and -\nii Slavery party, and was one of the founders from Rhotle Island; in US4J his J-'ouiih of July Ornlion 
of the Republican ]iarty. He w illi Ildward Harris, of | on Tcinfoi-nmc : in 1S44, I'lto riiilosofhiiol Cltayaotor of 
Woonsocket, attended its I'lrst convention, whieh met in ' C/icinnin:; : in 1S45, J'/to Charaolor nnd Works of the 
Pittsburg, and was on the Committee on I'latfoiin anri Late Chief Jtistiee Dnrfoe, LL.D., of Rliode hleiinl ; 
Resolutions, and he was a Delegate to the I'hiladelphia in 1S49, The A'e'ntions of A'lii/roai/ Coi/<orat/ons to the 
(Convention of 1S56, and in that campaign many of the En/Tie : in 1855, '/he Duty of Indiviiiunh to Support 
resolutions and addresses published in Rhode Nkind were Soienee and Literature : in 1864, The Resourees of the 
from his pen. His connection with the early convenlious United .States : in iSuo, 7he Ereedom of the Mind in 
of the Re|iublican party was so jir'unimnt thai the South- Wi/tim;, a I ;nio of 455 pages, the second book of which is 
em newspapers noticed it, and .Southerners were warned a review- of ICduards on '/'he Will. In 1869 he published 
not to buy '' Hazard's goc.ds." .\ leading hou-e in Charles- , his Causation and T'reedon: in Willing, a IJnii> of j;oo 
ton, w Iiich for many years had been his agent, advised him ! pages, consisting of two letters addressed tojohn Stuait Mill, 
that the effort to sell his goods was useless, as Southerners 1 which is now translated and pulilished in the Cerman, ami 
WfiuM not buy them. This necessi:ated the abandirnment , there extensively and favorably re\ie\\ed in the leading 
of the Southern business. Mr. H.izard was also a mem- ' jieiiodicals, and is mentioned with much favor in '(\\<: Xorth 
ber of the Chicago Convention, in i860, wliiih nominated Anierieaii Rei'ieio of 1809. Iir an article rtn some of his 
Abraham I.incoln, and he partu-i[ialerl in forming the pilat- works, the leviewer, Mr. tleorge I'. Fisher, there savs : 
form of that cr.nvenliiui. In 1804 he was in luirope, but ' " The admiration which the abilitv' of Mr. Hazard's writ- 
ill 1808 he was again a iJelegale to the conventiem at Chi- ings has exciterl is b) no means limited to thc)se w ho co- 
cago, which nominated (_ieneial (Irani, where he was on iiicide with his philosophical opinions. '^Fhe T:oo Letters on 
the Committee on riatform. and was flu- author of the fiiian- I Causation and Ereedom in // 7///;/;'-, which are addressed 
cial portion. In 1851-2, in 1854-5, and in i88o-I he to Mr. Mill, ami w IiIlIi have just l)een given to the public in 
was a Member of the Rhoile IsKmd House of Re]iresenta- ! a revised form, are sulllcient of themselves to entitle the 
fives, and in 1866-7 was a Member of the Rhode Island author to a place in ihe front rank of metaphysical writers." 
Senate. Mr. Hazard has exhibited his philanthropy pecu- As an index to Mr. Hazard's intimacy with Dr. Channing 
niarily as well as in liis pill, lie services and lileraiy produc- and with the philosopher Mill, and also of their high 
lions. He co-operated with liis brothers, Hon. Isaac P. estimate of his writings, see Miss Peabody's j^',7z««/t,t:v/,c,( 
and Thomas R. Hazard, who were the ]iiinie movers in of Channiiix'. His mental powers and acumen have the 
founding the Butler Hospit.il, :inil remlered very essential high esteem of President Robinson of Drown University, 
service in intL-restmg Mr, Piitler, and in obtaining from , and of president Porler of \'ale College, who has said. 
It nil his niunitlceiit endow ineiit. The citizens of his town " .\ 11 of .Mr. Hazard's w ritings are cmpiliatically fresh, acute, 
acknowledge Mr. Hazard's bemfaclions in the support of | ami original.'' The Rev. Dr. A. P. Peaboily, of Harvard 
their schools and churches, .iml in the erection of their , University says: "I regari.! Mr. Hazard's treatise on '/he 
valuable Town House. The " Hazard Professorship of I Wi// ^s by far the most satisfactory exposition of the sub- 
Physics," in ISrovvn I'niversity. was founded by his endow- ; ject with which I am aci|uainted. Mis theory of the will 
meiit of s;.^o,oao. lb- li.is tinive vi-itetl I'.urope, wliere he seems to me the rmiv tenable one, and he has maintaineil 
w:is associiteil with men of eminence in ihe great finanrial ' it with unsurpassed ability." The degree of I.L.D. was 
circles. While in Engkiml he was jiersonallv intimale confeirerl upon liini in 1843 b) Hrown I'niversity. On the 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED I A. 



2Slh of .Septeml)er, 1S2S, Mr. Hazard niarrieii Caroline 
Newbold, ilaugliter of Mr. John Ncwbold, of Bloomsdale, 
near Bristol, Pennsylvania. She \\'as born at Quarry Farm, 
Delaware County, Pennsylvania, November 2S, 1S07, and 
died June 24, 1S6S. At the time of their marriage Mr. 
and Mrs. Hazard were members of the Society of Kriends. 
Their only children are Hon. Rowland Hazard and John 
Newbold Hazard, both of Peace Dale, Rhode Island. 



% 



II.I.ER, Lewis Leprilete, M.D., the son of Dr. 
Nathaniel and Hannah ( Boyd) Miller, was born 
fCSSSjv'J in Franklin, Massachusetts, January 6, I7qS. 
^gj>i He was fitted for college at Day's Academy, in 
*' Wrcntham, Massachusetts, and at the Leicester 
Academy, and was a graduate of Brown University, in the 
class of 1817. Among his classmates were Hon. William 
CJreene, Hon. Charles Jackson, and Judge William Read 
Staples. He studied his profession with his father, and 
attended medical lectures at the Harvard Medical College. 
He became an associate with his father in 1S20, and in the 
management of a private hospital which was under his 
father's charge. For seven years (1820-1827) he remained 
in his native place, and then removed to Providence. He 
was eminently successful in his business, and occupied a 
high place among the alile men of his profession with 
whom he was associated. For forty years ( 1827-1867) he 
practiced medicine in Providence and its vicinity. He is 
remembered by his friends as possessing firmness of nerve 
and calmness of temperament, combined with great gen- 
tleness of manner. Over his patients he exercised a sin- 
gular control, and they readily yielded to the force of his 
will, and confided in his professional skill. The gratuitous 
attentions which he bestowed upon the suffering poor se- 
cured for him the affections of a multitude of unfortunate 
persons who had but little with which to reward him, c.scept 
sincere respect and genuine love. As a surgeon, he ac- 
quired an enviable reputation, and his services as such 
were in constant demand. A physical system, severely 
taxed by long-continued professional labor, at length suc- 
cumbed. A paralytic shock, which he experienced in 
1867, laid him aside from the active duties of his profes- 
sion. For two ye.irs he resided amid the scenes of his 
early life in Franklin, with the hope that by withdrawing 
from the cares and duties which had pressed upon him so 
heavily for nearly a half century, he might be restored to 
somewhat of his former vigor. In 1S69 he returned to 
Providence, where for a few months he lingered in the 
home of his daughter, and died March 8, 1S70. He mar- 
ried in December, 1822, Elcctra Smith, of Bristol, and 
survived her death but a few months. Their children 
were Nathaniel, Jane Leprilete, and Ellen De Forest. 
Nathaniel prepared at the Philadelphia Medical College, 
and travelled abroad for three years to ])erfect himself as 
an oculist, and after returning, having suffered from a 



paralytic shock, was obligecl to relin'jiii>h practice. His 
death occurred May 5, 1S66. Jane L. married William C. 
Beckwith (died October 7, 1S6S), a physician and surgeon 
in Providence. Ellen D. married John B. Anthony, Agent 
and Treasurer of the Providence Tool Company. 



'REENE, Simon Henry, merchant and manufactu. 
rer, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, March 
31, 1799, and is a lineal descendant of John Greene, 
one of the first settlers of the town of Warwick, and 
the second son of Job Greene, the eldest son of 
Colonel Christopher Greene, a distinguished officer in the 
Revolutionary army. Job Greene was active in obtaining 
a charter for the military company called the Kentish Ar- 
tillery, and was elected the first Colonel of the company. 
He was a land surveyor; and for some time represented 
his native town in the General Assembly. He died in 
1808, in the forty-ninth year of his age, leaving a widow 
and four children, two sons and t\\'0 daughters. The 
mother of the subject of this sketch, wdiose maiden name 
was Abigail Rhodes, was born in Stonington, Connecticut. 
On the death of her husband she was left with the respon- 
sibility of managing his estate, and of providing for the 
maintenance and e<lucalii.)n of her children, in the success- 
ful discharge of which duties she exhibited great force of 
character. Mr. ( Ireenc entered upon his business career 
at an early age. lie attended the village schools of his 
native town until his twelfth year, and then spent six 
months at a boarding-school at W^»onsocket Hill, Rhode 
Island, taught by David Aldiich, a graduate of Brown 
University. He pursued his studies with a view to enter- 
ing college, but untoward events prevented any further 
attendance at school, and at the age of thirteen he was 
obliged to seek emiiloyment which would enable him to 
contribute to the support of his mother's family. In 1S14 
he went to Hartford, Connecticut, where he was for two 
years in the employ of his brother-in-law, Abner M. War- 
riner, wdio was the first commission merchant in that city 
for the sale of domestic cotton manufactures. Early in 
1815 he returned to his mother's home, and in April of 
that year obtained a position as clerk in a retail grocery 
in Providence, where he remained a short time, and then 
entered the service of the old commercial house of Aborn 
& Jackson, owners in the Lippitt Manufacturing Company, 
of which they were the commercial agents. In due time 
he became associated with Aborn & Jackson in their com- 
mercial marine business, as well as in the management of 
the Lippitt Manufacturing Company, under the style of 
Aborn, Jackson & (Jreene, Agents. In 182S he formed a 
partnership with Edward Pike, to carry on the bleaching 
and finishing of cotton cloths, at a water-power site below 
the Lippitt Mill, belonging to the Lippilt Manufacturing 
Company. In lSj2 (Jreenc & Pike purchased that site of 
the Lippitt Company, and the improvements thereon, sub- 
sequently erecting other buildings and providing improved 



lUOCRAPIIICAL CYCL OPED I A. 



mailiinery. In 1S42 Mr. I'iKc <Iii'tl. an<l tlir whole care 
of the bu^inc^'^, cnnmu-icial, nu-chaiiical, and nianufac- 
tiiiini;. <lev<>lve<l ujion Mr. (Jieeiie. In 1N45 iie puivhased 
the inlen-^t in tiie t --late se^Ie-l in ihe lieii^ of his <Ieeeaseil 
I'artnrr. iiii leasetl lii-- iiianiilaetnriiiq; l'ac^tltie^. am! conlin- 
neil to eariv on the business successfully. In later years 
he assoeiateil wiih hnn his snn^. K'l\var«l A., Henry L.. 
Christoplier R., an-l William K. (ireene, who now eonsti- 
tule iho fiiin ttf S. U. (ireene l\: Sons, tiielr father havinL; 
retireil from active l)U->iness. Mr. (Greene's home was in 
l*roviiloncc until 183S, when he icmoved to Warwick, 
and lias since resiiled near tlie Tlyde IMeachory and I'rint 
Works. In lS_^S '"-" was elected a member of the Provi- 
dence (."ouiuion Council, from the Fourth Ward, lo fill a 
vacancy made by the restanation of Mr. (ieor^^e IJaker, 
and was re-ele*. ted and served in tliat ca]>acity until ...s 
renio\al to Watwiek. While he was a member of that 
body the new sy^tmi for the management of the puhlic 
schools, -substantially as now exists, was introduced and 
adoj»ted,and Mr. (ireene and his colleague, intimate friend, 
and cousin, Mr. John L. Hughes, also a grandson of Col- 
onel ( "hristopher Greene, were greatly instrumental in se- 
cuiing the creation of the office of Superintendent of I'ub- 
lic Schoub of Providence. The hrst incumbent c)f iliis 
oftice was Nathan lUshop. bL.I>..a di-tiiiguished educa- 
tf>r, whose lii'">gra|'hy will he found in this volume. Soon 
after hi> removal to Warwick Mr. Greene was solicited to 
take j'ail in the Conduct of [luhUc af'fairs. and in 1S39 was 
elected as one of the l\e]'resentatives of the town to the 
(ieneral Assembly. He also served as a member of the 
School Committee for aliout filteeii years, acting for a 
great ]tart of the time as Clerk of the Committee. a^->ociated 
wnh the late (!o\ernor Krancis. dien I're-^ident. He was 
elected Moderator of theTriwn Meeting, and as Chairman 
of Conventions aU'l committees acting in minor capacities 
ill the transaction of the public business of liMth the town 
and State. He was a niendier of the Slate C'lmmitteeof 
the Republican partv. of whi(h he was fir some time 
Chairman, and was tlic nominee of hi-, party loi the office 
of Lieutenant Governor. In 1S5S he was elected a Slate 
Senator, and served in that capacity for two terms, and 
tlicn dei lined a re-eleetion. In iSoo he was a delegate (o 
the .\ath>n.d Consention of the Rejuihbcan party which 
nominated .Maaliaui Lincoln joi Pre^idint of the Lnited 
States, and in 1S04 was a memlicr of the Poard of Presi- 
dential Klectors, and with his colleagues M.ted for the re- 
election of Mr. Lincoln. During the"I)orr Rebellion" 
Mr. ( Ireene was a member of the General Assembly, and a 
funi adherent of the principles maintained by the " Law 
and ()rder" j-arly, and also served as a member of a mili- 
tary conijiany in the effort to (juell tlie disturbance. In 
eaily life Mr. Gieeiie was greatly intbieiiced hy the reli- 
gious views ol his nnilhi;r, w iio was ,1 ile\oled memlier of 
the Methodist Chuich. At about the age of thirty he he ' 
came strongly imhuetl with the prineiples of belief and I 



jiractice of the Society <tf [■rieiids, aiul in iSjc; embraced 
the views of Knumuel Swedenborg, to which he has since 
ailhered. On his removal t<j Warwick, in iS^S.the authori- 
ties <d' tiie Pridgewater Soeiety of the New lerusalem ap- 
poiiiteil him leniler for the memhers residing in Warwick, 
to etnidui-t the services fur jiublic worshij>, in which ca- 
pacity he officiated until advanced age :\\\i\ attendant in- 
llrmities tibbged him to abandon that labor, in 1S7S, when 
he was succeeded by his son, Henry L. Since then a 
Society of the New lerusalem has been instituted in War- 
wick, Mr. Henry L. Greene being its leader, and ex officio 
President, and religious services are lield regularly. Mr. 
(.ireene marricl, Mareh ij, 1S22, (."aroline (.'tunelia Ahorn, 
the eldest daughter of Ldward Aborn, and niece of his 
partner, Henjainin Aborn. They had eleven cliildren, h>ur 
nf wlmm died in infancv. ( >f the others, Kdward A., the 
eldest, was Imin in I'rovidencc, and has always resided 
there. Henry L.. Christopher R., William R.. and John 
W. A., were born in Providence, but removed with the 
family to Warwick in 1S38. George F. was born in War- 
wick, and married in Mississippi, where he now resides. 
Francis C., who was also l^orn in Warwick, was a volun- 
teer in Company H, Second Rhode Island Regiment, and 
was severely wounded in the hrst battle of Pull Run. July 
21, 1861, taken ]>risoner, and cariicd ti.) Richmond. He 
was exchanged, and on repairing to hcad-piarlers at Wash- 
ington, was honorably discharged, January 17. iS62.wdien 
he returned home. He never regained sound health, but 
was al)le to engage In business for aw hile with his brothers 
in Missouii. His health finally became so impaired, in 
cnnsei|Uence of his wound, that he returned to the home of 
his parents, w here he dieil of a lingering pulmonary dis- 
ease, I'ecember 27, 18115. Although ii'tw eighty-two years 
of age, Mr. Greene exhihits great vigor of bu<ly and mind, 
and is a!i\e to all matters \A juibliL interest. His brother, 
Christopher Rhodes ( beene, who was horn September 19, 
1786, and died In South (/aroHna, November 6, 1S25, was 
for many years engaged in mercantile pursuits in Provi- 
dence, and in the cities df Savannah and Charleston, in 
the South. He [jossessetl a decidedly btcraryand poetical 
mind, as evinced by numerous contrihutious to the news- 
papers and in oiher ways, esjiecially hy an oration deliv- 
ered in Charleston on the 4th of pily, iSic;, |jv imitation 
of leading citi/ens ol that city, a copy of wdiich was pre- 
sented to the Athen.eum in Providence. 



,i>i;iNS()N, Rkv. Ezf.kikl (Iilman, I). I).. LL.D., 

' A^., President of Prow n University, son of F.zekiel 
■ . y .' an<l Cvnthia (.Slack) Robinson, was born in 
\ j '{ Attlcborough. Massachusuts, March 23, 1815, 
1 1 I bring a lineal deseendant of (ieorge Rubin- 
sen, one of the original purchasers from the Indians 
of the adjoining tov\ n of Rehoboth. Several inenibers 
uf his grandmother's family were prominent physicians. 




C''. ^/. /(^/^ r '/ I 



( J r / L 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



273 



His uncle, Dr. Samuel Robinson, was one of the earliest 
mineralogists of our country, being the author ui Robinson's 
Catalogue of Minerals., a valuable work published in 1825. 
Of the children, but two are now living, the subject of the 
present sketch and Ruth S. Robinson, a highly accom- 
plished woman, for many years rrincijial of the Townsend 
Female Seminary, in Massachusetts, and afterwards, until 
the breaking out of the Rebellion, Principal of tlie Female 
Seminary at Norfolk, Virginia. She is at present living on 
the homestead, comprising one hundred acres and upwards 
of land, which she and her brother own conjointly by in- 
heritance. The old mansion-house was burnetl d(jwn in 
1826, and important family papers were then consumed. 
Young Robinson enjoyed the ordinary advantages for edu- 
cation of a lad of that period, and early gave evidence of a 
superior mind, which could only be satisfied with thorough 
discipline and culture. J'rom the common school he was 
accordingly sent to Day's Academy, in Wrentham, Massa- 
chusetts, then to the academy at Pawtucket, and finally to 
New Hampton, New Hampshire, where he was fitted for 
college. In the fall of 1S34 he entered Brown University, 
an institution then r.apidly increasing in reputation, under 
the presidency of the distinguished Wayland. Among his 
instructors were the lamented Uoddard, Elton, Hackett, 
Caswell, and Professors Gammell and Chase, who are still 
living. He was graduated with honor in 1S38. Many of 
his classmates have since attained high distinction in their 
several professions and callings. Soon after graduating he 
entered the Theological Seminary at Newton, Massachu- 
setts, from which institution he was graduated in 1842. 
He was at once ordained and settled as pastor of the Bap- 
tist Church in Norfolk, Virginia, where he remained three 
years. For one year during his labors here he was Chap- 
lain of the University of Virginia. He was ne.\t settled as 
pastor of the Baptist Church in Old Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, where he remained until 1846, when he was chosen 
Professor of Hebrew in the Theological Institution at Cov- 
ington, Kentucky. The duties of this new position he 
discharged with fidelity and zeal until 1S49, when he was 
called to the pastorate of the Ninth Street Baptist Church 
in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1852 he was appointed to the 
Chair of Christian Theology in the Theological Seminary at 
Rochester, New York. During the firstyear of hisprofessor- 
.ship here he delivered, in the First Baptist Church, a series 
of discourses on modern skepticism, which attracted large 
congregations, and were the means of accomplishing great 
good. In 1853 he received from his alma mater the hon- 
orary degree of Doctor of Divinity, which nineteen years 
afterwards was supplemented by the degree of Doctor of 
Taws. In i860 he was elected President of the Seminary. 
This high position he filled with distinguished ability and 
success for twelve years, during which time scores of young 
men were graduated under him, and ordained to the work 
of the ministry, who, by their spirit and zeal, show plainly 
the impress of a master mind. Upon the resignation of 
35 



Dr. Sears, in 1867, as President of Brown University, Dr. 
Robinson was earnestly solicited to become his successor. 
Subsequently, on the resignation of Dr. Caswell, the re- 
quest was repeated, and this time with success. In 1872 
he was accordingly elected by the corporation to the Pres- 
idency, and also to the Chair of Moral Philosophy and 
Metaphysics. The announcement of his election called 
forth, from various quarters, the highest encomiums on his 
personal character, and his rare qualifications for an office 
that had been filled successively by Manning, Maxcy, and 
Messer, Wayland, Sears, and Caswell. He was most cor- 
dially welcomed at the University, and the commencement 
of his official duties was marked by enthusiasm. In his 
opening address before the students, faculty, and members 
of the corporation, he struck the keynote of his coming 
administration. " The duties of this office now assumed 
impose grave responsibilities; but they are duties not 
lightly assumed. They are not wholly unknown or un- 
tried. They are entered upon with reliance on that Provi- 
dence which shapes institutions and men alike. It is not 
forgotten that great, and good, and devout men have stood 
in this place. May the same spirit rule in this institution 
which has so deeply impressed itself on its affairs, and 
made the University what it now is. . . . The curriculum 
of studies, established by the wisdom and the experience of 
generations, will continue unchanged. We shall ever bear in 
mind that the aim of the college should be the development 
and improvement of the whole man, including his physical, 
intellectual, and moral natures." The manner in which he 
has discharged the duties thus assumed has more than re- 
alized the most sanguine expectations. During his admin- 
istration thus far the new Library Building, Slater Hall, and 
Sayles Memorial Hall have been erected, an addition has 
been made to Rhode Island Hall, and the college funds 
have been increased. Besides his regular services in the 
University, and his baccalaureate sennons, which are 
listened to by immense congregations, he has delivered 
series of lectures in Manning Hall, on the History of In- 
tellectual Philosophy and Metaphysical Science. He has 
preached in the various pulpits of Providence and vicinity 
with singular acceptance, and on great and special occa- 
sions his services have been solicited from far and near. 
Several of his discourses and addresses have been published. 
He has contributed articles on theological and educational 
subjects for some of the leading quarterly reviews. He 
was the editor of the Christian Review from 1859 to 1864, 
when it was merged into the Bihliotheea Sacra. His 
translation of the fourth edition of Neander's Planting 
and Training of the Christian Church, with a careful re- 
vision of the whole work, was published in 1865. In 1877 
he was elected President of the American Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union. This distinguished honor he received for 
three successive years, when he declined a further election. 
In 1S80 he was made an honorary member of the Rhode 
Island Baptist Social Union, being the first and only one 



274 



lUOGRAPIIICAL C ) CL OPEDI.l. 



ever elcctetl lo this Imnor. lie rn:inie<l, FelinuTr)- 21, 
1S44. Harriet Ritiiards Parl^er, a j^radtiate oi' Tu\\nsen<i 
Keniale Seminary, aii'l a mece and adopted claiii;liter uf 
DeaC'in Caleli I'arl^er, f<.rnierly of Roxhiiry, Massarliiuetts. 
Mr. Parker i> l.UL^el) interested in ediieatinnal matters, antl 
he has h)n;4 iieen .1 friend and sn|ipiiiler <if Newtun Then- 
hii^ical Insiitutinn. ( )l llieir si,\ children, l>nt twn, a sun 
and a daUL;hter, aie liunj;. Previi.ni> to ids election to the 
Presidency of Brown University. Dr. l\obinson \isited 
Eiirojie, accompanied by his wife, and spent a year abroad, 
travelling ami pursuing special studies. 



IXTdN. .\I.E.\AN11I R II.\MI1.TI1N, D.D., fourth 

son of David and Mary (.\twell) Vinton, was 
L.t born in Providence. May 2, 1S07. His father 

-*|+v*- came to Pru\idence when he was a vouiiii man, 
l"| and established himself in business as a goldsmith. 
Here he spent his life engaged in trafllc. He was a promi- 
nent member of the Masonic Fraternity, anrl while on a 
visit to Kcnlncky to attend to some business relating to 
that order, he died, about the year I.'sjo. The mother of 
the subject of this sketch was a woman of rare abilities, 
and possessed great force and dignity of character. To 
her good management is "chiefly due the fact that not- 
withstanding the want of family mfluence and of ample ]je- 
cuuiaiy means, every oire of her children obtaineil a good 
education and rose to a desiialile posiiion in society." 
Alexander spent three years as an undergraduate iit Brc)wn 
University, where he took high raidv as a scholar. He 
studied meilicine at Pomfret. Connecticut (where he re- 
sided \\ith his mother, who had jnirchased a beautiful 
estate, which received the name of L,j Phuuiiiic, and 
received the degree of M.[). from Vale College, in 1S2S. 
F'or the next three years he practiced his ]ii<.ifession in 
Pomfret. While thus occupied. Ids mind became deeply 
interesteil in the careful jierusal of Puller's AiuiU':^y, and 
the result was so decided a spiritual change, that he ile- 
cided to abandon the profession in which lie was obtaining 
marked success, and enter the Christian ministry. It is an 
interesting circumstance that a few years later, his brother, 
then Captain, afterwards Major John R. Vinton, should 
have come to a similar decision, which, however, he did not 
cany out, and that about the same time his brother Francis 
should have left his chosen ]irofebsnjn to enter the minis- 
try. H.ning pursued a three-years' course of theological 
study at the (icneral Seminary of the F!]5isco]ial Church, 
in New Vork, he was ordained Deacon at New Vork, in 
i!<;;5. FiM a few nionihs after his ordination he preacheil 
in Pol t kind. M.une. and was then c.iUcd to ( iiMce Church. 
Providence, whose pidpit had became \, leant by the resig- 
nation of Kev. Dr. John .\. Clark. In i.S;,!. he was ad- 
milted to priest's orders in Providence. His relation to 
(Irace Church continued six years ( i.S_;6-42 ), and his min- 
istry was accompanied with the richest of sjurilual fruits. 



In I.S42 he was called to St. Paul's Church, in Boston, 
where marked success attended his laliors. It is said 
that " the most thoughtful and cultivated citizens of Boston 
gathered around him. and when he left, it was generally 
felt that his jjlace could not easily be filled." His next 
settlement was in Philadelphia. Here he gave himself 
" fur a scries of years to the work c)f building up a new 
church, under ciicunistances which tested to the full his 
peculiar jiowers, and where his success was in some re- 
spects more striking and conspicuous than it had been 
cither in Providence or Boston." From Philadelphia he 
was called to St. .Mark's Church, in New Vork, and subse- 
quently returned to Boston, where he became Rector of 
Iminanuel Church. Having reached the age of threescore 
and ten years, he resigned the charge of the church, and 
retired to his farm in Pomfret, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his days. Having gone to Plnladeliihia to 
p^reach the sermon at the consecration of the Church of 
the IIulv Trinity, rif which he was the first rector, after 
performing this service, he was stricken dow n by a fatal 
disease and died Tuesday, April 26, iSSl. He was one 
of the ablest and most accomplished preachers of his own 
church, or any denomination of Christians. Dr. Vinton 
marrieil, (itctober 15, 1835, Eleanor .Stockbriilge Thomp- 
son, oldest daughter of Ebenezer Thompson, Esq., of 
I'ro\idence. bv whom he had several children. In 1S36 
he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from 
Brown University, and in 1S43, the honorary degree of 
L>octor of Divinity from New Vork University, and the 
same degree from Harvard University, in 1853. In 185 I 
he was appointed a member of the Massachusetts Board 
of Education. In I>S55 he published a volume of sermons 
of gre.it merit, which he dedicated to his parishioners of 
.St. Paul's Church, in Boston. 



?II(lUI,FS. Rev. Jciun (ivert'in. D.D., was born at 

JJ|k Bristid, Paigland, February 5, iSoi. His parents, 

'« I ? who were Weslevans, and esteemed for their piety, 
♦ (■ } ' ' - ' 

died w hen he was but tw elve years of age. After 

the death of his parents he resided w ith his uncle, 
Henry t). \\'illis, who was his guardian, a pious man and 
wealthy, and a manager of the Bristol Tabernacle. His 
education was inlrusted to the Rev. Thomas I'^vans, of 
Oueen Elizabeth School, Bristol, and he was afterwards at 
Devizes, Wilts, under Richard Biggs. Early in life young 
Choules expressed a desire to become a church member, 
and on the i;th of September, iSlQ, he was baptized anil 
received into fellowship at the Broailmeath Baptist Church, 
then under the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Ryland, who had 
so high an opinion of his piety and ability to teach, that 
in 1 82 1 he sanctioned his working among the destitute 
villagers of that neighborhood. .\ little later he left Bris- 
tol, to reside at Dunstable, liedfindshire. to pursue his 



BIO GRA P///C.4 L C \ VL OPED/A . 



275 



studies under the Rev. \\'illiani Amlcrson, to wln;>m Dr. 
Clioules owed much of his taste for books. Wliile so en- 
gaged he frequently preached in the various pulpits of 
Bedfordshire. In 1822 he returned to Bristol, where he 
entered college and became a theological student under 
Dr. Ryland. Having passed his examination, he sailed 
for America in 1S24, and landed in New York, with the 
full intention of remaining here, he having already given 
much attention to the institutions of tlie countiy and its sys- 
tem of government. The first winter after the arrival of Mr. 
Choules in America his time was taken up in supplying the 
pulpits of various denominations. He also was employed 
in Dutchess County, New York, where he was a successful 
teacher at the head of the academy at Red Bank. But he 
did not long remain in this position, for in 1S27 he was 
called to the Second Baptist Church, at Newport, Rhode 
Island, which society had recently lost its pastor, the Rev. 
William Gammell. His first sermon in that church was 
preached June 17, of that year, and on the 27ih of the fol- 
lowing September he was ordained as the pastor. In 1829 
he was married to Miss Martha T. Garland, of Danvcrs, 
Massachusetts, who bore him one child, and who only 
lived two years after her marriage. This was a severe 
blow to Mr. Choules, for she was a woman of great per- 
sonal worth, grace, and refinement. Mr. Choules, though 
actively engaged in the duties of his calling, still found 
time to employ his pen in literary work. In 1829 he 
edited James's Church Member'' s Guide, and in iSji he 
was engaged on The Christian Offering. In 1832 the 
History of Missions was brought out. It had been com- 
menced by the Rev. Thomas Smith, who did not live to 
complete it, and was edited by Mr. Choules, who bestowed 
much labor upon it. The death of his wife preyed heavily 
upon hmi, and in 1833 he resigned his charge of the church 
at Newport. His valedictory sermon was preached Janu- 
ary 25, and after severing his connection with the church 
he accepted a call from the Baptist Church in New Bed- 
ford. While residing there he married Elizabeth G. 
Pope, daughter of Thomas Pope, of that city. From 
New Bedford Mr. Choules removed to Buffalo, New 
York, where he remained during a period of four years; 
when, finding that the climate did not agree w'ith him, he 
accepted a call from the Sixth Street Baptist Church of 
New York, a society much embarrassed and contending 
with many difficulties. He brought all his energies to bear 
upon its affairs with the hope of putting it upon a better 
foundation, but his efforts were unavailing, and seeing no 
prospect of doing any good there he resigned his charge. 
In 1843 he accepted a call from the Baptist Church in 
Jamaica Plain, a change that proved to be a delightful 
one, for he was surrounded by cultivated and intelligent 
people, to whom he preached acceptably. At this time he 
received into his family a number of boys, who were pre- 
pared by him for the counting-house or college. While 
residing at Jamaica Plain he brought out a new edition of 



.VeaPs History of the Puriltiiis, 1S44. In 1S44 he was 
recalled to the Second Baptist Church, at Newport, Rhoile 
Island. This call he felt constrained to decline, although 
it touched all his keener sensibilities to be invited to take 
the charge of a church tliat had formerly been under his 
care. The call was renewed and accepted, for he felt that 
he could not again decline their pressing invitation. In 
1S49 lie also had a school in connection with his other 
duties, and that year, with a number of his pupils, visited 
Europe. In 1853 he declined the invitation extended to 
him by Commodore Vanderbilt to join the party he had 
made up to visit Europe in his steam yacht, feeling that 
it was due to his people that after so recent a vacation he 
should remain with his charge ; but the church expressed 
the wish that he should not deprive himself of the pleastire 
of the trip, and he joined Vanderbilt as his chaplain. Out 
of these two voyages grew the two volumes. Young Auteri- 
eans Abroad, and The Cruise of the North Star. After 
his return. Dr. Choules resided in Newport up to the lime 
of his death. His last sickness was sudilen, and he lived 
but a few days after he \\'as taken down. He had gone 
to New York to pass New Year's day with some friends, 
and was suffering at the time from a cold. On New 
Year's day, uhile making a few calls, he had a fall on the 
ice; on Thursday, the following day, he was very ill. 
The physician who was called to his side declared it to be 
a severe attack of pneumonia, and it was soon evident that 
he could not survive it. Mrs. Choules was at once sent 
for, and was with him when he died. He was conscious 
up to within five minutes of his death, and expired in his 
chair, on the i6th of January, 1856. His remains were 
brought to Newport for interment, and the funeral sermon 
was preached from his pulpit by Rev. William Hague, 
D.D., Dr. Choules having designated to whom this duty 
should be assigned. His only child, Mrs. J. J. Ellis, sur- 
vived him. Dr. Choules was a man of varied reading. 
He was especially fond of old Puritan literature, of which 
he made a large and valuable collection. His library was 
stored with rare and curious volumes, many of them hav- 
ing an interesting history, with which he was familiar. 
At his death this collection was sold under the auctioneer's 
hammer. He enjoyed life, was genial, had a great flow 
of spirits, and a fund of information that made his presence 
welcome wherever he appeared. He was an earnest 
preacher, knew the way to men's hearts, and had a way 
of attaching his friends to him for life. Few men were 
better known, and it was not an easy matter to refer to 
any one at all prominent with whom he had not a personal 
acquaintance. In addition to the works already men- 
tioned. Dr. Choules furnished a preface and notes for 
Foster's Zi-vs of the Statesmen of the Commonwealth ; 
he also edited Jlinton s History of the United States, 
in quarto, and for several years he was the editor of the 
Boston Christian Times. The last labor of his pen was 
the preparation of a discourse on the life and character of 



276 



lUOGRAPinCAL C 1 X'L OPED I A. 



Kcv. lolin llratllcv. one of his predecessors in the cluiich 
over which he presided. 



^A/AKO. Tlh'MAs R., son of Kowland Hazard, of 
»'JRL^' South KiiiL^slown, and Mary I'eace I la/ard, of 
tdiarleston. South Carolina, was honi in South 
S \ S I"^'".^'''"^^*"- I'^'i'"'*'' Ishind, January 3, lyoy.andisa 
111 ilescenthint, in the st-vcntli generation, of Tlionias 
Hazard, wlio was one of the orii^inal settlers and proprie- 
tors of the Island of A(|uiilneck, and, with Nicliolas Easion 
and I-iolu-tt Jeffries, laid out the town of Newport, in K'.iO. 
The suhject of this sketch spent liis early childhood in 
Rhode Island. About lour years of liis youth (from his 
twellih to his sixteenth year) were passed at Westtown 
Fi lends" I loardnii;- School, in Chester County, I'enn^yl- 
vania. ( )n leaving school he returned to South Kings- 
town, and in less than two years engaged on Ids own ac- 
count in the manufacture of linsey-woolsey and other 
coarse cotton and woollen goods, mostly for the Southern 
Slates, w hich stvle of g(.od> his father had commenced 
making in the latter i>art <jf tlie eighteenth century, at 
which jieiioti Imth the cotton and wool were carded by 
women w ith band-tan.l->, the former being biouglit from 
Chai lesion. South Carolin.i, in what were called pockets^ 
containing from six to eight pounds each of cotton, includ- 
ing the seeds, which was also picked by hand behire being 
carded. At the period when Mr. Hazard (the son) en- 
gaged in business, carding niachnies had licen sub-tituted 
for hand-cards, and for several years the wool rolls made 
by these were p\it up in bundles of from twcniv to thirty 
pounds each, and di-.lrniutcd entirely on h'lr^eback for 
many miles aroun-I to be spun on hand spimung-wheels. 
The yarn was then brought home liy the same mode of 
conveyance, and after being scoured by hand and colored, 
was again distrd)uted ab'.'Ut the country to be woven on 
hand-looms, and stdl again returned on horseback. This 
laborious method was pursued for many years by Mr. Haz- 
ard, until the introductitm of labor-savnig machinery, 
which has arrived at such a state of perfection that four 
hundred and filty persons now employed at IVacedale by 
the grandson of Rowland Hazard, turn out more goods in 
a given time than one hun<lred thousand could do in the 
primitive ilays when Mr. Hazard commenced manufactur- 
ing at the same place, in the way indicated. From hi> 
earliest youth Mr. Hazard has always l.ieen engaged, to a 
greater or less extent, in agriculture and the keeping of 
she*, p, his Hocks sometimes numljering no less than twelve 
hundred, from which fact he acquired the sohriquct of 
" Shepherd Tom," to distinguish him from a score or more 
of members of the Hazard family of the same Christian 
name. His personal (eats and exposure in caring lor his 
flocks in seasons of storm and snow were peihaj>-> as mar- 
vellous as lliose of Scottish shepherds or those of ancient 



times, some of winch are given in the ReioUfctions of Oldcn 
7)fii,s, by " Shepherd Tom." an interesting work of three 
hundred pages, ])ul)lished by ('ihn P. SanlKirn, 1S79. 
After a most arduous and successful jirosecution of his 
manufacturing business, Mr. Hazard retired from those pur- 
suits with a moderate conijietencv, and settled in 1S40 at 
his country-scat, " Vauclure," a lovely place on the east- 
erly shore of the island, about six miles from Newport, 
embracing over one hundred acres, which had been beautified 
by Samuel Fdam, an English gentleman of refined taste, 
just after the Revolutionary War, at a cost of #So,ooo, 
where he has since resideii. Nor has he since then led an 
inactive life, as the jtublic journaK of Rhode Kland and 
others abundantly testify. He was an early and earnest 
worker in the cause of African colonization, having been 
a life director and \' ice-President of the Society since the 
years iS^o-41. Mr. Hazard still believes, as he has al- 
ways believed from the first, that, under Piovidence, the 
Repidtlic of Lil.>cria is the nucleus from which will pro- 
ceed the civilization of the millions w ho inhabit the equa- 
torial regions of Africa, — a work that he holds is destined 
to be done by the colored people of the United States, and 
by them alone. He took an early and active part in the 
establishment of common schools in Rlnide Island, and 
was one of tlie three friends of the cause who issued the 
call for the jiublic meeting in Providence that organized 
the " Rhode Island Institute of Instruction." In 1S51 he 
made an official rejiort to the Legislature of Rhode Island, 
detailing the situation of the pauper poor and insane of 
every town in the State, as witnessed personally by him- 
self, which report, embodied in one hundred and twenty 
jiages, made a profound sensation throughout the State 
and led to a complete reform in the management of the 
])ublic poor, and was. together with his efficient and perse- 
vering after-labors, the pr(.ixiinatc cause of an annual 
Stale ajipropriation, still existing, for the indigent insane, 
the education of the deaf ami dumb, tlie blind, and idiotic 
of the State. In the year iSS-^ Mr. Hazard presented a 
jietition to the General Assembly, praying for the abolition 
of capital punishment, when he compiled a report of over 

\ forty pages for the Committee on Education, of the Senate, 

! by whom it was adopted, and afier a {k:\\ days' cmsidera- 

■ tion passed b\' the Sen.ite and alterwards by the House, 
alniiisl by acclamation, the vote being moie than two to 
one in favor of abolishing the deatli penalty, which last 
stdl remains on the statute-books of Rhode Island, to the 

' lasting credit of its liberal-minded and enlightened citizens. 
Many other labors for the good of humanity Mr. Hazard 

j has been engaged in during his long and active earth-ca- 
reer, some of which, aildilional to those enumerated, may 
be inferred from tlie following editorial notice that ap- 
peared not long since in the Providence yournul : ** Mr. 

I Thomas R. Hazard, during a life now extended to his 
eighty-second year, has been a man ol the most active anti 

, enterprising character, and devoted with great vigor and 




41/ 
4,1 / 



1 .:^ 

I 



'--I 



it^ WV> ^wL.'^i V| 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCI. OPED I A. 



2/7 



singleness of purpose to objects of public importance, re- 
formatory, educational, philanthropic, and charitable. He 
was eminently conspicuous in reforming the management 
of the poor and insane in this State, where they had been 
treated in many cases in a manner disgraceful to our civ- 
ilization. In this effort he was completely successful. He 
engineered the effort which resulted in the abolition of 
capital punishment. He has been an earnest advocate 
and munificent supporter of African colonization. He was 
a primary promoter of the movement in this country for the 
relief of the Irish famine, and a liberal contrilnitor to it. 
His philanthropy, although at times aggressive and intru- 
sive, attests its sincerity by the generosity of his pecuniary 
contributions to the objects to which it is devoted. No 
one who knows him doubts the earnestness of his convic- 
tions or the purity of his personal character; and he car- 
ries his years as lightly as a man of fifty." In 1856 Mr. 
Hazard became a Spiritualist, and has ever since advoca- 
ted its claims to pul)lic favor with the like vigor that char- 
acterizes all his undertakings. His writings on this sub- 
ject are very voluminous, but like those of his other exten- 
sive literary productions, are mostly of a fragmentary char- 
acter, such as sudden occasions or the exigencies of his 
subject might suggest or require for the moment. In Oc- 
tober, 1838, Mr. Hazard married Frances Minturn, daugh- 
ter of Jonas and Esther Robinson Minturn, of New York 
City, a highly cultured lady of great personal beauty. Mrs. 
Hazard died at Vauclure, April 10. 1S54, aged fortytvvo 
years. They had six children: Mary Robinson, who died 
in infancy; Frances Minturn; Gertrude Minturn; Anna 
Peace (who all died in early womanhood) ; Esther Rob- 
inson, who married E. J. Dunning; and Barclay. Mr. 
Hazard, now in his eighty-fifth year, writes a firm and 
beautiful hand, and still exhibits the mental and bodily 
vigor of early manhood. 



^ASEY, Major-General Sil.as, son of Wanton and 



Wj& ElizabetR (Good.ile) Casey, was born 
LpT" Greenwich, Rhode Island, July 



East 
807. His 
I grandfather, Silas, and his father, Wanton, were 
J" natives of the same place. His grandmother was 
Abigail Cogge.shall, a descendant from Governor Wanton, 
of Rhode Island. A farm in North Kingstown, Rhode 
Island, called the Casey Farm, now owned by a son of 
General Casey, has been uninterruptedly in the family 
since the title was purchased from the Indians. The Gen- 
eral's grandfather, Silas, was an extensive importing mer- 
chant before the Revolution. His father, Wanton, was 
educated in France during the Revolution, and became a 
friend of Franklin, then a minister to that kingdom. His 
maternal grandfather. Major Nathan Goodale, and mother, 
Elizabeth, were natives of Brookfield, Massachusetts. Ma- 
jor Goodale served in the Revolution, and was distin- 



guished in the engagements which preceded the surrender 
of Burgoyne. He was one of the original members of the 
Order of the Cincinnati, and his diploma, signed by Wash- 
ington, is now in the possession of General Casey, who is 
his successor. Silas entered the Military Academy at West 
Point in June, 1822, and on his graduation, in 1826, was 
appointed a brevet Second Lieutenant in the Seventh Regu- 
lar Infantry, at Fort Tow'son, Arkans.is Territory. Here 
he was engaged against the Osage and Pawnee Indians, 
and on one occasion had a sharp, decisive action with the 
Pawnees, surprising their camp while they were dancing 
around the scalps of the soldiers they had killed. In 1S29 
he was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the .Second 
Regular Infantry, at Sackett's Harbor, New York. In 
1832 he was ordered on recruiting service, and in 1833 
was at Fort Niagara. In 1834 he was ordered with his 
company to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, from which, in 1835, 
he was ordered to Alabama to aid in suppressing the revolt 
of the Creek Indians. Here he was appointed Capt.ain 
and Quartermaster of a regiment of ("reek Indian volun- 
teers ordered into Florida to subdue the .Seminoles. In 
Florida he served five years and gained distinction, par- 
ticularly in the battle of Pilaklikaha, and was recommended 
in strong terms by General Worth for the brevet rank of 
Major. In May, 1842, he was sent with his regiment to 
the northern lakes, and was stationed at Buffalo, New- York, 
till 1845. Here he drilled the battalions and was highly 
complimented in the report of the inspectors. In March, 
1847, he was ordered with his company from Fort Mich- 
ilimackinac, Michigan, to join his regiment in Mexico. He 
reached Vera Cruz in June, and Puebla in July, as the 
advance guard of General Pillow's column. He served 
also under Generals Riley and Twiggs. From Puebla he 
acted in the campaign, under General Scott, in the valley 
of Mexico. While in the advance he had a .sharp fight, 
August 19th, with the enemy's lancers, the officer in com- 
mand, with his horse, falling dead within a few yards of 
his feet. For gallant conduct in the battles of Contreras 
and Cherubusco he was breveted Major. He deployed a 
portion of his division as skirmishers, and under the imme- 
diate command of Captain L. Steele, first opened fire on 
the enemy's skirmishers and had the first wounded men. 
In storming Chapultepec, while leading two hundred and 
fifty picked men through a terrible fire, he was severely 
wounded in the abdomen, and for his heroic conduct re- 
ceived the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. For his 
services in the Mexican War he received a silver vase from 
his native town, East Greenwich, and a resolution of thanks 
from the General Assembly of Rhode Island. While in 
the country, he was stationed for a time in the city of 
Mexico, where he assisted Rev. Mr. Morris in circulating 
Spanish copies of the Scriptures. Everywhere he mani- 
fested courage, ability, and devotion to duty. At the close 
of the Mexican War he went with his regiment, in the 
ship Iowa, via Cape Horn, in a voyage of five months, to 



2/8 



BlOGKAPHIi -.41 C ) VL OPEDIA. 



Califoniia, wIktc lie; ri.MiiaiiK'1 till 1S5J. In 1S51. he KJ 
fnitr coni|i;ini(.-> a^^aiiisl the ("nquiilc l\i\ur lii<lian'^, his 
cninninnil licing tliL- t'lr^t \\liiu> Iti a^oriul that river, ami 
for his success was cinni>liinei)le(l li)- the ( iencral com- 
inaiidiiig the Pacific cua-^t. He wa^ next orilereil lo New 
York on recruiting service. In lN54he\\as rre^ident nf 
a Boar. I for e\amining Infantry Tactic^, tra^^latell from 
the French by Lieutenant Col. me! Har.lee, a system a.lopte.i 
with anienilnients. In the same year he was appointed 
Lieutenant I "lonel uf the Ninth Regular Infantry, rising 
fr.)in the jiosition of Captain, never having been a Major, 
anil went to I'uget Sound, Washington Territory. His 
liea.hjurrter-. were at Kort Steilacoom, where an Indian 
war was then raging. In a camiiaign of twenty-five days 
he succee'-led in ("]uelling what many at first th.. tight would 
be another Florida War, and for his " gallantry, enterprise, 
skill, and sound judgment," was commended to the special 
notice of the government at Washington. In i.S^o he was or- 
dereil to take c.imman.l of San Juan Lland. then in dispute 
with (Ireat Britain. With five hundred men he maintained 
])ossession ol the islan.l against an oj)posing British force 
of five ships of war, with two th.iusand one hundred and 
forty men an.I one hundred ami sixtv-scven guns, until 
(jeneral Scott ajipeared and arranged matters by allowing 
the Knglish to occupy one eml of the islan.l, while we held 
the other. Returning to the seat ')f gi'\-ei nm.»nt. in iSoi, 
he ofiered his ser\ices t<j I'lesident Lincoln, ami was ajj- 
pointed Brigadier-Ccneral of Volunteers, in Septenilier, 
and proceede.l to organize and drill one humlred and fifty 
thousand men in brigades. He was assigneil, March 20, 
1S62, to the ciunmand of a L>i\ision of the .\nny of the 
Potomac, un.ler C.eneral McClell.in. His .li\isi..n, in the 
advance, reached within seven miles of Richmond, and 
being ordered, contrary to his opinion, beyond the front, 
and within six miles of Richmond (his |iickels within fi\ e 
miles), had a fearful encounter of three hours with the 
enemy, May 31. His force of less than five thoUsan.l in line 
met a rebel force of forty thousand strong, and most hero 
ically withstood them, pro. hieing fearful slaughter. From 
the day of this action ( know n as the Battle of Fair Oaks or 
Seven Pines (dated his commission as Major-General of \ol- 
unteers,aud aKo his promotion to the rank of Brevet Briga- 
dier-! leneral in the Regular Army, Also for gallant and I 
merit. uiiiiis c.m.luct in that b.ittle, besides the comiiliments 
of iiiilit.uy men and writers of discernment, he received 
the thanks of the State of Rho.le Maud. In August, 1S62, 
he was again appointed to organize an.I instruct forces for 
the front, h'or tluse invaluable ser\ ices, performed with 
remarkable success, he receive.l the highest eulogiums. 
The government, .\ugust II, 1862, adopted Casey's Tac- 
tics fiir the regular, volunteer, and militia forces of the i 
nathm, succeeding Scott's Tactics. In May, I.Soj, he was 
chosen Presi.lent of the Boar.) for examining the officers 
for regiments of colored tro.)ps, and in this positi.m per- 1 
f.'irme.l services of great imprirt.ince, receiving therefor no , 



e.imnion praise. Thus, w ilh his uncommon abilities, at- 
tainments, experiences, tact, courage, patriotism, ami devo- 
tion to duty, he served his country in bonier wars in 
Arkansas, Alabama, Fhiriila, Mexico, and California, and 
thr.iugh the terrible struggle of the Rebellion. In recog- 
nition of his services an.I merits, at the close of the Civil 
War, he was put uimn the retired list, ami now lives in 
Brooklyn, New York. He is a member of the Presbyte- 
rian (Jhuich, while cherishing a tender regard for all de- 
nominations, and his life lias well illustrated his high 
Christian character. Rhode Island proudly cherishes his 
name and his rec.rd. He married, first, July 12, 1S30, 
Abby P. P. l\-arce, daughter of Hon. Dutee L I'earce, of 
Newport, Rhode Islan.l. .She died in Washington, March 
10, I.S62, a woman of great excellences of character. 
They had six chil.lren, iwi now li\ing, ( i } Thomas Lin- 
coln Casey, born May 31, 1S31, gra.luale.l at the head of 
his class at the Militarj' Academy at ^Vcst Point, 1S52, re- 
ceived two brevets for faithful an.I meritorious c.:induct in 
the Rebellion, now a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Regular 
Anny, serxing n ith distinction as an engineer officer; and 
his ehlest son, nametl for himself, graduated secoiul in his 
class at West Point, in 1S79, is now a Second Lieutenant 
in the Engineer C.nps. (2) Frederic Cummings Casey, 
born .March II, 1S33, ileceased. (3) Silas Casey. Jr., born 
Se]itember II, I^'4I, gra.luate.l at the Naval .\cademy, 
Annapolis, Marylan.l, in iSoo; ]iaiticipate.l in the first at- 
tack lui p.. It Sumter, and in the engagements in hcuit of 
Charleston; distinguished himself with ,'\ilmiral John 
Rodgers on the Peninsula of Corea, assaulting and taking 
several forts; has risen to the rank of Commander in the 
Navy. (4) Abby Pearce Casey, born May 9, i,S3S, married 
Brevet Brigadier (General Louis Cass I lunt, now Lieutenant- 
Colonel of the Twentieth Regular Infantry. He gradu- 
ated at West P.iint, in 1S47. was bre\eteil for gallant crm- 
iluct at the Battle of Pair (Jaks, where he was severely 
wounded, also for gallantry at Ringston, North Cartilina. 
( 5 ) P!lli/abeth Goodale Casey, born P'ebruary 10, 1S44, mar- 
ried Brex'et Lieutenant-Colonel R. N. Scott, now Major of 
the 'Phird Regular .YrtiUery. He was breveted for meri- 
tori.ms conduct at the Battle of Gaines's Mills, where he 
was severely wounde.l, and for other services. He is 
the author of the Military Digest of the Lines of the 
Ciiitei/ States, (o) lulward Wanton Casey, born Iiecein- 
ber I, 1S50, graduated at West Point, in I.S73, now a P'lrst 
Lieutenant in the Twenty-second Regular Infantry ; dis- 
tinguishe.-l for zeal an.I liravery under (/leneral Miles on 
tile Yellowstone River. * Jeneral Casey married, second, 
July 12, 1864, Miss Pdori.la Gordon, daughter of C'harles 
Gordon, Es.p, formerly of Newburyport, Massachusetts, 
by whom he has had two children: (I) Frederic Gordon 
Casey, bom .Sejitember 26, 1S66, deceased; (2) Julia 
Clifiord Casey, Ixjrn May 3, 1865. The lile and services 
of tieneral Casey form a valuable chapter in our national 
historv. 



BIOGRArinCAL CYCL OPKDIA. 



279 



^S^RNOLD, Salmon Augustus, M.D., son of Sal- 

^IJmK mon and Selina (WiUle) Arnold, was born in 

^^T^!s Providence, June 26, 1797. He prepared for 

6«> college at Mr. Patten's school in Hartford, Con- 
rq^ T • ■ 

'k necticut, and graduated at Jinnvn UiiiverMty in 

1S16, in the same class with Dr. Joseph Manran, the late 
John Carter Brown, and Robert H. Ives. After studying 
medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 
New York, he received from that institution the degree of 
Doctor of Medicine in 1821. He then began practice in 
his native city, and continued in active professional busi- 
ness for more than fifty years. For several years he was a 
partner with the late Dr. John Mackie. Dr. Arnold was 
identified with all that pertained to the progress and in- 
fluence of the medical profession in Providence. In 1822 
he became a member of the Rhode Island Medical So- 
ciety, of which he was for twenty years Secretary, and at 
one time President. He took a leading part in the forma- 
tion of the Providence Medical Association, and was its 
first President. For more than twenty years he was the 
permanent Secretary of the Board of Trustees having con- 
trol of the fund left by Dr. Caleb Fiske, of Scituate, for 
prize dissertations, the Board being composed of the Presi- 
dent and Vice-Presidents of the Rhode Island Medical 
Society. His duties in these different official positions 
were discharged with marked fidelity and efficiency. Dr. 
Arnold was one of the most prominent and successful 
physicians in Providence. He was not disposed to adopt 
new methods in the practice of his profession, but ad- 
hered to those old ones which he believed time and expe- 
rience had proven safest to follow. Throughout his life 
he took a deep interest in educational matters, and for 
many years was a leading member of the Providence 
School Committee. In 1S32 he married Ruth Sprague 
Rand, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, who died, Decem- 
ber 22, 1S52. Dr. Arnold died in Providence, December 
12, 1878. Two of his daughters survive him, Mrs. R. 
Becker, wife of Dr. Alexander Becker, of Providence, and 
Elizabeth A. Arnold. The announcement of the death 
of Dr. Arnold called forth expressions of deep regret 
throughout the entire community. The remembrance of 
his familiar form, as seen in the streets of his native city, 
will long remain in the minds of the generation now on 
the stage of action. 



pACKSON, Henry, D.D., the second son of Richard 
iW& and Abby (Wheaton) Jackson, was born in Provi- 
^_j-i dence, June 16, 1798, his father being a prominent 
fm citizen of Rhode Island, well known for the interest 
H he took in the affairs of the State and of the city. 
He was prepared for college in the University (Irammar 
School, and was a graduate of Brown University, in the 
class of 1817. Immediately on his graduation, he repaired 
to Andover, Massachusetts, to pursue his tlieological 



studies, and graduated at that institution in 1820. His 
first settlement in the Christian ministry was at Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, where he was ordained November 27, 1822, 
and remained nearly fourteen years, ending October 19, 
1836. Its result was the building up of a strong, efficient 
church. While pastor of this church in Charlestown, he 
was deeply interested in the cause of female education, 
and to his efforts was largely due the founding of the 
Charlestown Female Seminary, an institution which in its 
day accomplished an untold amount of good. A few 
weeks after resigning his pastorate in Charlestown he was 
installed the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Hartford, 
Connecticut. At the end of a little more than a year's 
service in this new relation, he resigned his office, and soon 
resumed his ministerial work by being installed pastor of 
the First Baptist Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 
January I, 1839. Failing health forced him to resign in 
October, 1S39. F"or a little more than a year he suspended 
all ministerial work, and devoted himself to the recupera- 
tion of his health. In January, 1847, he returned to the 
discharge of tiie duties he so much loved. A ne\\' church, 
called the Central Church, had been established at New- 
port, and he was invited to become its first pastor. He 
accepted the invitation, and entered upon his work with 
fresh zeal and recruited energies, and his ministry, averaging 
a period of not far from sixteen years, was instrumental in 
building up a large and flourishing church and congrega- 
tion. His ministry, extending through some forty years, 
was an eminently successful one. He received into the 
four churches of which he was pastor, during this time, 
about 1400 persons, administering, himself, the ordinance 
of baptism to 870 of this number. The cause of ministerial 
education was especially dear to him. Of the Theological 
•Seminary, established at Newton, he was one of the 
founders, and a Trustee from 1S25 to his death. In 1828 
he was elected a Trustee of Brown University, and re- 
mained such through life. To both these institutions he 
bequeathed generous legacies in his will. His alma mater 
conferred on him, in 1S54, the honorary degree of Doctor 
of Divinity. He married, in 1S22, Maria T., daughter of 
Rev. Dr. Gano, who died in 1878. 'I'hey had no children. 
Dr. Jackson died instantly, while travelling in the cars of 
the Stonington Railroad, March 2, 1863. 



ENDLETON, C.\rT.MN \Villi.\m CH.\MrioN, mer- 
chant, was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, No- 
Zj3 vember 2, 179S. His father was for fifty years a 

A^ sea-captain and a shipowner. His grandfather, 
•■■tf Benjamin Pendleton, was also a sea-captain, for 
many years sailing from Westerly. His greatgrandfather. 
Colonel William Pendleton, was a Colonel of militia in the 
Revolution. The first ancestor of the family in this coun- 
try was Major Brian Pendleton, who was born in 1599, 



2So 



BlOGRArinCAL CVClOPEDI.t. 



caniL' Ici America in iCi.iO, and sl-IiUiI in WatuilnNvn. M.is- 
saclni^ctls^ was niade a frCLMiiaii ol tin- Massacluisett-. Col- 
ony ill II1J4, anil scrvt-d for six yiar>. a^ Deputy to llic 
Gcni-ral Coinl prior lo i()4,S. He was a int-nilK-r of tin- 
famous artillery coin|.any of l)o,ion. Aliout 11151 he re- 
moved to rort^miailh, New 1 lauipshire, and was l)c|iuty 
of that town foi five years. In I(i5.S he purchased two 
hundred acres of land near Winter llarhcu-, Saco, Maine. 
and settled upon it in 16I15. He finally returned lo Ports- 
mouth, wdiere he continued to reside until his death, which 
occurred in 16S1. lie was an eminent man in his tlay. 
Captain James l*enilleti>n, the only son of Major Brian 
Pentlleton, remo\'ed from Watertown to Sudbury, Massa- 
chusetts, and thence, in 1669, to Westerl)", Rhode Isbnil. 
He w.is the Ljrcat-i^reat-^randfather of Captain William C. 
Pendleton. The latter was educated in a puhlic schrioi in 
^Ve-terlv. When lie was about t\\enty years of ai^e he 
went to sea occasionally until 1S50, and then became cap- 
tain of a coastim; vessel. Since 1S40 he has been ent^a^ed 
ill general merchandise business in Westerly, and for the 
past fifteen or twenty years has been largely interested in 
settling estates. He has been a Hirector in the National 
I'liienix Puink since 1846, ami for several years has been a 
Director in the Mechanics' Savings Bank. For smne time 
he has served as a member of the Committee of Accounts 
U>x the town. He married, December 23, I.S19, Phebe 
Hall, daughter of Captain l.ynian and Phebe (Palmer) 
H.dl. They have had twelve children, nme of whom are 
living: John 1'.. Charles P. W., E.lward B., Albert P., 
Martha C, Adelaide, Harriet N., and Marcelia |. Captain 
Pendleti.>n has been a member of the Pdrst Baptist Church 
in Westerly for forty years, and still takes an active inter- 
est in (he welfire of that communion. 



pjEADER, JiJHN, minister and missionary of the 
III .Society of Kriends, son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
Meader, was born in Rochester, New Hamp- 
shire, Novemfier II, 1797. He was brought up 
in the principles and practices of his devout pa- 
rents, ami at the age of eighteen publicly p^ironounced his 
faith in tlie I'lieiids' Meeting. In 1S24 he was acknowl- 
edged and rec'udufl a minister by the Sandwich Monthly 
Meeting, and was immediately moveil lo engage in the 
ministry in dillerent places among neighboring Quarterly 
Meetings. In iSjii, accompanied by his talented and de^ 
voter] wife, who was also an approved and efifective speaker 
in the Friends' Meeting, he began his wider sphere of mis- 
sionary labor, and tra\ elled in New York, portions of Penn- 
syhania, Maryland, ( Ihio ami Indiana, visiting Yearly and 
other Meetings. For two years he thus labored to preserve 
the threatened integrity of the Frienrls' Society and to jiro- 
nuilgate tin ii distinctive seiitiuienls. In I,S;i belabored 
chiefly in Berwick and I lover Montldy Meetings. In iS;7 
he removed to Rhoile Island and w.is connected with the 




Proviilence Monthly Meeting, where his testimonies were 
numerous and highly valueil. In 184I he made a mis- 
sionary tour among the Indians west of the Mississippi 
River, bearing introductory and commeiulatory letters t'lom 
the ofticers of the govei'iiment at Washington. He also 
labored in ()hio, Indi.ina,and what was then the Territory 
of Iowa. His mission was executed in a manner highly 
hcinorable to himself and to the Society he represented. 
Rhode Island counted herself favored in the character and 
ministry of such a man. In I.S50, with his wife, he visited 
England, Ireland, and portions of the Continent, seeking 
to avert divisions and innovations amt)ng Friends, and to 
establisli them in the truth. In 1S51 lie returned and re- 
sumed his ministry in Rhode Island. Again, in 1S57, he 
made a missionary tour in New York, Ohio and Indiana, 
ami in 1S58 cuice more visited Baltimore. His testimonials 
and certiticates were from all the princii')al Meetings of the 
Frienils in this country. He married, iVIarch, 1819, Eliza- 
beth Taller, daughter of Joseph and Huldah (Hoag) Ta- 
ber. He I.rst spoke in the I'roviiience Monthly Meeting, 
March 3, 1S60, and died June 7, 1S60, aged sixty-two years. 



jtALLIlU, GnoRGE C manufacturer, son of Oliver 
ki and Abigail (Colburn) Ballon, was born in Cum- 
,i. .^"y. berland, Rhode Island, Feliruary 2, 179S. His 
j opportunities for an education were limited. He 

I, learned the trade of a house-carpenter of his father, 

from w hom, and an elder brother. Dexter, lie also learned 
the business of manufacturing cotton goods. At the age 
of twenty-eight he entered into business with his brother, 
Hosca Ballou, at Waterford, Massachusetts, and began to 
m.ike .satinets. This partnership continued until 1827, and 
he carried on the business there until 1S29, when he re- 
moved to Wooiisocket. Here lie was vei7 prosjierous, 
and in 1S39 extended his works, and continued successful 
until January, 1S46, when his factory was destroyed by 
fire, his loss being 824,000, while his insurance was 
$14,000. With undiminished energy he erected on the 
same site the mill now standing. In .\pril, 1S45, he, with 
C)ren A. Ballou, son of Dexter, and with James T. and 
Peleg A. Rhodes, bought of John H. Clark the land on 
which stood the Clinton Mill, and, in May. 1S54, they be- 
came an incorporate companv, of which .Mr. liallou was 
chosen President, which olfice he liehl until his death. 
The null was enlarged, its capital stock increased from 
S75,ooo to $120,000, and the number of spindles became 
15,000. It was named after Governor PJe Witt Clinton, 
of New York. In 1S64, Mr. Ballon became owner of 
the (.ilobe Mill in Woonsocket, and in 1868 he invested in 
the American Worsted Company in the same ])lace — a 
company incorporated that \ear with a cajiilal stock of 
$50,000 — of which oi'poration Mr. Ballou was President. 
He was also a large owner in tlie Peabody Mills at New- 
buryport, .Massachusetts. In 180S the Globe Steam Mill 





^^. . ^/ T;.^/^^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL C YCL OPED 1. 1. 



2S1 



Company became embairassed, but was reorganizetl, and 
Mr. Ballon and his son David tool; one-half of its stocU, 
put new machinery into the mill, and increased its s])indles 
from 14,000 to 22,000. In 1S73 the Ballon Manufactur- 
ing Company was organized with a capital of $500,000, 
and while Mr. Ballon was the principal stockholder, the 
rest of the stock was owned mostly by his relatives. He 
was President of this company until his death, and his son 
David was its Treasurer and Agent. In 1873 ''"^ "'^"' 
mill on the Globe Estate was built, with a capacity of 
40,000 spindles, under the supervision of Mr. Ballou. In 
his latter years Mr. Ballou gave less attention to his fac- 
tories, and devoted much time to the cultivation of his 
farms. The success of the enterprises with which he was 
identified affords ample proof of his great financial ability. 
He was a Representative in the Rhode Island (Jeneral 
Assembly for some time, and served one year as State 
Senator. He belonged to the Masonic order over fifty 
years, and was highly esteemed in his business, public, 
and social relations. He married Ruth Eliza Aldrich, 
daughter of Caleb Aldrich, of .Smithfield, son of Judge 
Caleb Aldrich, and grandson of Moses Aldrich, a cele- 
brated Quaker preacher. His children were Celia Ann, 
who married Cyrus Arnold ; Alpha, who married Peter 
H. Brown, of Providence; Abby, who married Charles 
D. Robinson, of Green Bay, Wisconsin ; and 1 )avid Bal- 
lon, before n-.entioned as partner with his f.ither. 



'PRAGUE, Governor William, son of William and 
Anne (Potter) Sprague, was born in Cranston, 
Rhode Island, November 3, 1799. In 1836 on the 
I death of his father, by whom he had been educated to 
•l be a manufacturer of cotton cloth and a calico printer, 
he united with his brother Amasa in the firm of A. & W. 
Sprague, for the conduct and enlargement of the business 
first established by his father in Cranston and the adjacent 
towns. But prior to his father's death he had taken an 
active interest in the affairs of the town and of the State. 
He became a member of the General Assembly, and was 
Speaker of the House of Representatives from October, 
1832, to May, 1835. In 1835 he was elected State Repre- 
sentative in Congress and served until 1837. He was then 
elected Governor of the Slate, and served in 1838 and 1S39. 
He was finally elected Senator to Congress in 1842, and 
served till 1844, when he resigned on account of the death 
of his brother Amasa, which threw upon him the weight of 
the extensive business of the firm of A. & W. .Sprague. 
Governor .Sprague was alike capai)le in political and business 
affairs, but he now confined his energies to the super- 
vision of his factories and immense calico works. He 
was chosen Presidential Elector by the State in 1S48. He 
married Mary Waterman, of Warwick, Rhode Island, and 
had a daughter, Susan, who married Edwin Iloyt, of New 
York; and a son, Byron, who, with his cousins .\niasa and 
36 



W'illiam (sons of .Amasa), continued the firm of A. & W. 
Sprague, and assisted in carrying on the large business 
established by his father and his uncle. Governor S]irague 
died October Ig, 1S56, at the age of fifty-six. His son Byron 
inherited large projierty, and besides taking his place in the 
firm of A. & W. .Sjirague, the chief management of the busi- 
ness being left to his cou-ins, he became a large dealer in 
real estate, and made extensive improvements in the noted 
property at Rocky Point, in Warwick. In the calico 
works his attention was given chiefly to the department of 
machinery. He died July 31, 1866. Governor William's 
brother, Amasa, devoted himself with energy and success 
to the management of the factories of the finn and to the 
oversight of his lands. It was believed that his opposition 
to the sale of intoxicating litpiors in the vicinity of one of 
the facto) ies of the firm provoked the madness of a liquor 
dealer, who planned his death. He married Fanny Mor- 
gan, of Groton, Connecticut. His children were Colonel 
Amasa, Hon. Wdliam, Almira,who married Hon. Thomas 
A. Doyle, Mayor of Providence ; and Mary Anna, who 
married first John E. Nichols, and second Frank W. 
Latham. 



I^.WLES, Cl,-\rk, master builder and merchant, son 
gy^Ti'i»T! of Ahab and Lillis (Sleere) .Sayles, was born in 
Glocester (now Biu'rillviile), Rhode Island, May 
[8, 1797. His father, son of Israel .Sayles, was a 
v substantial farmer of moch.uiical aliility, and was 
for many years President uf the Town Council of Gloces- 
ter, and, during the war of the Revolution, served in the 
patriot army under General Sullivan. Clark's mother was 
the daughter of .Samuel Steere, a good representative of a 
worthy Rhode Island family. Mr. Ahab Sayles had five 
brothers, Rufus, Nicholas, .Samuel, Joseph, Robert, an<-l a 
sister, Martha, who married, first, Alfred Eddy, and 
second, Augustus Winsor. The .Sayles homestead lands 
were situated between Pascoag and Chepachet, in the line 
that finally, in 1S06, divided Burrillville from Glocester, 
leaving the family mansion in Burrillville. The children 
of .-\hab .Sayles were, Azubah, Lusina, Mercy, Nicholas, 
Clark, Welcome, Lillis, and Maranda; only Clark and 
Maranda are now living (1S81). The ancestors of this 
family, on both sides, were industrious and honored farm- 
ers of the old type, some of them being Friends, and 
others Baptists, in their religious convictions. Clark was 
educated at home, on the farm, and in the common schools. 
His teacher, for many years, was William Colwell, after- 
wards Cashier of the Glocester Exchange Bank. Both at 
home and in the Chepachet Library he found and eagerly 
read good books, not missing a "library day" for years> 
as testified by Mr. Biackman, the librarian. When about 
eighteen years of age he engagetl to work for Mr. Elias 
Carter, a master builder of Thompson, Connecticut, with 
wdium he labored in Thompson, and linally went to the 



2S2 



BlUiJKM'IIICAL C\ CLOPEDIA. 



St:itc of (leiirj^ia ami worked in ciiii>.tnutin^' tlic Ilurkt- 
Cminty < oiinliousc-. Ki lui iiiiij;, lie a^^i-teil in luLiMini; 
tliL- t'linj^ifnatiiinal Clunxh in Milfunl, Massachusetts. 
I-'inallv. lie het^an as a inastei l-iiiMer im liimself; eieclctl 
a resnleiiee fur his lnotlier Nnhol.is; aijain ueiit tu the 
Stale of (_ieor;^ia, anil CMn-tnute<l dwellings fm" planters, 
anil ei>ni|ileteil the laiL;e hulel at \\ aynesliorough. Re- 
tmiiin;^ iViini the Smilh he lnult the meetini,' house in 
(ireeiiMlle, Snnthlielil, Rlioilc Islanil. In the spriiiL; of 
iSjj he renioveil to rautiieket, Rlioile Island, and settled 
as a master Imildei ; erected houses for I >avid Wilkinson, ! 
added a middle section to the I'drsl lla|itisl (_'hurch, plan- 
ned and erected, in lSj8, the lirst ("oni^regatiuiial Church 
in I'awtuckct ; huilt a church edifice in >«'orth Scituate, 
and also one in Attlelmrough, Massachusetts. During all 
this nine he %\as also engaged in the lumber and coal 
li.ide, keiiig the tiist man to introduce Coal into Pawtucket 
In' \essels. He .issociated with liinisell ni husiuess Mr. 
J)aniid (ireene, and in the great tin. inci.d panic of 1829, 
the- tirin of "(dark Sables i.\; (.'o." assumed to a great dis- 
aihantage, as the issue jiroved, the laisiness interests pre- 
\iously carried on hy Mr. ( iicciie, w ho had f.iiled. Mr. 
Saylesuas chosen Itiiector of tlie New* England Pacific 
Jiaiik, of whose lioaid of thirteen directors, ele\"en failed, 
while Mr. Sayles stood through the sioriii. Cdiosen I'resi- 
deiit of this bank, as i-uccessor to I ir. .\sa Messer, Mr. 
Sayles stood at the head of the institution for seventeen 
years, and, '* li)- most remarkably skilful tiiianciering,'' 
brought tlie bank thnaigh all its dilficnlties. In 1S37, 
closing most of his large business relations in Pawtuckit. 
he again went South and engaged in the w Imlesale lumber 
trade for the tirni cd* which he w.is the head, and also as 
agent of another company; operating sti.aiii s.iwmills, one 
on an island at the month of the .Mtani.ih.i ii\er, and one 
on the Savannah river, opposite the city of Savannah. 
After remaining South in the lumber trade (ha\ing Ids 
family with him during some of the wiiUirs). lor about 
twenty years, he returned to Pa\\ tucket. Not entering 
again kirgel)' into business for himself, he as-isted his sons, 
William liamis and hredeiic (.lark, in purchasing ma- 
terials, and in the coiisiruction of the buddings .nlded to 
their extensive Moshassuck Bleacheiy, in the to« 11 of Lin- 
coln. He was also the general superintendent in the erec- 
tion of (he beautiful Memorial Chapel in .Saylesville, near 
the lUeacher)'. I'idilically, lie was an *' r)ld Line Whig," 
and was linally idenlilied w ilh the Re|iublican party, but 
wouhl accept only tow 11 olfices, as his object was service 
rather than honors. In the temperance reform he has held 
a foremost place from the first. Near i.S^j he united with 
llie Congregational (.'hurch, of which he has since been an 
active and consistent member, lie early won lor himself, 
and has always maintained a high and honor. ible place in 
societj', and is now ih-servedly esieeimd in ins ripe vears. 
He married, Iliceinber 25, iSj2, Mary .\nn ( Uney, daiigli- 
te rol Paris ( Jlney, of .Scituate, Rhode Island. .She was a 



member of the (.'ongregational (."liuicli, and noted for her 
strength of mind, gentleness of spirit, soundness of judg- 
ment, decision of character, and the purity of her Christian 
life. She died Septemlier il.lSyS, in her scventy-si.\th 
year. Mr. Sayles had hve children, William Francis, 
Minerva Winsor (died young), Charles .-Vhab [died young), 
Mary .\nn (died young), and Frederic Clark. 



.\ rS(.)N, Wii.Ll-\M RnKiNsciN, son of John J. and 
Sarah (Urown) \\'atson, was born in South 
Kingstown, Rhode Island, December 14, 1799. 
i./b He was a descemlant of some of the oldest, most 
S respectable and distinguished families in Rhode 

Island, among whom iriay be named the Watsons, Haz- 
ards, Robinsons, and Itrowns, who, at a period anterior to 
the Revolutionary War, were the largest landed jiropirie- 
tors in the southern portion of the State, and noted for 
dispensing an elegant and pirincelv hosjiit.ility and furnish- 
ing a genial and polished society, when the city of Provi- 
dence was yet but a small village. Mr. Watson pursuetl 
his early classical stuilies at Plainlield (Connecticut) 
Academy, and was graduated at Brown University in 
the class of 1S23. Among his classmates were Chief 
Justice Ames, of Rhode Island, Rev. Lh'. Crane, George 
D. Prentice, the distinguishei.i editor td' the Louisville 
Journal, and Judge Meilen, of Massachusetts. Professor 
Gammell, in an article on the necrology of Brown I'ni- 
vcrsity hu' I.S6;-64, states, that "lia\ing |iursued his legal 
studies ill the olfice of I Ion. Samuel W. Bridghani, in Provi- 
dence, he was admuied to the bar, but eng.iged to only a 
vei)' limited extent ill the practice of his prolession. His 
lile was dcMited |iie eminently and almost exclusively to 
]iolili(s, and in his chosen spheie he was sagacious and in- 
Hiieiiti.d." For nearly forty years he was one of the most 
active and proiiiineiit jioliticians m Rhode Island, and 
jiioba!)!) no individii.tl e\er excited a gieater inlliience in 
its local politics. In June, iS^y, he was chosen by the 
General Assembly, then controlled by the National Re- 
publicans, to the ofhce of Clerk of Conimoii Pleas for the 
County of Providence, at that time the most lucr.ative office 
in the State, and, in consequence, a place much contended 
for by political parties and their rising favorites. This 
ofhce he held until May, iSjj, when he was displaced by 
a combination of opposing parlies. He. however, regained 
Ihe ofhce in 1855. but held it only hir a single year. 
From lS^6 to 1841 he was cashier, in succession, ot the 
liank of North .America and the City Bank of Providence, 
ami in 1 S4 1 , on the accession of President Harrison, he 
was appointed (.olleitor of the Port of Providence, which 
office he held till the beginning of I'resideiit Polk's ad- 
ministration, in 1845. In 1S49 he was again ajipointed to 
the same office by President Taylor, and retained it four 
years, till he was removed by President Pierce. Through 
his inlluence, while Collector of the Port of Providence, a 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED I A. 



2S3 



construction is now given to a provision of the tariff of 
1833, relating to the compensation to certain collectors, 
adverse to the written opinions of John J. C'ritlenilen and 
Reverdy Johnson, both given while these eminent lawyers 
were holding the office of Attorney-General of the United 
States. In 1S54 he was chosen Secretary of Slaie in Rhode 
Island, hut was defeated at the election the following year, 
when the " Know-Nothing," or National American party, 
of which lie was not a member, swept the State by immense 
majorities. In 1856 he was chosen by the General Assem- 
bly State .Auditor, and continued in that ofi'ice until May, 
1863. His last official relation to any institution was that 
which he sustained to the City lusuiance Company, of 
which he was appointed President nearly a year before his 
death, which occurred in I'nividence, August 29, 1864. 
Mr. Watson was also, during much of his life, a writer for 
the political press, and in several instances, usually at sea- 
sons of election, for brief periods, conducted, as editor, 
certain papers with which he was politically connected. 
His writings were almost invariably of a political charac- 
ter, and in the interest of the Whig party, of which he 
was a devoted champion in Rhode Island. The most 
elaborate of these were a series of papers, first published 
in the Providence Daily yotirual in 1S44, under the 
pseudonym of " Hamilton," which were afterwards col- 
lected and printed in pamphlet form. The doctrines then 
held by the Whig party were there explained and vindi- 
cated with remarkable force and vigor. He was distin- 
guished alike for the integrity and ability with which lie 
discharged the duties of the many and varied public offices 
which he filled ; for the elegance and force with which he 
wielded a facile and not ungraceful pen ; and for a kind- 
ness of heart and dignified urbanity of manner, which at- 
tached to him the w'armest friends, who appreciat'efl his 
agreeable qualities as a citizen in private life. He marrietl 
Mary Anne, daughter of Hon. Caleb Earle, of Providence. 
His children were William Henry Watson, a gr.aduate of 
Brown University, in the class of 1S52, now an eminent 
physician, who has held the highest rank in his profession, 
and l^een honored with the most important trusts in its 
gift, who resides at Utica, New York, of which State he is 
the Surgeon-General ; Eleanor, who married Dr. Charles 
Judson Hill, of the same place; Amcy, and /^nna, deceased. 



|T.\PLES, Hon. Wii,i.i.\m Rii.vn, LL.D., was horn 
J^S) i" Providence, October 10, 179S, and was the 
youngest son of Samuel and Ruth (Read) Staples. 
! The studies of his early childhood days were pur- 
J" sued with Oliver Angell, who, for nearly a half cen- 
tury was a teacher in Providence. His studies, preparatory 
to entrance into college, were carried on in what is now 
known as the University Grammar .School, at present under 
the management of Messrs. M. and E. Lyon. He was a 
graduate of Brown University in the class of iSt;. The 



theme of his oration was " The Dangers of American Lib- 
erty." After studying law in the office of Hon. Nathaniel 
.Searle for two years, he was admitted to the Rhode Island 
bar, September 21, 1S19. \ liule more than two years 
after he commenced the practice of his profession, he mar- 
ried Rebecca M. Power, eldest d.rughtcr of Nicholas and 
Anna (Marsh) Power. Two children were the fruit of this 
union, both of whom died in early life. Mrs. Staples died 
September 14, 1S25. The second wife of Mr. Staples, 
whom he married in October, 1826, was Evelina, only 
daughter of Levi and Susan (Howe) Eaton, of Framing- 
ham, Massachusetts. A large family of eleven children 
was the fruit of this marriage. In 1S32 Mr. .Staples was 
elected a memljer of the first Common Council under the 
new city organization. He served, for two years, as Jus- 
tice of the Police Court. I-'or nineteen years (1835-54) 
he was .\ssociale Judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode 
Island, and soon after the resignation of Hon. Richartl 
Ward Greene, in 1854, he svas elected Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court. Having held the office not quite two 
years, he resigned in 1856 in consequence of failing health. 
For nearly thirteen years (1856-69) he held the office of 
Secretary and Treasurer of the Rhode Island Society for 
the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. In his earlier 
life Judge Staples worshipjied at the First Baptist Church, 
of which his mother was a nienilter. During a part of his 
college life, and after his fust marriage, he attended the 
services of St. [ohn's C'hureh. I''(jr nniny years he was a 
devout ^\'orshij.^per at the meetings of the Society of Friends. 
His death was sudden, and was occasioned by heart dis- 
ease. He died October 19, 186S. Judge .Staples took 
special interest in everything connected with the history 
of his native State. He was fond of historical studies 
and antiquarian research. He «'as one of the Corporators 
of the Rhode Island Historical Society, founded in 1822, 
and its first Secretary and Librarian. He published, in 
1835, an edition with notes of Gorton's Simplicity's Defence 
ai^ainst Seven- Ilem/eil Policy. In 1843 appeared his An- 
nals of Proviilence, a work which covers a period of nearly 
two centuries (1636-1S32). It will always be reliable au- 
thority on all matters of which it treats. His Documen- 
tary History of the Destruction of the Gaspe was pub- 
lished in 1S45. Two years after, 1847, he published 
Proceedings and Code, under the Parliamentary Charter, 
and, in 1S59, a Collection of I'orms, designed to be an aid 
to persons called upon U> draw uji legal documents. By 
a vote of the General Assemhly, he prejiared a history of 
the State Convention of 1790, for the adoption of the Fed- 
eral Constitution. This is a large volume of nearly seven 
hundred pages, and the compilation and arrangement of 
the papers placed in his hands must have cost him no small 
amount of hard labor. It has well been said by Hon. 
William Greene that " the career of Mr. Staples, in all that 
belongs to industrial power, truthful demonstration and 
manly decision of character, was a model for the adoption 



284 



fi/OGA\ir/f/i :iL CYCLOPEDIA. 



nf any ynnnc; iii;in, wlio. c^rlu-M ing \\k sliaiiis of lile, 
\v,.ul(l make iIk- mnvtof ils n-.ililK-.; ami wiio, iiin,| wmth- 
ily ruiui^ liiniM-lf fur it- ilulir>. m.hiM must certainly a^-ure 
liimsL-ir of il-- ixwaiiK." 



'ol'KIN'S, Hon. D.wiii, s..n of Isufus an^l Amy ) 
(Sfn|.|n.-L-| I ln|ikiii,, wa- liuin in K\rtfi-, Rliuilc 
Klan.l, Kcbiuary 10, 1707. lie wa-. uf the liflh 
5-'% t;e)ieration fruin Insi-].!] Hopkins, wlm manieil 
'<}' Manila, llie dan-liter of 'llieopliilus Whale, of 
Sonlli King-Ion n. lie « as a greal-gramlson of Judge 
Sanuul llopkin-; the name of Ins gran Ifatlier was also ] 
Samuel. His early days were s|ienl upon liis father's 
farm. At the age of fifteen he entered a cotton factory 
th.il his father had then Imughl in the northeastern part 
of K\eter. In i.SiS he removed to Noose Neck Hill, in j 
West (ireenwich, and commenced business on his own ac- 
count as a manufactuievof cotton-yarn. Here he remained 
as long as he prosecuted cotton manufacturing. He was ; 
in almost every respect a self-educated and self-made man. 
His application to business and his economy and integrity 
gave lum good reputation and strong credit. I'ntd near 
1S40 he shunned political life, but was called out in the 
Harrison Presidential cam|iaign. He was a Wliig and 
afterwards a Republican. Through Ids inlluence the jire- 
vious Democratic majority in his to« n. West Greenwich, 
was overcome. Repeatedly his townsmen sent him to the 
State Senate, where he efficiently served the interests of 
the State. Whether in tow 11 offices or in the Legislature 
he was the same diligent, careful, honest, failhlid man that 
he was ill his house ami in his factory. In his bii-mess he 
was steadily jirospered. and became emineiitl) successful 
in the accumulation of piopert;' and in gaining the conli- 
dence id his fellowmen. Rhode Island had no better 
tvpe of a self-reliant, laborious, steadfast, consistent citi/en. 
He made no boasts or jirofessions that he tlid not fulfil. 
He married, August 11, i.SiS, Sarah, daughter of Uriah 
and Luiana (.-Mleni Franklin, and had six children, Julia 
.\.,( 'aroline W., i ,) man R., Marcy M., Edwin W., and Maiy 
M. These children came to positions of usefulness and 
lioniu. lla\ing accpiired a competence in his last years, 
he withdrew from active life and removed to t'ran-ton, 
to enjoy the ease he h.id earned, and the ipiKt that he 
neciled. He died in Cranston, M.irch 17, iSSi, aged 
eight) -four )cais, and w .is buried in the family cemetery 
ill Noose Neck Wdlev, in which region most of his life 
had been spent. 



'.F'.NHAM, D.\NIEI, C, was born in New]iort, Rhode 



the same row of stones are four other Ilaniel Denhams, 
the last of whom was born .April 14, 1764, and died Jan- 
uary 7, iS^I. This one, I)r. (dianning says, in his Mini- 
oir^ of Nc7vpi>rt^ lived on the ciuner of Thames and Bridge 
Stiects, and was a noted politician of the Republican tyjie, 
and the tow n meetings of his day were held once a month 
under the leadership of Messrs. Thomas Pitman and Dan- 
iel Denham, who held the reins of tow n affairs for many 
years, and were in so high esteem that their decisi<nis were 
sehloni i|Uestioned by those of the ojiposite jiarty. He 
was also a ludge of the Court of Common Pleas. .At an 
early age he united with the l-irst liaptist Church of ,New- 
]>ort, anil died in its membership. His son, rianiel (.'. 
Denham, was one of the most pnuniiient and useful citi- 
zens of Newport. .At the age of eighteen he united with 
the First l'>a]itist Chuoh of that city, and was one of the 
founders of the Cenlral liaptist Church, of which he was 
Clerk for many years. In early life he w.is a watchmaker 
and sdvcrsmith. and subsei[uently occu|iied public jiosi- 
tions. He was one of the Judges of the Court of Justices, 
and for about tw^enty years Clerk of the Conrt of (.'ominon 
Pleas. He was a member of the (.ieneral .Assembly of 
Rhode Island, and Caiitain in the Militia in the olden train- 
ing days. Mr. Denham was one of the foremost in form- 
ing the improved system of public schools in 1S24, being 
a inemlier of the School Committee. He was President of 
the Mechanics' Society. On the 2d of May, 1S24, he mar- 
ried Sarah I,. Sherman, daughter of Lieutenant William 
Shciman. They have had four children : Charlotte \V. S., 
Sarah I). S.. Daniel ('., Jr., and Henry J., who is engaged 
in the pr.ictice of medicine in Providence. Daniel C. Den- 
ham, |r., has fteen a jeweller in New]iort for fourteen 
years, and served in the L'nion army i.luring the war yA 
the Rebrlhi.n. He married, December 9, 1S5S, Miss 
(.■yiilhia R. Tuell, daughter of James and I'riscilla Tuell, 
of .Newport. 



B 



"iJf 



i;M-j Island, November I ;. 17CJ.S. .Among the gravc- 

e^'v Stones in the old cemetery at Newport, near Com- 

1 ♦ modore Perry's nionument, is that of Il.iniel Den- 

•P ham, wdio came from Plymouth, New Engl. ind, and 

died February 2, 1758, at the age of seventy years. In 



nil I IPS, Thum.vs. son of Thomas and Lydia 
1 Wliitford ) Phi!li|is, was born m Fxcter, Rhode 
Isl.ind, J.inuary 23, 1700. His father was a lan- 
m 1 and a farmer. The Phillips family has a long 
* and worthy history in Rhode Island, and are hon- 
luably mentioned in Updike's //utorv of the Xiiirngaiisctl 
Cliui\li. The father of the subject of this sketch lived be- 
tween E\etei Hollow and Pine Hill, and became one of 
the wealthiest men of the tow n, being noted for his aptness 
of speech, humor, and wit. His children were Dorcas, 
Elualieth, Lydia, Thomas, Mary, John, James, Samuel, 
and .Abby. Tlioinas was educated in the common schools 
and at Washington .Academy in Wickford. He was a 
man of varied re.iding. and distinguishetl for telling good 
stories. He early settled as a farmer on Pine Hill, a con- 
spicuous and historic spot. Tie became the owner of the 
large mansion at the forks of the roads, — the intersection 
of the famous " Ten Rod Road," from Wickfovd to Beach 




/;; 



^/H> ^V'/'A/ 



BIOGRA rmCA L C J r/, OPEDIA. 



28s 



Pond, and tlic Providence and New London Tninpike. 
This was tlien the social and commercial centre of the 
town. Here he opened and managed a first-class country 
store. In October, I S3 1, he was chosen the first Post- 
master on tlie hill, an office which he faithfully filled for 
more than forty years, until his death. His house and 
barns were a relay-station for the oUI line of stages run- 
ning between Providence and New London, aTul at one 
time the line connecting Boston and New York. June 4, 
1833, he was elected Town Clerk of Exeter, a position 
which he filled with such marked ability and fidelity that 
he was regularly re-elected to the office until his death, 
serving in all thirty-eight years and ten months. For a 
few months prior to, and also after, his death, his daugh- 
ter, Abby M., discharged the duties of the office as a 
deputy, so reluctant were the people to have the town 
records pass out of the hands of this family. Near 1834 
he was chosen the first cashier of the E.\eter Bank, whose 
vaults were in his large mansion, and he continued to fill 
this responsible position for about thirty-five years. He 
became one of the wealthiest men in the township, and, 
though quiet in his ways, was always the leading man of 
his town in its affairs. Politically he was an " Old Line 
Whig," a regular "Law and Order" man, and then a 
-Stanch Republican. He was, however, no partisan. His 
house was the social, military, and political centre of the 
township. Here were held all the old-fashioned "general 
musters," and all great questions had to be discussed and 
decided at the old Phillips mansion. Mr. Phillips joined 
the Baptist Church, where Rev. Gershom Palmerministered, 
but afterwards became a member of the E.\eter {Shrub 
Hill) Church, and w.as of great service to that body. He 
was well known in all the business circles of Providence, 
and as a public man had a reputation throughout the State. 
He married, February 26, 182S, Mercy Hoxie, daughter 
of Hon. Joseph Ho.xiie, of West Greenwich, Rhode Island. 
She was born August 13, 1802. Judge Hoxie was chosen 
to the bench of the Supreme Court in 1795. He had four 
children: Mercy, Nicholas G., Benj.tinin R., and Try- 
phena. Mr. Phillips had three children : Annie E., who 
died at the age of twenty-one; Thomas H., who married 
Isie E. Brown, of Syracuse, New York, and is now a mer- 
chant in Kewanee, Henry County, Illinois; and Abby M. 
He died April 2, 1872, in his seventy-third year, and was 
buried at Shrub Hill Meeting-House in the town cemetery. 
It is testified of Mr. Phillips that he " was always genial 
and social, outspoken and frank ; a true friend to the poor, 
a kind husband and father, and an upright man." 



''j^a^RANE, SiL.\s AXTEI.LE, D.D., son of Benjamin and 
Alinda(Briggs) Crane, was born in Berkeley, Massa- 
chusetts, October 21, 1799. His father was a farmer, 
and he, the eldest of ten children, spent the early 

LSI days of his life in agricultural pursuits. The de- 



cision to obtain an education lurl him through the hard 
experiences which have been the lot of so many New Eng- 
land youth who have reached positions of distinction in 
their different professions and callings in life. Although 
called to contend with many difficulties he struggled on, 
and at length graduated with high rank from Brown Uni- 
versity in the class of 1823. After teaching for one year 
he was appointed tutor of mathematics, which office he 
held for four years (1824-28). In connection with George 
W. Keely, afterwards the distinguished Profes.sor Keely, of 
Colby University, in Waterville, Maine, he carried on a 
young ladies' school in Providence. Having pursued a 
course of theological study under the direction of Rev. Dr. 
N. B. Crocker, the rector of .St. John's Church, Providence, 
he was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Griswold in 1S32. 
Giving up his school he became Rector of St. Stephen's 
Church, in Middlebury, Ycrmont, where he received ordi- 
nation as a Presbyter in 1833. He removed to Burlington, 
Vennont, in 1837, with the expectation of taking charge of 
a theological seminary W'hich it was intended to establish 
there. The plan for founding such an institution having 
failed he accepted an invitation to become President of 
Kemper College, in St. Louis, Missouri. Two years, with 
considerable pecuniary sacrifice on his part, were spent in 
the endeavor to build up the institution. Becoming dis- 
couraged he returned to New England, and became Rector 
of St. Luke's Church, in East Greenwich, then a small, 
feeble church, which under his long-continued and faithful 
ministrations came to be one of the strongest Episcopal 
churches in the Slate. Brown University in 1855 conferred 
on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He 
married in 1831, Mary Elizabeth Martin, of Providence. 
Dr. Crane died at East Greenwich, July 16, 1S72. 



^r^OOK, Willis, and Lv.m.\n Arnold, sons of Levi 
iMife and Rhoda (Darling) Cook, were born in the town 
|5^ of Cumberland, Rhode Island, Willis September 5, 
T * 1803. Lyman, December 15, 1805. Their father was 
\m a prosperous farmer, and a man of sterling worth, 
who rendered the public good service in various places of 
trust, in the Town Councils, and as a member of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, being also frequently employed in the set- 
tlement of estates. There being but two years' difference 
in the ages of the brothers, they were naturally brought 
together on the farm, and in occasional opportunities for 
attendance at school on Cumberland Hill, more than a 
mile distant, which they attended in the winter season, and 
this association ripened into an almost life-long partnership, 
at Woonsocket, covering fifty years of most rapid growth 
and prosperity of the village and town, with which devel- 
opment they are most closely identified as important con- 
tributors. Commencing when the principal business por- 
tion of the village was centred about " The Falls;" when 
Main Street was only a country road ; when the first 



286 



niocRAPiiicAi. c rcLori'iuA. 



Iniililini,' noitli .if tli.- Iiou^l- uf I'.iiiu-. llu- iiiilk-r (located 
I'll the |ivcsent site of the X.itional ClloI.e li.Tiik), was Waldo 
Kaile's house, at the " Social," more than lialf a mile dis- 
tant, they have li\ed to see the town in its |ire^ent lhicl-;ly 
settled and |)io>|ieions eondition, and are siill lari^ely inter- 
ested and aeDvelv |iarliei|.atinL; ui il^ husines^ interests, 
aiding; materially in it- fnrtiier f;ro\vlh. I.eavinL; home at 
the ai;es of seventeen and eighteen, respcetively, they 
learned the maeliinist's trade, at which they worked, turn- 
in;,' their pav ovei lo their f.itlur until the last year of their 
miiioritv. when each l'<ai;^ht his time, for one lumdred dcil- 
lars, and contimied woik at (hiy waives, saving; a jioi-tion of 
their earnim;s each year, until 1S2S, when they formed a 
liarlnersliiii willi WdliuL,' \'ose. for the liuihlinsj of machi- 
nery, the style of tliv In-m l.ein;; Wdlis Cook & Co. They 
leased a |-ioition of lot No. [, of the .\ru.)ld heirs (the ]ires- 
ent site I'f the Lippitt WoolUn Mill), and there carried on 
a successful laisiness until hurned out in l^.iS, when they 
leased of Samuel (1. .Vriiold (afterwards r.ieutenant-Cio\-- 
ernor of Rhode Islaml 1, and his sister, the lot since occu- 
jiied bv the well-known W'oonsocket Furnace Company 
(recently purchased hy the American Worsted Company), 
with one-eiL;hth of the water-power of the Blackstone 
River. There they Iniill the haindry and iiiach'ne 5ho|). 
and esteniled the tn-mh alono M.iin Street from lot No. i 
to its present fall, scciiiing of W. ^V I >. I-'arnuni, the ow ners 
(if what was afterwar.Is lion^lit li\' ivlw.rrd Harris for the 
location oi his milU, the extension ol tin' trem h through 
that projrerty. Soiui .ifler locating; here Mr. Vose withdrew 
from the company. In i,S40 they added to their business 
the manufactme of cotton l;ooiK, jmrsuin;^ it for twelve 
years, at the end of which time they leased this mill to 
oiher parties for the same business, but continued tjie foun- 
dry and machine works. .\t the expiration of the first 
tifteeii \ears' lease, it was renewed, and within the seconil 
ti-rm thev purchased rif ihe .\inolds the whole property, 
ill' luilinL; the lari;e e-tate cui the o|ipo^iir si,|e of Main 
.Street, where they creeled 'lwLdlini;s. stoi'e. and oflice 
buildings, the 1. 1st of whuh. completed in I.ShS, was what 
is known as (_'ook's llhuk. now one of the finest biiihlin^s 
in the low n. d hi- I'lock i- on llu- site of their former resi- 
dence, winch when bnih w,i- thought to be " out in the 
wood-," and is now llu- l.u-inrss l eiitie of the tow n. The\' 
sohl their mill piopcrty in 1.S6S. at which time they retired 
from the machine business, but ret.iiiu d their other landed 
estates opposite. .\ few yeais later tlie copaitner-hiji of 
ni.ailv fifty years' st.mdint; was dissolved by mutual at;ree- 
ment. Willis pureliasini; the comiiany real estate, and Ly- 
111,111, w ho i- still active and enter|)risini;, invested in other 
in.iiuilacturint; interests. 'Idiis lon<; t)usiness association is 
remarkable in its uniform record of intej^ritv and unqnes- 
tioiK-d lin.'in^ ial t reilit and stability duriiiL; the whole time. 
In poliiii -, Mr. Willis ( '.lok was an ■• I )ld Line WIiil;," an 
aiti\e and earnest opponent of the l)orr p.irty. and, later, 
I'roiniiu-nlly identified wilh the Krpnblican party. He 



served as a member of the General Assembly at different 
times, hut did not seek jiolitical ofTices, often refusin;^ w hen 
asked to accept them. Dnrinf; the greater jiart of his busi- 
ness career he was connected with the .Smifhfield I'liion 
Hank, as director, from lS3i,and as President of that C(u- 
poratioii, now the Xational Union Dank, continuously from 
iSijj to the present time. He w .as one of the original in- 
corporators of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, in 
1S45, with which he has since been officially connected, 
first as trustee anil director, and since I.Sy; as its Presi- 
dent. He has lonfributecl largely to its success, by atten- 
tion to its inve-tineiit-, and ad\ice in its manageiiient. 

He has been an active director of tlie W isocket (las 

Company since 1S5S. and of the .\iiiericaii Worsted Com- 
pany since iSyii. Mr. (Jook has been interested in the 
subject of religion from early life. lie founded his belief 
upon the views of uni\ersal salvation, as proclaimed by 
Rev. Ilosea Hallou. and through his influence, witli that 
of others. Mr. liallou. Rev. Thomis Whittemore, and other 
Univcrsalist divines, were induced to expound their faith lo 
the people of Woonsocket. Mr. Oiok assisteil in estab- 
lishing the first .Sunday-school in Woonsocket, a union 
school for all denomiiiatinns. In 1S34, he, with others, 
was instrumental in organi/.ing a Univcrsalist Society, and, 
later, the Sunday-school and Church. He was for many 
years Pre-ideiit of the Society, and until 1S79, a member 
of the I'rudeiUial (.■oimiiittee. from whicli position he with- 
drew on account of faihiig health. He has always con 
trifiuted largely towards the support of the Society, and 
has been, in many ways, a constant and permanent con- 
tnlnitor to its growth and pro-|.erity. Mr. Cook ha- been 
distinguislied foi immovafile integrily and uprightness, for 
his interest in all matters pertaining to the good of the 
town. State, and nation, for thoroughness in all that he 
undertook, and for sound judgment in all matters of busi- 
ness. He married, July 5. iSj.S.Cyrena Thayer, ilaughler 
of Moses and .\iina (Paine) Tlia)er, of Mendon, Massa- 
chusetts. Thev ha\e had nine children: Kliidialet S., 
liorii M.irtli 2J, iSjo; Horace t.'., bom Xoveniljer Ij, 
I.S30, died lamiary 22, 1S73; \\\\\ J.inette T., born .\pril 
I.S. 1S33; Madoia, born .April 1, iNjs. married R. Ci. 
Randall. |iiiie K'l, 1S57; ( yrena J., born .Vugu-t 11, 
lS;7, mauled |. 1!. .\ldiicli. June 9. 1S70; A. Olivia, 
born Septeiiifier iS. iNjo, married J. R. Poydeii, son ol 
Rev. lohii Hoyden, laiuiary 22, I,SiJ2; Susan .\., born 
Iiecember 9. 1^4+. married Henry L. Ballon, son of Hon. 
l.atimer W. P.,dloii. M .1.. October 6, 1S6S: Ednah L., 
born October 2.S, i,S49, died July 21. 1S50; Gertrude, born 
Mav 7, 1S51, married Richmond .A. Bullock, flctober 10, 
1S71, died October 4, 1S77. Mr. Lyman ,\. Cook, in ail- 
dition to the jiartnership business of the brothers, has been 
an active iiarticijiant in the organization and jiromotion of 
several other m.imil'.icluring interests, some of which have 
been among flic most succi-ssfiil and prosperous, giving 
emplovment lo many, ami contrifaitmg materially to the 




^/y7'2 t'-iy^^L- 



'. ^/ /: 



V /-? /:'' 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



2S7 



growth of this ami otlier localuies. He was one of the 
original organizers of the Bailey Wringing Machine Com- 
pany, and on its incorporation, was elected its President, 
which office he has held from time to time, antl now oc- 
cupies ; also of the Woonsocket Rubber Company, of 
which he is the principal stockholder, and has been Presi- 
dent since its incorporation, in 1867. He is now, and has 
been since 1863, President of tlie Woonsocket National 
Bank; also, of the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company at 
Pawtucket ; the Hautin Sewing Machine Company ; and 
the Narragansett Nail Company. He is a director in the 
Providence & Worcester Railroad Company, and a large 
owner in the Lawrence Felting Mills, at Millville, Massa- 
chusetts, to which village it was lately removed from Law- 
rence, Massachusetts, and to which it has infused new life 
and vigorous growth. Mr. Cook has also, from time to 
time, held considerable interests in various other mechan- 
ical and mining enterprises. He has not been an active 
participant in politics, but has at various times represented 
the town in both branches of the General Assembly. He 
has been identified with the Republican party since its or- 
ganization, and was formerly a Whig. In religion, he was 
for many years an attendant at the Baptist Church, and, 
later, at the Episcopal Church, of which he is a member and 
the senior \>'arden. He has always been a liberal contributor 
to the organizations with which he was interested. Mr. Cook 
married, September 22, 1830, Lavina B. Smith, who was 
born August 22, 1808. They had three children: George 
Smith Cook, born January 14, 1832, died December 30, 
1842; Henry Lyman Cook, born October 8, 1834, died 
March 31, 1S35 ; Edward Lyman Cook, born July 6, 1842, 
and married, Januaiy 17, 1871, Sarah Knapp Heath, who 
was born July 30, 1847. Mr. Cook has always been highly 
esteemed for his sterling worth and integrity, for his-energy 
and tenacity of purpose, public spirit, and generosity towards 
all worthy objects and enterprises. Although now seventy- 
five years of age, he is still acii\ely engaged in all the 
business enterprises in which he is interested. 



5li»AWRENCE, Hon. William Beach, was born in 
SwSy the cily of New York, October 23, 1800, and is 
'^i^? the son of Isaac and Cornelia Lawrence, the latter 
',' . ' of whom was a descendant of one of the oldest and 
el I9 best families of the metropolis. His ancestors came 
from England in the early part of the seventeenth century, 
and received a patent for a portion of Long Island, now con- 
stituting the towns of Flushing, Hempstead, and Newtown. 
His maternal grandfather was the Rev. Dr. Beach, for 
many years the rector of Trinity Church, New York, and 
a descendant from the first white child born in Connecticut. 
Mr. Lawrence entered Rutgers College at the age of 
twelve, spending two years there, afler which he entered 
Columbia College, at the age of fourteen, and graduated 



therefrom with high honors at the age of eighteen. Soon 
afterwartl, he entered the law office of William Slosson, 
the most eminent commercial lawyer then in the city of 
New York. He also spent some time under the instruc- 
tion of Jutlges Reeves and Gould, in whose law school, at 
Litchfield, Connecticut, Calhoun was then a student ; in 
1821, visited Europe, and spent two years in England, 
France, and Italy, and meanwhile a winter in Paris, giving 
special attention to the law school there, and to the lectures 
of Say on Political Economy. His father had been hon- 
ored as President of the New York Ijranch of the United 
States Bank, and as one of the Presidential Electors of 
President Monroe, who conferred special favors upon the 
subject of this sketch, giving him letters of introduction to 
Jefferson and Madison. Mr. Madison introduced him to 
Mr. Ru>h, our Minister to England, and Mr. Jefferson 
made him bearer of letters to Lafayette, who, at a subse- 
quent period, invited Mr. Lawrence to be present at his 
recital to Mr. .Sparks of the circumstances that induced 
him to join Washington in the struggles of the Revolution. 
He related a few instances of Washington's unbending 
reserve, even with his warm friend Lafayette in tliose try- 
ing times, not reported by Mr. Sparks. President Monroe 
also introduced Mr. Lawrence to Lord Holland ; and John 
Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State, introduced him and 
Mrs. Lawrence to all our diplomatic representatives. They 
were also favorably introduced to European society by M. 
Hyde de Neuville, then French Minister at Washington, 
and by King Joseph to the Bonaparte family at Rome, a 
centre of most elegant European society. Mr. Lawrence 
returned to America in 1823, and was then .admitted as 
counsellor to the Supreme Court of New York. Ilis spe- 
cial attention was then, as previously, given to international 
law, but not to the neglect of his taste for the beautiful, as 
seen in his address in 1825 before the New York .Academy 
of Fine Arts. In 1826 he was appointed Secretary of the 
Legation to JLondon, Mr. Ciallatin being our Ambassador, 
and his influence in the negotiations may be inferred from 
Mr. Gallatin's report to the Secretary of S(ate, that Mr. 
Lawrence was '* competent alone to conduct the afl'airs of 
the mission." In 1827 he was appointed by the President 
as Charge iP Ajfaires for the ratification of foreign treaties 
concluded by Mr. Gallatin, our Minister to Paris, and as 
the Plenipotentiary of the United States he selected the 
arbiter for the settlement of the boundary of our northern 
and northeastern froniier. The correspondence of Mr. 
Lawrence witli Lords Dutlley and Aberdeen concerning 
that boundary evinced his great power of diplomacy, which 
was greatly admired by his countrymen, and established 
his reputation as an expounder of international law, and 
for which he received the highest commendation of the 
President and Henry Clay, then Secretary of State. While 
in London, he was intimate with members of the Political 
Economy Club, of which Mr. McCulloch, Sir John Bow- 
ring, and (jrotc were members, and he was then a con- 



28S 



BIOGRAPHICAL CWL OPEDIA. 



uiliiitDi to till- \\\slniiii<l,y R.viiW. lie was also iiili 
tn.ik- wiih U-uiny I',i iitliain. I'lom Lnivl.in lie went to 
Paris, in iSjS, ami llieie tlan^lale(I into Knt;lisli the history 
of tlie 'I'rLalv ol 1 ,i au-.iaiia. by MallJoi^, and became inti- 
mate willi (iui/ot, \'ilKniain, ('ou--iu, ami other men of 
taninenee. t )n his i\uun liouie. he coiuill aite<l larL;ely to 
the Aiiuyiiiii: Aiiiuial /w^'wAv, from I.S21) to iSu. the 
first fruits of liis fl^reil;n oliservatioiis. In the meantime 
he ili^]ilayeil yreat aliility in ]>roseeuting claims for indem- 
nity under the treaty of 1S51, called the Rives Treaty, in 
which his family « ere yreatly interested, the claims being 
for s|joliatioiis under the decrees of Najioleon in violation 
of the laws of nalions. ami hi^ arguments were commended 
by Webster, with whom he was associated in siaiie of the 
cases. Ilis lectures on Political Kconomy before the 
Senior Class of C'ldiimbia (_'ollege, rejieated before the 
Mercantile library Association, were imblished in 1S32. 
'I'liesc lectures were in defence of free trade. That year 
liis On\;iii (III,/ Xii/ii/r of llie Rcprcscitlalivc and Fciicia- 
livc III ^1 Hill lulls of the L'liitiui SliiU-s was published. 
lie wa-. \'ice-l'resiileiit of tlie New York Historical 
Sotiety from lSj6 to 184^. The following articles from 
him attracted sjjecial attention : " Bank of the United 
States," in iSjI ; "An lii(|ulry into the Causes of the 
Public iJistress," in 1834, and " lli^tory of the Nego- 
tiations in Reference to the ICastern and Northeastern 
Boundaries of the Ciiilcd States," in 1S41. During his 
]iractice of law he was in |iaUuershi|i with Hamilton 
Fish, of New ^'ork. In 184^ ,\Ir. Lawrence procured, 
by his able arguments before the ('ourt of Krrors, a rever- 
sal of [he ( haiiceliiu's decision (Mdler -n. Liable, 4 
llciiio, 571)). In 1S50 he removed to New port, Rhode | 
Island, where he resided until his death, iijTon his estate ' 
known astlchre Point, one of the most charming locali- 
ties in that place so renowned fi>r its natural sceiieiv. 
Soon after his settlement there he was elected Lieutenant- 
(iovernoruf Rhode Island, in 18^1. In a short time, liy 
a ])ro\isi<ui 'if the Cfuistitiition of the St.Ue, he liecame 
( io\ei nor, and while serving in that capacity was instru- 
mental in procuring a reform in the management of tlie 
jails, liy an abolition of the hiws for imprisonmer.t for debt. 
Ilisfnend Henry Whealon, i ,1 .. 1 1., ilie.l in 184S, and Mr. 
Lawrence then ]ircpared an edui.iiiof Wheatoii's /;7,'ot,v;/j 
0/ hitmi(ifi:'ii,i/ /,,;ri', w liich was published in 1851;, a 
work more than doublcil by the added original matter of 
Mr. Lawrence. This was p.irlly a work of charity, for the 
beiielit of Mr. \\ healoji's family, who, in 1S4S, were left 
in destitution. This wmk greatly increased the publish- 
er's fame, not only at home, iiut abroad, lieing made a text- 
booi< in the I'higlish uni\frsities and courts. A second 
c'lition was ]uiblidied in i.SiiJ, with its aniiot.iti.ms by Mr. 
Lawrence rew Mtieii by him, and it is now a w orld-w ide 
sl.indard author, ty. He was rcpicstcd by .\lr. Prockhaus, 
of Leipsic, to jaepaie a hg.d commentary in the French 
language, and in coiniiliance with this reipiest, has fol- 



lowed the order of Wheaton's Klowriih, but the wurk is 
composed enlirely of his own original matter; four vol- 
umes, 8vo., have been I'ubhshed, the entire work to be 
complete in tw el\e volumes. Mr. Lawrence incurred tlie 
expense of many thousand dollars in jaiblisliing the luig- 
lish and I'Vcnch editions of the liloiiuiit^, the large pro- 
ceeds of w hich were realized by the family of his friend 
W'heaton. The excellence of his work is seen in the liti- 
gation of Lawrence vs. Dana, for infringement of copy- 
right, during which action in the Circuit Court of the 
United States, for Massachusetts, Judge Clifford said: 
".Such a comprehensi\'e collection of authorities, explana- 
tions, and weli-ciuisiilered suggestions, is nowhere, in the 
judgment of the Court, to be found in our language." His 
I'lsiliilion lilt J Sroii/i ill I'iiiic of Fonie,\\\ 1S58; his 
I' Iiiliisti if /■'iniliois,' et r Eiilaviii;i- tics •\c;''v.< aiix Et.lts 
iiiis, ill l8()0, published in Paris, and many elaborate arti- 
cles in magazines of the highest ori.ler in Europe and 
.■\iiierica, are among his later jiioductions. Jlis superior 
merits as a commentator on international laws have been 
acknowledged by the ablest men of England and France. 
At Berlin, in a personal interview with Count Bismarck, 
the latter acknowledged his fre.pient use of the annota- 
tions of Mr. Lawrence. While in Euro]ie, Brown L^niver- 
sity conferrei-1 upon him the degree of Doctor of Law s, and 
he was distinguished as the first recipient of the title of 
Doctor of Civil Law granted in the United States, a de- 
gree conferred by the Regents ot the University of the 
State of New \'ork. Mr. Lawrence was one of the origi- 
nal members of ihc " institute of the Law' of Nations," 
composed of the most eminent publicists. Indeed, liis 
fame was so thoroughlv estai)lislied al)road as well as at 
hcMiie, that it maybe said of him that he was not less Euro- 
jieaii than .Xmerican. .\s an international counsellor he 
was unrivalled ]ieihaps on either side of the Atlantic. His 
ability was n\ ell proved in the case known as the "(Circas- 
sian," invohing over $500,000, liefore the British and 
American lomt High Commissioners, at Washington, in 
1873, when Mr. Lawrence obtained a re\ersal of the de- 
cision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and re- 
cci\eil a fee of $40,000. His |ioliiics were ever true to 
the iirinciples which in early life he learned from Jeherson 
and Madison. His huig and l.diorious life rei|uires an 
elaborate memoir to do it justice. His several resiliences 
in Europe, associ.ited there w ith the first diplomatists and 
scholars, and for half a century enjoying the same privileges 
in his own country, contributed in giving him a classic, 
statesmanlike venerableness not easily described nor often 
equalled. Mr. Lawrence married. May ig, 1S21, Miss 
Esther R., ilaughter of .\reliibald (Iracie, a distinguished 
merchani of New York. .She was born .May 5, 1801. and 
died November I<|, 1857. .\moiig their children aretien- 
eial .Albeit ( iall.ilin, distinguished in our late war, and 
Isaac, who was the Ptemocratic candidate for Governcn of 
Rhode Island, in 1S78. Mr. Lawrence died in New York 



BIO GRA PllICA L C \ CL OPEDIA . 



289 



city, Maicli 26, 18S1. To a wurU cntitleil Mm of Pn%-- 
ress we are indehtad for most of the facts contained in this 
biograjihy. 



%K^EARING, Joseph Warren, M.D., son of Benja- 
^^7i re min and Salome Fearing, was born in Wareham, 
■iZ^'' Massachusetts, September 6, 1800. He prepared 
j for college in Sandwich, Massachusetts, and was a 
H. graduate of Brown University in the class of 1823. 
He pursued his medical studies with Dr. John Mackie, of 
Providence, who was his relative, and attended lectures in 
the city of New York. In 1S26 he began the practice of 
his profession in Providence, Rhode Island, where he con- 
tinued until his death, which occurred November 24, 1862. 
He was remarkably skilful and successful, and h.ui an 
extensive practice. His long residence of thirty-si.\ years 
in Providence brought him i)Uo professional and friendly 
relations with a large number of families, wdiose respect 
and affection he won by the urbanity of his manners and 
the tender sympathy he manifested for them in times of 
trial and suffering from bodily disease. He was twice 
married. His first wife was Rebecca Brattell, daughter of 
Asa Ames, of Providence, who died April 28, 1837. On 
the 13th of December, 1854, he married Matilda, daugh- 
ter of James Pickens, of Boston. She and a daughter by 
his first marriage are living. " Dr. Fearing," .said Profes- 
sor Gammell, " was a devout Christian, and often minis- 
tered the consolations of religion at the bedside of the sick 
and dying. He thus unconsciously secured for himself 
from the whole community that respect which is always 
accorded to a modest, faithful, ami true man." 



-.\THAWAY, Rev. George Washington, was 
born in Dighton, Massachusetts, April 12, 1800. 
He was fitted for college in his native town, under 
the tuition of Rev. .'\braham Gushe, and was a 
graduate of Brown University in the class of 1822. 
While in college he became a Christian, and his mind was 
at once turned to the ministry. Having passed through 
his college course of study, he went South, and for a time 
had charge of a school in Cheravv, South Carolina. While 
occupied with his duties as an instructor, he found time to 
pursue the study of theology. Bishop Bowen, of South 
Carolina, ordained him as a Deacon at Charleston, in De- 
cember, 1824, and he officiated for several years as a clergy- 
man of the Episcopal Church in Cheraw. Failing health 
compelled him to return to the North, and as it was doubt- 
ful whether he would he able to resume his i>rofessional 
duties, he engaged for some time in mercantile pursuits in 
Providence. But his health being restored he returned to 
his chosen vocation, and in July, 1830, was ordained a 
Presbyter by Bishop Griswold, and was called to be the 
Rector of St. Mark's Churcji iji Warren. Under his min- 
37 



istry, which covered a period of more than twenty years, 
his jjarish \\as highly prosperous, and he gathered a 
huge congregation. In 1852 he resigned his rectorale of 
St. Mark's to become the minister of the church at Lons- 
tlale, where he remained six years, and was then Rector 
for a few years of Trinity Church in Troy, New \'ork, 
when the state of his health compelled him to abandon his 
ministerial work. He came back to spend his last days 
among his Rhode Island friends. While at the home of a 
relative in Dorchester, Massachusetts, he was smitten down 
by disease and died November 15, 1853, leaving a widow 
and two children. " He was a laborious and faithful min- 
ister, devoted to the Christian communion of which he was 
a member, and very active and efficient in promoting its 
prosperity and extending its sphere." 



i^OODWlN, Rev. Dani 
iSJM. and Polly (Briggsl G 



:iEL Le Baron, son of Daniel 
illy (Briggs) Goodwin, was born in Easton, 
,j Massachusetts, July 20, 1800, and was fitted for 
college at the Phillips Acailemy, Andover. He was 
a graduate, with high honors, of Browii University, 
in the class of 1822. After completing his college studies, 
he was a tutor on a plantation at Chantilly, not far from the 
place where were fought the famous battles of Bull Run. 
Mrs. General Lee and other connections of the Washing- 
ton family, were among his pupils. He pursued his theo- 
logical studies at Andover, and was ordained by Bishop 
Griswold a Deacon of the Episcopal Church, May 3, 1825, 
and soon after became Rector of the church in what was 
East Sutton, Massachusetts, now Wilkinsonville. He was 
ordained a Presbyter, July 26, 1829. He occupied his 
position as Rector of the East .Sutton Church twenty-nine 
years, and then removed to Providence. A mission was 
established at the Woonas(|iiatticket Print Works, of which 
he took charge. Out of this mission has grown the pres- 
ent Church of the Messiah, at OIneyville. He received 
the appointment of City Missionary of the Church Mis- 
sions in 1S55. His labors in this department of church 
work continued for six j'cars, when his official connection 
with the society was terminated. His labors among the 
poor and spiritually destitute did not, however, cease. 
Subsequently he received an appointment, from the Con- 
vention of the diocese, again to act as City Missionary, 
and for two years was so occupied. While residing in 
Providence he w^as of great service to the clergymen of 
his church, aiding them when called upon in their Sabbath 
and other ministrations. Mr. Goodwin married Rebecca, 
daughter of William Wilkinson, December 12, 1825. Ten 
children were the fruit of this unitin, of whom five were 
living at his decease. His oidy son. Rev. Daniel Ciood- 
win, a graduate of Blown University, in the class of 1S57, 
is an Episcopal clergyman, ami now in active service as a 
minister of his church. Mr. Goodwin died in Provi- 
dence, December 25, 1S07. 



290 



lilOGKAPHlCAL CVCLOPEDJA. 



yATll'lN, II. 'S, W 11 MAM Sa\ii 1.1, tlic L-Iik-st siin 
(if llii- l-itv. Willi. nil an. I Hannah (Ihiill)Ut) I'at- 
5 ..y.j tun, Ha^ Imihi in .\c« p.ji I, Maicli 14, iSoo. His 
^;|& CiiI1l-l;i-- |irfiiar.il.)ry •-tuiliL-s wc-ic |)ur>ucil under tlic 
* tuitiun iif hi- iimic, (;L-..i);e JaflVay I'atten, who 
hail cliaryi' of a ilassiial mIioi.! in llaitford, Connecticut, 
ami he was a Ljraduale of lliowii Lliiiver^ity in the class of 
iSlS. lie ^liulir.l law \Mlli llie Hon. William Huiitev, of 
Newport, anil was a.liiiitle.l to the lur of KluHle Idand in 
I.Sji. I'or ep^lit ye. IIS ( I.S-\;-lS,;i) he inaeticed his ]jio- 
fes^ii.n in l'io\ idi iiee, .iiid held fov some time the jiositi.in 
of haliloi ol the Rhode Island Amcriidii, hlling the va- 
cancy occasioned by the retiienicnt of Professor William 
G. Coddard. He was chosen cashier of the Mamtfacturers' 
Bank, in Novcinlier, iSji. This institution, which had 
been estalilished in Tawlncket by Samuel Slater, was re- 
moved to i'l.iVldelue soon after the eleetlon of Mr. Palteii, 
and he held theoliiee lowliirh he li.id lieeii chosen durini; 
the remainder of his lile. Hilling tins time, a jieriod of 
foity-two N'cais, he w .is called, hy his tellow-citi/^ens, to 
till many im|"irt.iiil and honorable positions. For a num- 
ber of years he was a member, .ind for twci of these years 
President of the rommon ('.aiiuil. He also represented 
I'rovidence in the Khoile Ishitnl (jeneral Assembly, being 
Speaker of the House of Representatives in the session of 

1847-1S4S. < If llie Reform Scl I he was a Trustee, and 

an Inspector of the State Prison. He took a very active 
part in the e-tablishnicnl of the Providence Athena'um, 
being for more than tliiily years one of its leading mana- 
ger-,. I'or nine jeais he w.is \'ice- President of its corpo- 
ration, and President for fruirleen years. He was tor 
tuciity three years the (diairnian of its Library (Committee. 
To no one person i- this institution more imlebted lor its 
jirosperity tli.in to Mr. Patten. He was chosen a trustee 
of Pnown Lniversiiy in i.S;,o, and on ilu- de.illi of Samuel 
Poyd Tobe)', in 1S07, he was elected t Iiancellor of the 
(.'orpoi.ition. Hewas al-o a nreniber, lor many years, of 
the I-;xecuti\e (.'onimittee of the L'niversiiy. The pajicrs 
which he ]iiesenled to the eorpor.ition were models ol 
graceful writing, and clear st.itcuunt ot the subjects dis- 
cussed. Mr. I'atten m.irried, in iSj;, Kli/a Williams, 
daughter of the lion. Sauuiel W. liridgham, of Providence. 
He died in Pni\ideiice, I >ecenrber 27, 1S73. 



P^Hn*|DAMS, SiTtl, merchant, -on of Seth and Susan 
%fi3|j| (Simnioiisi .'\daiiis. was born in "Pannton, Mas- 
^."'•^ sachusclts, Jaliu.iry 14, l.Soo. His father, who 
• dit-d in 1.S4.S, u .Is a welbkni-iwn business man of 
J" Providence, ainl .ic<. nmul.Ucd a lortune, which 
Mr. .\d.ims inherited, .\llei receiving his education he 
engaged in tr.ide in tlour .Old corn, .md contiuueri in the 
business nil his ile.itli, j.iiiu.iry 10, 1S06, a period of forty- 
ti\e seats, w lu-ii he was sucieeded bv his sons, (ieorge. 



John, and Charles, the lalter two being the jireseitt mem- 
bers of the lirm. h'or many \ears he ranketl amcmg the 
most prominent and successful merchants in New Eng- 
land. I'ew men jinrsued their business with more untir- 
ing energy thin he, .md in eservthing pertaining to it he 
was melliodicil and exact. His prolrity was above all 
sus])iciiin. It spurned all evasion or subterfuge, and every 
obligation was punctiliously fnlhlled. He was emiiienlly 
conserv .Uive. In business, as in almost ever}'lhing else, 
he preferred the good old ways. He shared with others 
the desire to accumulale wealth, but he never sought it by 
ambiguous or doubtful means. He was for nrany years, 
and to a considerable extent, a lender of money, but he 
never took more than legal interest. As an investment lor 
money Mr. Adams had a predilection for real estate. He 
was fond of budding houses, and prided himself mi the 
most subst.inii.d thoiouglmess of ci;insti uction. Whoever 
satisfied liliii might be sure that he had done his work 
\>ell. 1 luring his long mercantile career Mr. Adams had 
iir his employ sever. tl voung men who afterwards attained 
prominence among the business nren of Rhmle Island, 
owing, no doubt, in part, to the |iractical education they 
received from him, for many vears Mr. .Vdams was a 
Director of the Providence Instilntion for Savings, and a 
memlier of its Standing Ci-uninittee, and also a Director of 
the Roger W''ilbaiiis P>,iiik. In politics he was first a Whig 
and afterwards idenlilied himself with the Republican |iarty. 
riuring the " Dorr War" he was a memlier of the *' Law 
andllriler" |i.iity, and earnest and active in the ellort to 
restore it. Mr. .\d.inis w.is twice mariied; first to Harriet 
E., ilaughter of .\rtliur I'enner, Esip, of Providence, and, 
second, to Saiah. daughter of Hon. Abijah and Hannah 
(( iardner) liigelow, of Worcester, Massachusetts. By the first 
marriage he had one son, Seth, w ho mariied Martha Long, 
of .\ewtow 11, North Carolina. I'.\ the SL-Liuid mairiagethere 
were ten cliildieii, — Eli/abeth Pigelow , w ho married Hon. 
Casar A. L [idike, son of Hon. Wilkiiis Updike, of Kings- 
ton, Rhode Island; Sarah ilied while an infant; George 
William, who mariied Sojihia II irrison, daughter of (jover- 
nor [ohn Brown Francis, of Warw ick, and served honorably 
in the War of the Rebellion, receiving a hurt as Colonel of 
Artillerv ; Ilaniiah I iardner, who married Hon Edward 
L. Dasis, son of Hon. Is.iac 1 i.ivis, of Worcester, Massa- 
cliuselts, and dieil in i.Soi ; pilin, who married Robie 
Hathaway, daughter of William 11. Hopkins, Esq., of 
Piovidence; Francis Gardner, who served in the United 
States Navy during the war, and died while in command 
of the L'nited States .Steamer Honduras, at Key West,. in 
1805; Harriet, who married ih.irlesH. Henshaw, Esi]., 
son of I. P. K. Ileiislnw , Rishup of Rhode Island; Charles; 
•Susan, who married Rev. Reginald H. Howe, son of M . 
A. I le W. Howe, Bishop of Central Pennsylvania ; and Abi- 
j.ih Bigelow, who marrieil .Maria E., daughter of F;. Spen- 
cer Dodge, l'Ni|., of Providence. Mr. Adams was a con- 
stant aitrudaiit of St. John's (Episcopal | church, and deejily 




y^/^M^^j /^. <^^^^ . 



BIOGRArillCAL CVCLOPr.DIA. 



291 



interested in its wvlfave. His influence was always on tlie 
side of temperance, justice, and good morals. Though not 
a leader in public enterprises, he gave them efficient and 
judicious aid, and the records of the University and Hos- 
pital, and other puljlic institutions, will show his interest 
in establishing and sustaining them. He was a man of 
strongly marked character, and one who acted in accord- 
ance with conscientious conviction. 



j^L.-\RK, Rr. Rk\-. Tiiom.as M..\rcii. D.I)., I.L.D., 
Bishop of Rhode Island, was born in Newlmryport, 
Massachusetts, July 4, 1812. He took the name of 
his father, a well-known citizen of Greenland, New 
Hampshire. His mother, Rebecca Wheelwright, was a 
direct descendant of the Rev. John Wheelwright, one of the 
early ministers of Boston, who, with his sister, Mrs. Ann 
Hutchinson, was banished from the Ma.ssachusetts Colony 
for divers heresies, and who is said to have retreated to 
New Hampshire and founded the town of Exeter. Bishop 
Clark received his early education for the most part at the 
Newburyport Academy, having passed a brief term at 
Framingham and Phillips Academy, Andover. In the year 
1S27 he entered Amherst College, and in the Sophomore 
year removed to Yale, where he graduated in 183 1. Among 
his classmates was the present distinguished President of 
Yale College, the Rev. Dr. Porter. After his graduation 
he became Principal of the Lowell High School, which was 
opened for the first time under his administration, and that 
he should have begun his active life there is made the more 
interesting from the fact that his father had lieen employed 
some years before in the purchase of the land upon which 
the city of Lowell now stands. Having been educated in 
the Presbyterian faith, after a year or two of school teach- 
ing, he entered upon his theological studies in the Princeton 
Seminary, and in 1835 received a license to preach from 
the Newburyport Presbytery. In the autumn of the same 
year, while in temporary charge of the Old South Church, 
Boston, he determined to enter the Episcopal ministry, 
much to the grief of his relatives and friends, who were, 
almost without exception, attached to the Presbyterian 
Church. In 1836 he was confirmed by Bishop Griswold, 
and in the following week admitted to Deacon's orders in 
St. Paul's Church, Boston. In the month of June the same 
year Grace Church, Boston, was consecrated, and he was 
called from Portland, Maine, where he had been officiating 
for a few months, to take charge of the new enterprise. 
In 1838 he was married to Caroline Howard, daughter of 
Benjamin Howard, Esq., senior warden of Grace Church. 
They have had five children, three of whom are living. 
In 1842 he removed to St. Andrew's Church, Philadelphia, 
where he remained about four years, and tlien removed to 
Boston, to become the assistant minister of Trinity Church. 
Four years after this he became the Rector of Christ Church, 



Hartford, Connecticut, where he continue<l until he was 
elected Bishop of Rhode Island. He was consecrated to his 
present office in Grace Church, Providence, on the 6th of 
December, 1854, and at the same time became Rector of 
that church. In 1866 he resigned the rectorship, provision 
having now been made for the independent support of the 
episcopate. On the 6th of December, 1879, the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of his consecration was observed in Grace 
Church, and an address of congratulation was given by the 
Rev. Daniel Henshaw, the son of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Hen- 
shaw, who was Bishop Clark's predecessor. At the same 
lime a liberal offering was made by the churches of the 
diocese for the increase of the episcopal fund. From the 
statements mafle on the occasion it appeared that there were 
28 presbyters and deacons on the roll of the convention at 
the time of the Bishop's election, which had increased to 
50 in 1S79; a large number nieanwliile having been added 
to the list who had either died or removed. The number 
of communicants hail increased from 2614106394; Sunday- 
school teachers from 341 to 782; .Sunday-school scholars 
from 2231 to 6374. The whole amount of offerings for 
missionary and charitable purposes reported in 1854 was 
310,167, in 1879 it was $34,218. The whole amount con- 
tributed in 1S79, including the support of public worship 
and other parish purposes, was Si43'6o8. Bishop Clark 
has received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from 
Trinity College, Hartford ; of Doctor of Divinity from 
Union College, .Schenectady ; and also from Brown Uni- 
versity, Providence ; and of Doctor of Laws from the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge, England. Among other works he 
has published the Primary Truths of Religion, which has 
been reprinted in London, and translated in the Chinese 
language for the use of missionary schools in Japan. He 
has written also two or three other books, and an unknown 
number of addresses, lectures, sermons, and review articles. 
During the late Civil War he was an active member of the 
United Slates Sanitary Commission, and acted as Chaplain 
to the First Light Infantry Regiment of Providence, still 
retaining his position as Chaplain to the veterans. It was 
to his exertion that the citizens of Providence are indebted 
for the chime of bells that hang in the steeple of Grace 
Church, the first contribution coming from the Light In- 
fantry, on condition that the bells should always be rung on 
the anniversary of the battle of Lake Erie. Bishop Clark 
has twice visited Europe, on the last occasion officiating in 
all the Protestant Episcopal churches established on that 
continent. In an editorial suggested by the brilliant tribute 
paid to Bishop Clark on the occasion of the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of his consecration, the Providence yournat 
thus refers to the popularity and influence of the Bishop; 
" It was no more a graceful than a dutiful recognition of the 
good words and works of Bishop Clark which impelled so 
manyof his brethren in the ministry, of divers faiths, to unite 
in the manifestation of good will rendered by the clergy 
and people of his own church. To many outside of his 



zg2 



BiocR-irnu \iL c } a. oped/. i. 



cciuTmiiiioM r.i-.Ii.i|) Clark is well knoHii a^ a prelate and 
as a eili/eii. His e|iiseo])al iliuies I'.iU liim perioilically into 
every part of nur eoimiioiiweallh. ami everywhere he is 
welcniiie'l as line to u li.'iii il is liolli pleasant and prnlitible 
t(i listen. His iiilluenee extends lirynid the Innils ol' his 
denonunaliiinal authnrity, lie is heard with the eomlnrtalile 
assuraiiee that his puqiii-e is in m ike men wi-er and better, 
and his (inlv proiia!;andi>in is that nf a elear, earnest 
aide expodtMii (ddnine Irutli." 



nd 



'^^'KEKXK. (iiCNKRAL l.lF.uRfiK Si'ARs, Major-Cleneial 
iCfiSr. liylire\et, and liriijadierd ieiieral .)f Vcdunteers in 
'£^ the ser\iee of the United Stiles, son of Caleb 
' ! (areeiie, of Warwiek, Rhode Isl ml, was b..rn 
J" .May 6, i.Sji. Cieneral (.ireene eaiiie Iroin an Ign- 
ored ancestry, his pri'Ljeiiit.'rs and relatives bein;^ animr^ 
the must disiinLjuished of the eili/eiis ..f Rh .de IsKrnil. 
Jle "as appointed a cadet at tlie Military .\eadeniy at 
West I'uint, uliere he t;radiiated second in the class of 
iSj;, and was ci'mniissKined Second Lieutenant in the 
Third Reyiinent of .\rlilleiy. His rank as a scholar is 
indicated liy the circumstance that he was apjiointed act- 
ing .-Vssistant I'rofcss.ir of M.ithematics in the last year of 
his academic ciuisc. and alter he was cmniissioned he 
remained three vears at the .\cadeiiiy in that capacity, and 
one year as .\ssistanl Professor of Engineering. He was 
on duty with his regiment for several years, resigning in 
iSjf) to devote himself tn civil engineering. In this part 
of his professional duties he was occupied in mining and 
in the laying out of railroads, lie was also engaged in 
the Croii.n aqueduct, and had chaige of the enlargement 
of the w.irks. While thus occupied with the more peace- 
ful duties of his calling, the l.'nd War bioke out. .-Xs 
soon as he received the intelligence of the attack on Fort 
.Sumter, he offered his scr\ ices to 1 Icneral Scoit and to the 
governor of New York. In I.inuiiy, 1.S02, he received 
from (iovernor Morgan his cominission as Colonel of the Six- 
tieth .New York Regiment. (Jn the 28ih of .\|iril of the same 
year (lStJ2) the President and Senate api)oinle<l him Prig- 
adier-tJeneral, and he joined Ceneral Panks at Slrasburg, 
Yirginia. He w.is pre-enl at the battle of Winchester, and 
on the Joth of May was |daied by (General li.inks in com- 
mand of ihe Thud Prigade of Wdli.ims's division of the 
.\rmy of the Shen.uidoah. .\ few weeks after General 
I'opc ]>laced him in the Second .\riiiy Corps of the .\rmy 
of Yirginia. In the Idiird P.riga.le of .Vnger's division, 
which he joined in liily, he found his old regiment, the 
jNew York Sixtieth, who were led by him in the battle of 
Cedar Mountain on the 9th of .\iigiist. Py his bravery and 
militaiv skill, as seen in tin- guid.ince of atfiirs which came 
tinder his control during the next icw months, he deservetl 
and recei\ed the w.irm conimeiidaiion of his superior ofh- 
cers. On the 17th of September, I.Soj, General ( ireeiie 
was in the thickest of the .\ntietam light, li.uing hail his 



horse killed under him while at the extreme front. .\ few 
months after this, in May, 1863, he was at the famous 
battle of Chancellois\ ille, N'irginia, and his brigade ]>er- 
formed the mo^t efficient service. He was also in the 
liattle of (^iettysbiirg. It is said on good aulhority that it 
was owing to the skilful tracing of the works on the right 
of (General Greene, and the hcndc defence of them by that 
officer anil his command, that the army was saved that 
night from great disaster. He was transferred, in Seplem- 
Ijer, iSo;, to the .\nny of the Cumberland. In an attack 
fnnn l.oiig^treet's corps he was severely wounded, a rille- 
ball ])assing entirely through his face, and wounding him 
so severely as to unfit him for active duty for some lime. 
As soon as he was ready to take the field again he repaired 
to ,\'e»birn. North Carolina, and joineil General Scho- 
lield's Column, then on the advance to open coinnuinica- 
tioii between Peaufort and Golilsborough. Soon al'ler he 
was again wounded. SubsC'iuenlly he inarched with Sher- 
man's army to W.ishington, where he was detailed for 
I'resideiit of a general courl-niarlial. He remained in 
this po,ition until the close of the war. On Ins arrival in 
Washingtijn he received the a|)pointnKnt of M.ajm-General 
of Yolunteers by brevet in the service of the United States, 
to date from March, 13, 1S65. 



tHILLII'S, Rfv. WiLM.VM, son of William and 
y^tS Thankbil (Cahoone) Phillips, was born in Pi'.iv- 
incetown, M.issachusetts, .Yugust 24, iSoi. He 
! :^ remaineil at home during his boyhood, assisting his 
''\' father, ami then reniovecl to Pawtucket, Rhode Isl- 
and, where he prepared for college, under the tuition of 
Rev. David Penedict, I),l). He graduated at Prown Univer- 
sitv in 1S26. .Xfter leaving college he siudieil theology with 
Dr, Peiieiliit, and was ordained at Attleborough, Massa- 
clinscits, in February, I.S27. The first parish in which he 
was settled was that of the Third Paptist Church in Provi- 
dence, w here he remained for eight years, highly prized as 
a preacher, anil beloved as a ]i.asior. In 1836 he became 
pastor of the First Baptist Church in Charlestown, M.assa- 
cluiselts, where he remained till 1842, when he retired 
bom the care of that church, and never afterward became 
a settled p.istor on account of his impaii-ed eyesight, which 
cinnpelled him to relinquish the studies of his ]irofession. 
He preached, however, with great accept.ince, in different 
places, especially at Lonsdale, Fruit Hill, Wanskuck and 
Fast Providence. In the pulpit Mr. Phillips gained atten- 
tion by his rich, ]iersuasive voice and pleasing delivei-y, 
and his sermons, clear and orderly in their method, and 
full of instruction, had a clinrni and force of their own, 
iniparte<l by the gentle and gracious character of the man, 
and "the excelleni spirit that was in him." Mr. I'hillips 
was elected a member of the Board of d'rustees of Prown 
University in 1836, and remained in the office till his de- 
cease. In 1858 he made a tonr abroad with a company 



BIO GRA PlllCAL CYCL OPED I A. 



293 



of friends, visiting Englnnd and France, also Egypt, Pales- 
tine, and other places of liible history. In after years this 
journey was food for many an interesting theme, and from 
him his friends learned much of tliose countries. In 1836 
he became President of the Charlestovvn, Massachusetts, 
F'emale Seminary, which position he retained for many 
years. Mr. Phillips married, in 1827, Susan, daughter of 
Cyrus Cole, of Providence. She died in 1S42, leaving two 
sons, William B. and Frederick .-V. In 1S43 Mr. Phillips 
married Roxalana Ci., daughter of Benjamin Edmunds, of 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, who survives him. The chil- 
dren by the second marriage are Francis J., Benjamin E., 
Uaniel W., and Edmund S. (twins), .Anna S., and Henry 
J. In his History of thi Third Baptist Church of Proxn- 
dence. Rev. Dr. E. H. Johnson reviews at some length 
the work of Mr, Phillips while pastor of that church, 
during which time the membership increased from fifty to 
one hundred and ninety, and pays a beautiful tribute to 
his worth. During the closing years of his life Mr. Phil- 
lips resided in Providence, where he died suddenly. May 
30, 1S79, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. At the 
announcement of his death, Rev. Dr. Pharcellus Church, 
of Tarrytown, New York, wrote of him as follows : " His 
gifts were of the heroic order; his voice clear and em- 
phatic, his features kindly, his manners winning, antl his 
sympathy ever on the alert to aid and befriend the weary 
and broken-hearted. The strong will-power of the man 
was felt in whatever assembly he entered. By his friends 
he was always looked upon as ' a man among men,' and as 
one of their number exclaimed, * I knew I relied upon his 
strong character, but never knew how much till I lost 
him !' His sermons, his life, his social qualities, anti his 
whole being concurred to the one result, of advancing the 
work which the Holy Spirit and the call of his church had 
consigned to him." 



Sj^^HACE, .SAi\lt;F.l. B., manufacturer, was born in Som- 
MMg erset, Massachusetts, March 11, iSoo. His father, 
t ->n^ (Miver Chace, and his mother, whose maiden name 
t^Y ^'^^ Susannah Buffington, were members of the Soci- 
' V ety of Friends. Consequently their son was connected 
by birthright with that body, and he remained in it during 
his life. His education was such as the common schools 
of the town and the time afforded. At a very early age he 
commenced working in a small cotton manufactory owned 
by his father, in .Swansea, Massachusetts, and with slight 
intermissions in his youth for a little more schooling, he 
was ever after personally interestetl in tile manufacture of 
cotton goods. Herein he developed a sound, practical 
mind, which manifested itself in extreme fondness for the 
construction of machinery, buildings, water-works, and all 
the apjiliances for a well-ordered, well-managed manufac- 
turing establishment ; also ni great accuracy in all his plans 
and calculations, and in imbending integrity in his dealings 



with others. The curved stone dam across the Blackslonc 
River, at Valley Falls, built under his superintendence in 
1852, will stand for centuries, a monument to the solidity 
and thoroughness of his methods of work ; ami those who 
were long in business relations with him will bear testi- 
mony while they live to his strict regard for what he con- 
sidered just and right. In 1828 he was married to Eliza- 
beth Buffuni, daughter of Arnold Huffuni, formerly of 
.Smithfield, Rhode Island. About this time he entered 
into manufacturing, as an owner, at Fall River, Massachu- 
setts, where he then resided, in company with Joseph C. 
Luther; and soon afterward, with the same partner, and 
the adilition of his brother, Harvey Chace, in another es- 
tablishment at Grafton, Massachusetts. In the financial 
crisis of 1837, having intrusted a large amount of goods 
to parties who failed to pay for them, they were obliged 
to stop their sjiindles, and compromise with their cred- 
itors by paying them eighty cents on the dollar. When 
the storm was over the two brothers (the third member 
of the firm having retired) resumed the business, and in 
1839 removed their machinery to Valley Falls, Rhode 
Island, their father having purchased for their use the 
manufacturing property on the Cumberland side of the 
river. Practicing the strictest economy and a never-failing 
industry, they were able in a few years to enlarge their 
business by the purchase of the Smithfield side of the 
river. What was lietter still, and what gave to the suli- 
ject of this sketch unspeakable satisfaction to the day 
of his death, they searched out the old debts of 1S37, 
long since settled by a partial payment, and paid the bal- 
ance of them all, both principal and interest. Devoting 
himself thus, with great energy and perseverance, to the 
material interests of life, apparently less for the accumu- 
lation of wealth for himself, than from an innate love of 
improvement and use, and spending his leisure quietly and 
unostentatiously in the home which he loved, he yet gave 
a warm ami conlial support to some of the vital moral 
questions of the age in which he lived. The cause of 
temperance never lacked his liberal deed or word in its 
support, and his good example of total abstinence from all 
intoxicating drinks for more than thirty years, shed its 
healthful infiuence on all around him while he lived, and 
is one of the best legacies he has left behind him. In the 
latter years of his life he became very much interested in 
the education of the factory operatives, and provided lib- 
erally for the support of evening-schools for their benefit. 
The following extract from the remarks of William Lloyd 
(Harrison, at his funeral, tells, in most fitting words, what 
he was to the .\merican slave through all the darkest 
periods in our country's history: " It is an easy matter to 
be an abolitionist at the jiresent day, because it is to be on 
the winning side. Put it was a very difTerent affair to as- 
sume that title even only ten years ago. Vet, not ten, but 
thirty-five years since, our departed friend, in the darkest 
and stormiest period of the anti slavery conflict, gave in 



204 



BlOGRAPinCAL CVCI. OPF.D/,l. 



liK aillie>inn t" l!u- r:iUNf. Fr..m lliat ilay liU Hoor nrd 
heart were oiirn l.i tlie ]ii-.i,Lril.L-il ailvocatc of the o]i. 
]ircssL.fl ; anil, in ihc face i.f llic ini^iuitnu- Fugitive Slave 
Law, his hmiie was conveiteil into a station house on the 
branch of the unilcrgrouml railmatl, vunniiit; from New 
lieilford to Canada; and no cffoits uere wanting,' on his 
part to malse it a safe retreat. Whal a Mending of moral 
courage with rare gentleness ,,f ilis[„,-ition ! " Finally, 
after a life spent, as he often said he viished it to he, in 
'■ Irving to make the world hettcr than he found it," with 
too little care for his own rest and ease, an insirlious dis- 
ease, from which he sulf'ered iriost severely for two years, 
closed his earthly hfe. ,\o fear of ileatli or the afterdife i 
ever, for a monuait, Itindded him. Trusl in the Eternal 
lustiee which governs all tlnngs never failed him. Hede- 
]>arted from the earth on the I/th of I lecember, I.S70, 
lea\"ing hehurd him his wife ami four children, two sons 
and two daughters, whom he tendcih' lo\ed, and who 
keep green his memor\" in the home he has hit. 



(Sweet) Pechham, of Tdoccster, Rhode Island, wi-.o died 
August 26, 1837. flue of their children, .Mma Anna 
Rich, is now living. In 1841 Dr. Arnold married Electa 
K.uidall. daughler of Jdin and Cynthia ( ll.unmoudl Ran- 
dall, of Foster, Rhode Isl.md. She died January 24, 1S46. 
( >ne child hv tile seCMud marriage, Mowry P. Arnold, is 
now living, and is a well-known farmer in Foster. l)r- 
Aiiudd's tliiril wife was Asenath P. Place, daughter of 
Samuel and Mania (Tripp) Place, of Foster. Their chil- 
dren living are Marcia A. .Arnold, an experienced teacher, 
P.arnard Arnohl, M.l)., and Henry .\rnol.l, M.l).. both of 
whom are engaged in the practice of their jirolessinn. the 
former at Brooklyn. New \'ork. and the latter in F'oster, 
being associated with his father, whose practice extends 
o\er a wide region. Notw ithstanding his advanced age, 
being now in his eightieth yeir, 1 >r .\rn(dd is still actively 
engaged in the discharge of his professional duties, and 
'1 exhibits rare inental and bodily vigor, which he attrilaites 
to His activity and strictly temperate habits. 



f>TJP?RNC)Lr), MowivV P.UNi-., -M.l)., was born in 
\jMjk& Smithheld (now Lincoln), Rluide Island, Sep- 
Cn,'I& tember ;o, iSoi, ami is the s.m of Isr.jel and 
""i* ^1'' ■■^""^ (Chace) .Xrnold. lie is a lineal dcscentlant, 
J L in the sixth generation, of William .\rnold, one of 
the thirteen original proprietors of Providence, whose 
grandson, Richard .Arnold, was one of the hrst settlers of 
Woonsocket, Rhode Isl.uid. A genealogy of the Arn.ild 
fainilv is embraced in the lli,lory of W.^vniuttf, iniblishcd 
in IiSyo. His mother was the daughter of Parnard Chacc, 
born in Swan-ea, M.iss.u husetts. and her mother's niaideii 
n.inie was Margary P.iine. her mother was a Mowry. all of 
Smithheld. Rhode Island. Dr. .Vriiold was educated at 
the pul)lic school in Uelchcrtow 11, Massachusetts, where 
he resided in his boyhood, and at .\mherst .Academy, at 
Amherst, Massachusetts, at which insiitulion he acipiired 
a kri.iwledge of Latin and Greek. He studied medicine 
with I.Irs. Cutler Coidly, of Amherst, and Potter -\llen, of 
(docester, Rhode Isl.md, and gradiiatetl at Berkshire 
Medical School, at Pittsli,dd, Massachusetts, in 1S27, tak- 
ing the highest himors of his class. In 1S2S he removed 
to Foster, Rliode Island, where he at once entered upon a 
successful professional career, au'l became prominently 
identified with the varied interests id' that town, in which 
he still resides. Me was superintendent of the first Sun- 
dav school in Foster Centre, if not the first in the town, 
cstalibshed in 182K, and has long served as librarian of 
the F'ejster M.inton Library. In lS4,S he w.is elected State 
Senator, and served luie \'e.ir. declining a re-election. He 
was a member ol ihe School Comiuitlee for over thirty 
years, and has been Town Treasurer since iSi);. In 1832 
he united with the Christian Baptist Church in Fo-ter. of 
which he was for sonic time secretary. He married, in 
1828, Dorcas Pcckham, daughter of Thomas and .Anna 



J'0(_;f;RS, IIknrv AuGfsTt's. manufacturer, son of 
■f |ohn and Fdi/abeth (Rodmani Rogers, was born 
,1' in Providence. Xovembcr 1 1, 1801. Ilewastittcil 
' frr college in the schools of his native city, and was 
■1 S' a gr.aduatc of Brown University in the class of 1820. 
He entered the law office of Hon. Nathaniel .Searle. soon 
after his graduation, attended the lectures of the Law- 
School at Litchfield, Connecticut, and was admitted to 
the bar of Rhode Island in 1S23. IIa\ing practiced his 
jirofession alioiit one year, he decided to engage in mer- 
cantile pursuits, and placed his caj.ital in the niamifaitme 
of cotton. He was successful in business, ami established 
a re|nitation Un sagacity and uprightness worthy of ,dl 
praise. His college training had disciplined his niin<l and 
cultivated his tastes, and he had sources of elevated en- 
joyment of which Ihe mere man of business is ignorant. 
This culture he rounded and enlarged by foreign travel, 
spending a year, 1846-47, in Eurojic and the East, aiul in 
the latter part of iSli, again seeking relaxation and needed 
rest in the countries of the Old World. He was pre]iaring 
to return to this country when he was arrested by a disease 
which terminated fatally. He died in Paris, France, Jan- 
uary 7, iSln). Mr. Rogers was never married. 



i^^iHiKE, Riv. bvMi'S Welch, eldest child of Joseph 
;V/jti S. and Marv 1 Welch 1 Cooke, was lorn in Provi- 
^'5: dence, M irch 5. iSio. After a full academic 
: preparation he entered Brow 11 I'nivcrsity. and was 
i graduated in the class of 1S29. Among his class- 
mates were L)r. Benoni Carpenter, (lovernor Samuel 
(.'ony. of Maine, Covcrnor Elisha Dyer, of Rhode Island, 
Rev. Dr. S. P. Hill, of Washington, and Rev. Dr. H. A. 
Miles, of Boston. On leaving college he becaine a law 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



295 



sluilent in the office of Hon. S. W. liriilgham, the lirst 
Mayor of Providence. Finding his taste.s inclining him 
to the ministry of the Episcopal Church, he pursued his 
theological studies at the Episcopal Seminary in New 
York, having completed which he became Rector of 
Christ Church, Lonsdale. Here he remained until 1835, 
when he resigned his rectorship, having accepted an invi- 
t.ition to become Assistant Rector of St. George's Church, 
New York, whose rector was the late Rev. Dr. James 
Milnor. This position he held until 1843, when he was 
called back to his native State, and became the successor 
of Rev. John Bristed as Rector of St. Michael's Church, 
Bristol. For nearly nine years he resided in Bristol, 
when, at the close of 1851, he was invited once more to 
New York, to till the important office of Secretary of the 
Protestant Episcopal Board of Foreign Missions. In the 
performance of his official duties he visited the Isthmus of 
Panama. Here he became a victim to the malarial fever 
of that region, and shortly after reaching Nesv York he 
died, April 12, 1853. The death of so prominent a clergy- 
man awakened much sympathy, and called forth the warm- 
est encomiums on his character. The wife of Mr. Cooke 
was Emdy Stevenson, of Philadelphia, whom he married 
August 13, 1839. They had four children. Mary B. 
Cooke, born in Philadelphia, and married to George Vau.x 
Cresson ; Joseph Sheldon Cooke, born in New York, and 
died while at school at Port Chester, New York, August 
21. 1S54; James Welch Cooke, Jr., born in Bristol, mar- 
ried Josephine Johnes ; and Emily Stevenson Cooke, born 
in Bristol, September iS, 1848, the wife of Rev. William 
Wilberforce Newton, now (iSSo) the Rector of St. Paul's 
Church, in Boston. 



°INTON. M.'ijDR John Rubers, second son of 
ijKafti^ David and Mary (.\twell) Vinton, w.as born at 
°|^* Providence June 16, iSoi. Early in 1815, in 
the fourteenth year of his age, he entered the 
United States Militaiy Academy at West Point, 
through the kindness of General Joseph G. Swift, a friend 
of the family, and at the time Inspector of the Academy. 
He completed the prescribed four years' course of studies 
in two years and a half, and received a commission as 
Thirrl Lieutenant in the Aitillery, July 19, 1817, being at 
the tune only a month past the age of sixteen. He was 
appointed Second Lieutenant October 31. 1S17, and First 
Lieutenant September 30, 1S19. In the reorganization of 
the army, June i, 1821, he was retained as First Lieu- 
tenant of the Fourth Artillery. For several years after 
leaving West Point he was employed on topographical 
duty on the Atlantic coast and the Canada line. So 
good a tactician was he that General Eustis selected him 
as Adjutant of the Artillery of Practice at Fort Monroe, 
which office he held 1824-25. From March I, 1S25, to 
May 24, 1828, he was Aid-de camp to Major-General 



Briiwn. then (.'leneral-in-Chief of the .\rmy. We are told 
that while residing in Washington as General Brown's 
Aid, " he was employed by the government in several 
duties of a special nature; and certain papers which he 
]>repared were so generally admired that, in a leading 
speech in Congress in favor of the Military Academy, 
Lieutenant Vinton was referred to as an instance of the 
kind of men the system of that institution could produce." 
He was appointed Brevet-Captain September 30, 1829, 
" for faithful service ten years in one grade," and received 
a commission as Captain, December 28, 1835. He was on 
duty with the army in Florida during the Seminole War, 
1837. While here, so much did his mind become in- 
terested in the subject of religion, that he decided to re- 
sign as soon as he could consistently with the duty he 
owed the government which had educated him, and to 
enter the ministry of the Episcopal Church, of which his 
two brothers, Drs. Francis and Alexander H., became such 
distinguished ornaments. The ho|)ed-for opportunity to 
tender his resignation did not come, and at length circum- 
stances led him to abandon the idea of entering the Chris- 
tian ministry. At the battle of Monterey, September 21, 
22, and 23, he acted a conspicuous part. " He was in 
five several engagements connected with the capture of 
that place, in each of which he was exposed to severe fire 
from the enemy. The taking of the bishop's palace was 
the result, in great measure, of his admirable conduct." 
For gallant conduct in these conflicts at Monterey he was 
breveted Major, the date of his commission being Septem- 
ber 23, 1846. Some time after the battle of Monterey he 
joined General Scott in the attack on Vera Cruz, being 
called to the honorable jiost of Field and Commanding 
Officer in the trenches. The following is the sad story of 
his death : " Towards evening of the 22d of March, 1847, 
he went out upon an exposed situation to watch the effect 
of our shot and the direction of that of the enemy. He 
had just returned to his ]iost when a large shell, striking 
the top of the parapet, glanced and struck his head, frac- 
turing the skull. He fell instantly dead, lying upon his 
back, with his arms folded over his breast.'' In his dis- 
patch from before the walls of Vera Cruz, General Scott 
says : " Captain John R. Vinton, of the United .States 
Third Artillery, was one of the most talented, accom- 
plished, and efiective members of the army, and who 
highly distinguished himself in the brilliant operations at 
Monterey. He fell last evening in the trenches, where he 
was on duly as Field and Commanding Officer, universally 
regretted." The wife of Major Vinton was Miss Lucretia 
Sutton Parker, only daughter of Ebenezer Parker, mer- 
chant, of Boston, whom he married September 29, 1829. 
She died in Providence September 12, 1838. Their chil- 
dren were Helena Lucretia, who died .\ugust 2, 1830; 
Louise Clare, marrieil by her uncle. Dr. A. H. Vinton, to 
Dr. Augustus Hoppin, of Providence, October 14, 1S52; 
Parker, died in infancy; and Francis Laurens, born June 



2g5 



BIOGRArmtAL C J CL Ol'EDlA. 



1, I.S35, wa'. gi.i'luatLil al Wr-t I'oiul June, iS^h, and ap- 
pi'inled SL-iond Lnntrnanl "f 1 iia;;.). ms. In 1N27 Major 
VintiiM ixcrivfil fi.ini llmun UnivciMly ihc li.inoiaiy ili;- 
grce of A.M. lie wa^. nil |m'-ti"naMy oiu- uf Ihe must 
s;allant ami ^ifk.l xniis of Rhode Kland, of whose Inil- 
li.mt eaieer hi^ native State lia^ reason to lie jiolly piond. 
It is de-er\inL; of remark that he was one ol three bri'tliers 
— |ohii, Iia\id, and I'raiuis — who were edueated at West 
I'oint, " The only instanee in tlie liistory of the iiisiiiution 
where three brothers of one and the same family have liad 
the honia <jf heini; appointed cadets." 



► .\RlLi:rr. Hun. John Rusbii.i., s.)n of Smith 
and N.incy (Russell) llaitlett. was Imin in rro\-i- 
deiice, ( )etol)er Jj, 1S05. He was l>ronL;ht tiji in 
i •■ ' the drygouds business, and in iS;t was chosen 
II Cashier of the Cdobe liank, in I'nuidence, upon its 
urijnni/iation, which office he lielil until I.S;7, when, his 
health being inipaireil liy close cunhnenient to his duties, 
lie resigned his ofhce for a more active employment. While 
quite a young man he became interested in the cultivation 
of literature and science. lie was one of the officers of 
the Rhoile Island Historical Society, and \\\is the original 
projector of the Pro\i(lence .AtheiiLVum. Calling in the 
aid of the Rev. In. K. A. Kailey and Dr. Thmiias II. 
Webb, they became the founders of this e.\cellent institu- 
tion, which now possesses nearly fifty thousand volumes, 
and has u|)wards of si.\ hundred members. In iSjy he 
removed to the city of Xew N'ork, w here he engaged in 
mercantile business, in which he continue<l until 1N4'). 
Fond of literary pursuits, he took an active part in various 
literary societies of that city. He was for 111, uiy years the 
Corresponding Secretary of the New ^■ork Historical .So- 
ciety ; also Secretary of the American Ethnological .So- 
ciety, of which he and the Hon. Albert (jallatin were 
among the founders, the latter being its President until his 
death. lieforc these societies he frec|ueiitly re.ul papers 
on historical and etluiological subjects. Mr. Uartlelt is 
also a meml'cr of many learned societies in Kurojie and 
.■\menca. In liiiic, iS^o, he was appointed by President 
Taylor L'niled States Commissioner, to run the b.uind.uy- 
line iietween the L'nilcil States and Mexico, under the 
Treaty of ( iuad.ibipe Ilid.dgo, in which duty he was em- 
ployed nearly three years, or until February, 1N5.V \\hile 
on this service he m.ule extensive exploration^ in Texas, 
New Mexico, ( hihuahua, Sonora, California, and the 
counli*)- now kn(i\vn as .\ri/ona. In lSs5 he was elected 
Secretary of the State of Rhode Island, to which ofhcc he 
was annually re elected until the year 1S72, thus holding 
the olllce sevenli-en years. In 1.S07 lie visited lairo]ie, on 
which occasion he was made a IK legate by the American 
.■\ntii|Uarian .Society, to attend the International Congress 
of Arclnuology, at .\ntwer)); .iinl from the .Xmeiican I'!th- 
nological Society to the Inl^-iiiational Congress of Anthro 



piologs' and Prehistoric Arch.volog\', at Paris. On his 
return he presented a report of the doings, which was 
printed. In I.S72 he again visited Furope, and was one of 
the United States Commissioners to the Iniernational Prison 
Congress, at London, and attended their meetings. Mr. 
Bartlett has devotcl much of his tunc to literary pursuits, 
particularly in the held of .-VrchLVidogy, Philology and 
liibliograpliy. He is the author or compiler of a number 
of books, the principal of which are the following; Proj^- 
ress of Ethnology, an account of recent researches in 
various parts of the world, tending to elucidate tlie natu- 
ral history of man, New York, 1847; Dictionary of 
Ainirinittisins, four etiitioiis, a iJuttli tlan^kuion of which 
was printed in Holland, 1S54, and a (icrmaii edititjii 
at I.cip/ic, in 1806; Riiiiniiu-,ni,-i of tho Hon. A/I>crf 
(Jallatin, New York, 1S49; I'oisonal A'arrati-ro of Ex- 
plorations and Incittcnis in Tixas, Neui Mexico, Cali- 
fornia, Etc., l'onnc,ti\l -,oitli the i'nitcil States an, I 
J/c.iican Boundary Conintission, /Sjo-JJ, 2 vols., 8vo. ; 
A'ccords of the Colony of Rhode Island <ind Providotce 
Plantations in A'eio Eni^lantl, /6jt> to I'^g^, illustrate<-l 
w illi documents, letters and notes, printed by order of the 
General .Vssenibly, Provitleiice, 1855-65. 10 vols.,S\i).; 
A'ai'ol History of Rhode Island, Providence, 1S80, small 
quarto ; History of the Destruction of H. B. M. Schooner 
Caspe in .Xiirragansett Bay, jlune 10, /77-', l'id\idence, 
lS()2, 8vo. ; Biblio;.;raphy of Rhode Island, 18O4, Svo. ; 
Lite) ature of the Rebellion, Pro\-idence, 1866, royal 8\o. ; 
Bibliotheca Americana, a cataK>gue of books rel.iting 
to North and .South America, in the library of |ohn 
Carter P.ro\\n,of Providence, with notes, m.qis, and other 
illustrations, Pidvi<lence, 1805-75, four vids., imperial 
Svo.; Memoirs of Rhode Island Offieers Engageil in the 
Ser7'i,e of /heir Country Durini^ the (Jreat Relcllion of 
the South, Providence, 1867, quarto; Primeval Man 
and his Associates, \Xovct:stK:v, 1868; History of the II an- 
ion I'amily, of Ne'oport, Rhode Isltind, 1878; Gene- 
(iloj,y of the Russell I'amily, 1S79, 8vo. ( )n the 15th of 
May, i8jl, Mr. liartldl married Eli/a .Mien Rhodes, 
daughter of { hiistopher Rliodes, of Pa\\tuxet, Rhode 
Island, who died at that place, November ii, I.S5J. leav- 
ing seven children, vi?., Elizabeth D., .Anna R., Henry 
,\., George F., John R.. Jr., Leila, and Fanny O. No- 
vember 12, lS6:|, Mr. Bartlett married Ellen, daughter of 
Nels(.tn S. I'Mvlv, of Providence. 



^RFFNF, JflicK .AiiiEKT GnkiciN, son of John H. 
IG'V and Elizabeth (IJeverly) Greene. was liorn in Prov- 
idence, February 10, lSo2. His ancestius were 
! among the tiist settlers of Warwick. Rhode Island, 
J Samuel Gorton, from whom he derived his middle 
name, being one of the most noted characters in early 
Rhode Island history. He prepared for college at the 
L'nivcrsity Grammar .School, ainl in his hfteenth \*ear en- 





^^.f^-^^^^i^i^^^^V 



?r //V^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL C ) CLOPEDIA. 



297 



tered the sophomore class of Brown University, fnmi which 
institution he graduated in 1820. His hiw studies were 
pursued in the office of Hon. John Whipple, and he was 
admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 1823. His profes- 
sional duties were faithfully discharged, and he was gain- 
ing distinction as a lawyer, when, on the organization of 
the new city government in 1S32, he was elected clerk of 
the City Council and clerk of the Municipal Coiut. The 
onerous nature of the duties which he had undertaken 
to perform compelled him to abandon the profession of 
law. For nearly twenty-five years he held the office of 
clerk of the Common Council, and for twenty-five years 
that of clerk of the Municipal Court. Of this court he was 
elected Judge in 1858, and was in office until 1S67, when 
the state of his health obliged him to resign. During all 
these years of service he was cultivating and gratifying in 
many ways his literary tastes, and interesting himself in 
the intellectual welfare of his native State. The original 
school bill of Rhode Island was the product of his mind 
and pen. He was a constant student of English literature, 
while with American and German literature he was very 
familiar. He had one of the most valual>le and extensive 
libraries in Providence, the number of volumes being not 
far from twenty thousand. In the founding of both the 
Providence Athenajum and the Rhode Island Historical 
Society, he took an active interest. Of the latter he was 
President fourteen years. Among the products of his busy 
pen were a history of the "Jersey Prison .Ship," the edito- 
rial matter of the periodical known as the Providence Lil- 
erary yoiirnal, of which he had charge one or two years, 
a number of poetical effusions, among the best known of 
which is the popular ballad '* Old Grimes is Dead," and a 
poem delivered before the Philermenian Society of Brown 
University. On resigning his position as Judge of the 
Municipal Court, in 1S67, he left Providence, to take up 
his residence with his daughter, the wife of Rev. Dr. 
Samuel White Duncan, D.D., then pastor of one of the 
Baptist Churches in Cleveland, Ohio. The wife of Judge 
Greene, whom he married in 1824, was Mary Ann, daughter 
of Benjamin Clifford, of Providence, who died in January, 
1865. Three of the four daughter^ survived the death of 
their father, which occurred at Cle\el.ind. January 3, 1868. 



S-ECK, Allen Ormspee, the son of Benjamin and 
gl Roby (Ormsbee) Peck, was horn in Rehoboth, 
Massachusetts, November 17, 1804. He prepared 
for college in the University (Grammar School in 
Providence, and graduated from Brown University, 
in the class of 1824. Judge George Arnold Brayton, 
LI,.D., Professor G. W. Keely, LL.D., and Judge Ezra 
Wilkinson, of Massachusetts, were among his classmates. 
After graduating from the University Mr. Peck studied law 
with Judge Thomas Burgess, and was admitted to the bar 
of Rhode Island. He did not long devote himself to the 
38 



practice of his profession. The American Insurance Com- 
pany, W'hich was established about the time he was ad- 
mitted to the bar, elected him as Secretaiy. Having 
served in this capacity for some time, he was chosen Pres- 
ident of the Company. Under his administration the Com- 
pany widely e.\tended its business, and he acquired a well- 
deserved reputation for the skill and success with which 
he managed its affairs. He remained in office as Secre- 
tary and President of the American Insurance Company 
over thirty-six years. The business of insurance proved to 
be so profitable that another Company, the Narragansett, 
was established in 1862, and he was invited to take the 
Presidency of it. He held this office during the remainder 
of his life. .Mr. Peck was an infiuential fnember of the 
Unitarian Church, and took a deep interest in all matters 
affecting its prosperity in New England. In July, 1855, 
he married Mary E., daughter of Josiah Whitaker, of Prov- 
idence, by whom he had five daughters, four of whom are 
now living. He died in Providence, September 15, 1871. 




.\,SON, Earl PhTTIiR, son of Pardon and Anne 
(Hale) Mason, was born in Providence, Rhode 
Island, March 10, 1804. His father, a man of 
iM b sterling worth, died May 18, 1845, at the advanced 
age of eighty-seven years. He was descended from 
Sampson Mason, a dragoon in Oliver Cromwell's army, the 
famous " Ironsides." He came to this country in 1649 ; 
settled first in Dorchester, Massachusetts, afterwards re- 
moved to Seekonk, and thence to Rehoboth. Earl P. 
Mason attended the common schools of his native town 
until the age of fourteen, when, as a clerk, he entered the 
drug store of Dr. John H. Mason, on Broad Street. Con- 
tinuing his studies during his spare time, he acquired a 
substantial business educ.ition, and prepared to enter 
Brown University. He however abandoned the idea of 
a collegiate education, and tlecided to continue in his 
chosen vocation. About 1827 he became a partner of 
Dr. Mason, and tlie business was conducted under the 
firm-name of John H. M.ason & Co. until 1S35, when Dr. 
Masons failing health compelled him to retire from the 
firm. Earl P. Mason continued the bu>ines>. alone until 
1837, when he was obliged to suspend and make a settle- 
ment with his creditors. But he soon recovered from his 
financial embarrassment and was enabled to pay all de- 
mands in full. In 1838 Dr. Mason again became his part- 
ner for about two years, until the business was re-estab- 
lished, after which Mr. M.\son continued alone until 1849, 
when he purchased one-half of the block on Canal Street 
(built by S. & W. Foster), to which he removed, and asso- 
ciated with him B. M. Jackson, a former clerk, the busi- 
ness being continued as Earl P. Mason & Co. In 1S56 
Mr. Jackson retired, and George W'. Snow and George L. 
Clatlin, also former clerks, became Mr Mason's partners, 



298 



lilOCI^APlllCA L C ] XL UTEDIA. 



uiiilcT tlic same tirin-n.uiic. In 1S51) lli^ uinj.loyes, Levi 
L. Webster aii.l juliii I.. |)i,i].Lr, wcic received a^ partners, 
and in 1S115 tlie iiil.uM of Mr. Wel.Mcr was purcliased 
l.y I'lank lliill-,, the l..,ul>Kei| ler. 'I'lie In ni i Miiti .jlled an 
immense trade in drnL;s, d\e slufi., and elieniuals. A|rrd 
I, iSiit), a new lum was (,ii;ani/ed, e^nsl^tinJ; ol tlie otiier 
members of the old lirm ahme inentiuned, Mr. Mason be- 
ini; special partner, the style benii,' .Sn,,w. Clallin & Co., 
wliich c.ntnuied till Ajiril i, 1S72, wheti the partnerdiip 
e.\pired l>y limitatiun. Frank llutls and Karl Philip Ma- 
son, son of Earl r. Mason, continued the business as 
Butts \ Mason, Earl 1'. Mason continuing; as special part- 
ner. In February, iSy.), hrauk P.iitts withdrew front the 
ihin, and a new copartnership was formed, consisting of 
Fairl I'liilip Mason and William P. Chapin, Charles S. Bush, 
and Samuel L. Peck, who lor some time had been em- 
ployeil as clerks, and the business has since been con- 
dinted under the n.iine of Mason, Chapin X Cic Mr. 
.M.isoii was intiin.ilely ideiitihed with v.inous lailroad, 
ste.mi^hip, and coinnu'icial interests. llew.is ime ot the 
founder^, in I.Sil, of the old ,\rcade Hank, which in 1S05 
became the Rhode Island National Bank, and served forty- 
li\e years as a director of the same, and as President of 
tile Bank from Fiecember 21, 1S54, until his death. lie 
was an incorporator \\i the Pro\ideiice an<l \Vorcester Rail- 1 
road t-'ompany, a director of the same boni May 20, 1844, 
and served as President from F'ebruary 4, 1S61, to Febru- 
ary 3, 1S73; a trustee of the Providence, Hartford, and 
Fishkill Railroad, fr..m December 2, 1S75; a director of 
the Proviilcnce, Warren, and P.risiul Railroad, from Janu- 
ary, 1SI15. to January, [.X73; and an incorporator of the 
American Steamboat ('onipany,ol which he was President 
from April, 1S73. lie was one of the 'iiii;inal subscribers 
to the ca|)ital stock of the ProMdeiice .md New \'oik 
Steamship Company, of which he served continuously as 
a director from July S, iSdS, until June 8, 1871 ; was re- 
elected Xovember 10, 1873, and ser\eil until his death; 
and w.is part owner of many sailini; vessels eni;a_t;ed in 
the coasting trade. Mr. Mason was an incorporatnr of 
tin- P.uniside Killc Company, in May, i.Siio, of which he 
was elected President and d'rcasui er. July 14, 1804, and 
served until the incoi poiation of the Khoile Inland Loco. 
motive Works, 1 Ictobei ly, 1805, continuing to serve in 
the same ca]ianty unld June 6, 1S66, when he resigned 
the office of Presnlcnt but retained that of Treasurer until 
)une 30, 187(1. lie was a large owner in the Wauregan 
Cotton Mills, at Wauregan, (?onnei ticul, ami a director 
from P"ebruary 8, 1854; also an owner in the Poiiemah 
Cotton Mills, at Taft^ville. Connecticut, ami a ilirector 
from i lecember, 1870; and an ow iu-r and a director in the 
SI. Iter Cotton Company, at Pawlmkel, Khoile Island, 1 b- 
■ ivvned one-half of the mill properly .it Waterford, Massa- 
chusetts; was a stockhohUi in the Bhickstone Woollen 
Com|iany; the Kent Woollen I'oinpany, at Centres ille, 
Rhoi.le Island, of which he was Treasurer fnuu March 3, 



1873, to September 15, 1876; the (.'rompton (.'oinpany, ami 
President cd the same from January 22, 1851 ; the .\ineri- 
can Wooil Paper Comjiany, and President of the s.inie liom 
lanuaiy, i.So.S; the entire owner of the Sa.\on Woollen 
Mills, at I'ulnam, (.'onnecticut. He was a stockholder in 
the Smithlicld ('otioii .Mill, now the Smithlield Manufac- 
turing Company, at Allendale, Rhode Island; the .Sanders 
Print Works, at Sandersville, Massachusetts; the Wood- 
land Woollen Mill, at Burrillville, Rhode Island; the 
.\iiiericaii File Company, at Pawtucket, Rhode Island; 
the Reversible Bool heel Company, at Providence; and 
other corpcuations. F"or several years he was a special 
partner in the commission cotton Ijusiness with Anthony eS: 
Hall, and in llie commission wiicdlen l)iisiness with Whitte- 
more, Peet, IV.-t iV Co., both of New York city. He was 
a director in several insurance coin|ianies ; also an incor- 
porator of the Rhoile Island Hospital 'I'rusi Company, in 
1807, of whuli he was a director from October 24, 1867; 
one of the hiuiiders of the Rhode Island Hospital, to 
which he ga\c large sums of money for its sup}iiut. He 
was a trustee of Brown I'nuei'sily, in 1800-71), to which 
he also gave at one time twenty thousand dollars, and 
founded the F^arl P. .Mason scholarship. He was a stock- 
liolder in the .N'arragan^ett Hotel Company, and in the 
I'iovi<lence ( >i»era House Association, and \\'as inlluential 
in promoting both enterprises. He was the largest stock- 
holder in the F'irst Light Infantry Building Association, 
of which he was a director from December 17, 1S75. In 
jiolilics he was formerly a \\ hig, and a Rei>ublK.iii from 
the organi/atioii of ihat jiarty until his death, but never 
took an .icti\e pait in political attairs, heUl any office, or 
allowed the use cd' his name as a candidate. He was a 
regular attendant at the Westminster t.'ongregation.d (Uni- 
tarian) Church lor many years, but later in life wm-hipped 
at the First Congregational (P'nitarian) Church, on Bcnetit 
Street. He gave liberally to the church with which he 
was connected, and was noted for hi^ generous coniribu- 
tions to the \ai ious bene\'.dent associations. ( )n the 3<1 of 
May, 1830, he married Ann I,. I.archer, daughter of John 
and Lucy (ILirlshorn) Larcher, of Prris ideiice. She died 
November 13, 1873, in the liftv-si\tli \ear ot her age. 
They had six children, Frank C., .Stella V., L'harles F'., 
Anne 1-, Ivirl Philip, and Arthur Livingston, of whom all 
but the twci eldest are now li\ing. Mr. Mason died Sep- 
tember 21, 187I), in the seventy-third year of his age, and 
his remains uere interred at Swan Point Cemetery. In a 
resolution passed by the Board of Directors of the Rhode 
Island National Bank, at the time of his death, his business 
character is thus brieil)' summed up : •' In business undertak- 
iiig> he displa)ed a hajiii)' conibin.ition of boldness with- 
oiil rashness, sagacity without vunnmg, CLUrser\atism with- 
out timidity." In a nritice of his death, the l^itn'iilt'iue 
Dailv yoiiiiiiil says : " To name the liusiness enlerprises 
with whiih Mr. Mason was connected \\'ould be to enume- 
r.tte half the great concerns that have contributed to the 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCI. OPEDIA. 



299 



growth and prosperity of Providence and Rhode Islami. 
In the various manufactures of cotton, of wool, and iron, 
in the routes of transportation, opened and maintained, by 
land and by water, Mr. Mason was conspicuous by his in- 
vestments, his counsel, and his management. Few men in 
the present or in the past history of Providence have been so 
conspicuous in connection with its material interests. Nor 
was he unmindful of its moral and intellectual needs. 
He was a liberal supporter of the institutions of relif^ion, 
of education, and charity." 



^yflKVAN.S, Di;ty, mcrcliant, son of Daniel and Rhoda 
^M^ (Phetteplacc) Evans, was born in Glocester, Rhode 
^S""^ Island, May 12, 1797. He is a lineal descendant 
6^ of Richard Evans, of England, whose son Richard, 
^T the progenitor of the family in this country, was 
born in Chisvvick, County Miildlesex, England, in 1614, 
emigrated to America in 1635, settled in Dorchester, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1643, and 
died 1661. The line of descent is as follows: Richard 
Evans, of England, Richard second, Richard third, David, 
Edward, Daniel, father of the subject of this sketch. 
Richard second w-as the first white settler in Killingly, 
Connecticut. Daniel Evans and his ancestors were farm- 
ers. Duty Evans remained at home, working on his 
father's farm and attending the district school until he was 
sixteen years of age, when he went to the village of Che- 
pachet, Rhode Island, where he was employed as clerk 
in the store of his brother for seven years. In 1820 he 
opened a variety store in that village, which he carried on 
until 1842, being also engaged in the iron and hardware 
business from 1S24. He then sold his store, bought a 
farm in the town of Glocester, and engaged in agricultural 
pursuits for two years. In 1844 he removed to Providence, 
where he has been extensively and successfully engaged 
in the iron and hardware trade until the present time, 
his present place of business being on Dyer Street. He 
w'as for several years a director of the State Bank, and 
President of the same in 1853. .Since 1S54 he has been 
director and President of the Liberty Bank. In 1815 he 
was a lieutenant in the Morgan Rifle Company of Glocester 
and Burrillville. During the Anti-slavery struggle he was 
an active member of the Abolition Society, and a member 
of the Free Soil party, which he represented as a delegate 
in the National Convention at Buffalo, New York, in 1848. 
He has been identified with the Republican party since 
its organization. For many years he has lieen a member 
of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Society of Provi- 
dence, of which he is an active supporter. He married, 
February iS, 1820, Ruth Owen, daughter of Thomas and 
Abigail (Brown) Owen, of Glocester. They have had 
eight children, Abby Owen, Caroline Brunswdck, Gilbert 
Fayette, Sabin Owen, deceased, William Edward, Mary 



G., Annie, and Frances, deceased. Abbey married r)r. 
George M. Angell, of Illinois. Caroline married Slej^hcn 
Foster, of Stanstead, Canada. Ciilbert F. is engaged in 
business with his father. William E. married Hannah 
Hart, and is engaged in farming in Kansas. Mary (J. 
married George A. Seagrave, a manufacturer in Providence. 
.Annie married Daniel A. Hunt, agent of the Providence 
Tool Company. Frances married Henry B. Newhall, of 
New York, and died December 27, 1S78. 



tRlNLEY, Fr.\N(IS, lawyer, was born in Boston, 
|E[|SJ Massachusetts, November 10, 1800. He was the 
eldest son of Francis Brinley, merchant, Boston, 
■^ and Elizabeth Henshaw Harris, a sister of the Rev. 
J" Dr. Thaddeus Mason Harris, for many years a promi- 
nent minister of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Mr. Brinley 
is a lineal descendant of Thomas Brinley, Esq., of England, 
Auditor-General of the Revenues of King Charles First and 
.Second. Thomas Brinley was a great sufferer for his loy- 
alty to his prince, and for obeying his commands had all 
his estate that could be found seized, and an order issued 
from Parliament to apprehend his person. He was in exile 
with his majesty for nearly four years, and when King 
Charles the Second returned to England in 1660 was again 
possessed of his oftice one year prior to his death, which 
occurred in 1661, being then seventy years of age. Francis 
Brinley, one of the sons of the "Auditor," was intimately 
conhected with the colonial history of Newport, Rhode 
Island. He was born in England in 1632. ■' In conse- 
quence of the losses sustained by his father for faithful 
adherence to the royal fainily," said the Hon. William 
Hunter in an address before the Redwood Library Associa- 
tion, *'he accepted a grant either of lands or office in the 
Island of Barbadoes. The climate was not suited to his 
tastes and constitution, and he came early to Rhode Island 
with money in his pocket. He was much respected in his 
day. Business led him fretiuently to England, lie was, 
as it were, the organ of intelligence between tlie Colony 
and the inother country. Ujjon his return on one occasion 
from England he came unexpectedly into the quarterly 
town meeting, whercupcui (says the Record) all the jieople 
rose." He was appointed Jtidge of the Court of Common 
Pleas by Andros. His original commission and a catalogue 
of his law anrl other books are now in possession of the 
sul»ject K^i this sketcli. llis wife was Hannali Carr, of 
Newport. He died in Huston, and was buried in King's 
Chapel Bunal-Grounil. His son, Thomas Brinley, was 
born in Newport, and became a prominent merchant in 
Boston. He was a founder of King's Chapel. In 1684 he 
went to England and there married Catherine Page. He 
died in London, in 1693, leaving a widow and two chil- 
dren, Elizabeth and Francis. On invitation of their grand- 



_^oo 



n/OGR.ir///C.ll. CYCLOrRDIA. 



fatlur. Fi^iiiLi^ llrinltrv, tlic . Iiil.licn aii^l tlnir iiii.tlu-r came [ 
to this loiiiuiy ill l-IO. 'Ilif liaUL^Ilti-l- inaniuil Jli'li;^ 
William lluichinsoii. llrr hroilin- l-raiu-is, win. was buiii | 
ill I.niiMon, ill iiiQo, was ciliuaUMl at Klon CiillL-gd. lie 
ilid nut rem. nil in .Ve\\|inii but settled at Kuxbury, Massa- 
elui-elts. where lie ereete.l a In.u^c after the model of the | 
family mansion at D.itehel, near Windsor, lai^land, where J 
he resideil uiuil his death, lie married Deliorah Lyde, of 
Boston, .\|iiil I ?, lytS. She was a daui;hter of Edward 
and Cilherine Lvde, and i;randdaiij;lilei of lion. Nathaniel 
Ilylield, |iidL;e of the Court .if Admir.dty. and known as 1 
one of the •■ founders of Ihistol. Rliode Isl.uid." Thus 
Mr. r.rii.ley is a direct ilesceiidanl of Jud;^ie Dyfield. lie 
.is also collaterally coniieeled w itli M.itthew Cradock, the 
first (lovernor of the M.iss.k hii^elts ('oni|iaiiy. ( liie of the 
sons of I'rancis Brinley, of Koxhury, was Edward Brinley, 
of 1! .ston, graiidlather of the present Francis Brinley. 
Another son, Krancis Brinley, remo\ed to Newjiort. He 
nianied .1 daughter of Ciodfrey Malborn. 'I'liey were buried 
in rriniiy churchyard. Erancis Brinley now ( iS.Si) Ining 
ill Newpoit, was educated at jirivate schools in Boston, and 
w.is jirepared h.)r college b\ the then \ciiciable Ebene/er 
reinberton. He entered ll.ir\.iid <.'ollcge at the age of 
fourli'en, graduated in iSlS, and immediately entered the 
olhce of the Hon. \\ lUkiiii Sullivan, of Boston, as a student 
at l.iw. In 1821 he was admitted to the bar, and taking an 
ollice in Court Street entered upon his professional career. 
He was elected a member of the Common Council of 
Boston in iS^J,and also sei\cd as a member of the House 
ot Representatives ..f the State, i le look a very active |>art 
in the presidential campaign of 1S40, .uul the follow ing 
year, when Ceiieral Harrison became I'residenl ol the 
L'niled Slates and D.iiiiel Webster Seeiclary ol Si, ite, he 
was invited liy the I.Uter to take llie position of Law Cleik 
(a position created for liim 1, in the olhee ol the .Solicitor ol 
the Ireasury, and removed to Wadiiiigton. Xut long 
after, when the Hon. W, liter porwaid was Secretary of the 
Treasury, he asked .Mr. Brinley if he would accept the 
])ositioii of Assist, ml Secretary of the Treasui7 if Congress 
would create the olf'ice. Mr. Brinley having consented Mr. 
Forward presented the matter to I'resideiit Tyler, who 
agreed to the plan, but as the rresidelll expressed a desire 
Ih.il the jiosiiioii sh.iuld be Idled by one of hi- political 
liiiiicb, Mr. Forwaid did not ask Congress to create the 
ollice. Mr. Brinley wroie humlreds ol legal opinions and 
was iie\er o\erruled. ( )ne of these i.tusefi Congress to 
change the yearly termination of the liscal year from tlie 
1,1-1 ol December lo the last of June. I hi the accession ol 
Mr. I'olkt'j the i'resideiuy Mr. Brinley was remuved Irom 
ollice. Ill 1.S49 he was again retiirncd to the Common 
Council of Bostcui, ami was it- Pre-ideiit in iSjoaiid 1851, 
and cx-i'/fiiio Chairman of the School Committee wlieiie\er 
the mayor wa- not present. W hile occupying that |)o-ition 
in 1S50, there being no siijierinteiidciit ol the public schools 
at that lime, Mr. Brinley was ap|ir>inled to make the annual 



examinations, after the performance rif which diilv he made 
an elaborate re[iort, which v\as highly commended lor its 
style and jiractical character. In 1S52 he was electc-d to 
the Stale .Senate, and v\as one of the most jiopular and 
efticient members of that body ; and in 1S53 was a member 
<if the comeiition to re\ ise the con-iitution of .Massaelin- 
siit-; in March, 18^4, he was transferred to the House. 
In both branches of the Legislature he served as Chairman 
of various important committees, and his repiorts were noted 
for the full and critical examination of the ipiestions to 
which they perl. lined. He was appointed by C.ovcrnor 
Clifford chairman rif a special commission to ascertain the 
best methods of preserving Cape Cud Haibor. He sjient 
several weeks in a thorough examination of the locality, 
and presented a report lo the ( lovernor Cfuitainiiig a lull 
and accurate hi-tory of the legi-hilioii of Massachusetts in 
rcganl to that |iart of the State, and was the means of )iro- 
curiiig an apjnopriation from Congress for the protection 
of this harbor. While in the House he made a report 
as C'hairman of the Committee rni Probate and Chancery 
in regard to I'lob.ite olVicers, v\diiLh is still referrerl to as 
a doeument of high authority. In 1S57 Mr. Brinley re- 
mo\ed to Tyngsborongh, Ma-saehu-etts, where a branch 
of his family had resided for generations, and for a lime 
retired from professional life. He took deep interest in 
the educational welfare of the town; wa- chosen Chair- 
man of the School Committee; and while serving in th.at 
capacity, succeeded in obtaining a new and large edifice 
f.ir the Grammar School, and in elev.ating the character 
of all the <lis|rict schools. In lS6?, he was elected lo the 
State Senate from the Scii.itorial l)i-lrict con-i-ting of 
eighteen town-. M the outbreak of the t/ivil War, Mr. 
I'.iinlev -erved for awhile in a military capacity, and in 
variou-ways manife-ted hi- -pint of loyalty. The death 
of the older member- of hi- family induced him linally to 
remove to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1S67. In referring 
to his remowil, the Lowell Ciliztii ttiid Xi-,vi -))oke in high 
terms of his usefulness in promoting the educational and 
other interests of the town from which he was about to 
remove. 1 luring his residence in .Massachusetts, Mr. Brin- 
ley was an earnest advocate, by voice and pen, of the abol- 
i-hmenl of impri-onmeni for debt, and the establishment 
of a di-creet -y-tem of iiisidveiuy. He was also eiiually 
zealous in behalf of a well-regulated miiilia. For several 
years, and long after the time when he was exempt from 
military cluly. he became .Adjutant, and tlien M.ijor, ol the 
•■ Indeiiendeiit Company of Cailets," of Bo-toii. He was 
thrice elected commander of " The .\ncient and Honorable 
Artillery Company." Fie was a worker in behalf of the 
New Faiglaiul Historic-Ceue.dogical Society, and as one 
of its olTicers contributed to its present elevation among 
the ]>romincnl literary institution- of Bo-Ion, whose citiz-ens 
are m s,,ine degree indebted to him lor his aid and encour- 
agement in behalf of the City Library in its early inception. 
He was an advocate of internal improvements, and was 












m£.^ -^ 







-,r^ s2_ »• ' ^ >?_tf^J>. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CACLOPEDIA. 



Z^^ 



among the first to encourage the huilding of railroads in 
Massachusetts. Mr. Brinley has resided in the city of 
Newport since 1867. In 1870, he was chosen to the Gen- 
eral Assemljly of Rhode Island, and re-elected in 1 87 1. 
During the first term he was Chairman of the Joint Special 
Committee to examine into the fisheries of Narragansett 
Bay. The thorough and impartial report which he pre- 
pared was sought for both at home and in England, France, 
and Germany. Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tute, pronounced it a most valuable document. Mr. Brin- 
ley was an early contributor to Hunt's Merchants' Maga- 
zine^ and to the Ameriean Jurist. His legal articles were 
elaborate, and those on " Dower" were cited by Chancellor 
Kent in his Commentaries. He has also been a frequent 
contributor to the newspaper press, and has lectured with 
much success. In 1830, he delivered an address before 
the Franklin Debating Society, of Boston, which was pub- 
lished. He is the author of a life of his brother-in-law, 
William T. Porter, the founder of the New Viirk Spirit of 
the Times. Having resumed the practice of law on his 
removal to Newport, he still continues in his profession, 
and keeps up his interest in legal and other studies. The 
Albany Law yoiirnal o{ Decemlier 29, 1877, contains an 
article by him intended as an " Introduction to a treatise 
on the Law of Damages," which he proposed to write, and 
wdiich has been described liy an authority of the highest 
character as a paper of " great aliility and erudition," 
During his residence in Newport he has delivered various 
public addresses, and has been prominent in promoting the 
interests of the Rhode Island Historical Society, of which 
he is a Vice-President. He is also Vice-President of the 
Newport Historical Society; and for several years has been 
President of the Redwood Library and Athenceum. He 
w-as married, in .St. John's Church, New York, June 11, 
1833, by the Rev. Dr. Berrian, to Sarah Olcott Porter, 
daughter of Benjamin and Martha (Olcott) Porter, of New- 
bury, Vermont. Mr. Porter was a pn.iminunt member of 
the legal profession; his wife was the daughter of Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Olcott, of Norwich, Vermont. They were 
friends of Daniel Webster from the time he commenced 
the study of law in the office of the Hon. Thomas W. 
Thompson, of .Salisbury, New Hampshire, an uncle of 
Mrs. Brinley. Mr. Webster loved to revert to those days, 
and often said that Mr. Porter was the " most attractive 
social companion he had ever know-n." Although having 
been frequently called upon to fill public positions, his stu- 
dious habits and retiring disposition have caused Mr. Brin- 
ley to seek the quiet walks of professional life rather than 
become engro.ssed with the cares and excitements of ])oli- 
tics. He has done much, however, to advance the political 
interests of his friends, some of whom are greatly indclited 
to him for their elevation to office. He has been an inti- 
mate friend and adviser of many public men, and has ex- 
erted a wide influence in political, literary, and social 
circles. 



|pJ||ROSVENOR, William, .M.D., the youngest son of 
i\j^jr' Dr. Robert and Mary (Beggs) Grosvenor, was 
V#? born in Killingly, Connecticut, now known as 
ffira Putnam Heights, April 30, 1810. He is a descend- 
* ant of a distinguished English family, his ancestor, 
John Grosvenor, of Cheshire County, England, having 
emigrated to this country in 1680. His mother, a woman 
of sterling qualities of character, was of Scotch descent. 
He received his early education in the common schools for 
which his native State has been justly celebrated. From 
these he passed to the academies of Leicester and Mun- 
son, where he was fitted to enter the Philosophical and 
Chemical Department of Yale College. It was the earnest 
wish of his father that his son should study the profession 
in which he had been so successful, that of a physician and 
surgeon, and finally be associated with him in his office. 
Accordingly, he commenced the study of anatomy at the 
early age of seventeen, and after prosecuting his profes- 
sional studies for three years, the last of which was spent 
in the office of Dr. George McClellan and in the wards of 
the Pennsylvania Hospital, he took the degree of Doctor 
of Medicine, in 1S30, at Jefferson Medical College, Phila- 
delphia, taking high rank in the class with which he grad- 
uated. Immediately after his graduation he returned to 
his native place, and in compliance with the wish of his 
father, became his assistant in his laborious and extensive 
practice. This position he held until the summer of 1837, 
when he removed to I'rovidence, where, after practicing 
his profession for a short time, he retired from it, and, in 
consequence of peculiar circumstances in which he found 
himself, turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. p"or 
five years, as the senior partner of the firm of (jrosvenor iJ>c 
Chace, wholesale druggists, he carried on business suc- 
cessfully in Providence. He then embarked in a business 
with which he had made himself familiar, the stocking of 
printers of calico with cloth, in which he remained until 
the year 1852. During that year the death of Amasa Ma- 
son, a relative on the side of his wife, prepared the way 
for him to engage in the nianufactilre of cotton fabrics. 
The factories of the Grosvenor Dale Company are situated 
in the beautiful valley of Grosvenor Dale, Connecticut. By 
a liberal outlay, and as the result of a thorough and wise 
organization of means to ends, the first purchase of less 
than eight thousand spindles by Dr. Grosvenor, has 
been increased to ninety-five thousand six hundred and 
ninety-six, being considerably the largest cslal)lishment 
for the manufaclure of cotton textile fabrics in the State 
of Connecticut, and one of the largest of its class on 
the continent. The business capacity and integrity of 
Dr. Grosvenor, and his success in accumulating great 
wealth by judicious investments, have caused him to be 
widely known, and to rank high among the ablest business 
men of New England. He took a deep interest in public 
affairs during the Civil War. At its commencement he 
was travelling in Europe for the bene.it of his wife's health. 



HlOGRArHICAI. CYCI OPF.P/.I. 



Tlie exciliiis; sn-iies whiili were tr,iii-.pirini:; in liis uun 
cnuntry, and his sn nip.illiy with llu- i^uvcrnniLnl, ,in«l ilesire 
to ai.l in iM-rv way in Ins pouLi l^i |iul ilnun tlie Rebels 
lion, iniUuxMl liini to cul slioit liis lon'iyii tonr and return 
to 111, lidiiK-. As l.'liaiiinan I'l' llu' ( 'oiiiniill<.-c on Finance 
in tlie Senile of llie Sl,ile, lie iKeil|iied a most responsible 
and cleliiale |H.sitioii. Aiiione other mailers ^\ hicli w ere 
brouj;lit to the alleiitioii ol this Committee, was a petition 
to which were aftixcil tlie names of a lar^'c number of 
hii^hlv respected citizens of South lvin_t;stown, asking for 
an aiipropriation for the erection of a monument to the 
memory of Ocneral Isaac V. Rodman. It was at a time 
when the Stale was i,suini^ her bonds \,\ millions hir the 
defence of ihe government. M.iny gall.int and disiinguished 
sons of Rhode Island had lost their lives in the service of 
iheir counirv.to all of whom there was due the tribute of 
praise and grate ful affeetion. Instead of selecting a single 
individual, honored, respecteil, and highly beloved though 
he was, and whose untimely death had awakened the most 
sincere sympathy in the hearts of hosts of friends, it was 
deemed best to postpone the consideration of the subject pre- 
sented by the petitioners, w itli the hope thai a plan might 
lie ailopicd which would render ample justice to the brave 
lives anil the hercnc deaths of the soldiers of Rhode Island. 
The report of the Finance (.'ommittee had in it these elo- 
ipient and stirring words: "Rhode Island owes them a 
debt of gratitude which she can inner full) ie]iay. Testi- 
monials they should have. .Ml th.il granite .md marble, 
bron.^e and gohl can do to perpetuate the memory of their 
palriotism, heroism, and self sacrilice, should be done; 
done not onl\' in high appreciation of tliei I- priceless olTedngs, 
but as an incitement to patriotic diit)' to young men of com- 
ing time." The Committee recnmmeniled " that a monu- 
ment becoming the affluence of the .St.itc and the memory 
of her illustrious heroes in this war with the rebels, be 
s|ieedily erected." Subse(|Uently, at the session of iSd6, 
I>r. lliosvenor introduced a resolution for the appointment 
of a conimillee to select a site and obtain designs for the 
proposed monument, the result ol wfoLh acticm was the 
(d'-'g.ml memoi lal in giMiiile and bion/e on Ivv change Pl.ice, 
in rroMdeme. directly in front of the ( 'iiy Hall. I ir. 
Ciosveiior married. August 22, I.S^7. Ro^.r .\nne, daughter 
of Hon. I.imes Ilrnwii and Alice | Hiown i Mason. Tin both 
her f.itlu-r S.I lid her mother's side she was descended from the 
oldest .iiid best families of the Stale. She possessed in her 
own right an am])le fortune, and was a lady of rare quali- 
ties of mind and heart. Her death, which occurred April 
12. 1S72, brcuight grief to a large circle of friends. They 
had se\en children, Willi. 1111, Ir., a gr.iilu.ite of Brown 
I'niveisiiv in ihe (lass of i.S(n), who has charge of his 
f.ither's business, and resides in I'lovidence; fames Brown 
Mason, the founder of the house of (;rosvenor& Co., in 
New ^'olk, \vho are the chief agents for the sale of the 
goi.ids of the I diisvenor-Dale (_'onipan\' ; .-\masa Mason, 
who died in iiil.iin v; .'Mice Mason, \^diri became the wife 



of l)r. [ohii j. Mason, of New York; Robert, a grailuate 
of Norwich University in the class of I(S68. ami until his 
ileath, luly Ig, 1879, associateil with his brother in the 
home tilVice ; h'.li/a Howe, who died in infancy, and Rosa 
Anne, who i, with her father. 



FBI'., TiiiiM\s Hopkins, M.D.. son of Thomas 
Smith and Martha (Hopkins) W'eMi. was born 
'^itXasf in I'rovidence September 21, iSoi. While his 
(i)t fallier was residing for a time in Boston, he was 

X ]ilaced uiidei the tuition of Ii.miel Stanihu'd. and 

by him w.is fitted lor college. He was a gradu.de of 
Brown L'niversity in the class of i82(). (Jii completing 
his college studies he commenced the study ol medicine 
under the tuilion of I ir. John Mackie. and attended lec- 
tures at the Medical School of Har\ard College, where he 
received the degree of M.bl. in 1825. He was engaged 
in the practice of his profession 111 I'rovidence for nearly 
ten years, being occupied much of the time in matters of 
a scientilic character, in which he took great interest. The 
?>anklin Society and the Rhode Island Historical Society 
engaged much of his attention, and lo tlie prosperity of 
these two organizations he devoled much thought and 
labor, lie was one of the early founders and the first 
I.ibiaii.in of the I'rovidence .\lhenueum. He was made 
an honoiary mcnilier of the Royal Society of Northern 
Antiquaries at Copenhagen, in consequence of the interest 
which he took in the inscriptions fouml on the celebrated 
'■ Hightoii Rock." and supposed lo have been made by 
Northmen who visited this pait of the country centuries 
before the landing of the rjigrims at I'lx'lnouth in 1020. 
For three years — 18J5-J8 — Dr. Webb was editor of the 
I'roviilcnce yoiiniiil. In i8j8 he removed to Boston, 
where he became connected with the publishing-house of 
Marsh, Capen cV Lyon, and lor several yeais was the 
ICditor of the I'lUnniitii'Siliool Joiirn,tl . (ioverninenl ap- 
pointed him. Ill l84(), Secretary of the Commis-ion. of 
which Hon. |, R. Ikirtlett was the head, for running the 
Mexican bound. iry. Ihe movement wdiicli resulted in 
making K.insas a free State greatly interested liiiii. Ik- 
was ap|iointed Secretary of the Emigrant .Aid Soeicty, and 
busied himself 111 the organization and htting cuu ot bands 
of emigrants for that then new- Territory, l-'or some time 
previous to his death he was the Secrctar\' and the inspir- 
ing spirit of the new ly organized Massachusetts Techno- 
logical Institule, and to his efforts that nourishing institu- 
tion is largely indebted for ils present prosperity. In such 
employments as these, in which he was devoting hinisell 
to the promotion of the welfare of his fellow inen. Dr. 
Webb speni a usekil life. In 1833 he married Harriet 
Athearn, daughter of James nnd l.ydia (Casey) Athearn, 
of Nanluckel, .Massachusetts. He died in (^)uincy, .Mas- 
sachusetts, .-\iigiist 2, 1866. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



303 



i^^ HAW, Cenkral James, Sk., son of Captain James 
iSR) and Elizabelli (Westcott) Shaw, was born in Prov- 
idence, Rhode Island, July 30. 1801. His educa- 
^' tion was olitained in the piililic schools prior to 
1812, when his father died, leaving him the oldest 
of five children. To jirovide for himself and aid his 
mother he entered the counting-room of the late Samuel 
Nightingale, serving in the city and in (leorgiaville. For 
a year he filled a clerkship in New York. Returning to 
Providence, he became a clerk and bookkeeper for Mr. 
Peter F. Ewer, an oil manufacturer. Shortly afterward 
he formed a partnership with the late James M. Earl, 
under the firm-name of .Shaw & Earl, who for many years 
were well-known merchants and oil inanufacturers on 
South Water Street in Providence. The business was 
prostrated in 1846, and Mr. Shaw surrendered all his 
property to his creditors, and at the age of forty-six, with 
a large family dependent on him, began life anew as an 
accountant. But all men respected and esteemed him. 
From 1848 to 1852 he was Deputy Collector of Customs of 
the port of Providence. In business affairs he filled oitlces 
with the Bunnell Manufacturing Company, Messrs. Foster 
& Fisher, and the Providence Rubber Company and their 
successors the National Rubber Company. He early ex- 
hibited a military taste and talent, and united with the 
First Light Infantry Company of Providence August 20, 
1820. Rising from the rank of sergeant to that of cap- 
tain in 1830, he became the prominent and efficient officer 
in the suppression of the Olney's Lane and Snowtown 
riots of SeptemVjer 21, 22, 23, and 24, 1831. The civil 
authorities, finding themselves unable to suppress the 
tumult, occasioned by a collision between a gang of sailors 
and the black inhabitants, ordered, through Governor 
Lemuel H. Arnold, the infantry under Captain Shaw to 
proceed to Olney's Lane via Hope Street, to meet the 
police who were to advance via Benefit Street. The in- 
fantry had been ordered out without ammunition, under 
the expectation that the bare presence of the soldiery 
would quiet the commotion. But the rioters turned and 
drove them to their armory, and continued the demolition 
of houses. A heavy rain prevented for the next night the 
assemljling of the rioters. On the following evening they 
met in augmented force, and made their attack on Snowtown, 
near the head of the lane by Smith Street. Then all the 
militia were ordered out by Governor Arnold, with ammu- 
nition, both blank and ball cartridges. The reading of the 
Riot Act was followed by hoots, curses, and stones. Volleys 
with blank cartridges were fired without efl^ect. The troops 
were pelted with stones, and many were severely bruised. 
The sheriff, Mr. Mumford, now ordered Captain Shaw to 
fire upon the assailants with bullets. Instantly Captain 
Shaw had his command prepared. Then followed the 
sharp, quick orders, " Ready ! Aim !" The mob hurled 
back defiant curses. The distinct orders were heard over 
all the crowd as far away as the old jail on Canal Street. 



Then Captain Shaw, with his habitual caution, turning to 
the sheritif, asked, " Shall I fire ?" The sheriff an-swered, 
" You must." Then followed the ringing command, 
"Fire!" Nearly half a dozen of the leaders fell, and 
others were wounded. An awful silence reigned. In the 
next in>tant the living rioters fled. The tumult was 
iiuelled. The flying mob was pursued by the Cadets, who 
at that moment came down Smith .Street. This was one 
of the first instances in which the citizen soldiery of our 
country were called upon to fire into a mob to disperse it. 
Captain Shaw commanded the Infantry for five years with 
the highest credit. In 1842, in the " Dorr troubles," he 
commanded the Third Ward Guards, and in the same 
year was elected Brigadier-General of the Second Brigade 
of State Militia, a position which he filled for five years. 
He married, October I, 1827, Eliza Field Godfrey, of 
Providence, and had nine children, six of whom reached 
maturity: General James, Jr., elsewhere sketched; Cap- 
tain Richard G., Captain John P. (killed at Spottsylvania), 
Frederic, Mary E., and Anna F. The mother died Feb- 
ruary 20, 1S79. General Shaw died March 27, i88o, in 
his seventy-ninth year, and was buried among the city 
fathers in the North Burying-Ground. " He was a man 
of incorruptible fidelity in business, of fervid patriotism, 
of a high sense of honor, of generous hospitality, and of 
warm affection, everywhere esteemed for his worth and 
excellence of character." Fitting honor is done him in 
the military records of the .State. 



III'RSTON, Hon. Benjamin Baecock, son of 

Hon. Jeremiah and Sarah (Babcock) Thurston, 

was born in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, June 

lili 29, 1804. His early surroundings in the old 

Thurston mansion, alive witli the best of social 
influences, were of peculiar advantage to him. Inheriting 
excellent powers, and enjoying superior opportunities of 
education, he early came into public notice, and gave evi- 
dence of usefulness. On the death of his father, in 1830, 
he succeeded to the occupancy of the Thurston homestead 
in Hopkinton City, and to the leading trade of the place. 
Naturally he became conspicuous in political affairs, fol- 
lowing the political school of his honored father. His 
wide public career commenced in 1838, when he w-as 
elected Lieutenant-Governor. He was elected Represen- 
tative to Congress, and served from 1847 to 1849, and 
again from 1S51 to 1857. He was distinguished for his 
conscientiousness and his fidelity to all trusts. Since re- 
tiring from political life he has been actively engaged in 
banking and maritime interests. For some years past he has 
had his residence in New London, Connecticut, not, how- 
ever, leaving his post as a leading Director in Washington 
Bank, nor relinquishing his interest in Rhode Island affairs 
His business associates have been, Hon. Nathan F. Dix- 
on, 2(1, Oliver D. Wells, Charles Perry, Thomas Perry, 



30+ 



BIOGKAI'JIICAL CVCLOPKDIA. 



Sinicnii !■■. I'cir\. C'liailcs M.i\v(,n, IlaNid Smith, |osc[)h 
H. Puller, ami the IJaln'ock-^. He In a wcirtliy ami useful 
memlier of the l>.ipli--t Cliiiicli. Mis nl)ilitit-s aitfi ameni- 
ties ha\e ni\'en Iiiai a laii^e pl.iee in tiu- C'lnhilenee ami 
esteem of the circles in which lie has nin\eil. He marrie<I, 
first, March 5, iSjS, Harriet ]■:. T)eshi)]i, daughter uf 
Daniel and Sarah Ileshon, who died November S, lSj2; 
and, second, March 12, iS^4, Frances E. r)eshon, dauj;h- 
ter of John and 1-anny Deshon. who died May II, 1865. 
Ilis chihlren !))■ the first marriaL;e were Benjamin F. and 
Georjje E., and Ijy the second marriage, Harriet E., Fanny 
R., and John 1 1. His sons, Benjamin F., and John I)., 
ha\e Ijecoiue jirominent citi/cns and lawyers of rio\i- 
dence. 



,\I,L()<:K, Oris, M.I)., s.m of Dr. Samuel and 
( lietsey (l)orrance) Bullock, was horn in .Stirliiit;, 
^^ Connecticut, F'ebruary 20, 1S06. His father 
(t'-ia practiced medicine until about eighty years of age, 
* most of the time in the town of Rehobolh, Mas- 
sacluisetts, where he was born, and died at ihe ad- 
vanced age ol ninety-lwii years. He «as a man of strictly 
tem])erate habits throughout life, and attributed liis l.m- 
gevity to that fact. Dr. ( )tis Bullock was for three years a 
student at 1 )ay's Academy in Wrentham, Massachusetts. 
He studied meilicine w ith Drs. L'sher Parsons, of I'ruvi- 
dence, and Jeremiah Willianis, of Warren, Rhode Island, 
and took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at the Harvard 
Medical School, in March, 1S32, after a long and thorough 
course of study. For several years he was i.ailiier of Dr. 
Williams, uf Warren, whom he succeeded, and aC'iuired a 
large and successful practice. He was elected President 
of the Rhode Island Medical Society in 1S66, and re- 
elected the following year. With the exception of the 
years KS66 and 1S67, he has been Censcn- of the Rhode 
Island .Medical Society since 1S40. He lias been a mem- 
ber of the Medical and Surgical Staff of the Rhode Island 
Hos|]ital since the foundation of that institution, and has 
Ijcen a prominent member of the .American .Medic.il .\s,o- 
ciation since iSoo. I-'iom 1S3.S to 1S45 he was surgeon 
to Ihe .M.luia of Rhode Islan.l, for Bristol Counly. In 
August, i8jO, he married .Martha M. Randdl, ilanghter 
of Ihe late Judge Samuel Randall. She died in I.Sjy. In 
1S42 Dr. Bullock married Elizabeth II. Saunders, daughter 
of Deoige Saunders, of riiiladelphia, Pennsylvania. She 
died ill .N'ovember, 1S7;, leaving two children, Herbert 
D. and (George S. The issue of the Inst marriage was a 
daughter, Martha ( )tis. In I,S75 Dr. Bullock married 
.M.iiy 1'. Collins, daughter of Captain Il.iile Collins, of 
Warren. When Dr. Bullock entered ujion his professional 
c.ireer his ]iraitice iiuluded boih medicine and surgerv, ' 
but as the Rhocle Isl.uid Hospital took most eases of sur- 
gery he gradually relim|uished that branch of the profes- 1 
sion, and has since devoted his entire lime to his duties as i 



a physician. He enjoys the confidence and esteem of a 
l.irge circle of friends. 



IvN'XIS, J.\MEs, now the oldest Elder of the Provi- 
dence Monthly Meeting in Providence, son of Jon- 
athan and Hannah (Sherman) Dennis, was born 
I in \ewport, Rhode Island, F'ebruary I, I Sol. His 
J' father was an elder, and his mother was a minister 
ol the SiiCiety of Friends in N'ew|)ort. Thev f>oth died on 
the island of Rhode Island. James had only the common 
adsantiges of the public schools, but enjoyed supierior 
home Iraining. At the age of se\enleen he went to Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island, and learned thoroughly the art of 
manufacturing cotton and woollen goods preparatory to his 
manulacturing career, which finally e.vtended through a 
period of aliout forty years. C^n reaching his majority he 
went to South Kingstown (Peace Dale) and built woollen 
machinery, and also run a cotton mill; thence he went to 
(Jreat Falls, \c\\- Hamjishire, where for two \ears he ope- 
raled a colt in mill. Subsec|uenlly he erected a cotton mill 
at Manchaug, Massachusetts. He next removed to Phe- 
ni\, Rhode Island, and managed two large mills. From 
this place he went to I- iskeville, Rhode Island, and hiring 
a mill, in company with Horatio Rogers, engaged in the 
manufacture of cotton cloth; thence he removed to Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island, and bought and operated the famous 
Jeiickes nfill at Central Falls, and built the mode! dam at 
that pl.ice. His career as a manufacturer was atleiuled 
with success. He scr\ ed as a school trustee for many 
years; was President of the Pautmket ( kas Compan)' for 
about ten years, and President of the Paw tucket Institu- 
tiim for S.ivings for nearly twenty years. Retiring from 
active lai-iness he removed to Providence in ii57j. Whe- 
ther in business afkiirs. or in the religuais meetings of the 
Friends, w here he has long held a conspicuous place, his 

reliabiliiy, g I judgment, and purity of life have been 

justly recogni/ed. In 1S2.S he m.uiicl Hannah Jackson, 
daughler id Rich.ud and .\abby Jackson. She died in 
lS33, lea\'ing a daughter tj.itharine, now wile of Benjamin 
Barker, of Tiverton, Rhode Island. ( )n the 31st of [an- 
uary, 1S31), he married .Xnna I'. I.ockwood, daughter of 
Benoni and Phebe Lockwood, of Poividence, the issue of 
the marriage being four sons and two (laughters, three 
of whom are now ii\ing; James, jr., Walter S., and Ed- 
ward I,. .Anna is an active member and officer of the 
Friends' Society. The Providence Monthly Meeting, of 
which James and Anna I)ennis are prominent members 
and representatives, dates back to 1701 ; and the present 
meeting house, cm Meeting Street, is in part the building 
tliat was erected for worship in 1720,011 the site of the 
Iiisi house fault in 1704. The present meeting numbers 
o\er two hnmlied members. On the long roll of eminent 
p>reaehers, past and present, may be ft,tund such names as 
William .\lmy, Daniel Anthony, Gilbert Congdon, John 




y /- y ^_ 



: r^:r 



BIOGRAPHICAL C YCL OPEDIA. 



305 



Meader, Kli/abcth Meatier, Anna A. Jenkins, Moses H. 
Beede, IluUlah M. Beede, Gerlrude \V. Cartland, Robert 
P. Gilford, Pliebe R. GilTord. On tlie roll of elders we 
find Moses Brown, Obadiah Brown, Charles Appleton, 
Joseph Cartland, Elizabeth Congdon, Anna T. Dennis, 
Hannah F. Peckham. The subject of this sketch is always 
found, as an elder, at the head of the meetings, and active 
in all the interests of the Society. At present the Friends 
in Rhode Island have eighteen meetings, and the same 
number of meeting-houses. They have an honorable his- 
toi-y in the .State. 



jSfiJgEACH, Rev. Daniel, D.D., son of Apollos and 
('hloe Leach, was born in Bridgevvater, Massa- 
chusetts, June 6, 1806. His early education was 
j such as the schools of that time afforded. In 
1. these he was studious, and laid a solid foundation 
for the higher departments of learning to which he sub- 
sequently devoted himself. Possessing an active, self- 
reliant spirit, he, at the age of sixteen years, left the quiet 
of his native town to engage in mercantile pursuits in Bos- 
ton. After becoming familiar with the rules and customs 
of trade, his mind, seriously impressed w-ith the great truths 
of Divine revelation, inclined to the Christian ministry, 
and the more suitably to prepare himself for its duties, he 
entered Brown University in 1825, and graduated in 1830, 
his term having been extended one year on account of 
ill-health. Wliile in college he became greatly pro- 
ficient in mathematics. His knowledge of the ancient 
languages was also marked. The study of Hebrew, fur 
which he had a special fondness, he continued to pursue 
after leaving the University, and made himself a thorough 
master of the nice shades of meaning to be drawn from 
the original tongue of the Psalter. He studied divinity at 
Andover, Massachusetts, two years, and one year with 
Bishop Griswold, by whom he was ordained an Episcopal 
clergyman in 1833. He was settled in Quincy, Massa- 
chusetts, five years, when he retired from the rectorship 
and accepted the position of Principal of the Cla.ssical 
School in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in which he continued 
four years, and then opened a private school, which he 
taught six years with eminent success. His interest in 
the cause of popular education led to an engagement as 
an agent of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, 
an associate of Dr. Barnas Sears. In the discharge of the 
duties of this office he examined the condition of the school- 
houses (more than one thousand in number) and the 
schools throughout the State, noting their defects, besides 
devoting much time to advising with school committees 
on points which conduce to the highest prosperity of 
schools. In 1853, in a report to the Board, he presented 
an improved system of ventilation for school-houses, de- 
vised by himself, which was soon introduced where needed, 
to the increased comfort and health of pupils. This sys- 
.5^ 



tem has also been iiurotluccd into school-houses and other 
buildings in Providence, with entire satisfaction. In 1855 
Dr. Leach was called to succeed Professor Samuel .S. 
Greene, as Superintendent of the Public Schools of Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island, the duties of which office he has, 
for twenty-five years successfully 'discharged. His previ- 
ously large and varied experience, no less than his thor- 
ough knowledge of the philosophy of education, emi- 
nently qualified him for his position, and under his ener- 
getic and judicious management, the Public Schools of 
Providence have been distinguished in some of the best 
methods of teaching. The Quarterly and Annual Reports 
of Dr. Leach bear the impress of a discriminating mind, 
and have been eagerly sought by educators both in this 
country and Europe. In 1866 Rev. Dr. Frazer, a Com- 
missioner appointed by the British Government to inspect 
the schools of the United Stntes, visited Providence, and 
in his Report to Parliament spoke of the Public Schools 
of that city as among those he deemed worthy of special 
commendation, and particularly the remarkable accuracy 
of the pupils in spelling. In 1873 Dr. Leach prepared a 
series of directions to teachers of the Primary and Inter- 
mediate Schools, embracing the best methods of teaching 
the alphabet, spelling, reading, geography, arithmetic, 
general exercises, and object lessons, together with ju<li- 
cious counsels in the administration of discipline. The 
methods thus indicated (some of which have recently been 
published), have contributed much to the advancement of 
the schools, and have been adopted in many other places. 
The educational views of Dr. Leach are comprehensively 
expressed in the following extract from an address deliver- 
ed by him at the dedication of Providence High School in 
1S78: "The first as well as the highest aim of education 
should ever be to develop in harmony and to strengthen 
all the powers and faculties, both of mind and body, by 
judicious training, beginning with the simplest elements 
of thought, to lead the pujiil on, step by step, to think 
clearly, to reason correctly, and to classify all the materials 
of knowledge according to their true relations. The 
memory .should be the repository only of important and 
well-attested facts and truths systematically arranged, and 
not burdened with useless details and words without mean- 
ing. An education that is chiefly ornamental and showy 
instead of thorough and exact, creating and fostering a 
distaste for labor, and fitting one especially for a life of 
leisure rather than for its active work, and responsible 
duties, fails of one of its noblest purposes. But all true 
culture, to be valual)le. must have a moral as well as an 
intellectual basis, ever inspiring noble aims and aspira- 
tions for a pure and elevated character. It then adorns 
and ennobles every condition of life, the humblest as well 
as the highest. The education we have thus designated is 
now demanded by the spirit of the age, as an essential 
and vital element in all human progress." In 1S70 Dr. 
Leach was elected a member of the Rhode Island Board 



3o6 



BIOCRAPIIICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



ol" I-jliicaliuii. whicl) uHice he still liuj.ls i iSSl i. He has 
aKo hcfii lor nun't.' than twcnly years a \'ice-I'ii,-siili.-nt ami 
L>ii\-cl(>i ut ilu- KiiinK- Isl.uul In-titutc of IiistuiLtiun. In 
1S75 I'.rown I nivrisiiv L-dnlVrrcil iipcii liiiii iIr- 'icL^rce of 
I>(ntnr uf DiviiiUy. an-t in 1.S77 Ik- w as cicHcd a trust ec 
of llic l'iii\fisiiy for hit* In-suirs tht numerous rejioi-ts 
bt'f'Hf ictnic-l III. he lias piibli-hcii an Arithmetic, a Cum- 
plete Speller, and a Manual of (leogra}>hy. The rules 
and (.ielinilions uf the former were based upon the decision 
of llie highest matlu-matical authority. All of these pub- 
lications liave been in extensive use. Dr. Leacli married, 
in May, lS_i4. Mary I [. Lawlon. dau-^literof Captain Robert 
ami IVnelope ( Uiow n ) Lawton, of New p>urt. Rhode Island, 
three children beiiii; the issue of the niarriaL;e, two uf 
whom are now livnii;, Henry R. and Mary C.. wife of (_i. 
\V. \ViIcux, M.n.. uf Rrovidence. Mrs. Leach died July 
2, 1870, a^ed seventy four years. 



I'K'l'K, Gr:nR(_;E Thurston, was born in Hopkin- 
tuii. Rhode Island, AuL^ust 4, 1S02. His father 
was a farmer, wdio impruvc! a h^rge tract of land, 
T * and was al-o pruj.rictor uf the vdlai^e huiLd, which, 
G'-; ij- w ith itshu--t,i>th unpleasantly described in a diary pub- 
lislK-<l neai ly fifty years agu ; "In the \ illai^e of • 1 Iui)kintun 
City,' su-ealled, where I stopped xcveral months, was an 
inn, kept by a church member, and now aLjL'd landlord, 
Cajitain Josepih Spicer, a man of llie most unbending hon- 
esty, whu^e full fare for man and beast, and his ready and 
urbane attention to the wants uf the weary traveller, i;ave 
hiui as far as lie was known the reputaliuii ut ' a ijoud 
bust.' Rut what stniLk mv attention with no little interest 
was the sign in fruiil vA the huuse, suspiended from the 
limb \j{ a noble sycamore. At tile top was a l.)eautit"ul 
eagle, the emblem of our independence, uver which wa-. 
a cluster of stars. ] )irectly undeinealli was seen the 
anchor, emblem of hupo. At the base uf tlie picture, in 
rich gold letters, were the words, • In 1 iud we Iii>pe.' tlie 
only sure guarantee uf imbvidua! ur national salcty. With 
suc_ii a hupe was America once made bee, and with it 
shall always remain so." George T. Sjiicer was the son 
of Captain Joscidi and Mary (Saunders) Spicer, and (uie 
of a himily of si\ ehildreti. He was early trained at home 
in habits uf industry and self-reliance, receiving also such 
jiubhc instruction as die village school afforded. He was 
scarcely twenty years old when he received a commission 
from Governor Gibbs as Cajitain of the First Company of 
Hopkinton Volunteers, which he held for several years, 
when, desiring to learn the trade of a machinist, he re- 
signed liis commissiuii and commenced work at the village 
uf putter liill, .ibout tour miles distant. While here he 
Ik came a number of the Seventh I Jay Rapli^l ("hutch, for 
which he alwa\s cherished warm iiitere--! and aHection. 
Abrr le.uiiing his trade he reniovi-d |o riienix, in the 
tow n u! \\ arw ii k, w hne lie remained si.-\en years, having 



charge of the machine-shoii a part of the time, and dis- 
chargnig his duties w ith the most exemplary industry an<l 
fidelity. He was aRo the first Superintendent of the Sab- 
bath -school at I'henix, started about tlii.-. time ( 1S27). 
In an article on tiie Hon. Charles lackson. published in 
the I'ro\ idence yourthi/, January 24, 1S76, the wiiier thus 
alludes to tiie WDrk wdiich Mr. Spicer was doing at I'henix 
fifty years ago : "That cheerful, bright, and I was going 
to say old gentleman {but he is only seventy-three, and 
never seems to me to lie older than forty when I meet 
I him). I'nr .Mderman Spicer, was then a young machinist 
at Work fi'r Haniel ( iurham at 'the I'henix.' He was 
j employed by l.Iovernor |a<.k^on and his brother to make 
I the machinery and loouis for their nulls. IIehadne\er 
[ seen a power loom, and tells a good story how he got 
sight of one. It was at the Anthony Mill. While he 
w■a^ busy examining it the overseer came antl ordered 
him out. but he had seen enough to enable him to con- 
struct one." xMr. Spicer was afterwards employed in 
Providence for a short time at the machine-sho]) of Thomas 
R Hill, and m iSjo removed to Pontiac, in the town of 
I Warwick, where he became connected, as Superinten- 
dent, with tile mills and bleachery of John H. Clark, 
retaining full charge tdl he removed to Providence, fifteen 
years later. He aRo had the oversight of the school af- 
fairs of the district. In < iclober, iSjj, he married Mary 
Sheldon Arnold, daughter of Horatio and Celia Arnold, 
and granddaughter of Judge Dutee Arnold, of Warwick, 
who scr\ed the Slate as .\ssociate Ristice of the Supireme 
Coutt from 1S17 to 1S22. In Apiil. 1S45, Mr. Spicer re- 
moved with his family li> Pro\iilence, where he to<.ik up 
his jienuaiieiit residence, and became interested in the 
manufacture of stos es and furnaces. He was superinten- 
dent of the High Street Furnace for fne years. In 1S50 
he, with his l)rother-in law, Dutee Arnold, and /.elotus W. 
Ilolden, erected a new stove foundry on Cove Street, and 
laid the foundation of the successful business, in which he 
retained an undiminished interest until his death, which 
occurred at his summer residence at " Fort Hill," Paw- 
tuxet. August 17, 1S70. He had six children, four 
oi whom survive him, two sruis and two ilaughters. 
The following editorial article concerning his busi- 
ness and oflicial life, appeared in the Pro\i<lence Joto- 
nal of August iS, 1S79 : "(Jeorge T. Spicer, the head 
of the house of Spicers & Peckham. a venerable and 
much-resjiected citi/en, died yesterday morning, after a 
brief illness. Although still engaged in the active labors 
and duties of life, Mr. Spicer had reached his seventy- 
eighth year. He has continuously represented the Fourth 
Ward in the Roard of Aldermen since 1S70 (having pre- 
viously served in the Common Council), and was twice 
elected President of the Roard. Mr. Spicer also rep'resent- 
ed the city several years in the Rower House of the Gen- 
eral .\ssrmbly. He brought to iJiu discharge of his public 
tunc I ion- broad general iiifoiination, good al'ilitv, the habits 



BlOGRAPinCAL C YCL OPED/A. 



307 



of a well-lrained business man, and loyalty to what he be- 
lieved to be light. In business and social and domestic life he 
was greatly respected and beloved. Born in Ilopkinton 
at the heginningof the century, he was familiar with Rhode 
Island history, traditions, and sentiments, and his conver- 
sation upon past men and times abounded in pleasant per- 
sonal reminiscences and unwritten political information." 
The same paper of the 21st says : " The funeral services 
were conducted by his pastor, the Rev. James G. Vose, 
D.D., of the Beneficent Congregational Church, who im- 
pressively dwelt upon the integrity, purity, and industry 
of the departed life, his faithfulness and tender afl'ection 
for his family, and his reverence for religion, and constant 
attendance upon worship." During a long life in event- 
ful times, he maintained a character for independence and 
honesty without being a partisan, and secured that good 
name which is rather to be chosen than great riches. 



li^^j^ATSON, D.\NIEL, M.D., was born at Jamestown, 

'Ml 



^^^M§ Rhode Island, April 13, iSoi. In early times 



before railroads were built, manufactories estab- 
' lished, or bonanza mines discovered, when land 
tti and its products constituted the chief wealth, the 

Narragansett country was a great centre of agricultural 
industry, and the large landholders were the important 
men of the day. Among the earliest names which appear 
on the land records of this fertile region, and among those 
who most largely possessed the soil, is the name of Watson. 
John Watson, the ancestor of the Narragansett Watsons, 
settled an estate on the eastern slope of Tower Hill some 
time in the latter half of the seventeenth century, where he 
resided until his death, which occurred at an advanced age, 
in 1728. He bequeathed the property to his children, and 
part of the estate has come down to the present generation, 
never having passed from the possession of the family. 
Dr. Daniel Watson, the subject of this sketch, was a de- 
scendant, in the sixth generation, of this John Watson. 
His father, Robert H. Watson, who was born in 1769, mar- 
ried December 30, 1790, and died October 13, 1840, lived 
a retired and reputable life in the improvement of a landed 
property inherited from his father. Job Watson, a large 
landholder, who died October 20, 1S12. Job Watson was 
for many years one of the Senators or Assistants of the 
Colonial Government. Mr. Thomas R. Hazard in his 
Recollections of Olden Times, in connection with his com- 
ments on his great-grandfather, Robert Hazard, writes: 
" He had three sons and one daughter ; the latter, .Sarah, 
married Job Watson, of South Kingstown, w ho after his mar- 
riage purchased several farms on Conanicut, and removed 
to that island. He used to occupy during part of the year 
the house situated at the head of the Mall in Newport 
(now known as Fark House), which I have heard repre- 
sented as being in his day one of the finest mansions in 
Newport. He was an extensive and opulent farmer. It 



is said he sometimes had not less than one hundred men 
engaged in his numerous hay-fieUls at the same time . . . 
Job Watson was the father of five sons, all of wtem I used 
to know-, viz. : Job, Walter, Borden, Robert H.. and John 
Jay, each and all of whom exemplified in their stalwart 
mould of body and mind, and in uniform gentlemanly de- 
meanor the characteristics of their descent." On the death 
of their father these five sons were made independent by a 
division among them, by will, of his large and valuable 
farms, which they all, with one exception, retained and 
improved to the end of their lives, bequeathing them in turn 
to their offspring, Walter Watson, brother of the first Job, 
liorn in 1753, was another large landholder and extensive 
farmer. He married a daughter of Thomas Hazard (Vir- 
ginia Tom), " who was an eminent and successful merchant 
in Newport, and in 1760 presented a ship of war to the 
Government, built and equipped at his ow'n expense. On 
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he adhered to the 
cause of the Crown, fled to the enemy, and his large estate 
was confiscated." This Walter Watson's daughter, Abby, 
on the 23d of .September, 1S09, was married to Wilkins 
Updike, Esq., a name honored and renowned in the annals 
of Rhode Island statesmanship. His only remaining 
daughter, Isabella, married, September 21, 1805, John Jay 
Watson (then a widower), son of the first Job. The late 
W^illiam R. W^atson, v\ ho for forty years was one of the 
most prominent and active politicians of his native State, 
was a son of John Jay Watson. He graduated at Brown 
University in 1823, studied law and settled in Providence, 
where he resided until his death in 1864. He left one son, 
Dr. William H. Watson, who graduated at Brown Uni- 
versity in 1852, and on acquiring his profession settled in 
Utica, New York, where he still resides in the enjoyment 
of a lucrative practice, and the position of Surgeon-General 
of his adopted State, having been recently appointed to this 
position by Governor A. li. Cornell. John Watson, a re- 
tired merchant, who has long resided in the elegant mansion 
on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirtieth 
Street, New York city, and who aci|uired a princely fortune 
while a member of the business firm of Jonathan Thorne & 
Co., was a son of Wheeler Watson, who removed from 
South Kingstown, Rhode Island, to New York State soon 
after his marriage to a daughter of George H. Peckham, 
Esq., on the 5th of November, 1799. Wheeler Watson was 
a direct descendant of John Watson, a brother of the first 
Job and Walter above mentioned. One of Wheeler Wat- 
son's daughters married Zadock Pratt, who attained dis- 
tinction In his day as a member of Congress, and founded 
the town of Prattsville, in Greene County, New York, where 
he conducted extensive tanneries, out of which he acquired 
and bequeathed to his children an immense estate. Judge 
Malbone Watson was another son of Wheeler Watson. He 
was an eminent lawyer and jurist, who was appointed to 
the bench of one of the higher courts of the State of New 
York. He died in the prime of life. His son. Major Mai- 



;oS 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



bone F. \V.Usiin.i;v,ulunlcil at Wu'-t PoiTil Military Atndeniy 
in iSui. He bcli.iNcil with i;ii;.\t gallaiUry iliiring the war 
of the Kcl^rlliDn.an.l 1m, i a leg at the battle of ('.etly-burg. 
He w.i- twice bievetc'l f'>r gallant tunduet on the liebl, 
I)r. Iianiel Wat^uii re.eiie.l hi, i la-Mi.al education at 
I'laiiifield Academy, a xciiiiiiar) of great po|Hilarity in its 
day. He comiiienced the study of medicine in the office 
of Mr. Charles Kldrcdge. of b.asi ( beeiiw icli, but suli,e- 
iiueiitlv bcc.inie the |.U|iil of i ir. Willi.un Turner, of the 
Lniled Slates .\riny, an eminent |ihy,ieian and surgeon 
then staticuied at fori Wah ott. New port. .Vfter complet- 
ing the course of study rc<|iiired at the medical deiiirtinent 
of the Lniversity of I'ennsyb.iin.i, lie recei\ed the degree 
of M.D. from that institution in the w inter ol 1S23-4. 
During his terms of study at I'hiladelphia b)r. \Vat,oii « as 
a jirivate pupd of the celebrated Dr. Nathaniel Chapman. 
In 1S25 Dr, Wat-on settled 111 S uuli Kingstown, where he 
enio\ed great popularity in the social and political worM, 
and U'\ a \oung man a large share of profes,icuial patron- 
age. Daring hi, residence at Kingstown he entered 
warnilv into p.ilitical contests and had an inclination 
for public life. He was ]>ositive and self-reliant in his 
political con\ ielions, and was essentially a man of prin- 
ciple, which no consiileration of expediency could ever 
induce him to husake. He was an ardent lover of 
(lur hee instituiioiis, and during the w.ir of the Rebel- 
lion left no word uiispuken or deed undone by which 
he could aid the cause of ihe Union. In lS;5 he re- 
moved to Xewpoii. where he resided until his death. 
During the I'lrst years of hi, residence there he devoted a 
large shaie of hi, attention to piditical affairs, and served 
at different times as a Representative of Newport to the 
Ceneral Assembly. He wa, a man of sound judgment 
and high purposes, to w liich he united remarkable strength 
of will, and proved hiin,elf to ha\*e Ijceira most efficient 
and useful legislator. Later m life he devoted hi- entire 
energies to the study and practice ol his professiun. He 
acquired an extensi\ e jiractice, w as much beloved by his 
patients, and possessed the f.icully of inspiring them with 
unbounded conhdence in his professional skill. He might 
have made his practice much more lucrative l>ut for the 
constant exercise of generosity and humanity toward that 
most unfortunate class of his fellow creatures — the sick 
poor. His u]io,ieiil.uiiiUs liene\olence in this regard is 
almost without example "in these times when none will 
sweat but for promotion," as it really seemed to afford him 
more satisfaction to ielie\e the sufferings of the necessitous, 
hoping for nothing, than to receive a large fee for his min- 
istrations to the rich. He seemed to have a iriagnilicent 
contempt for money when human sulfering was in the 
case, and had no sym|.athy for mercenary doctors. In 
this regard, as well as many others, he honored and 
adorned his high calling. In the exercise of his profes- 
sion he was eminently practical, and did not give much 
time to the profound researches of science, but was a close 



observer of the operations of nature, and held fast to all 
his observations and experience taught him. He was un- 
tiring in his devotion to patients laboring under acute and 
dangerous attacks of disease, but wofuUy negligent of 
such as were comiiiaining of slight ills or chronic troubles 
which he felt he could not cure. An eminent professional 
ii>i:/'rh-t\ who had much professional intercourse with Dr. 
W.itson, thus concluded an obituary article written at the 
time of his death : " His character was a most positive one. 
Taking a high standard of professional orthodoxy, he ad- 
hered to it, and scorned to tempori/'e with th-'se whom he 
thought irreverent toward it, and conse'|Ucnlly stood high 
with his ]uofessional brethren, which is a far better test 
of a |'h\sician's merit than any estimate that can be made 
by the public. He was rigid in the observance of iirofes. 
sional etiquette, and strict in reipiiring it. He was a most 
faithful and diligent physician, a social and genial neighbor 
and friend, ami a most affectionate and de\oted parent." 
Dr. Watson enjoyed an intimacy with many of our public 
men in davs gone bv, among \\hom may be mentioned 
lb n. .\sher Robbins. Ib.n, Dutee J. Pearce, and Hon. lien- 
jamin Hazard, Judge Sylvester C,. Shearman, his brother- 
in-law, anil Hon. Wilkins Updike, who was also connected 
with his family by marriage. Iir. Watson was happy in 
his domestic relations, having been married on the 2Ist of 
March, 1SJ4, to Sarah G. C. Arnold, daughter of Captain 
I'erry (.;. .Vriiohl. of Kast Greenw ich, who, w ith his brother 
Stephen, was for many years successfully engaged in the 
importation of West India merchandise, and grandilaughter 
of (oloncl b'lin Cooke, w ho, during the Revolutionary War 
and subseipiently, " was one of the most important and in- 
llueiitial men in Newport County." By this marriage there 
w ere eleven children, eight of w hom still survive — five sons 
and three daughters. The eldest son. Dr. W'illiam Arg)de 
Watson, followed his father's profession, and is now a 
well-known practitioner in New York city. He served 
throughout the War of the Rebellion a, a surgeon in the 
United States navv. and rm retiring from the service re- 
ceived fnun the .Navy iJepartment a letter of commenda- 
tion for the satisfactory manner in which he had performed 
the duties of that respon-.ible office, .\nother son, Joseph 
Watson (a name not unknown to the literary world), 
served with eipial credit in the Pay Department of the 
navy, from which he retired only at the close of hostili- 
ties. His son Ste|ihen .\. Watson, inlieriiing a line laini, 
engaged in agricultur.il puisuits. and. in response to the 
call of his fellow I ili/ens of IVntsmouth, Rhode Island, 
became their Representative in the (Jeneral .Vssenddy, of 
which bodv he has proved himself an efficient and vigilant 
member. Robert P. Watson married a daughter of Wilson 
Shaw, Ksfp, of filenshaw, Pennsylvania, where he now 
resides. The only remaining son, Daniel, resides at the 
ohl homestead, where his mother still lives, wearing with 
becoming giace "the silver livery of advised age." Dr. 
Daniel W.itsim was endowed with a physical constitution 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



309 



of remarkable vigor, and hardly suffered from a day's ill- 
ness up to the time of the attack which terminated his life, 
thou;j;h he never spared himself in the laborious exercise 
of his profession. In Februar)', 1S71, he was taken with 
symptoms which denoted a slight hemorrhage into the 
substance of the brain. From this attack (which he fore- 
told) he never raliied, but continuefl gradually to fail both 
in body and mind until his death, which took place on the 
17th of May, 1871. The Rev. Mr. Hill, who spoke at his 
funeral, in the course of his remarks said, " In Dr. Watson 
w'e behold one who has devoted himself to the good of his 
fellow-creatures. . . . The influence of such a life lived in 
our midst will ever continue to touch hearts, to soften lives, 
purify souls. It can never die. It is true he left no written 
works to perpetuate his memory ; he needed none. The 
unselfish deeds of his life, the tender love of a brother for 
suffering humanity — these testify to his greatness." His 
active and laborious life did not bring him wealth or 
worldly honors, nor did he covet or seek either. The 
central aim and desire of his life seemed to have been to 
promote the happiness and welfare of his fellow-beings. 
To this end he devoted his great abilities, and with most 
fruitful and beneficent results. Surely the record of such 
a life is the most precious legacy of his children, and his 
example one of great value to oppressed and suffering 
humanity, whose only hope lies in the dying out of selfish- 
ness and in the growth of self-sacrificing generosity on the 
part of those endowed with ai)ility, wealth, and power. 



PBOTTER, Hon. .'Vs.-v, was born in Rhineheck, New 
York, October 13, 1802. He was a son of Asa 
and Hannah (Hagadon) Potter, of Rhinebeck. 
Upon the decease of his fHther, Mr. Potter removed 
to Kingston, his ancestral home. He was a gradu- 
ate of Brown University, in the class of 1S24. Having 
completed his college course of study he became a student 
of law under the tuition of Hon. John Whipple, and at- 
tended the lectures of the then celebrated law school at 
Litchfield, Connecticut. In October, 1827, he was ad- 
mitted to the Rhode Island bar, and at once opened an 
office in Kingston. Here he resided for several years, 
occupied with the duties of his profession, which he finally 
abandoned, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in the city 
of New York, the firm being Brown, Potter & Co. Here 
he remained for a number of years, and then renturned to 
his former residence in the village of Kingston. For three 
years he was Secretary of .State, having been chosen on the 
ticket which elected Hon. Philip Allen Democratic Gover- 
nor of the State. When the Democratic party went out 
of power, in 1854, he lost his office. The remainder of 
his life was spent in New York and in Kingston. In the 
latter place he died, October II, 1872, at the age of seventy 
years. The wife of Mr. Potter was Mary Ann, daughter 
of Governor Jeremiah Thurston, of Hopkintnn. .She died 



several years before his decease. Their children were 
three in number, a son and two daughters : Eliza Palmer, 
who became the wife of James B. M. Potter, United States 
army ; Sarah Thurston, who became the wife of George 
Rice, of Worcester; she died several years since, leaving 
one child, a daughter; Carroll Hagadon, in the United 
.States army, now stationed at Helena, Montana Territory. 



^IppgDDY, RicH.VRD Evans, son of Moses and Hannah 
'a|^|S (Carpenter) Eddy, was born in Providence, July 

7fS<"' 19,1802. He prepared for college under the tuition 
r''^ of Rev. Isaac Kimball, of Middleborough, Massa- 

J t chuselts. His father was a merchant in Providence, 
of the firm of Potter & Eddy. On graduating from Brown 
University, in the class of 1822, Mr. Eddy took his father's 
place in business, and remained in it till 1841. When the 
Harrison and Tyler administration came into power, he 
was appointed Deputy Collector of the port of Providence. 
He held the office for four years. When a new adminis- 
tration took the reins of power, he retired from office. 
.Soon after this the position of Treasurer of the American 
Baptist Missionary Union was accepted by him, and re- 
moving to Boston, he entered upon the duties of his new 
office, in 1845. The place was one of great responsibility, 
and required some one to fill it who had a thorough busi- 
ness training, and Mr. Eddy proved himself to be eminently 
fitted for the position. For nine years he contmued in 
office, to the entire satisfaction of the society. Constant 
application to his work, and the long confinement con- 
nected with it, impaired his health, and in 1854 he resigned 
and once more took up his residence in his native city. 
He never fully recovered, and was unable to resume the 
care and responsibility of any situation which required 
continuous labor for any length of time. He was an 
active and most useful member of the First Baptist Church 
in Providence, acting for nine years as the Superintendent 
of its Sunday-school, and for fourteen years as one of its 
deacons. He married, in 1823, Emily .\nne Hawley, who, 
without chddren, survived him a few years. He died in 
Providence, April 29, 1870. 



^^^.\RSTOW, Ho.N. Amos Chafee, son of Nathaniel 
^Hw ^"'' ^"phia (Chafee) liarstow, was born in Provi- 
^^^ dence, April 30, 1S13. He is a descendant, in 
(^*(*) the fifth generation, of William Barstow, who set- 
« t tied in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1636, and was 
the first settler of that part of Scituate, Massachusetts, now 
called Hanover. He was educated at the public schools 
in Providence, and, when seventeen years of age, enjoyed 
the privilege of instruction for three terms in the private 
school of Luther Ainsworth. He entered upon his mer- 



3'0 



BIOCRAFHICAL CYCL OPliOIA. 



caiitili.' cniirr at an early a^c, ami 1i !■■ been engaged ex- 
tensively in (lifTerent l>ranche^ of tlie iron Im-iness. Since 
tlie fall of i,S_;6 lie has given Iiis [lersonal attention to the 
manufaeture of stoves, furnaces, ami ranges, and has built 
U[> a large and successful business, \^■llich is now carried 
on under the name of the I'.arslow Stove C'oiniiany. Amo^ 
C. I'.arstow, Ir.. and olliers being associated with him. 
Mr. liarstow is also largely interested in other iron foun- 
dries. Rugi-r Williams Mall, erected by liim, was at one 
lime the inovt Convenient ~\w\ ceiitr.d place for lectures, 
concerts, and moral entertainments, and for many years was 
used by the Free Evangelical Church, i)i Richmond Street, 
Subsei|uently .Music Hall was built by him, on a grainier 
scale, atTording superior advantages to the pultlic. Mr. 
I'.ir-tow has been connected with various banking institu- 
tions, one of which, the Mechanics' .Savings Bank, was 
established largelv through his inlluvnce and the use of 
his means, and has had the benefit of his experience aird 
supervision, lie his also been Pre-ideul of the City Bank 
since 1S40, and a director of several other lianks and or- 
ganizations. Mr. Barstow has an honorable record in 
jniblic life, having been chosen to oflice, nr)t as a politician, 
but as an earnest advocate of moral principles. In May, 
1S47, he was the candidate of the Temperance party fi:ir 
Mayor of Providence, but failed of an election. lie was 
first elected to the Ceneral .'Vssenibly of Rli.>de Island in 
the spriiiL^ of 1851, ami in thi- fill of that vear was made 
Chairman of the conniiitlee to whom jjctition-. ("or the 
Maine Law were referred, a position which he accepted 
with decided convictions in favor of the law, ami in which 
he used earnest endeavor^ to secure it. In the agitation 
of this (|uesti.)n Mr. Barstow took a prominent part. His 
s]>eech on the Mame Law, delivered in the House of Rep- 
rt-sentatives, lanuary 27, iS^j, was a \igorous description 
of the various phases nf the issue, an<l made a <lcej^ im- 
jiression on the puiblic mind. .\n election folhiwed, when 
the friends of the law tiiumjihed, .mil at the sessiiui in 
May. 1852, at .New]iort. the law was ]ias-,ed. In that year 
he was elected .Mayor of I'l.ividence, and his inaugural 
adrlress, delivered the "th of |iine, was published by re- 
rjuest of the Common Council. ( )n the occasion of the 
death of Daniel Webster, Mayor Barstow delivered a 
speech in Market II. dl. Xo\ember 4, 1S52, which was a 
reverent tiibute to uiie whose speeches and writings he had 
read b-MMi )outli u nh increasing delight, and which hail 
contribiiti.*d much to his own meiitil discipline. >L'. Bar- 
stow h.is been elected to the (ieiieral .Assembly, by the 
Rej'ublican party, on se\eral ocLasions, and was Sjieaker 
of the House in 1S70. He has also sei\ed acceptably in 
the Common Council of rio\idence, Ui a report, Febru- 
ary, I.^SS' lie recommended the site on which the present 
City H.ill was afterward built, and was Chairman of the 
committee v\hich purchased it; and also of the committee 
which, on the IJtli of July, 1855, submitted a pilan for the 
City Hall, [n liis public speeches he has discussed themes 



of the greatest importance. The day of the execution of 
John I'rown, December 2, 1S59, he was made Chairman 
of a meeting called to express the views of those who held 
anti-slavery opinions, and in his speech on the occasion, 
he ingeniousl)' drew a parallel between the John Brown of 
H.up^r's I'"errv, aird fohn Brown of Re\'olutioiiary mem- 
ory in Rhode Island, predicting the destruction of slavery. 
His aihlress of welcome on the twenty-fitth anniversary of 
the High .Street Congregational Church, of Providence, 
December, iS^y, rich with memriries of the sacred asso- 
ciations of the past, was published m the manual of that 
body. l-"ebiuarv 6, lS()i, he delivered an address at the 
dedication of the library and reading-room of the Mechan- 
ics" ami Manufacturers' Association. He was one of the 
Rhode Isl.ind delegates to the Southern Loyalists' Conven- 
tion, held at Philadelphia. September 12. iSfifi, and there- 
port of that body was prepared by him. He was one of 
the commissioners for the building of a bridge and foun- 
dation for a market liuilding across Providence River. Mr. 
Barstow has been a trustee of the Dexter Donation Fund; 
also of the Rhode Islam! Hospital Trust Com|jany ; and 
President of the Buller Hospital for the Insane. He was 
the llrst President of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion of Providence; has been President of the Provitlence 
.Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers; of the Rhode 
Island .Slate Ten)perani.e L'nirm ; and of various city organi- 
zations for the furtherance of the tempierance cause. He 
has also been a liberal supporler of many benevolent en- 
terprises, I'he later years of his life have been filled with 
onerous duties in connection with his office as a memlier 
of the Board of Indian Commissioners, to w hicli he w.as 
appointed by President Grant, in lS75,and of which Board 
he has been Chairman since 1S78. His oflicial duties ha\e 
necessitated fre'|Uent visits to the far West, and extended 
travels in the overseeing of the Indian agencies, a large 
correspiondeiice, and numerous publii: arldresses. These 
duties have been discharged with a conscientious desire to 
inqirove ihe Condition of the red man in our borders, by 
the carrying out of a humane and ("hrisiian piolicy. Mr. 
Barstow joined the Beneficent Congregational Church, of 
Providence, in the spring of 1832; became one of the 
first members of the High Street ("hurch, formed in De- 
cember, 18 i4; ^^'-Ts elected Superintendent of the large 
Sabb.ith-school connected with the latter in March, 1S39, 
and served twenty six years in that capacity. He was 
elected a ileacon of the High Street Church, June 27, 
1865. In the union of the High Street and Richmond 
.Street churches, he became a member and otiieer ol the 
Union Congregational Church, on Broad Street, and was 
chosen deacon on the i6th of January, 1S72, He has 
served for several terms as President of the Congregational 
(I'lub of Rhode Island. His literary productions, wdiich 
have lieen emiiodied in numerous printed reports, show 
careful thought, and as far as they have touched moral 
'piestions, breathe a Christian spirit. His Li'tteri from 



BIOGRAPHICAL CiCLOPED/A. 



Knfope, written wliile on a foreign tour, and published in 
the Providence journal, have been reissued in a collected 
form. His Leilers from California, first published in the 
Providence Jottrital, were afterward printed in 1S70. In 
1875, nine letters from California and Oregon appeared in 
the same paper, and were republished. Various poems 
of merit, and numerous articles from his pen on the Indian 
question, the Southern issue, and on temperance, and Con- 
gregationalism, have found their way into print. .-Xs a 
public speaker, his language is chaste and classic, his 
thoughts clear and convincing, and his manner easy and 
dignified. Mr. Barstow married, May 28, 1834, Emeline 
M., daughter of James and Sarah Eames. They reside m 
Providence, and have had seven children, — Sarah S., who 
married Charles L. Thomas; Emeline E., who married 
W. H. Bradford ; Mary L., who married S. A. Cook, Jr. ; 
Martha M., who married James H. Cutler, and died June 
29, 1873; Anna J., who married Rev. E. O. Bartlett; 
Amos C.,who married Grace Mason Palmer; and George 
E., who married Clara Drew .Symonds. 



^pMITH, Amos Deniso.n', manufacturer, was born in 
jJKni Groton, Connecticut, April 30, 1S05, on a farm 
which had been owned by his ancestors since the 
settlement of the town, in 1650. His parents were 
Amos D. and Priscilla (Mitchell) Smith. To a 
work, entitled Representative Manufacturers of Neiv Eng- 
laml, we are indebted for many of the facts contained in 
the following sketch. Mr. Smith's father was a sea-cap- 
tain, and his mother was a lineal descendant of the Pilgrim 
maiden, Priscilla, the heroine of The Courts/tip of Miles 
Standish. The subject of this sketch attended school at 
home until he was eleven years of age, when he went to 
Springfield, Massachusetts, w^here, with a relative, he com- 
menced his business training. He remained at Springfield 
until he was eighteen, the latter two years of the time 
having the entire charge of the general merchandise busi- 
ness of his employer, who removed to a neighboring town. 
In 1823 he removed to Providence, where he was employed 
by James Aborn, who was then engaged in the lumber trade 
in that city. Two years thereafter he became Mr. Aborn's 
partner, and his brother, James Y., was employed as a clerk 
in their office. In 1828 Mr. Smith retired from the firm, 
and opened a store in Providence as a wholesale grocer. 
About the same time, in connection with Charles II. Erank- 
lin, whose sister he had married, he hired what was known 
as the Buttonmold Privilege, in Johnston, Rhode Island, 
and started the small cotton mill which had been built 
there some years before. They began with a few hundred 
spindles, and sent the yarn into the rural districts, to be 
woven into cloth on hand-looms. While still engaged in 
mercantile business, Mr. Smith also became interested in 
several vessels sailing from Providence, and was the agent, 
and, in part, owner, of a line of steamboats plying between 



Providence and New \'ork. Meanwhile he gradually in- 
creased his cotton-mill property. He became interested in 
the Union Mill, started by his father-in-law, Henry P. 
Franklin, and in 1848, in company with his brother-in-law, 
he purchased an interest in the Merino Mill, immediately 
adjoining their mill at Johnston. The \'aried interests of 
the Merino and Union Mill and the mill on the Button- 
mold Privilege were finally consolidated, and in 1850 a 
corporation was organized by Amos D. Smith, Charles H. 
Franklin, and the heirs of Henry P. Franklin, under a 
charter of the Franklin Manufacturing Company. These_ 
mills have been continuously in operation since that date, 
and now run 34,500 spindles. • In 1843 Mr. Smith and his 
brother, James Y., who for thirteen years previoiis to that 
time had been engaged in the lumber business, became as- 
sociated together, under the firm-name of A. D. & J. Y. 
Smith, and the former also represented, as agent, the man- 
ufacturing interests in which each of the brothers had 
invested capital. In 1S45 they purchased from Thomas J. 
Hill, of Providence, a mill at Willimantic, Connecticut, 
and the same year purchased the rights of others in the 
cotton-mill at Woonsocket, since known as the Groton 
Mill. In 1856 Mr. Smith's two sons, Henry J. and Francis 
M., and Benjamin B. Adams became members of the firm, 
the style being changed to A. D. & J. Y. Smith & Co. In 
1857 they purchased the Providence Steam Mill, which had 
been started in 1827 by Samuel .Slater and others. In 
1862 Mr. Smith's brother, James Y., retired from the firm, 
and the style was changed to A. D. .Smith & Co., at which 
time Amos D. Smith, Jr., the third son of the senior part- 
ner, was admitted a member of the firm. In 1865 they 
purchased the Durfee Mill, in Pro\idence, which was re- 
modelled and carried on under the name of CJroton Mill, 
No. 2, its business being conducted in connection with that 
of the mill in Woonsocket. Mr. .Smith died January 21, 
1S77, and the business which he established has since been 
continued under the old firm name of -A.. D. Smith & Co., 
the present members of the firm being Francis M. and 
Amos D. Smith and Benjamin B. ,\dams. Mr. Smith was 
an energetic and successful business man, and was for 
many years prominently identified with enterprises affect- 
ing the general welfare and commercial prosperity of Prov- 
idence and the State. He served for several years as a 
member of the Providence Common Council, and also as 
a member of the School Committee. For some time he 
commanded one of the lire companies, and served as 
Major-General of the State Militia. He was an active 
promoter of railroad interests, and for several years was 
President of the Providence, Warren & Bristol Railroad. 
He was one of the original corporators of the Providence 
Gas Company, and was its President from its organization 
until his death. For three years he was President of the 
Board of Trade, in the formation of which he took an ac- 
tive interest. He was, at different times, a director in 
eleven banks and insurance companies, and served as Pres- 



312 



lUOuKAl'niCAL CYCL OPEL) I A. 



iili-nl iif llu' AnuriiMii K.uik and tin- Nali'iiial l!ank of 
('i>liiincrcc. He \\a^ al»i niK- iif llic fnuii'lci^ "I iIil' Ihitlcr 
Ilos|iital I'cir llif Insane, ami 'I ru^tt-c ami Pn-^i'Knt of its 
Hoard, aii'i w as Treasurer and llien I'resident ^^{ tin- Rlii ide 
Island Ilosj.ital. Mr. Sinilli was twice married. Ili> 
children by the lirst mariiaije w ere : Hannah (".. I Ienr\- I., 
Krancis M., ami Amos I)., and those liy the second mar- 
riage, now living, are Charles Morris, Amey H., and 
CeorgeM. 



''X(:)\VI.KS. HiiN. ]:[>\VARi. I'liK.son of Edward, 
iy\, and Ame)' ( I'eek ) Knowles, was tiorn in Prov- 
idence. Rhode Island, .\pril i 5, 1.S0S. Ilisgrand- 
o|l'fe father was Jonathan Knowles. His father. I'alw ard, 
* was liorn in I'r.ix idence, March 9, lytjS, and died 
in that city jannary S, iSt i. His mother, Amey. was horn 
in Providence, August 6, 177J, and died there ( iLlolier 24, 
lS;S. Their children were John, [oseph 11., lames 1)., 
Elsy, Henry, Edward i'., John 1'., and Amey A. James 
L>. became a distinguished Baptist preacher and wrUer. 
John P. was for se\eral years Juilge of the United States 
Circuit Comt h>r the District of Rhode Island. Jc.seph B. 
became a man of wealth in XaslniUe, d\-nnessee. Edward 
P., with only connnon school advantages, was trained to 
labor and self (lei>cndence. When a boy, he .assisted 
David .\inold in keeping the toll-gate of the Red (Cen 
tral) Ilri.lge, and afterwards worked in the old stone fac- 
tory, run by the Providence Woollen M inufac'uring Com- 
jiany, in the n'Uthern part of the city. He tinallv learned 
the jeweller's trade of .Arnrihl Whipple, ami afterwards 
pursued that business, at different stands, on North .Main 
.Street, dealing also in clocks and watches, tdl 1S42. Hav- 
ing .icipured ca]iital by liis industry and skill, he also 
ojicned a shop ol tm and ironware, in which he eng.iged 
his brother Henry. He also entered into partnership w itli 
his brother-in-law (husband of his sister Amey A.), Wil- 
liam S. Humphreys, in mannfactnnng weavers' reeds and j 
harnesses, having one sIkjj) m Providence, one in Lowell, [ 
.Massachusell-. one in Ncwburyport, Massachiistis. and one 
in Manchester, New Hampshire. Meanwhile he became I 
active and efficient in military, civil, and public. d affairs. 
He was a member of the Common ('ouncil of Providence 
from i.S;,5 to I.S41 ; Alderman from the First Ward from 
1S41 to 1S54; and was repeatedly chosen .Acling Mayor. 
He was linally elccu-d Mayor 111 1.S54. He was sjiecially 
earnest in the suppression of the •• Dorr Rebellion." For 
many years he was a member of the School Committee, 
and was the Insi person in the city to inlroduce to the 1 
altention of the auilioiities the matter cd' evening schocds. j 
He was a member of the (General ,\sseml)ly in 1S44, and 
again in iSjS, in each case refusing a re election. In all j 
his olllci.il career, he never asked lor a ])osition or a vote, 
and never spent a dime to carry an election. Since 18,2, I 
he lias been a director of the old Mechanics' and Manu- 



facturers' Bank, now the Fifth National B.ink, and was 
President of the old Butler Insurance Conijianv. While 
M.iyor of the city his efficiency was very marked in beh.ilf 
of the teiiipcrancc reform, wdiich he espouseil when a 
mere lad, on witnessing the ilrinking customs and habits 
then prevailing, and their ruinous results. Deservedly, 
his public services gave him a wide reputation. His por- 
trait graces the Council Chamber of the new City Hall in 
I'rovidence. The city will not forget his resolute haiirl 
that put such a check upon lawdessness and braced the 
rule ol law and order. He was at cure time Vice-President, 
an.l afterw-ards President, of the Mechanics' Association 
in its jialmy days. While, for a short time, residing in 
North Providence, he was, in 1S59-60, a member of the 
Lower Council of thai ]ilace. Mr. Knowdes has also been 
largely engaged in real estate transactions, and in the set- 
tlement of estates. His knowledge of legal princi]iles and 
precedents, and his thorough aciiuaintance with the cily 
records, ha\e been of great value in settling <|uesiioiis of 
municipal rights. He has ever manifested a deeji interest 
in educational matters, ami in all public and benevolent 
institutions. "A good Sabbath-school," he has said, "is 
worth more to the city than a regiment of infantry and 3. 
park oi artillery." His clear views of law, strrmg sense cif 
justice, high appreciation of order, and inflexible determi- 
nation in all his undertakings, have commanded the conli- 
deiue and admiration of his f^llow-citi^ens. I-'or liusiness 
purposes, and for the presersation of his health, he has 
travelled often and w idely in the western and southern 
portions of our country. He married, first, F'ebruary 15, 
1SJ7, Mary 1\, daughter of Captain Jolm W. hry, of Prov- 
idence. She died May 2, 1S4S. Their children (now liv- 
ing) are .Vbby E., Joseph B., .Amy, Mary Anna, and Ste- 
phen .M. His second wife was .Alice S., daughter of 
Jonathan Randall, of Noith Proxidence, to whom he was 
married May 10, I.S60. She died January 17, i,S7i. They 
had one son, Edward R. In ,\|iril. I,S72, .Mr. Knowles 
married Eli/abeth IL, daughter of Bcniamin Crowell, of 
Pnnidence. His sons, Joseph B. and Stephen M., are 
prosperous sih ersiniths in the cit_\', and well know n through- 
out the country. 



.\L\ ERT, (iliORiii; Henkv, author, great-grandson 
of Sir (leorge Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, 
was born in Baltimcu'e. .MarylamI, Januarv 2, 1S03. 
} His mother was a lineal descendant of the painter 
^ Rubens. Mr. Calvert's long and bus\- lii'e has been 
occupied principally in literary pursuils. He graduated at 
Harvard University in 1823; studied at (iotlingen ; and on 
his return to America, was engaged for se\cral years as 
edittu" of the Baltimore Aiiu-yiian. His published works 
are: Jlliistiunoiis of Phrcnolo:^Y, 1S32; ///;■ of Robert 
Bill <'hn , 1S33 ; a translation of Schiller's Don Carlos, 1S36; 
Arnold and Attdre CttOiro, ^ poem in two cantos, and 



B lO GRA FN J C.I L C YCL OPED J. 4 . 



3'3 



Count yttlian^ a tragedy, tlie la^t three in 1840; in 1845, 
he publibhed a part of the correspondence between Goethe 
and Schiller, and in 1846 and 1S52, two series of S<ciics 
and Thoughts in Europe ; in 1856, an introduction to So- 
cial Science ; in 1863, The dentleman ; in 1864, two addi- 
tional cantos of Cnbiro ; in 1865, a new edition of Scenes 
ami Thoughts in Europe, and the same year. Comedies, 
and Thoughts of Joseph Joubert, with Biographical A'o- 
tice ; in 1872, Goethe, Life and Works : Essays and Brev- 
ities, 1874; Essays yEsthetical, 1875; Life of Rubens, 
1876; Charlotte Ion Stein, 1877; Wordsworth, A Bio- 
graphic Aesthetic Study, 1 878; Shakespeare, A Biographic 
yEsthctic Study, 1S79. He has also been a frequent con- 
tributor to several leading magazines. In 185J, he deliv- 
ered, in Newport, an oration on the " Fortieth Anniversary 
of the Battle of Lake Erie," which was highly commended 
for its classic beauty and historic merit. As some one has 
said, Mr. Calvert is " a scholar of refined tastes and suscep- 
tibilities, educated in the school of Goethe, who looks upon 
the world, at home and abroad, in the light not merely of 
genial and ingenious reflection, but with an eye of philo- 
sophical practical improvement." He has been a citizen 
of Newport, Rhode Island, since 1843, and during his resi- 
dence there has taken an active part in promoting city 
improvements, and has done much to advance the cause 
of education. In 1853, he was elected Mayor, and served 
most acceptably. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he 
is still actively engaged in literary work, and continues to 
manifest a deep interest in all that pertains to the welfare 
of the city in which he resides. 



p.^E.-KRCE, Edward, son of Captain Nathaniel and 
Sally (Stoddard) Pearce, was born in Providence, 
jgp3 May 27, 1804. His father formerly resided on 
(28S-5 Prudence Island, but removed to Providence and 
el 1b was engaged as a mariner at a time when that city 
was extensively engaged in foreign commerce. He re- 
ceived the usual instruction and training of the common 
schools of his day, and at an early age entered upon a 
clerical apprenticeship in the commercial house of Hum- 
phrey & Everett, which at that time carried on a large 
shipping business. He served faithfully in that capacity 
until 1826, when he gave up his position as clerk and en- 
tered into partnership with his brother-in-law, the late 
William P. Bullock, in the same line of business in which 
he had been trained, under the firm-name of Pearce & Bul- 
lock, in which relation he continued until 1848, when he 
retired from mercantile life. He w-as connected with some 
of the most prosperous manufacturing companies in New 
England, in which he filled many important official posi- 
tions. He was eminently successful in business, and ex- 
hibited rare prudence in the management of all his affairs. 
He not only accumulated by getting, but by -saving and 
careful investment. 
40 



On the 4th of March, 1835, he be- 



came director of the Phenix Bank of Providence, and in 
1855 was elected President of that institution, which posi- 
tion he occupied at the time of his death. He was also 
one of the directors of the American .Screw Company. He 
was a man whose judgment was sought and respected by 
the community, ami his opinions, which were always 
formed with caution and given with modesty, made his 
advice valuable. He was noted for his untiring industry 
and fidelity to his convictions, and won an uncommon 
reputation for financial ability. His motto was, "Owe no 
man anything," and of him it was said, " His word was as 
good as his bond, and his bond was as good as gold." He 
was a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and 
evinced a lively interest in extending its influence. At 
home his books and his friends were his solace and delight. 
He kept well informed in regard to the current events of 
the world, and read with eagerness books of travel and the 
latest triumphs of science and art. His religious convic- 
tions were of a practical and benevolent character. He 
was President of the Society of the First Congregational 
(Unitarian) Church in Providence, and labored zealously 
to promote the affairs of that communion. In the building 
of its chapel, a few years ago, he gave liberally of his 
means and superintended the details of the business and 
work with the same energy and care that he exhibited in 
his own private concerns. He married, October 24, 1827, 
Harriet, daughter of Richmond and Rhoda (Peckham) 
Bullock, of Providence. On the 24th of October, 1S77, 
they celebrated their golden w'edding. They had five chil- 
dren, Edward, William Bullock, Henry, Ellen Richmond, 
deceased, and Julia Bullock, deceased, who married Alex- 
ander H. Davis, of Syracuse, New York. Mr. Pearce died 
January i, 1881, in his seventy-seventh year. 



^i^CJktMES, Wn,i.!.\M Ci'RTls, President of the Phenix 



National Bank, of Phenix, was born in Preston, 
Connecticut, June 26, 1805. He is the son of 
jj Caleb Tyler and Phebe (Hewett) Ames. His father 
Jto was a farmer. Mr. Ames was educated in the com- 
mon schools, and when seventeen years of age went to 
Groton, Connecticut, wdiere he was employed for one year 
as clerk in the store of Gurdon Bill. For three years 
thereafter he was a clerk in the store of Paul & Wiley, of 
Voluntown, Connecticut. In 1828 he removed to Phenix, 
Rhode Island, and entered into business with Nathan A. 
Crary, with wdiom he continued, under the style of Ames 
& Crary, until 1829, when the firm was dissolved. From 
1S30 to 1837 he served as clerk in the store of the Phenix 
Company, and in the year last mentioned he bought the 
stock of goods owned by that company and engaged in 
business on his Q,wn account until 1846, when he sold his 
store to Brown & Stone and engaged in farming for six 
years. In 1S52 he bought the stock of goods at his old 
stand, and continued in business there until 1S60, when N. 



3"4 



BIOGRAPHICAL CiCLOPEDIA. 



E. & S. J, Iliixii' became his successors. He was cngageil 
in a general nierchantlise I'Usiness in Sjiencer Bloeli, Phe- 
ni\, from iS6^ lo iSiiS. since which time he lias devoted 
miicli of Ills lime to hirmiiii^. ilis iiiercaiilile career ex- 
lendeil over a peiioil of lliirty year'. He has been a di- 
rector oi llie i'lienix National iJaniv since its organization, 
ami President since Septemlier II, l87I,of whicli institu- 
tion and of the I'henix Savings Bank he «a; caie of the 
corjiorators. He was a memlierof the Rlioile Island Gen- 
eral Assembly in lS6i and 1S62. Since 1S36 he has been 
a member of the Six-Principle Baptist Church. He mar- 
ried, at Voluiitown, Conneclicnt, April 12, 1SJ7, Marcia 
Potter, daughter of Henry and Lydia | Baker) Potter. She 
dietl December 23, iSSo. Their children are Eiriily Potter, 
Sarah Jane, and Lv'dia r>aker .\mes. 



eYi-'Y^H.L, T[I(iM.\s Jf.i-I'EKSon, son of Cromwell and 
^ ^^j Cyntliia (Walker) Hill, was born at Pawtucket, 
Rhode Kl.iiiil, Manh 4, 1SC15. He atlemled 
school until he wa-. fourteen years of age, and for 
5 two years thereafter was enii'loyed in the sho]i of 
his lather, who was a blacksmith. He subseipieiitly served 
an apprenticeship in the iiiaLlinie slio|i of I'ltelier & Gay, 
at P.iu tucket, where he learned t') manufacture cotton ma- 
chinery. With the exception of six months spent in the repair 
shops of Jenckins & .Mann, at Manville, he remained with 
Pitcher tv: Gay, afterwards Pitcher ^; Brown, as aiijirentice 
and journeyman, about nine years, the last four of which 
he took contracts and hired several men on his own ac- 
count. He ueiit to I'lovidence, April 19, 1830, and took 
charge ot the machine shop connected with the steam cot- 
ton maniilactory on Eddy .Street, then owned by Samuel 
SI. Iter. In lSj4 he purchased two-liflhs interest in the ma- 
chine sho]i,and the business was orgaiii.?ed underthe name 
of the Providence Machine Company. Mr. Slater died in 
lS35,and his interest in the Providence Machine Company 
and the steam cotton manufactory was sold to other parties. 
The business of the former company ra]iidly improved. 
In i8j7 Mr. Hill bought the Lee Mill, at Willimantic, 
Connecticut, intending to remove his machine manufac- 
turing business there. He thoroughly repaired the iirojiertv, 
and after manufacturing his own machinery, started a 
thread mill, in 1S40, which, in 1S45, he sold 10 Messrs. A. 
D. & J. V. Smith. The same year he built a new ma- 
chine shop on land bought from the Stonington Railroad 
Company, and in 1S46 purchased the entire interest of the 
Providence Machine Company, since which time he has 
been the sole owner of the property and the business. This 
is now one of the largest and most complete establishnieiits 
in New England for manufacturing cotton and woollen 
machinery. In 1,847 ''c made his first fly frames, which 
have since been perfected and sold to manufacturers in all 
section^ of the country. In 1S49 the .Xniboscoggin River 
Water-Power, at l.ewistoii, .Maine, was Ijoiighl by Benja- 



min E. Bates, Francij .Skinner, and others, and ihey formed 
the Lewislon Water-Power Company in 1S50. Mr. Hill 
joined Boston capitalists in taking stock, and organized the 
Bates and Hill Manuf.icturiiig Companies. Four cotton 
mills, known as the Bates Mills Nos. I and 2, and the Hill 
Mills Nos. I and 2, were erected. In 1850 Mr. Hill built 
a foundry and rented a machine shop at Lewiston, where 
he built part of the machinery for the mills, associating 
with him Mr. .Samuel W. Kilvert, a former foreman of his 
foundry at Providence. In 1864 he sold jiart of the stock 
to Amos D. Lockwood and others, who formed the Lew- 
iston Machine Company. In iS(i6 he sold his remain- 
ing interest. In 1859 he bought part of the Peckham Mills, 
at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, manufactured part of his 
machinery, ami started a cotton mill, which he named the 
Bay Mill, on account of its location on East Greenwich 
Bay. This mill he afterward gave to his two sons. Mr. 
Hill now owns several hundred acres of land at HilPs 
Grove, on the Stonington Railroad, seven miles from j'rovi- 
dence, where, in .May, 1867, he, with G. Blackburn, .Sam. 
uel W. Kilvert, and Smith (jiiinby, formed a partnership 
and (jrgani/cd ihe Rlioiie Island Malleable Iron Works, 
with a cajiiLil of ;sloo,ooo, of wiiich company Mr. Hill is 
President and 'i'leasuier. They have erected a large foun- 
dry for manufacturing mallealde iron castings, and their 
work is confined entirely to orders. Mr. Hill paid one 
half the expense incurred in the erection of the depot at 
Hill's Grove, and gave the lot on which it stands. In 1S69 
he erected, at an expense of $4000, a school-house con- 
taining a hall for religious purposes. In 1874 he associated 
with him his scui. .Mbeit Hill, hi> suiidii-law, Charles M, 
Pierce, Jr., and (.1. ]. Hazzard, w ho had been in Mr. IlilPs 
eiiijiloy. They organized under a charter whicli liad pre- 
viously been obtained for the Providence .Machine Com- 
pany, of which Mr. Hill is President and Treasurer, the 
capital being 8350,000. In 1875 .Mr. Hill built, at Hill's 
(Jrove, a mill with a capacity of twenty thousand spindles, 
for the manufacture of line cotton yarn, which he named 
the Elizabeth Mill, in honor of his wife. He owns Hill's 
Wharf ami Pike's Wharf at Provitlence ; als(», wharves at 
East Greenw ich. In 1866 he organized the Providence 
iJredging Company, and in 1874 the Proviilence Pile- 
Driving and Bridge-Building Company, which has since 
built the Crawford-Street bridge, in Providence, and some 
others. Besides being a large manufacturer, he has been 
prominently identified with various banking institutions 
and insurance companies, and has held several positions 
of trust and resj)onsibility. He has been the President of 
the Lime Rock National Bank for twenty-live years, and 
\'ice-Presiilent of the City Savings Bank, of Providence, 
since January 6, 1859, of w hich he is also one of the Board 
of Trustees. He was a member of the Providence City 
Council during the years 1848-5J, 1855-56, ami 187S. 
He has also served as a member of the ( ieneral Assemlily 
of Rhode IslaiKl. He is a member of the Rhode Island 




.agsr 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



3'5 



Historical Society, ami of the Rhode Island Agricultural 
Society. He has been married three times; first, October 
12, 1825, to Betsy Brown, daughter of Sylvanus and Ruth 
Brown, of PawtucUet, who died May 9, 1859 ; second, De- 
cember 9, 1861, to Olive L. Farnham, daughter of Stephen 
and Hannah Farnham, of Canterbury, Connecticut, who 
died November 16, 1866; and third, to Elizabeth C. Ken- 
yon, daughter of John H. and Ruth Kenyon, of Warwick, 
Rhode Island, the date of his last marriage being August 
9, 1869. By the first marriage there were six children : 
James Brown, Abby Ann, William Wallace, Albert, 
Amanda Elizabeth, and Thomas Henry, three of w-hom 
died in infancy. There were no children by the other 
marriages. In 1857 Mr. Hill travelled in Europe for his 
health, and in 1867 went a second time on business. Al- 
though now in his seventy-seventh year, he is still actively 
engaged in business, and is apparently as vigorous and 
energetic as a man of fifty. He has marked the grow-th of 
his native place from a small village to a town with a pop- 
ulation of over sixteen thousand, and for half a century has 
been prominently identified with the manufacturing inte- 
rests of Providence, where he is highly esteemed by all who 
know him. 



niTIN, Governor Willum Warner, son of 
Benjamin and Esther Phillips (Warner) Hop- 
dv pin, was born in Providence .September I, 1807. 
Sj'lJ The Hoppin family emigrated from England to 
A. the Massachusetts Colony in 1653, and from 

thence removed to Rhode Island before the American 
Revolution. It is a family of good repute in colonial 
and national history, and is closely connected with other 
prominent New England names, such as the Cushings, 
Phillipses, Cottons, Rawsons, Warners, and Aylwins. 
Benjamin Hoppin, the grandfather of Governor Hoppin, 
was a man of such prominent loyally that he held the 
commission of Colonel in the Colonial militia of Rhode 
Island from George III., but promptly retired from that 
position at the commencement of the Revolution, and ac- 
cepted a captaincy in the regiment of Colonel Lippitt in 
the Rhode Island line of the Continental army, and served 
with distinction in the various eventful battles participated 
in by his regiment. In 1828, Mr. Hoppin, after a full 
course of instruction, received from Yale College the de- 
gree of A.B. On that occasion he delivered the class 
oration, in pursuance of his election to that position by the 
members of his class. Of his classmates might be men- 
tioned the names of John Van Buren, Judge William 
Strong, United States Supreme Court, President Barnard 
of Columbia College, and Horace Binney, Jr., of Phila- 
delphia. .Subsequent to graduation he entered the law 
school connected with Yale College, under tuition of 
Judge Daggett and Samuel Hitchcock, and, having passed 
the requisite examination, was admitted to the bar in 1830. 



His official political career began in 1S3S, when he was 
elected to the Common Council of Providence, his native 
city, in which he continued to serve until 1842. In 1S45 
he relinquished the practice of law and travelled with his 
family in Europe. On his return in 1847 he was chosen a 
member of the Board of Aldermen in Providence, and served 
in th.at office until 1852. In the year following he was 
elected to the State Senate, and while a member of that 
body advocated the adoption of the ten-hour system of 
labor, and obtained the enactment of a law that covered 
the principles and details of his scheme, which law is still 
in force. In 1854-5-6 he was elected Governor of the 
State by the Whig party by large majorities, and at a time 
when the numerical strength of the Whig and Democratic 
parties was about equally balanced. Repeatedly invited 
to accept the nomination of member of Congress in the 
Lower House, he declined to consent; and when in 1857 
he was urged to be a candidate for the United States Sen- 
ale, withheld his name and gave his influence in favor of 
the election of Mr. James F. Simmons. In 1858 he was 
again a candidate for the United States Senatorship, and 
in the first informal ballot of the legislative caucus received 
a plurality of votes. Governor Hoppin resumed the prac- 
tice of law in 1857. The evils of intemperance and the 
liquor traffic engaged his attention and prompted him to 
advocate the passage of what was known as the Maine 
Prohibitory Liquor Law. The experiment of suppressive 
legislation was well worth the effort, in view of the good it 
had accomplished in the State of Maine. He also served 
for many years on the Providence School Board, and 
worked to bring about needed enlargemenLs in that de- 
partment. Governor Hoppin began his political life as a 
Whig, and so continued until that party ceased to be, when 
he became a Republican. On the 1st of February, 1861, 
together with Chief Justice Samuel Ames, Hon. Samuel 
G. Arnold, Hon. George H. Browne, and Alexander 
Duncan, Es(j., he received the appointment of Delegate to 
the Peace Congress which met in Washington. He made 
a conciliatory speech before that body of able and distin- 
guished men. At the opening of the war of the Rebellion, 
and during its existence. Governor Hoppin contributed of 
his means, influence, and personal efforts to the enlistment 
of troops, to their comfort in the field and hospital, and to 
the moral support of the national administration. In 1862 
he was elected President of the Yale Alumni meeting, and 
in 1866 was again returned to the State Senate. In 1867 
his personal friend Chief Justice Chase, invited him to ac- 
cept the judici.il office of Registrar in Bankruptcy, a post 
which he held until his resignation in 1872. .Since 1S71 
his time has been principally engrossed with the cares of 
his private affairs, with the exception that in 1875 he was 
again chosen and served for that year as a member of the 
Rhode Island House of Representatives. Upon the revival 
of the Rhode Island branch of the Society of the Cincin- 
nati, he became a member of that body as the hereditary 



.>"■' 



niOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED! A. 



representative nf liis yrainlf.ulier. Captain Heiijaniin Hop- 
pin, of RevoUilionarv nieniory. (lovernor Moppin regariis 
witli satisfaction the fact that lie liail tlie lioiior of re]ire- 
seiitin,' his State in the l/lay. Fremont, aii'l tiiant I're-i- 
dential Conventions, at the latier i-e]>re-entin:^' the branch 
of tlie .National rnioii I,eaj;iie ( jr;_;.ini/ation of Rhode 
Isl.tn'l, of w hicii lie \\.i> I'l'esiilent. In those matters 
which relate especi.illy to tlie |iri>s|,cnty of his State and 
nati\e titv mas- he mentioned Ins successful efforts, in 
connection with ( lo\ernor Willi. ini Spra^^ue, .Sr., (.lOvernor 
Henry I ,i|i[>iit. ( iener.il huncsti. .\nlhony, .Stephen Har- 
ris, I-'s(|., .ind iitlieis, in .ICC inipli^hint^, a;4ainst great op- 
position, the cinstnictlon of the Providence and Fishkill 
Riilroail, as tar as W.iterlnny, Conneelicut. Governor 
Hi'ppin was Treasurer of the road. He was alsC) one of 
the earliest ad\ocates of the introiluction of gas and water 
intc) the city of rro\idence. .Ml of these important under- 
t.ikin;.;s. now- accepted a- matters of ccnirse, were hedged 
about at their incejiticni with many dithculties. These 
sjjecial facts connected with the life of Governor Hoppiin, 
together with his participation in the ofhcial management 
of many I'f tlie prominent moneyed and ch.iritalile in-titu- 
tions of the city, prove him to lie a willing worker for the 
general good, and also that his mind is fullv imbued with 
the correct idea of the duties and responsibilities of .\nier- 
ican citizenship. (.ro\ernor Hopiiin was married June 26, 
1832, to Frances .'\. F. .Street, of New Haven, Connecticut, 
w hose jiarentage is traceable through a long line of Puri- 
tan ancestors, distinguished for their dee]) piety and intel- 
lectual attainments, He has two sons, F'rederick Street 
Hoppin and William Warner Hoppin, Jr. He is a mem- 
ber of the Beneficent Congregational Church in Provi- 
dence, where his family have worsliiji|ied for many gen- 
erations. 

^M'NX.W. .\i.EX.\NDi,R. born .May 26. 1.S05. youngest 
son of .Me.Nandcr Duncan, of Parkhill, .\rbroath, 
"f;i;f Scotland, and Jessie (Scott) F)uncan. daughter of 
&'^ Patrick .Scott, of Rossie, Scotland. He came to 
* the United States by the piacket ship ■• ,\inity," from 
Liverpool in the year 1S22. His lir-t residence in the 
United Slates w as in Canandaigna, New York, w iih the Hon. 
John Creig. Mr. F.>uncan's father, who was in the Hast 
India Company's service in 1 707, visiiL-.l .Ameiica on his 
way to England from India, and made considerable pur- 
chases of lands in the far West. In I,S25 the subject of this 
sketch entered Vale College, and graduated in 1S2S. Subse- 
quently he studied law in Canandaigna. In 1S27 he became 
a naturalized citi/en of the L'nited States, and after a short 
visit to England was married, I Ictober II, 1IS27, to Sarah, 
only daughter of Samuel Hutler, and niece of Cirus Butler, 
of Pro\idence, Rhode Island. He wasadmilted tothe bar of 
the Supreme Court of the State of New \'ork as an attorney 
and subsequently ascounsellor. In 1S37 he removed to Sodus 
Bay, on Lake Ontario, a property in which he w.is interested. 



In I^iO, on the death of his brother-in law, Mr. William 
Butler, he removed with his family to Providence, and for 
about eleven years was associated with Mr. Cyrus Hutler. 
Mr. Huncan always evinced much piublie s] irit, especi.illy 
in everything that concerned the interest of the city of 
Providence, and was an active member of many literary 
societies, and of the fire and military organizations of the 
City and .Sl.ile. He became soon after its organization 
President of the Pro\ ideiice & Worcester Railroad Com- 
pany, in the constiuction of which he took an acti\'e and 
pierson.il part. .At the opening of the Ci\dl A\'ar, Mr. Dun 
can, who tlun .ind always has belonged to the Democratic 
party, hoped for conciliation, and served for this end at the 
Peace Convention called (irior to Mr. Lincoln's becoming 
President. 'I his attempt, however, was futile, and w hen 
the war brol^e upon the country none was more loval or 
Lrithlul to the Union, or more confident in the ultimate 
result-. In 1S03 Mr. Liunean, primarily on account of his 
health, removed to I-^ngland, w here he now resitles, having 
an estate in Leicestershiie and a house in LomJon. lie 
annually, however, visits the United States, and continues 
to evince an interest in the welfare of Rhotle Island, as is 
shown by the lilierality with which he has from time to time 
contributed to its public institutirjn-, notable Butler .\s\ luin, 
which was itself foini'.led by Mr. Butler in conjunction with 
Hon. Nichol.is Brown, to which institution he has given 
large sums, and lately has added the important ward know n 
as the '• Fiavi 1 I liiiican W.ird," named for his deceased son, 
which ward has I'eeii erected at a cost of 830,000. He has 
also contributed to the Rhode Island Hospital and to 
Brown Universit\', as well as to many of the minor chari- 
ties. In the management of his Rhode Island jjroperty 
and that of his wife and family, he has shown great public 
spirit ill the substantial character of the improvements 
w Inch he has built thereupon. His present family consists 
of his son William Butler, his daughter .Sarah, married to 
Sir Robert Hay, Bart. ; his son .\le-\an'ler, and his daugh- 
ter, .\dele Granger, who married Mr. Hamilton Stubbcr, 
of Ireland. His son David, whose two children still 
survive him. died in 1870. Mr. Duncan retired from active 
liusiness in 1800. 



ts*£- 



j^'I.ISS, Rflfs, manufacturer, smi of Abiah and Re- 
becca (Kent) Bliss, was born at Rehoboth, Mas- 
sachusetts, .March 7, 1S02. His father was a 
'•j'T prosperous farmer, and gave his large family of 
J k eleven children a good common-school educa- 
tion. Kufus early manifesteil great de.xteiity in the use of 
tools, but his father did not sympathize w ith him in this 
propensity, and he was kept at work on the farm, much 
against his inclination, until he was twenty-one years of 
age. ( )ir attaining his m.ajoiity he became an apprentice 
to a carpenter, and served in this capacity for tw o years. 
In 1S25 he went to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where he 
was employed for several years in a machine shop. In 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



!I7 



1S42, having accumulated a siifricicnt sum to enable him 
to enter into business on his own account, he commenced 
the manufacture of wooden screws for |)iano and cabinet- 
makers' use, and finally established the extensive wood- 
turning business now known as the R. liliss Manufacturing 
Company. He was one of the pioneers, in this country, 
in this branch of business, in the development of which 
he exhibited remarkable ingenuity. He invented a ma- 
chine to facilitate the cutting of screws, which greatly con- 
tributed to the superiority of his work. The honest ma- 
chinist, to whom was intrusted the model of this machine, 
when asked to make another Hke it for an ambitious 
neighbor, replied, that he would make for him anything 
for which he had a pattern; this he could not furnish, and 
the method of cutting screws was for some time kept a 
secret. At this time it was his custom to convey in his 
wagon the products of his manufacture to Boston, where 
he made himself acquainted with the wants of the trade. 
By reason of his long acquaintance with Jonas Chickering 
and other piano manufacturers in that city, he had access 
to their works: and having ascertained the wants of the 
workmen, was enabled to devise and manufacture such 
appliances as would best aid them in the prosecution of 
their work. In 1S45 he returned to Pawtucket, wdiere he 
formed a partnership with his nephew, Albert N. Bullock, 
under the style of R. Bliss & Co. In 1857 A. C. Bullock 
and E. R. Clark were admitted to the firm. In 1863 Mr. 
Bliss retired from active business on account of impaired 
health. He had a fondness for travelling, and not only 
visited many parts of our own country, but in 1872, at the 
age of seventy, went to Europe, and travelled extensively 
through England, Ireland, and Scotland, where he made 
many warm friends, with some of whom he carried on a 
pleasant correspondence during the remainder of his life. 
Mr. Bliss was twice married. His first wife was Nancy 
Potter, of Coventry, who died May 9, 1840, leaving two 
daughters, Mary and Nancy. The latter died at the age 
of sixteen, and the former is the wdfe of Daniel A. Clark, 
of Pawtucket. On the 9th of May, 1843, '»^ married L. 
Emeline Ida, of Attleboro. The children by this mar- 
riage were Ellen F., Edward Rufus, wdio died in 1873, 
aged twenty-five years, and Frederic Abbott, who died 
in infancy. Mr. Bliss died, after a brief illness, in Paw- 
tucket, October 18, 1879, '" ^^ seventy-eighth year of his 
age. He was a man of generous impulses, and heartily 
in sympathy with refomiatory movements. In the early 
days of the Anti-slavery struggle he was among those v ho 
organized for the purpose of uttering their protest against 
that great evil, and earnestly labored for its overthrow 
when abolition sentiments were exceedingly unpopular. 
In September, 1S38, he was a delegate from Rhode Island 
to the Peace Congress in Boston, which called together 
some of the most noted reformers of the time. As one 
who knew him well has said, Mr. Bliss was one of the 
few men who dared to do right because it was right. 



firmly holding to the faith that right, not might, w-nuld 
prevail. He was unostentatious in his manner, thoughtful 
for others, and thoroughly conscientious in his dealings 
with men. 

^^feUINBV, Ri.\-, n(isi;A, I). 11., was born in Sandwich, 
»^J| New Hampshire, August 25, 1S04. He was the 
l-p^*^ son of Moses and Dolly .Atkins Quinby, and was 
{'la. the eighth of thirteen children. He early evinced 
''% a great thirst for knowledge and love for study. At 
the age of seventeen he entered New Hampton Institution, 
at New Hampton, New Hampshire, and fitted for college. 
In connection with this preparation he taught extensively 
and successfully. In 1829 he entered Waterville College, 
now Colby University, and graduated with the class of 
1S32. In 1S66 he received the degree of Doctor of Di- 
vinity from his alma mali-r. Previous to his entering col- 
lege he had become a member of the Free Baptist denomi- 
nation, had had his attention called to the ministry, and 
had become quite widely and favorably known as a preacher. 
At that time the standard of education in the denomina- 
tion w-as low, and Mr. Quinby encountered no little oppo- 
sition in the coui-se which he pursued ; but he pushed for- 
ward, and he is now known as its " pioneer educator." 
The fact that he was the first Free Baptist minister who 
pursued a college course with the ministry in view, and 
the devotional work to which lie largely devoted his sub- 
sequent life, gave him thi^ deserved distinction. Imme- 
diately after his graduation, in 1S32, he became the first 
Principal of Parsonsfield Academy, located at North Par- 
sonsfield, Maine, and in this position, which he held for 
nearly eight years, he did an abiding work. At the found- 
ing of Smithville Seminary, subsequently Lapham Insti- 
tute, at North Scituate, in 1840, he removed thither, and 
became its first Princiiial. He continued in this position 
fourteen years. The school was of a high order, and was 
largely attended. During these years many who have since 
occupied prominent positions, and have done useful work 
in this State and elsewhere, were taught by him. Promi- 
nent among his pupils were President James B. Angell, of 
the University of Michigan, Ex-Governor and Senator 
Sprague, Ex-Governor Howard, and the late Rev. George 
T. Day, D.D. In these years Dr. Quinby manifestly did 
the best work of his life, and is remembered with venera- 
tion and gratitude for it. In 1854 he returned to his native 
State. Until this time, he had preached in connection with 
his teaching as opportunity afforded ; but afterward preach- 
ing became the more prominent part of his work and teach- 
ing subordinate to it. During a period of nearly twenty- 
five years, he was pastor of Free Baptist churches at Mer- 
edith Village, Pittsfield, Lake Village, and Milton Mills, 
New Hampshire, and West Lebanon, Maine. In several 
of these places he was Principal of schools in connection 
with his pastoral work. For two years, 1869-71, he was 
chaplain of the New Hampshire State Prison. He per- 



3i8 



BIOGI^APIUCAL C\CLOrEDIA. 



foniUMl his (lulics in nil these positi<nis with conspicuous 
fidelity. Dr. (Juinl>y (jccu])ie<l other phxccs of trust amonj; 
the i'"ree iLipli^is. For a scries of years he was an edito- 
rial writrr <if tlie Mortiiu:^ S(,i>\ their ticmiminatinnal pa- 
per, and tni)k a K-adiri^ jiart In all their benevolent, as well 
as edueati'Mi.d. eiiierprises. The intluence of his life and 
exani])le was marked. His piety was deep and his spirit 
catholic, iie nianied, in iSjS, Dorothea iUirleigh. of Sand- 
wich. New ilanipsliire, w iiose deatli preceded his l>y several 
years. Mr. ("himlty died at Acton, Maine (MiUon Mills, 
New Hampshire), Och'ber ii, 1S7S. Two sons ;ind a 
daui^hter survive him. Pihon Chiiplaiiirv, a vulunie of 
respectable si/e and chnracter. is amonj; his published 
works. 



<LARKE, \Vn.i.i.\M A., President of the National 
ij Dank of Rhode Dkind, Newport, \\ as \^K^x\\ \\\ that 
city, in May, iNo:;. Ilis kither. Audley Clarke, 
Jl^ was connected with the same iiank from its organi- 
1 zation, in I7<)5, until his death, in iN-44 — forty-nine 
years — and was its Tresident the last twenty-nine years of 
his life, from 1S15 to 1S44. Mrs. Mary Clarke, the mother 
of Wdliani A. Clarke, was the daughter of Caleb Gardner, 
a i)rominent and successful l>usincss man of Newport. 
The son began his business career in the bank with his 
father, in iSiS, and has worketl his way u|i through all 
the grades of thai tinte h(-nored instilulion, which is the 
secfUid uf its kind in Rhode Island. He wns its Cashier 
for twenty-four yc.irs, and has Iieen its President for 
eighteen years, from 1S02 to 1.SS0. He is said to be the 
oldest bank officer in the countrv, having served in tlie 
institution \\\\\\ which he is now connected for the lung 
period of sixty-two years. All of thos^ who were pa- 
trons of Ills bank when he entered it have passed awav, 
and many have been the change-, in his native citv 
during his lifetime. His books contain the names of 
many citi/cns of Newport whose jirosjierity depended 
upon his veracity ami wise counsel. He has accuinu- 
laled a handsome lorlune through jiatieiit industry and 
integrity, and but few persons of his age lia\c the oversight 
of so large a business. Mr. Clarke has been variously in- 
terested in ihc local affairs of Newport, and was the first 
President of the company that mtroiluced the telegraph into 
that city. He has led a i|uui, unobtrusive life; is a wor- 
thy representative of his calling, and occupies a high place 
in the esteem of his fellow-citi/ens. 



^HLT<rH. Ib'N. S.VMCii W., was bom in Bristol, 
i^ Rhode Island, IVbruary 13, iSoj, and was the 
son of Thomas and Mary (Tripp) Church. His 
father and grandfather wm- both bom in Bristol, and 
rf^ his mother was the daughter of Stephen Tripp, of 
Newport. His father was .in estensjve f;irmer, and cleared 



the farms which he carried on for sixty years, and w hich 
his sons now occupy. He was also extensively engaged 
in the West India trade, owning several vessels, and for 
manv years importing not less than two thousand hogsheads 
of molasses [ler year. He was for many years a member 
of ihe Town Council of Hristol, and shared the esteem of 
the citi/en- to such an extent tliat he was often urged to 
accept higher olf'icial honors, but always declined, lie 
received a pension for services rendered in the War of the 
Revolutii'n. and died in 1S43. Samuel W. Church was 
educated in the schools of his native town. After leaving 
school, at the age of sixteen, he was em]j|oyed lor a K\v 
years as a clerk in Ihisiol. In 1S2S he commenced busi- 
nes-. for himself m Taunton, Massachuselts, under the iu'm 
name of Church cV Coggeshall, where he continued for 
about nine years. Here he conducted the most extensive 
tb.air and grain busine-^s in that section of the State, 
and on retiring from it, gave up his place to a younger 
brother, who still continues to do a prosperous business 
in Taunton. On leaving Taunton, Mr. Church bought 
•' Mount llopic Farm," in Bristol, Rhode Island, consisting 
of three hundred and fifty acres, wdiieh he carried on suc- 
cessfully for nearly fifteen years. In 1S53 he removed tn 
the old homestead, on a bimous neck of land known as 
Poppasipiash, wliii. h farm he ou'iicd and <.iccupicd until his 
death. Wb.ile ni-in.igiiig the farm, he and his bri.'ther, 
Ste[ihen T., built Iwo large barks and engaged in the West 
India traiie, m which they continued for about thirty years. 
The firm of Church Brothers maintained the highest stand- 
ing in business circles. Their wharves and shipping 
houses were located on what is now the terminus of the 
Proviilence, Warren ^V Bristol Railroad, in Bristol. When 
this road was jirojiosed. Samuel W. Church became the 
prime mover, and chiefly to his effort the road owes its 
exi-tcnce. On it-, conijiletion he was chosen a ilirector, and 
held that office contimi' uisly untd tlie lime of his death. 
He was President of the T«.'U n Conned of Bristol from 
1S39 to 1S47, an<l again from i860 to 1S62. In 1S59 he 
was elected, by the Republican party, first representative 
to the General .Assembly of Rhode Island, and re-elected 
in 1S60 and |S(>|. In the latter year he was electetl State 
Senator by the same party, and held the office continuously 
until iSOi). During his public career he became widely 
known throughout the State, and by the faithful and eifi- 
cient discharge of the duties rcfjuired of him, won the 
esteem of all classes. He* was one of the original members 
of the Board of State Charities. For nearly twenty years 
he was President of the Freeman's Bank of Bristol, and 
after it was changed to the First National Bank, continueil 
to occupy the same office in that institution untd (Jctober, 
I.S75. Tliou:;!) not a member of any church, he was an 
attendant ami liberal supporter of St. Michael's Kpiscopal 
Church of Bristol for many years, and afterwards of the 
Methodist Church of the same place. lu 1S2S he married 
Mary S. Tilley, daughter of Benjamin Tilley. of Bris- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



315 



tol. She died Feliriiary 23, 1852. In 1S53 Mr. Church 
married Elizabeth M. Luther, of Bristol. The children 
by the first marriage were Anne E., deceased, Mary C, 
Sarah Ann, Thomas, deceased, Samuel W., a prominent 
grocer in Providence, Benjamin, Matilda, Eveline, de- 
ceased, Hezekiah, Assistant Cashier of the First National 
Bank of Bristol, and Eleanor B. The names of the chil- 
dren by the second marriage are James W C. and Charles 
II. W. During his active business life Mr. Church was a 
friend and associate of many of the leading business men 
of the country, and while in the discharge of his public 
duties was brought into intimate relations with prominent 
men in high official positions. He died, after a prolonged 
illness, March 27, 1881. His successful and honorable 
official and business career placed him among the foremost 
men in Rhode Island. 



^;I\0\VN, Captain James Salisbury, son of Sylvanus 
and Ruth Brown, was born in North Providence, 
Rhode Island, December 23, 1S02. His father, 
who died in 1824, served in the Revolution, on 
§ board Commodore Hopkins's flag-ship, the Alfred, 
as Master-of-Arms. The grandfather of James S. was 
Philip Brown, a descendant of one of four brothers who 
emigrated from Wales to this country in early Colonial 
days, settled in Cumberland, and engaged in mining coal 
and iron, a business that was inherited by Philip. One of 
the furnaces stood near the mouth of Abbott Run. Captain 
Brown attended school until he was fifteen, when he en- 
tered the machine shop of David Wilkinson, where he 
learned the business of pattern making. In 1819 he was 
employed in the machine shop of Pitcher & Gay. When 
Mr. Gay retired from the firm Mr. Brown succeeded to his 
place and interest in the firm, and in 1842 purchased the 
interest of Mr. Pitcher, and continued the business in his 
own name. In 1846 he purchased nearly four acres on 
Main Street, and built a furnace and foundry for his own 
iron castings; and in 1849 erected a large brick machine 
shop. His special business was the manufacture of cotton 
machinery, though he often manufactured other machines. 
A sketch of his enterprises is found in Volume I of New 
England Manufacturers and Manufactories. In 1820 he 
invented the slide-rest, used in turning-lathes, adjusting the 
height of the tool while the lathe is in motion. In 1830 he 
invented a gear-cutter for cutting bevel-gears. In 1838 he 
patented a machine for boring the passage for roving through 
the arm of the long flier roving machine. In 1842 he 
patented his lathe for longitudinally turning bodies of ir- 
regular forms. In 1857 he received a patent for speeder 
improvement. In 1874 he obtained a patent for spindle 
grinding. He built the machines for the American File 
Works, and arranged them for their curious and successful 
work. He devised a machine for grinding file-blanks, and 
also a furnace for hardening files. During the War of the 



Rebellion he was engaged in making machines and tools 
for turning gun-barrels. His patriotic spirit induced him 
to contribute largely to the enlisting, arming, ami forward- 
ing of soldiers to the field for the defence of the Union. 
Captain Brown was the architect of his own fortune, a 
thoroughly self-made man, and the secret of his success 
lay in his adherence to the principle of always doing honest 
and reliable work. He married, February 23, 1829, Sarah 
Phillips Gridley, of Boston, and had four children : Abby 
G. (who married Hon. Thomas K. King), Mary D. (who 
married Charles A. Warland), James (who died young), 
and James, who has succeeded to his father's business. 
Captain Brown died December 29, 1879, aged seventy-seven 
years. For si.xty years he was identified with the mechani- 
cal interests of New England, and accumulated a large and 
valuable estate. 



LICKLIN, J.\MES C, architect, son of James and 
Lovaine (Pearce) Bucklin, was born in Pawtucket, 
Rhode Island, July 26, 1 801. During his infancy 
his father died, and soon afterward his mother re- 
moved to Providence, to reside with her brother, the 
late Earl D. Pearce. After receiving the best education 
the common schools of the city afforded, Mr. Bucklin was 
apprenticed, at the age of fourteen, to Mr. John H. Greene, 
a builder and architect in I'ro\idence, and soon became 
an excellent workman. He was fond of study, and de- 
voted his spare time to reading any \\'orks on architecture 
he could obtain, and in learning the principles of the con- 
struction and designing of buildings. When he was twenty- 
one years of age, he commenced business in partnership 
with William Tallman, and for many years the firm of 
Tallman & Bucklin was one of the most prominent and 
successful among the builders and dealers in lumber in 
Providence. During these years of active business life, 
Mr. Bucklin designed many public and private buildings 
in his own city and elsewhere, and for the last twenty-five 
years has devoted himself exclusively to his profession as 
an architect. He designed many of the finest buildings 
in Providence, including the Arcade, Westminster Congre- 
gational Church, Butler Hospital for the Insane, and nu- 
merous business structures and public school buildings, and 
was also the architect of three hundred mills and many 
elegant private residences in different parts of the country, 
all of which attest his professional skill and taste. His 
varied practical experience as a builder, and thorough 
knowledge of the rules and principles of architecture, have 
given him wide reputation, and caused him to be regarded 
one of the leading architects of New England. In early 
life Mr. Bucklin took an active interest in military matters, 
and for some time served as First Lieutenant in the First 
Light Infantry of Rhode Island. He has always been 
deeply interested in matters pertaining to the public wel- 
fare, and as a member of the Common Council of Provi- 
dence for three years, and the incumbent of various offices 



BIOUKAI'J/ICAL L YCLOFKDIA. 



K}{ tni^l ami ^^.■^|l^ll'^i^illty, lia-- icinKrct! the comnuinity 
vaiuablL- survici.-. Ik- Iia-> K-d a i|uicl, unostentatious Itff, 
ami L-MJov-^. ill I he liii^IiL-^t ik'^icr, tlic Luntuk'nce ami 
estL-cni v\{ Iii-^ iVIInu -Lili/cn^. 1 \v. niairifd, March id, 
1S21J, l.my i)aiK-v, dau-Iitcr of ( "aptain I)ariit.-1 Dailuy. of 
Proviticncc. '\W\ liavL- \\\v ilnlJuai li\ in;^, Helen Dailey, 
will) man u<l ( aKl. ScaL;ravc. of I'nn idciicc ; Loraine 
iV-arcc ; lanifs AIIh-TI, who for twenty year> has been 
as^ofialed witli iii-. lalliei" ni laiMne'^-- ; Uaniel iJailcy, and 
William lallNMn. 



RA^^^)^■, Il.-\. (;|(.K(,k Arnoli.. LL.D.. son of 
I Ion. (.■jiarles and Rchecca ( Havens) P>rayton, was 
lutin at Ai'porMUi^ \'illai;e. in Warwick, Rhode 
'1" ', 1' I-laml, Au^u^t 4, iSo^^. Hi-, father was cho-en 
J ; J 'Iowa i/lerk of Warw ick in 1804, and elected thirty- 
one times successively, holdin^^ the oltiee at the time of his 
death in lS_j4. He was aNo elected an As-^oi_iate Justice 
ol the Su]iremc Court in 1814, and w ,is hve times re-elected, 
holdini^ the office until his death. The hoyhood of George 
A. was spent at his home and in the schools of his native 
town. In 1S17. he conimencetl attendini^ Kent Academy, 
in East Cireeiiw ich, and had the lienelil of the instructlun 
of IJenjamin V. Allen, a L^radu.ite of Urown I'niversity. 
He was ilijigenl in his studies and punctual in hi^ attend- 
ance, for nmre than twti years, in summer and winter, 
walkini; the tlislance helwecn his lionie and the Academy 
every day. He (_ntered I'.row 11 l"ni\ersity in 1820, and 
graduated w itli IiiljIi raid^ in 1.SJ4. He pronounced an 
oration followiuL; the salutatorian, Jose[di S. Jenckes. 
Among his classmates were Hon. K/ra \Vilkni>on, lustice 
of the Supreme (."ourt of M.i^sachu-'etts. \)\ . Xathan Hur- 
fee, of Fall River, Re\. William I.everelt.of Xew [lort, and 
Hon. Asa r<'llei-, <d KuiL^ston. He -tu<lied law in the 
olfice of Hon. .Mheit C (heene, afteiwar.I Attorney-(_len- 
eral and I'nited States Senator, and in 1S25 enlered the 
then famous I..iw SlIiooI in lauhfudd, ( "oniiecticut, where 
lie remained unlil I'elaiiaty, iSj^. In that vear he was 
admitted to the har, and conmuaKed jaactice in his native 
tow II. He served as a inemher of |he School Committee 
in 1S29 and iSjo, and was ehosen a nieinher of the (.Gen- 
eral Assembly in lN_:i2. (hi the death of hi-, father, in 
No\emher, I'8i4. he was eKcled his successor as Town 
Clerk. In coimeclion wilh his laoiher. he carried on a 
lunilier llllsine^•^ that had heeii e-Nlal -li died hy his father, 
and cnnlinucil this trade until holh niemher^ of the hrm 
were called upon U\ i;ive iheiiisLdves e\clu^i\elv to public 
affairs. In 1841 he was a member <<f the Landholders' 
Convention, and ako ol the si'iond coiivrniion in 1S42, 
(lurinL; the " Hon troubles." IJeiiiL; a hrin adherent to law 
and order. lu' w a ^ i. ho^eii a member of iJu- ( ieneral Assem- 
bly under \\\v- new ( on-lil ill loii. In 184^^, haun^ previ- 
ously declined llie olliee of Jud:;e ol the C'.uirt e>f Common 
I'leas, lie accepted an eieelion as Associate [usliie of the 



Supreme Courl. This othce he h<dd until 1808. when he 
was electeil Chief Justice, which position he continued to 
occupy, with great credit lo himself and honor to the .State, 
until at the age of seventy-one, in 1S74. he retired on ac- 
count of ill liealih, after a judicial service of thirtv-one 
years. Hi^ salary w a-- conliiiued until hi-, death, and on 
his retirement the bar and .Stale authorities paid him the 
highest honors in res^ilutions. In 1S70, iJrow n University 
conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Raws. 
The last years of his liie were spent in the retiiement of 
his home III Kast (_)i-eenwich, where he died April 21, 1880, 
in Ills seventy-seventh year. He married, in November, 
iS^i, Celia (ireene Clarke, daughter of Ray and Rebecca 
Clarke, of Kast (Jreenwicli. She was a descendant of Dr. 
Joliii Clarke, know ii in connection with the ** King Charles 
Charter," and was a grand-niece of General Nathanael 
Greene. They had two children, (laughters, bulli of w hoin 
are married. ludge Rrayton's talents, attainment>, and 
character w-on for hiiti the liighest respect. Although ex- 
ceedingly modest and retiring, he was yet decided and 
hrm in adherence to his convictions. He was justly re- 
gartled as a jiattern citi/en and model public otficer. His 
portrait may be seen in the Court-house in Providence. 
His widi.jw died at Ap])oiiaug, August 4, 18S0. 



>\\BC()(_'K. Rows]., 3d, first son of Rowse, 2d, and 
Hannah (Riown) llabcock, was born in Westerly, 
Rhoile Island, May 4, iSoj. Though naturally 
i possessing a feeble constitution, he was early trained 
J to habits of labiU' and study. After passing through 
the be^t private schools t.)f his native town, he pursued a 
course of higher educ.Uioji Ni kebaiu ui, (.'onnecticut. Several 
of his classmates in th.it course ol sUidy became eminent 
in mercantile, poHiieat, and professional life, (_)n the com- 
j.iletiein of his e<lue.ition he relumed to Westerly, where he 
conlimieil to reside uiilil his death, exerting an inOuence 
which largely moulded the town's history. In 1S2S he 
began his remaikably suceessud career as a manufacturer 
of cotton and \\oolIen fabrics, o]'eraling the mills at West- 
erly Village, Sldlniaii\ille, White Rock, and Niantic. The 
business firm, consisting of Mr. ikibcttck and Jesse L. 
Moss, was for many vears an incalculable power lor good 
in that l(.i\\ iishiji ami \i( inity. There was scarcely an in- 
terest in til, it part of the Stale wliieli did not, cither directly 
or indirectly, feel ils fostering and quickening inlluence. 
The hea\y nulls on the easiein bank (if the Rawcatuck 
Ri\er, and the elegant h<ilel known as the Dixon House, 
are monuments alike to the eiUerpiise and public spirit of 
Messrs. I'abcock iS: Moss. Mr. Rabcock was aRu con- 
cerned in dilleieiil branches of bu-iness with several lead- 
ing men of Rhode Island and Ea-tein Connecticut. In 
1S41 he succeei.led his t.ither as I'lcsident of the Xaliiuial 
Rhenix Hank, and retained that posjiinn till his death. 
He represented Westerly m I he General Assembly in the 




V,- /J 



S .. r 



/ c" S- /- 



<'/' y ^y i^y /. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



321 



years 1842, 1S63, and 1864. He took a deep interest in 
the cause of popular education, and to his strong plead- 
ings, seconded by his generous contributions, more than to 
any other, perhaps all other, causes, is Westerly indebted 
to-day for its superior educational advantages. He was a 
Warden of the Episcopal Church from the lime of its or- 
ganization there until his death, and was always one of 
the devoutest worshippers and most liberal supporters of 
that communion. For his gentlemanly qualities. Christian 
character, and the great services which he rendered to his 
native town, he was held in the highest esteem and respect 
by all. He marrieil, April 27, 1852, Mary Townsend, an 
estimable lady of Newport, Rhode Island. Mr. Babcock 
died March 6, 1872, in the siNty-ninth year of his age. 



J|^.\RROWS, Ira, M.D., was born in Attleborough, 
^3» Massachusetts, November 18, 1804. His father, 
Ezra Barrows, also a native of Attleborough, 
married Bcbee Reck, a descendant of Joseph 
Peck, who came to this country from England 
in 1638, and whose ancestry has been traced back for 
twenty generations. The subject of this sketch enjoyed 
superior educational advantages, and has been actively 
engaged in the practice of his profession for over fifty 
years. After pursuing the usual academic course he en- 
tered Brown University, and in 1824 graduated at that in- 
stitution, which in due time conferred upon him the degree 
of Master of Arts. He studied medicine with Dr. Arte- 
mus Johnson, of Pawlucket, Rhode Inland, and attended 
lectures at Harvard College, from which he received the 
degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1827. For many years 
he practiced his profession in Pawtucket and the neighbor- 
ing tovi'ns of Bristol County, Massachusetts. In 185 1 he 
removed to Providence, where he has ever since been en- 
gaged in successful practice. Although trained in the 
" old school," his attention was early directed to homoe- 
opathy, and after thoroughly testing its merits he became 
a warm advocate of the truth of the principles laid down 
by Hahnemann. Dr. Barrows has attamed a high rank as 
a homoeopathic practitioner, and his professional career 
throughout has been attended with unintcrupted success. 
He is a member of the Beneficent Congregational Church 
of Providence, having united with that denomination in 
Pawtucket in 1833. Amid the active duties of his career 
as a medical practitioner he has ever taken time to fulfil 
his religious obligations, and has been active in promoting 
various benevolent and charitable enterprises. He was 
married, February 5, 1833,10 Frances A. Bartlett, daughter 
of Oliver Bartlett, of Smithfield, Rhode Island, and has 
two sons and two daughters. His sons are George B. Bar- 
rows, a lawyer in Providence, who married Josephine 
Miles, of New York city ; and William Ezra Barrows, a 
physician, who married Emma Astle, of Providence. His 
daughters are Sarah Frances Barrows and Elizabeth Rob- 
41 



inson Goodrich, wife of James W. Goodrich, of Spring- 
field, Massachusetts. One of Dr. Barrows's brothers, the 
late Dr. George Barrows, of Taunton, Massachusetts, was 
a prominent homceopathic physician of that city, where he 
was engaged in the practice for more than thirty years. 



^51I^OHXSOX, Olivkr, son of Elisha and Asee (Albro) 
Johnson, was born at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 
June 14, 1799. His paternal ancestor in this coun- 
f/i'^^'-^ try came from Wales and settled on the island of 
ft I oj Rhode Island, where, in company with his brother, 
he commenced the business of fulling and dressing cloth, 
which he had pursued in his native country. He subse- 
quently removed to that part of East Greenwich, now called 
Frenchtown, where he purchased a tract of land (part of 
which is still owned by the Johnson family), and erected 
a mill and dwelling-house. Benjamin Johnson, the grand- 
father of (Jliver. served for some time as a Judge of the 
Common Pleas Court, and at the time of his death, was 
one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 
which position he had occupied for several years. Mr. 
Johnson's maternal ancestors were of French descent. He 
was etlucated at the common school in his native town, 
and at Washington Academy at Wickford. At the early 
age of fifteen he began to teach school, and thus worked 
his way through the Academy, and was enabled to acquire 
a good education. He continued to teach until he was 
twenty-three years of age, having taught at different times in 
E.xeter, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, and Warwick, 
being quite successful as an instructor, and in the manage- 
ment of the schools under his charge. In 1822, he quit 
teaching, and, with Whipple .\. Arnold, engaged in gene- 
ral merchandising, at Cenlreville, Rhode Island, the firm- 
name being Arnold & Johnson. After being thus associ- 
ated for about two years, the partnership was dissolved, 
and Mr. Arnohl continued to carry on the business alone. 
He ne.xt opened a variety store in a building owned and 
occupied by Dr. Sylvester Knight, and having a desire to 
learn the drug business, added drugs and medicines to his 
stock. For some time he w*as assisted by Dr. Knight, and 
studied with him until he had acquired a thorough knowl- 
edge of the drug business. He continued in business at 
Centre\ille until 1833, and a part of the time while there 
kept the Centreville Hotel, and also engaged in cotton 
manufacturing, with John J. Wood. In April, 1833, he 
removed to Providence, where he has since resided. The 
same year of this removal to Providence, he and Dr. Knight 
opened a wholesale drug store on Weybosset Street, where 
they continued until the death of Dr. Knight, in 1841, the 
firm .style being Oliver Johnson cS: Co. The stock and fix- 
tures of this store were then sold to Grosvenor & Chace, of 
Providence, and he afterwartis opened a store for the sale 
of drugs, groceries, cotton, cotton goods and manufac- 
turers' supplies, at the present site of the yonriial office, 



mo GKA Pine. 11. c ) VI orEviA. 



wlifix- he Liinlimu-il in Iiu-iiK->s aluiio, ami -.uccocdeil ill 
Imil.liiii; up a larLiL- and |ii-urilal.le trailc. In 1S46 he re- 
inuviil 111- I)udiK-> In 15 KMhair^f Slrcct, Providence, 
ami ha- conlinueil ih.ie unlil the ineseiu liine. Jn con-e- I 
c|Uenee "I inerea-ed trade. In- .tnie lia- Ijeen greatly en- 
lari;ed. and 11. uv extend, tlii.)iiL;h in K\chan;,'e I'late. In 
I,S5J lie a-Miei.ited u ith liiiii his >nn, Wdliaiii S. Juhn-on, 
and the linn eoiiliiiued a- 1 ili\er Jdhnson & Son unlil 1S59, 
when lieni.iinin W. Spiiik, ulio had for several years been 
in Mr. |ohii-.ai- einphiV, was also admitted as a partner, 
and the laisiiie,s lias sinee heen eondiicted under the lirm- 
naine of lUner |ohiison \ Co. d'liey also have a lari;e 
Iniiidini; on the corner of Kddy and Kim Streets, where 
they grind white lead and colors. Mr. Johnson is now the 
oldest wholesale drnggi-t 111 the Slate, and though not n.iw 
an active ]iarliier. heing eighty one year- ol age, he still re- 
tains a relish for the activities of business, and may be seen 
almost every day at his desk in the coun:ing-room. His up- 
rightness of character and business c|ualihcations ha\e won 
for him the esleeni of hi- lelhju -eiti/eus, and caused him 
to be called upon to till various public positiims. lie was 
Justice of the I'eace and Notary I'ublic in Warwick for 
Some time; in I.S4I~52-5.?-54-5l\ •i memlier of the City 
Council of I'roxidence, and for several years a member of 
the School Uoard. lie was a re].reseritalive m the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Rliode l-land in lS54-55^57, and was a 
member of the two conventions m 1S41, called for the pur- 
pose of drafting the Ciuistiuition of the Stale, lie has 
been a director in sever, il insurance companies; was a di- 
rector of the City National Bank of I'ro\idencc from 1S34 
to 1S4S, and has been a trustee of the Mechanics' Savings 
Bank since 1864, h.iving lieen one of the Incorporators in 
I.S54. lie ha, been an active and prominent member of 
the order of l-'iceinasoiis since June 0, iN-!;, at which time 
lie was initiated in M.uuliester Lodge, No. IJ, at Coventry, 
Rhode Island. Notwithstanding the religious and polit- 
ical jiersei utioii to wdiiih iMeeiiiasons were subjected dur- 
ing the Aniimasonic inoveineiit, Mr. John-oii remained 
liriii in his adherence lo the .udcr. He was twice called 
before the church of which he was then a member, to 
answ er the charge of being a Freemason ; but the charge 
w.\s finally withdrawn. He received all the degrees in 
ancient Masonry, and the orilers of Knighthood, and was 
lioncired with the highest ollices in the gift of the fraler- 
nitv. He was elcLled ( irand Ma4er of Masons by the 
Grand Lodge of Rho.le I-laiid in 1S55-56; (Grand Com- 
mander) Eminent Commander of St. John's (Encamp- 
ment) Commandery in 1S59; and Grand High Priest of 
the I'.rand Roval .\nh Ch.ipter of Rhode Island in I.S60, 
He has received, ill .ill, hilly-four degrees anil orders, in- 
cluding the degrees of the Ancient and Acceiited Scottish 
Rites. On the 6th of July, iSld, when seventeen years 
of age, he joineil the I'list liajitist Church in Exeter, 
Rhode Isl.ind.and h,is -ince been a inember of the follow- 
ing churches: The W.u wick and Coveiilrv Church, with 



which he united September 5, 1S24; the I'drst I'aptist 
Church at Providence, of w hicli he became a member No- 
vember 30, 1S37; the Ninth Baptist Church, August 10, 
I.S47; and the I'lr-t Baptist Church, with which he again 
united (icO'ber JO, 1^47. He has served with efliciency 
in \arious church relations. He has l.ieen twice married; 
first, to ll.iiiiiali S. Ilavis, daughter of E/ra I), and Me- 
hetable (Keynohls) I )avis, of Davisville, Rhode Island, 
September 5, 1SJ4. She died May 24, 1S02, aged lifty- 
seven years. They It. id two sons, Willianr S. and Edwin 
A. Johnson, lie married, second, February 23, 1864, Cor- 
delia .M. Stanwood, daughter of Solomon and Jane D. 

(Hamor) Staiiw 1, of Ellsworth, Maine. Her mother's 

brother. I>a\id llainor, was a Member of Congress from 
Maine. Mr. loiinson was for many years a member of the 
Sianding l.'oiniiiittee of the Rhode Island Society for the 
Kncoinagement of I lomcstic Industry, anti has given con- 
siderable atteiilion to agriculture, having for some time 
ownril a farm on Cowcset Bav, in Warwick. In 1S30 he 
purchased a residence on Broadwa)', Providence, where he 
has since cimtinued to reside. 



E.\I), lii.\ciiN J.VMi'.s Hr.RVEY, son of Rev. James 
f*JLv.i ami Rebecca (Barton) Read, was born in .Attle- 
"Zp' '^ liorough, Massachusetts, August 30, iSoi. His 
f'!.;^ father (son of |oseph and Mary Read, and a de- 
■"■J" seendaiit, in the sixth generation, of John Read, 
one of the first settlers of Newport), was a Baptist minister 
of Attlelinrough for fifteen years, and died in October, 
1S14, aged forty six years. He had three children, Andrew 
B,, fames IL, and Saimiel S. He rei|uired his children 
to read through the Bible once eacii year, a rule for which 
they afterwards were thankful. James IL w.is early im- 
pressed by religious truth, and became a decided Christian 
in I.Sls. His bapli-in, with tint of another lad, made a 
deep imi>ression upon the conimiinity. Lie was educatetl 
at home and in the public schools. Leaving his native 
town he engaged, ill 1817, as a clerk in a shoe store in 
Proviilence, and served a year, when he entered the dry- 
goods store of S}lvanus Gallatin, where he remained till 
1S22, when he commenced business at No. 7 Market 
Sijuare, in company with Thomas D. Shumway, dealing 
in woollen goods, tailors' tiiinmings, and drygoods. At 
the end of a year Mr. Sluiinway retired, leaving the busi- 
ness with Mr. Read, who prosecuted it successfully till 
1S27, when he removed Ici No. 31 North Mam Street, 
wdiere he rem. lined huty-live consecutive year-, with di(- 
ferent partner-, and built up a prosperous liusiness house 
widely known in the country. His second partner was 
George S. Partridge, a former clerk ; his third, Josiah II. 
i;)nrisbee ; for five years thereafter he was alone. From 
1S4CJ to 1843 his pi.irtners were .Samuel II. Thomas and 
Stephen |. Mason; from 1S43 to KS4C) he was associated 
with S. (i. Mason, after which he again carried un busi- 



B 10 GRA rilICA L C I TL OPED I A. 



323 



ne^s alone till 1S50. In y.ninnry ^^^ that year Tnnits Snow, 
Jr., became his jiartncr, and the firni so remained fof 
thirteen years; tliis firm removed, in I<S72, to Bntler Ex- 
change Bniidini^, on Westminster Street, opposite the Ar- 
cade. In January, 1874 the old firm, James H. Read & 
Co., admitted as partners the former salesmen, < leorge B. 
Hale and John C. Bosworth. In nragnitude and character 
tliis house, as importers and jolihers, ranks with the most 
important houses in Kliode Island. The founder and 
head, Mr. Read, has now (i8Si) lieen in active and suc- 
cessful business in Providence for sixty-four years, and has 
won an enviat)le reputation for energy, sagacity, and reli- 
ability. He united, by letter, with the First Baptist Church 
in 1S20; became Treasurer of the Charitable Baptist So- 
ciety in iSjI ; was chosen Deacon in 1834; early became 
a member of the Board of the Rhode Island Baptist State 
Convention, and has continued to serve that body with re- 
markable efficiency. Yor many years he has been collector 
for the church and for the convention, and has ever been 
one of the largest contributors for all the objects advocated, 
near and far. In organizing and sustaining Sabbath- 
schools and churches, he has laliored personally, and long, 
notably at Albion, Lime Rock, Cumberland Hill, Lins- 
quisset neighborhood, and in his native town in Massachu- 
setts. His earnest voice seconded the tracts and books he 
distributed, and the preaching of students and ministers 
whom he introduced to the people. He has donated hun- 
dreds of copies of the Scriptures to students and others on 
condition of their reading them through, and many con- 
versions have resulted from his gifts of tracts, Testaments, 
and Bibles. His wide acquaintance in and beyond the 
State, and his reputation, gave liim great favor and in- 
fluence wherever he went. His counsel and judgment, 
often sought in important cases, have had great weight 
among the churches. Such was his interest in ministerial 
education that he founded three scholarships in Newton 
Theological Seminary, For many years he has been a 
Trustee and the Treasurer of the Relief Fund to aid desti- 
tute ministers and their families. In secular aftairs he has 
also been prominent. In January, i8j2, he was chosen a 
director in the Mechanics and Manufacturers' Bank, and 
was President of the institution from February, 1S53, to 
June, 1862. He was a member of the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society, and has ever been interested in all the 
affairs of the City and State. In 1830, on account of pul- 
monary symptoms, he began riding many miles every morn- 
ing on horseback, at last, making business tours through 
the State and into the adjacent States. He thus made 
more than a hundred tours to Boston. When locomotives 
superseded horses, and Mr. Read's health again began to 
be critical, he went to the medicinal springs of Saratoga, 
New York, where he was so greatly benefited that he has 
visited the springs now for thirty-eight consecutive years, 
and speaks enthusiastically of their corrective properties. 
Although now eighty years of age he still maintains the 



habit of \\-orking fourteen hours a day, and is remarkably 
vivacious and cheerful, being ever ready, both in religious 
and business circles, for every good work. He married 
(I), Mary Ann Taylor, of Providence, the issue of this 
marriage being Anna M. (now wife of James .Snow, Jr.), 
Cyrus 1!., Rebecca B. (deceased), Sophia T. (married A. 
M. Dean, of .Syracuse, New York, and died May 9, 1872), 
the mother dying in February, 1836; (2), Rebecca C. 
Sessions, who had one child (deceaseil); (3), July 22, 
1845, Hannah E. Ed<ly. 



^ra^'lEEVER, Danif.l, the fourth child of Daniel and 
MmK Joanna (Titus) Checver, was born m Wrentham, 
Sy'jT' Massachusetts, July 23, 1802. He was a descend- 
' ! ant of James Cheever, who, with his brother John, 
J' came from England. They are supposed to have 
been related to Bartholomew Cheever, who was born in 
Canterbury, England, in 1607. and came to America in 
1637, and died in 1693. An inscription at Mount Auburn 
Cemetery, Boston (Pilgrim Path), says of him : "A Pil- 
grim Father, one of a handful God hath multiplied into 
a great nation." Mr. Cheever's educational advantages 
W'ere very limited, but his reading and jiower of appropri- 
ating practical knowledge gave him a well-furnished mind. 
In the year 1S17, at the age of fifteen, he left home for the 
city of Providence, Rhode Island, where he sought and 
found employment in a retail drygoods store. He rose 
rapidly in the estimation of his employers, and developed 
superior business capacity. In 1823, at the age of twenty- 
one, he commenced business for himself in Providence, 
and continued therein until 1840. He then removed to 
his country residence, near Wrentham, Massachusetts, 
where he resided until his removal to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
at which place he arrived November I, 1S44, his eldest 
son having preceded him one year. Here he was con- 
cerned in the first manufacture of oil from Inrd, which he 
finally abandoned for the more congenial Inisiness of his 
life, wholesale diygoods, in which he continued until 1849. 
During that year he removed to Delavan, Illinois, where 
he engaged in farming and also in buying and selling real 
estate. He was one of the original colonists who located 
and improved the town of Delavan, and in 1870 he laid 
out an addition to the town, from his farm adjoining it. 
From early life Mr. Cheever took a deep interest in reli- 
gious matters, and was an active and influential member of 
the Baptist Church, with which he united in Providence, 
in 1820, being baptized by Dr. Stephen Gan<i, then pastor 
of the First Baptist Church of that city. On his removal 
to Delavan, Illinois, he at once united with the church 
there, in which he officiated as Trustee, Deacon, and Clerk. 
He served creditably in the latter capacity for twenty-four 
consecutive years. He married, December 7, 1S25, Alice 
Eliza Henry, only daughter of Captain John Henry, of 
Providence. She died in Cincinnati, June 29. 1845. Her 



PIO a /?. I PIIICA L C J XL OPEDIA . 



mntlicr. Mix. M.iiy Iloiirv, was a fl.iuglilcr of Nehemiah 
ami Mux- I'.rciun Aiiinlil. aii.l a -.i^tir of Antliony Brown 
Arn.)l.l, i.f I'lMviilfiuf, uli.),.lunn;_; hi^ Inn;,' life, has taken 
a (le..|> ;uiil aluclin;^ iiilni-l in tin- ui-llarc ul" licr descend- 
aiits. or .Wlicniiah Arnuld ii is said : " lie was an early 
fiiend (if Anu-riean indepciidcme, and served in its de- 
feiiee." I m the 5th ufMareh. 1S4I1. Mr. Cheever married 
Ann Indsuii .\iii)leliin, a d.ui-hler of Rev. Ceorge \V. Ap- 
jileton, of Wreiitham, Massaehusitls. 'I'he children by the 
first in.irriat;e were D.iniel Arnold, M.l).,a |)roniinent and 
successful physician of Peoria, Illinois; John Henry, for 
ni.inv years in active iuisiness in (.'iiieiiinati, ( )ljio. and now 
tlie capitalist .ind Irea-iircr of the I'omp.my by whom this 
Cvri iirmi A is piililished ; Mary jo.uui.i. who married 
Thoinas [I. Parker, of Hdlsljoo.. I )hi,, ; Alice Eli/a, who 
has been twice married, lirst lo .\liraham Reese, deceased, 
and second to Thomas E. Ward, of Delavan, Illinois, hav- 
ini; one son by the hrst inarria|,'e, the Rev. Charles A. 
Keese, now Pastor of the Dearborn Street Baptist Church, 
Bostmi, Massachusetts; Martha Mason, who married Sim- 
eon K. Drake, of I'ekin, Illinois; .\nthony Brown, of 
Delavan, Illinois; William Hague, of Delavan, Illinois; 
and Lucv Fuller, who married Edi;ar Perkins, M.D., of 
Peoria, Illinois. The children by the second marriage 
were Frank Appleton. of Minister, Illinois; Ida Viola, who 
married foseph F. Reed, of I lel.ivan. Illinois; Walter 
Edgar, of Chicago, Illinois; and llarridon (iuild.of Del- 
avan, Illinois. Mr. Cheever died at Delavan, December 
27, 1S77, leaving a wife and twelve children. He was an 
enterprising and patriotic citizen, of eseniplary Christian 
character, enthusiastic and hopeful, whose kindly, sympa- 
thetic nature, and affectionate reg.ird for his lainily and 
frienils, endeared him to all who knew liim. 



|^?.\l'RON, GECiRr.E. M.D., was bom in Cumberland, 
4> Rhode Island, May 16, 1S02. He is a son of Asa 
and a grandson of Joseph Capron. His mother's 
%''• maiden name was Sarah M.ihony. .She was the 
tt'ii daughter of Timothy Mahony, an educated Irish 
gentleman, who pursued a collegiate course in F'rance, 
came to this country in early manhood, and devoted a long 
life eNclusively to teaching. Dr. Capron's father was for 
several vears a successful retail grocer at Cumberland Hill, 
but finally failed in business and was reduced to poverty. 
His son Ceorge and an elder brother were therelore obliged 
to earn their living at an early age. In his seventh year, 
George went to live with his grand-uncle. Judge Peleg 
.■\rnold, of Sinithheld, wIkj was for many years Judge of 
the Su|ireine Court of Rhode Island. He remained with 
Judge .Xrnohl three years, dining whuli time he worked 
on the farm in summer and in vviiiler attended the .-\cad- 
cniv in Union Village, which, with two months' school at- 
tendance the following year was the exient of his eady 



educational advantages. .At the age of ten years he re- 
turned to his father's house, and for a number of years 
thereafter was employed as an operative in a cotton-factory. 
.-\t the age of sixteen he had acquired a sufhcieiit knowl- 
edge of the business to act as overseer of any department 
in the factory. His eager desire for knowledge caused 
him to pursue a rigid course of self-discipline, which ena- 
bled him to supply the deficiencies of his eilucation. His 
leisure hours were at hrst devoted to reading, writing, and 
arithmetic, and his proficiency as a jieiiman and an ac- 
count iiit, together \\ith his knowledge of machinery, soon 
secured for liim rapid jiromotion in the business in which 
he was enijiloveil. .\t this time he boardi-d with one of 
his cmplovers, who had a large library, to whiih he had 
access, and among the bo.iks which had great attraction 
for him was a work on natural pihilosopjhy. which he studied 
with pleasure and prolit. He also studied Faiglish gram- 
mar and devoted much time to chemistry, practicing the 
closest ecoiuuny in order to be able lo purchase the latest 
and best works upon this and other subjects. During a 
part of two winters he taught an evening school composed 
of factory chihlren, and devoted his s])are hours to the 
study of Latin and Creek. In 1820. at the age of eigh- 
teen, he commenced a regular course of medical studies, 
under the tuition of the late Devi W heatou, M.I I., an emi- 
nent member of his profession, uniler wlliuil he studied for 
three years, and also attended a full course of lectures in 
Boston and at Brown L'niversity, there being at that time 
a medical school in connection with the latter institution, 
from w Inch he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
Wdiile pursuing his medical course he read many of the 
w orks on rhetoric, mental and physical philosophy, and other 
branches then in use as textbooks at the University. In 
j order to ilefray the expenses of his college course he taught 
I a school in the country for a short time. In the spring of 
1S2;, hectunmeiiced the practice of medicine and surgery 
at Fruit Hill, North Providence, where he engaged in a 
large country practice. Amid his professional duties he 
found time to become well versed in botany, and to pursue 
a thorough course of reading in history and general litera- 
ture. In January, 1S36, he removed to Providence, where 
he so, ,11 acipiired an extensive practice, which he retained 
until his partial retirement from the professiun cui account 
of advancing age. Dr. Capron has had a busy profes- 
sional career, extending over a period of more than fifty 
years, and but few physicians have done as much business 
w ithout remuneration as he. His fees were always mod- 
erate, and among the poor his services have often been 
rendered gratuitously. His chief aim throughout life has 
not been to establish a lucrative practice, Init to be instru- 
mental in relieving distress. He has done much to ad- 
1 vance his profession, and has been a valuable contributor 
to medical literalure. He is the author of a large work 
on po|Hilar medicine, the first edition of which, published 
about the year 1844. had an extended sale, and to w liich 



BlOGRArinCAL CYCLOPEDrA. 



335 



a supplement wa'; added in 1S54. In ndflition to this 
work he has written and read before the Rhode Island 
Medical Society, and the Providence Medical Association, 
numerous papers on medical sulijects, many of which has'e 
been considered very valuable by the profession, and have 
been published in The Boston McJitnl and Siiri^ical 
yotimal, and in the Transactions of the society. Believ- 
ing that the use of ardent spirits as a beverasje is injurious 
to both soul and body, he has been a ftrict temperance 
man for over tifty-eight years, and aided in organizing the 
first temperance society in the place where he resided. He 
attributes his present sound condition of body and mind 
to the fact that he has never violated his temperance 
pledge, and has always avoided excessive and stimulating 
food. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he has a re- 
markably retentive memory, which he has cultivated and 
strengthened by dispensing, as far as possible, with the use 
of memorandum-books, believing that they weaken the 
faculty of recalling events. While at Fruit Hill he was 
chiefly instrumental in establishing a circulating library at 
that place. He was at one time Physician of the Marine 
Hospital ; for three years Surgeon of a State military or- 
ganization, and during the War of the Rebellion served for 
a short time at Hampton, Virginia. About the year 1S50 
he was President of the Rhode Island Medical .Society. 
He was for many years the physician and friend of Thomas 
W. Dorr, whom he highly esteemed. Believing that it is 
the duty of a physician to contine himself exclusively to 
his profession, he has not taken an active part in politics 
since 1842. On the gth of July, 1823, he married Clariet 
Brown, daughter of Waterman and granddaughter of 
Elisha Brown, of North Providence, who died in .April, 
1875, and w'as noted for her benevolence and her active 
interest in behalf of the blind. Her mother was the daugh- 
ter of Joseph Farnum, of Smithiield, the projector of the 
Farnum Turnpike. On the gth of July, 1873, Dr. Capron 
and his wife celebrated their " golden wed<Ung." It was 
largely attended, and the occasion was a memorable one 
to those present. On the 1st of June, 1876, Dr. Capron 
married Miss Mary ."^nn Nixon, of Providence, and has 
since confined himself less closely to business, much of his 
time ha\ing been spent in travelling in the South and in 
the British Provinces. Tw'o children of his first marriage 
are now living, one of whom is the wife of James F. 
Aldrich, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and the other the 
wife of Benjamin F. .■\ldrich, of Providence, a brother of 
the former. Dr. Capron's successful and useful career 
illustrates what may be accomplished under adverse cir- 
cumstances by patient industry and perseverence. Although 
obliged to rely upon his ow-n exertions for support at a very 
early age, he nevertheless succeeded in acquiring a good 
education, and has attained a high rank in his profession. 
He is widely known not only as a skilful physician, but 
as a man of large benevolence, whose home has been an 
asylum for the poor and the homeless. 




Manchester. CArt.viN cyri's bitti.fr, was 

SilsMISi,^ born in Providence, Rhode Island, January I, 
1802. His parents were Isaac and Mary (Wil- 
liams) Manchester. Until he was eleven years 
* of age he assisted his father, who was a farmer, 
and attended school at intervals. He was subsequently 
employed as clerk in a store in Providence, at the junction 
of Westnii))stcr and Weybosset streets, where he reninineil 
until 1S17, wlicn, at the age of fifteen, he went to sea, 
and passed through the varied experiences of a sailor's 
life. He was gradually promoted for faithful service 
until he attained the rank of ship-master. He commanded 
several ships owned by Messrs. .Stephen & Anthony B. 
Arnold, of Providence, who were engaged in the trans- 
portation of cotton and other staple American products to 
Europe and other foreign countries, and in importing gen- 
eral merchandise and carrying emigrant passengers. Their 
ships were among the largest afloat. Among those w hich 
Captain Manchester commanded were the Rhode Island, 
the American, and the Decatur. His first voyages were to 
the West Indies and Europe, his la>t to Southern ]:>orts 
and to Liverpool. During his career as a mariner, which 
embraced a period of twenty-three years, he twice circum- 
navigated the globe. In 1839 he aiiandoned the sea, and 
engaged in business in Providence. For nearly twenty 
years, from 1S46, he was associated with Mr. Anthony B. 
Arnold in the emigrant passenger and exchange business, 
then' office being in Providence. As agent for underu riters 
he was employed from time to time in important emergen- 
cies to take entire control of wrecked vessels in difierent 
ports of American and foreign countries, including the 
West Indies. While serving in this capacity he saved a 
vast amount of property, and owners of vessels far and 
near always intrusted him with full charge of wrecked ves- 
sels, allowing him to exercise his own judgment, even to 
the selling of vessels and cargoes. In some of his achieve- 
ments in this direction he exhibited wonderful tact and 
energy. Having a tract of land well adapted to the culti- 
vation of fruit. Captain Manchester many years ago turned 
his attention to horticulture, and in 1S51 joined the Rhode 
Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Indus- 
try, of which he became an active and valuable member. 
For two years he held the office of Third Vice-President 
of the society, and subsequently that of Second Vice-Pres- 
ident, in which capacity he served until January, 1S75, 
when he declined a re-election. He took a very deep inter- 
est in the affairs of the society, and was one of the largest 
contrilnitors to the products of the exhibition. During the 
" Dorr War " he served as an oflicer in a company of 
marine artillery. He has several times held positions in 
the city government, having been a member of the Common 
Council from 1S50 to 1854, and Alderman from 1855 to 
1858. In 1S73 he was chosen Chairman of the Com- 
missioners for building the Point .Street School-house, one 
of the finest structures of the kind in the countrv- He was 



326 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



one of the Cinnnii^sinnei^ on tlie Ilrook Street District, and \ 
served as Su|.eiintendent of the -aiiie from July I, 1S75. to 
\\\\\ 10. 1S7S. Tlif iiiipiuveuu-nts in this district were 
vcTV e\ten^i\e. :ind rei|iiin_-d \yA only lari^e expenditures of 
inuiu-v, init much ^Kill and ^mid juilL^nienl to carry them 
out siu-ir^st\dly. He i^ at pre^eiU \ iSSl I i'residrnt ^'^i tlie 
I'rnviik-nce Marine Society. < in the 17th of Septenil>er, 
lSj7,he married Al'liy* 00k Malhe\\s<ni, daughter i.>f (_'ap- 
lain Henry and riiehe M.ilhewson. 'I'heir cliihlron were ' 
rhehe KU/ahelh. u ho marned Hon. Xh.holas \'an Slyck, 
a prominent hiwver of I'loMiirnce; AMiy, who died Au- 
£;usl 3, I.S;^3; and lltiny. who lUrd Sepleinher 15. 1S35. 
AlthoUi^h he lias attained an advanced age, Captain Man- 
chester is stiU in \ii^orous health. He is spending his de- 
clinini^ veais in a Comfort. dile lionie, surrounded liy Ins ! 
children and i/randchddren. 



X( IKI.I., JciNA'i HAN Si'R AtifK, Ctuitractor and 
builder, was bom in ("orinth. SaratOL;a County. 
Xew Vork, April 5. iSo^^. His parents were 
E/;ekiel Hay and Sarah (Sprague) Angell. E/ekiel 
D. Angell was a house carj)enter. and afterward a 
farmer. He was brun in N'ortli {'residence. Rhode Island. 
in 1771. and died in iN47. Hi-, father, James Angull. son 
of Stephen and Martha (Ohiey) Angell. was born in 1736, 
and married .\mey Hav, daughter of Nathaniel Day. 
Stephen Angell was an enterprising and successful farmer, 
and lived to see his nine sons settled on farms of their own. 
John Angell, the father of Stephen, wasboiu in Providence, 
and owned a farm in lohn^lon. Rhode Island, where 
he died in 1744. He was the son of John and Ruth 
( Field) Angell. an^l grandson of Thomas and Alice Angell. 
Thomas Angell is svipposc-d to be the son of Henry Angell, 
who wa^ born in I,ivrrj)ool, England, in lOlS. He was an I 
ai'prcntice to Roger Wdliams. wlnun he accimpanicd from 
London ti.' Bostun, in l6;i.and thc-uce to Salem, where ' 
they remained until ioj;o. hi that year Williams went to 1 
Providence, and sorui afterward Thoma^ Angell. William I 
Harris, John Smith, [oshua Verin. and Francis Wickes, the ! 
original si,itK-rs of I'roviilence. joined him there. In l'^'3S 
Roger AVilliams conveyed by deed to Thomas Angell lot 
N(t. 2 of the Celebrated "six-acre house lots." The lot 
fionird on Noitii Main Stn-rt, and embracc<l the lot^ on 
which the l-'irst baptist l/hurcli and the Hi^h School stand, 
and Angell Street. Sarah Si>rague, the mother of lonathan 
S. Angell. wa-- a member of the ohl Sprague family of 
Rhinlc Idaud.and w.isanear relati\c of llo\ernor William 
Sprague. Sr. She was a woniati of uiuisual intelligence 
and ability. Her brother Thomas was a prominent manu- 
faiturer in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Her brother Jona- 
than was a st-a captain, and after retiring from that calling 
resided in I-"redonia, ('hautau<iua County, Xew York, where 
he held important ofiices. aiul kept a public house for sev- 
eral vears. Her ^^ister Ruth married Kmor Angell, who 



was a brother of F/ekiel D. Angell. and was a cai'penter 
in Providence. After the Se] tember gale and Hood in 
Providence in iSic;, which carried away the old Weybosst-t 
bridge. Km')r Angidl was employed l.)y the town to build 
the great bridge, which still remains. He was also the 
buiiibr of tlie old lilackstone factory. He lived to be over 
nimty two years of age. Jonathan S. Angell was the fiftii 
ol ten cinhben; Asha, born January 20, 1796, marriefl 
S.ephen Dew ell; .Mj-ha, boiu May 3. 1797, married Wil- 
liiini Comstock ; Slepluit, born |anuary 30, I/QQ, married 
Sarah Archer; Kmor, ijorn January 25, I So I, married 
Patty iJarrows; Jonathan Sprague, born April 5, 1803, mar- 
ried Mary Harris; James, born August 19. 1S05, mairied 
.Sally Lincoln; Reiijamiu, boin January 18. iSoS, marriefl 
Mary AiithoM) ; Tln.ima-^. born May 7, i8lo; Freelo\e, 
born July 5. 1S12; Ainey. born March iS, 1815, mariied 
James Rumsey ; of wduan all except Alpha, James, Benja- 
min, and Freelove, are still li\ing. Jonathan S. Angell 
attcni.ied the di-trict school and worked upon his father's 
larm until he was sixteen years of age, when he left home 
and apprenticed himself for four years to Stephen Dewell 
to learn the trade of a carpenter. On the completion of 
his a])prenticeship he worked a sliort time for Mr. pJewell, 
and in March, 1824. went to Providence, where for two 
years he was em]iloyed by hi-- uncle. Emor Angell. In 
1S26 he began business for him-^ell, ami ibr many years was 
the largest contractor and builder in Providence. Contrary 
to the u-sual ciisi(un of taking contracts by plans and sjieci- 
licatujns he bought all the stock, hired laborers, and super- 
intended the work of construction, receiving pay for his 
services as agent and superintendent. He was employed 
by Alexander J)uncan, Brown tSi: Ives, William J. King, 
Richard Waterman, (Governor Philip Allen, Governor Ne- 
hemiah Knight, Jo>iah Ctiajan. and many other prominent 
men. all of whom had great confideuLe in him; and under 
his super\ i--ion many bu--iness blneks, dw-elling->, mills, and 
other buddings were erected in ^■a^ious parts of the State, 
wdiich are monuments of his workmanship. For many 
years he contemi>hUetl retiring from business in 1S60, wliich 
intention he carried out, much to the surprise of many of 
his friends, as his business then was more extensive and 
profitable than ever before. Since hi> retirement he has 
resided in the house on Washington Street which he built 
in 1823, \\ hen lh.it p.ittof Pio\ iileiice was unim|>n_>ved and 
uninhabited. His numey is largely invested in houses and 
in a tract of lam.l in |ohiisti..n. where he has a large and 
valuable cranberry bed, the care of which occupies most of 
his lime. Mr. Aiii;ell wa^ for Iwenly-hve years (1S30-55) 
an active member of the oK! \t)lunteer tire department. In 
1836 he united with the Beiiehcent Congregational Church, 
of which he has ever since been a member. In politics he 
is a Republican, aiul was foimerly a Whig. He has been 
twice married. Hi^ \\x< wile was Amey Harris, daughter 
of Abner and Maltha (Farnham) Harris, to whom he was 
married Septeml>er 5. 1826. She die<i April 14, 1840, 




/' < .' r/L 



!. ■ / 



y ' ' I n' / 1 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



327 



aged forty-five. They had six children ; Sarah Sprague, 
born May 26, 1S27, died May 22, 1829; Mary Elizabeth, 
born September 22, 1829, died June 5, 1830 ; Albert, born 
March 19, 1 831, died February 29, 1832; Abner Harris, 
born December 17, 1832; Henry Ezekiel, born January 7, 
1S29, died March 18, 1840; Amanda Smith, born October 
28, 1843, married William Armour. On the 2ist of May, 
1851, Mr. .'\ngell married Mary .\nn Spring, daughter of 
Elkanah and Phebe (Capron) Spring, of Providence. 



J'EAD, Elisha Thornto.n', was born in Smithficld, 
L.^9 Rhode Island, February 5, 1S05. His parents 
.g 4;' were George and Abigail (Earl) Read, whose 
Vu % other children were Hannah R., widow of the late 
eS Dutee B. Aldrich; Sarah B., widow of the late 
Edward C. Cranston ; Anna E., deceased, and Abby E. 
The subject of this sketch was educated in a [irivate school, 
and at the Friends' School in Providence. His early busi- 
ness habits were formed in mercantile pursuits. For many 
years he had the agency of the line of stages between Prov- 
idence and Worcester, which he retained until the line was 
superseded by the railroad. In February, 1S47, ^^ became 
Cashier of the Smithfield Union Bank, which position he 
held thirty-one years, until his death, March I, 1878, and 
was then succeeded by his son, James S. Read, as Cashier. 
He married, first, May 16, 1834, Harriet Atwood Stock- 
bridge, daughter of Dr. Horatio and Priscilla \V. Stock- 
bridge. .She died January 11, 1857. Mr. Read's .second 
wife was Mary B. Osborn, daughter of John and Elizabeth 
A. Osborn, to whom he was married, December 8, 1858. 
She died August 19, 1870. The children by the first mar- 
riage, now living, are James .S., Cashier of the National 
Union Bank of Woonsocket; Harriet A., and George S. 
Read. The last-named is now Postmaster in Woonsocket. 
The issue of the second marriage was a son, Charles W. 
Mr. Read's life of activity and uprightness gave him prom- 
inence in the community, and his memory is cherished by 
all who knew him. 



^™^RNOLD, Dr. Seth, son of Nathan and Esther 
^jn^fe (Darling) Arnold, w.as born in Cumberland, 
■£X^°' Rhode Island, February 26, 1799, and is a de- 
'T scenilant of William Arnold, who came in a canoe 
J" with Roger Williams to Providence. William Ar- 
nold's son Thomas settled in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and 
had several children, one of whom, Richard, was the first 
settler of Woonsocket, and an officer in the English gov- 
ernment most of his life. His son John buill the first frame 
house in Woonsocket, in 1711, which is still standing, and 
erected there the first grist-mill, which was located on the 
rocks just below the Falls. To this mill people came froin 
Connecticut, on account of the great drouth then prevail- 
ing. It was carried away during the flood of 1807, but 



rebuilt and kept in the .'Vrnolil family until recently. Jcihn 
Arnokl's son Seth came into possession of that mill, and 
al>o owned a saw-mill adjacent. Seth's son. Captain Na- 
than Arnold, was a farmer, and a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion, and while in the battle of Newport contracted a 
disease from which he soon afterwards died. His son 
Nathan, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born 
in 1766, and died in 1812. He was a successful fanner, 
and also distinguished for his mechanical skill. He married 
Esther Darling, daughter of Samuel Darling, of Belling- 
ham, Massachusetts, who was a Deacon in the Baptist 
Church. Esther Darling's parents had thirteen children, 
seven daughters and six sons. Four of the daughters mar- 
ried into families by the name of Cook, well known in 
Cumberland. .Samuel Darling lived to the age of ninety-five, 
and his daughter Esther to the age of ninety-nine. Dr Seth 
Arnold spent his boyhood on a farm until the age of fifteen, 
and then worked tw'o years in a cotton mill, for twenty 
dollars a year and his board, being em])loyed thirteen 
hours a day. The next two years he spent in a cotton mill 
in East Blackstone, where he was employed fourteen hours 
a day. He afterwards travelled in various States with an 
exhibition of natural and artificial curiosities. On his re- 
turn to New England he again engaged in manufacturing, 
and became a proprietor of a cotton mill. From 1835 to 
1839 he kept the Globe Hotel in Woonsocket, and with- 
drew from business for five years thereafter on account of 
impaired health. In the meantime, w hile seeking a remedy 
which would give relief in his own case, he discovered a 
cure for chronic diarrhoea, the receipt for which he sold, 
in lSf)9, to Gillman Brothers, whtdesale druggists, of Bos- 
ton, for S 12,500. Previous to this he had invented " Ar- 
nold's Cough Killer," and "Arnold's Bilious Pills," both 
of which medicines he still manufactures extensively. In 
1872 the "Dr. Seth Arnold Medical Corporation" was 
founded at Woon.socket, and incorporated under an act of 
the' (ieneral Assembly. The capital stock was divided 
into 1000 shares, of Sioo each, 300 of which he sold, and 
afterwards repurchased 175 at a bonus. His medicines are 
in use in various parts of the country, and the demand for 
them has become very great. In 1849 the Town Council 
of Smithfield appointed him "Cholera Physician" during 
the prevalence of that disease there. He has lived a quiet, 
retired life, declining public offices, and in his old age is 
highly esteemed in the community for his genial character 
and integrity. He married, first, in 1819, Belinda Streeter, 
daughter of William Streeter, of Smithfield, Rhode Island. 
They had six children : F'anny E., who married William 
H. Hathaway, of Pawtucket ; OIney, President of the 
Providence County Bank of Pawtucket, who married Phebe 
Dudley, of Douglas, Massachusetts, and wdio was several 
times a Re]")rcsentative in the General Assembly, and 
Major-General of the Rhode Island Militia, on Governor 
Sprague's staff; Lucy, living in Pawtucket; William, who 
was eight years Town Clerk of Woonsocket; .-Mexander 



328 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCL OPEDIA. 



S.. of \'allc\ I'iills. jiiiiitcr aiiil authur; nnd Mcnry, wlio 
'■* ciiL^ai^fd in l>u^ilK■>^ ill i 'au liu'krt . I M". Arnold niariifil 
his st-cund wilV. Aliliy \. Tilliiv^'ha-.t. ilan,;liicv of HL-nry 
<;. and I'lud.L' (K.-\noldM 'I'dluul.a-l, of Hn-tol, Kl.odi; 
Island, Au^usl JS. i,S5i. I l.jr father uas the son of Jmlge 
'rillini;hast, ami was a iL-^idunl of I^ast LircL-nwich, Rhode 
Island. Tlii-if ehddieii aic Setli, jr., who married Fia- 
villa Arnold, of I;ellin;,;liam, Ma^saelinsetts, and is now an 
as^l-^tant in his father's lahoratory; and Minnie E., now 
attending the L'nion X'illage Academy. 



SlfTra^HLII^S'li )-\. Wii I.IAM I'likKi V. MI),, Sniierinten- 
S/ij|Aj' dent of the Rhode I^land 1 1, .^|lll d , in I'lovidence, 
_-^' son of I)r. John l\oliin^on and M.iry .\rin (llrnee) 
I Thurston, \\a^ i.orn on the Isl.ind of St. Christopher, 
i West Indie-, July 14. 1S05, where his parents were 
then le-idin;;, a^ I ir. ddiur-ton, liaving l)ee)i suri;con on 
hoard of a shiji fioni .Xeuiimt. Khude Islaml. which was 
seized and taken to tins i,laiHl, was induced to settle there 
for .1 time as a physician and snrt;eon to the port. The 
Tluirstons of Rlioile Island, descended from Edward 
Thur,ton (born 1(117, ''''d 1707, in Xeviport), ha\e been 
numerous and inlluenli.d in the Si.ue from its ori^nn. Dr. 
John R. was born .April 2\. 1774, and died May 7, iSig. 
He married Mary .\iin liiuce in Aberdeen, .Scotland, in 
1799. William Toney, after spending; his youth at St. 
L'hrisLopiher, was Un liter ednc.ited in the Epiiscoijal Academy 
at Elizabeth. New Jersey, and hnally entered Columbia 
Collei^'e, Xew Vorii, early in 18 19; but his father soon after 
dyini;, he was called in I,S20 to return to St. Christopher 
to manage a large plantation. Here he remained till 1S27, 
when he removed lo .\'ew \'ork, and entereil on a course 
of medical study in the College of I'hysii i.ois and Siu-geon-, 
graduating in iNJo, h.iMiig in the meamime served for 
eighteen months as as,i.|ant and home pinsician in the in- 
stiititicm. Ill-, nitive talents ami scholaily t istes were 
e.irly apparent and gave him adv.mcement. In I ictober, 
1S20. he settled, ami commenced [iractice in We-terlv, 
Rhode Islan.l, where he rem, lined till iNjS. He married, 
March 15. 1S32, C.iodine, dau.dilcr of Jeremiah Thur-ton. 
of Iloplvinton.and sifter of I.ieutenuu-( ;..vernor lienjaniin 
I!. Tliuiston. who were also descendants of Edward. In 
lSj4 he was particularly active in the organization of 
Christ's Church ( Episcopal 1, in We-terly, of u Inch he was 
a consi,ient member. In iS;S he removed to St. Chris- 
t<i]'lier, \\ heie he eng.iged in the piactice of his profession, 
attaining high rank, and was appointed United St.itcs (/onsul 
to that jKirt. He reni.uned there until I. S4,S. when the health 
of his f.imily and llie educalimi cjf his ikuighters, Eliza, 
l-"sther H., and Caroline, indmed him to retuin to Wes- 
terly, Rhode Island. His accompli ,|iinent> always secured 
him favor, friends, and palronage. (in the opening of the 
Cud War his patriotic impulses led hnn to volunteer as 



Surgeon in the First Rhode Island .Artillery Regiment. 
He took the field in the autumn of 1S61, with Ibitteries .A, 
Iband (J, and reinaineil with them at the front in \'irginia, 
ill the hotte-t of the iVay, till the spring of i.Siij;, when, as 
he had recei\ed a se\"ere wound form a bulKt in the scalp 
on the lelt side of hi> head, he v\as app<iinted lo hri^pital 
duty, at hrst in b'lederick l.'ily, .Marylaml, where he was 
pi. iced in charge of United States Hospital ,\o. 4, ,ind 
afterwards at I.ovell Hospital, at Portsmouth Grove, on the 
Island of Rhode Island. He was wounded in June, 1S62, 
at the battle of Fair Oaks, and the injury has always gi\en 
him pain, without disijualifying him for his profession. He 
lelt the ser\ice at the close of the war, in .\ugu-t, 1S115, 
and removeil to Woeuisocket, Rhcide Island, where, besides 
his medical and surgical i)iactice,he was Pension .Surgeon 
for the ginernineiit. His eminent 911 diticatious as a ph\'- 
si..ian and suigeim, together with hi^ gentlemanly .ind 
(Jhiistian ipulities, secured his unanimous election, in No- 
vember, 187(1, to ihe resiion-ible position of Superintendent 
and .Admitting Physician of the Rhode Fl.ind IIos|iital, 
one <jf the largest and liest institutions of the kind in New 
England, which |)o,t he now ( iS.Si ) continues to fill. I ir. 
Thurston w iehb a graceful pen. anil has contributed im- 
jiortanl articles to medical journals. 



:'>RR. TiI'iM.vs WiLsiiN, son of Sulli\an and Eydia 
(.Allen) liorr, v\ as boin in Pro\iilence, No\-ember 
5, 1SC15. He pirepared fen' cc)l!ege at Phillijis 
(' -- Academy, F.xeter, New Hamp'shire, and gradii- 
•'4' ated at Harvard (-'ollege in 1S23, with the second 
lionoi^ of his riass. Shortlv after his graduation he com- 
rneiiLcd the stud\- of l.tw in the city of New \'ork, under 
the tuitiim of Chancellor Rent and \"ice-Chancellor .Mc- 
Coun. In I.S27 he wa^ admitted lo the bar, aii'I com- 
menced the pr.u.tice of his professicjn in his native city. 
He represented l'io\i'Ience in the l.ieneral -Asseml'Iy from 
1S34 to 1837. lli> attention was early directed 10 what 
w ere regarded as the ini|ierfections of the Charter granted 
to the State of Rhode Isbind by Charles H. The piivi- 
lege of suffr.ige wa•^ lesiiicted to freeholders having prop- 
erly e-.timaled to be woitli not les- than one hundred and 
thirty-four dollars, and to the eldest sons of such free- 
holders. Such inequalities 111 ihe representation of the 
I'Cople as were brought about b\ such a restiiclioii were 
of so gl.iring a charai.ter that the)' aire--ted the attention 
of siune of the most thoughtful minds of the State. The 
unfairness of the representation of the citizens in the Clene- 
ral .-Vssembly was recognized. Newporl, which had at one 
time the largest number of jiih.ibitants of any jil.ice in the 
.St.Ue, was allowed six rcpreseiitatis e-, v\hile i'rovidence, 
although It came to ha\e a population very nuicli I.irger 
than Newport, could elect only four. Pelitions, from lime 
to time, had been presented to the General Assembly to 



BIOGRAPHICAL CM'LOPEDIA. 



3^9 



extend the right of suffrage, and to make arrangements for 
calling a convention to prepare a written constitution to 
be presented to the people of the State for their adoption. 
These petitions, however, were not granted, and the plea 
was urged that it was best to restrict the right of suffrage, 
as it had been done for so long a period. In 1S4.0 the 
question was agitated with new interest. An association 
was formed in Providence, having for its oliject the exten- 
sion of the right of suffrage. Auxiliary associations to aid 
it in its work sprang up in different sections of the State. 
A memorial from the town of Smithfield was j)resented 
to the General .Assembly at the January session of 1841, 
asking for an addition to the number of her representatives 
in the Legislature. The .\ssembly recommended the call- 
ing of a convention of qualified voters, which should 
frame a new constitution for the St.ate. The opinion gen- 
erally prevailed tliat the time had come to make some radi- 
cal change in the conditions which should determine the 
right of suffrage. The party which took the name of the 
" Law and Order" party contendeil that the change should 
be made, if made at all, by those who were the legally 
qualified voters of the Slate. The Suffrage party claimed 
that the people had the right in their sovereign capacity to 
hold a convention and decide upon the proper course to be 
pursued. Of this latter party Mr. Dorr was the leader and 
the champion. The convention recommended by the 
General Assembly was to convene in November, 1S41. 
The friends of suffrage, doubtful whether the proposed 
convention would make the desired changes, decided to 
call a mass meeting of the people of the State, which met 
ill Providence on the l8th of April, to confer upon the 
questions at issue. This meeting adjourned lo the 5th of 
May, and was held, on that day, in Newport, and passed 
several resolutions, embodying the views which were 
maintained by the friends of reform, and asserting the 
right of the people to form a constitution which should 
be in harmony with the genius of democratic institutions. 
The convention again adjourned to meet in Providence 
the 5th of July following. Having assembled at the time 
specified, it reaffirmed the sentiments w'hich had been 
avowed at the May meeting in Newport. A State Com- 
mittee, representing the friends of reform in the five coun- 
ties of Rhode Island, was elected, which, in due time, 
issued a call for the election of delegates from the different 
towns, who should meet in convention at the Slate House 
in Providence, the first Monday of October following, for 
the purpose of framing " such a democratic constitution 
as is guaranteed to every State in the Union by the Consti- 
tution of the United States, and laying it before the people 
of the State for their adoption or rejection." The pro- 
posed convention, made up of delegates from every town 
in the State, met at the time appointed, a constitution was 
laid before them, accepted and ordered to be published, 
and submitted to the people for their acceptance or rejec- 
tion. Every male citizen over twenty-one years of age, 
42 



who had resided in the Slate one year, was allowed to 
vote. The returns showed that 13,944 votes had been cast 
for the ■• People's Constitution," and 52 against it. Among 
tliose who Voted in the affirmative were nearly 5000 free- 
holders, who, l)y the statute, were qualified to vote, and it 
was claimed that these 5000 were a majority of the voters 
of the State, cnlitled to the right of suffrage by virtue of 
the property qualification. The announcement was made 
that the •* People's Constitution " had been ratified by the 
people, and it " of right ought to be, and is, the paramount 
law and Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations." Under this Consiitution .State 
officers were elected, — Thomas W. Dorr, being chosen 
governor. The new legislature met in Providence, and 
Governor Dorr delivered his inaugural address to both 
Houses in joint session. On the same day the Charter 
General Assembly was holding its session in Newport. It 
regardetl the action of the people wdiich had evoked a new 
adminstration, as illegal; and maintained that the free- 
holders of the .State were the only proper persons to change 
the form of government, and that the State officers and mem- 
bers of the General Assembly, chosen according to " law 
and order," were the only authority which, by right, had 
coinrol of the afi'airs of the Commonwealth. In this 
emergency Governor Dorr advised that the Legislature 
elected by the people shoultl take forcible possession of the 
State House and other public property, from which they 
had been debarred. This advice was not, however, fol- 
lowed. Meanwhile, the aid of the United .States Govern- 
ment was invoked to sustain the '* Law and Order " party, 
wliich took a decided stand against all that had been done 
by the " Suffrage " party, as being, from first to Last, illegal. 
On tfie iSth of May, 1S42, at one o'clock in the night. 
Governor Dorr, with an armed force of less than three 
hundred men, marched lo the State Arsenal, in the vicin- 
ity of the city of Piovidence, and demanded its surrender, 
which demand was refused. Seeing that there was no 
hope of success if an attack should be made on the Arsenal 
the troops returned, and it was found, the next morning, 
that Mr. Dorr had fled from the State. Governor Samuel 
Ward King offered a reward of one thousand dollars for 
his arrest, A few weelcs after this Mr. r)orr returned, and 
took up his headquaiters at Glocester, from which place 
he issued, June 25th, a Proclamation, convening the Gen- 
eral Assembly at Chepachet on the 4th of July. On the 
same day the " Law and Order " General Assembly passed 
an Act placing the State under martial law; troops were 
sent to Chepachet, and the place taken without resistance. 
Mr. Dorr a second time fled from the .State. Governor 
King issued a second Proclamation, olTering a reward of 
$5000 for his apprehension. He remained out of the 
State nearly a year and a half and then, of his own accord, 
returned to Providence, and was arrested at once, on a 
charge of treason, and thrown into jail. Here he was 
confined until February 29, 1844, when he was transferred 



330 



jU(h;kapiucal cyclopkdia. 



Id Newport. \\ hiic lit- was oniiiKil iiiilil liisliial before 
tile Supreme C"i'Uit. uliieli kMinmeiKed April 26. 1S44. ami 
coniimu-tl ne-ulv tniii weeks, when he was condeninuil to 
be iniprisoiieil in the Slate pri^uii iur the rest of hfe, aiul 
to he kepi at hard labor in sei">arate euntinenii-nt. His 
cunimitment took plaee on the 27th of June, 1S44. One 
year after this the ( ieneral Assembly passed an act tlis- 
charLiin;^ from pli^o^ all persons who had been convicted 
t)f treason aL;ain^l llie State, and under tins act Mr. l»<ur 
was blteratcd froni lli•^ confmenieiU. As time ]ias->cd away, 
it came t" I'e bebesed that the trial of Mr. I >orr for treason 
was an unfair one, and that he was wron^^fully convicted. 
Accordingly, the (uncral AssL-mbly. at the lanuary ses- 
sion, l8s4, piissed an act, repealini^, reversing and an- 
nulling tlie ju<lgmeiit of the Supreme Court, and the Clerk 
of the Su|'reme ("ourt. fi.ir tiie County of Newport, was 
directed to write acros-> the fai.e o| the record of said 
judgment the words, '• Reversed and annulled, by order of 
the (General A-^-embly. at their January ses^ion, A. I). 
|S^4." Mr. I'oii- snivived this act of justice which was 
done him less than a year, lii^ death occuriini; I)eeend)er 
27. I.S54. A connnunnant in the l^p:^copal <.duirch, the 
S.icr.unent was administered to him a few d iv-^ before 
his death l>y Ivev. Dr. Wateinian, recior of St. Stephen's 
Ciiuri h in Providence. 



J I 



EY|1^"I>EV, Samii I l!(.vii, M.D., u-.in l.om in Bvi^tol, 
\3 Nhiiiir, Xiivinil"'! 12, 1X05. He \va> the s.on nf 
Sanuicl and ("ainhne (Mailini '|tiIn-\-. Jle rc- 
nu»\c<l to rr<)\ iilence liurini^' liis huylu'inl. an<i le- 
tiLX-i\c*i.l Ills cati)' ciliicali<:)n at the sehtm]^ of iJr. 
Rruvlaml llreen. in llainhehl, Ciinrieetii ill, aiiil Samuel 
J. (lununere, Ijuilinytnn. New Jersey. After leaving sclioul, 
he stiiilieil medicine w illi I ir. Jusepli Mauran, in I'rovi- 
deiiee. attended a full course i)f lectures at the meilieal 

sel I m riiiladeljthia. and recei\ed his degree of I)riclor 

ol Medicine March 27, iS.\S, He then entered upon his 
])rc)fessional career in Providence, where he soon acijuired 
a large and lucrative practice. A part of ihe time he was 
a|)arlncrof L)r. Mauran, wliose [aipd lie li.id heen. To 
his thorough know ledge and skill as .i medical [iractitioner, 
he atlded a gentleness of manner and a kintlness of heart, 
which won the affectionate regard ,uid conlidcnee of hi> 
patienis, many of whom were unwilling to give ii|i hi^ at- 
tendance v\ hen he rclircil frrjm practice in order to devote 
himself lo his ou 11 |irivate affairs. He was for a long lime 
an approved minister of tin- .Society of I'licnds, and while 
lie .idlurcd to the tenets of his peculiar faith with all ihc 
strength of religious conviilion, he iii.iiiik^ud ,1 mo>t hb- 
er.il and c.itlio'ic sjiiiit towaid other ileiiiiiiiinalions, rejoic- 
ing in the .success ol every clliirt desigiieil to advance the 
cause ol genuine C liiislianily. He was an efheient officer 
ut the Friends' Yearly Meeting Buarding School; a trustee 



ol Ihowii L'liivei^ity from iS;5, and chancellor of thai in- 
slilutlon fi-oni 1N54 until the tinic of his death. He was 
e(|ually succes,rul in commercial as in professional pursuits, 
and aided in liuililing up several of the most prosperous 
manufacturing est.ihlishments in Providence. He was also 
one of the originators of the Rhode Island Hospital, and 
a member of its board of trustees ; was a trustee of the But- 
ler Hospital for the Insane; Vice-Presiilent of the Provi- 
dence lll^pensai■y ; and coniiiii,^ioiier of the '* l>e.\ter l)o- 
iiatiiin." On the i jih .jf Xovembcr, iSjS, he nrariicd 
S.irah Lockvvood. who died June 5, 1.S3J, at the age of 
thirty one years. They hail three chiUlrcn, William, born 
Septeinlier 9, iSjo, and died December <i, 1.S30; William, 
born November 17, lS;,o; and Samuel 11. ( in the 20th of 
January, 1835, he married Sarah I'ry, who is siiU living. 
The children by his second marriage were, |ohn ]•"., lid- 
ward, Thomas F., Sarah Caroline, and I.ydia A. I )r. 
Tobey died June 2J, 1867, leaving si\ cliildren. His 
widow and twri daughters are now living in Prcnideiice. 
I )ne of his sons is in business in New \'ork cily, and one 
ill Calilornia ; one is a lawyer in Providence, and another 
is (_'apt,iin of Infantry in the L'nitcd Stales army. The 
announcement of Dr. Tobcy's death was received with 
ileep regret by the entire comnnmity, and a special meet- 
ing of the Providence Medical Association, called to pay 
a tribute of respect to his memory, pas.sed resolutions Com- 
irremoralive of his worili. 



I-'XKS, HiiN. Will I AM .\., son of .\mos and Mercy 
A. (Ibipkins) Jenks, was bmn in Foster, Rhode 
Island, June 19, 1805. His t.iiher was a well- 
>> knov\ n farmer, and being a man of excellent iiulc- 
II incnt and great lorce of character, was frequently 
c.illed upon to act as arbitrator in the settlement of matters 
ill (.ontroversy between neighl.iors. Mr. jenks enjoyed but 
few advantages for obtaining an crlucatioii. His early life 
was spent upon the farm, and the only lime allotted him 
for study was during the intervals of manual labor. lie 
attended a private school f..r a short time after he was 
nineteen years of age, and by rigid self-discipline succeeded 
in acquiring a knowledge of surveying. Soon after attain- 
ing his majority, he decided lo prepare himself for the legal 
profession, but ha\ ing married at a very early age, and 
being in straitened l ii\ um^tanccs, he was ]ire\ented from 
carrying out his inleiilion until late in life. For several 
years lie engaged in farming and surveying as a means of 
support, meanwhile pursuing his law studies, ami in 1.S52 
was adniiited to ihe Rhode Island bar. His entrance upon 
his chosen [irofession w as attended with considerable em- 
barrassment on account of various discouragements, but 
his thorough preparation, ripe experience, self-reliant spirit, 
and habits of industry enabled him to overcome every ob- 
stacle, and within a short time his merits were recognized, 
and he took a prominent position as a lawyer. In 1857, 




Ij t i(\ ) '-''c 



/■„ ,'T;'^,.i 



A /(u;a\i rnicA i. c ) x 'Z oped ia. 



he was elected to represent Foster in the lou-er house of 
the General Assenilily, and was re-elected in 185S. As a 
lawyer, he commanded universal respect on account of his 
ability and adherence to a l)i,di st^uidard cjf professional 
honor; as a legislator, he was noted for the faithfulness 
and energy with which he labored to advance the interests 
of the people, for his honesty of puri>'")se, and quick per- 
ception of ri,;ht and wrong. In early life he served as 
Colonel in the State militia, and was Captain of a volun- 
teer company in the " Dorr Rebellion," being a member 
of the " Law and Order " party. Prior to that time he had 
been a Democrat, but linally became identified with the 
Republican party, of which he was a member at the time 
of his death, which occurred in Foster, July 27, 1859. He 
married, in 1S26, Hannah, daughter of Colonel Israel and 
Anna (Hill) Phillips, of Foster. They had nine children, 
of whom Ethan A., lulania A., Celinda, Hannah M., 
Helen M., and Peoria T., are now living. 



rSfltaraHITM.AN, Almond, C, M.D., was born in Ap- 
SjaiK ponaug, Rhode Island, January 3, 1805. His 
'^"iiif father, Martin Whitman, was a carpenter, wdiich 
trade his son learned and followed for several 
years in the town of Coventry. Young Whit- 
man finally abandoned his trade, removed to Fiskeville, 
Rhode Island, and began the study of medicine in the 
office of Dr. Daniel Baker of that place. After pursu- 
ing his studies for some time with Dr. Baker, he entered 
the Medical College at Pittsfield, Massachu5ett.s, from 
which institution he graduated in 1S38. He engaged in 
the practice of his profession for one year in Johnston, 
Rhode Island, and then became associated with Dr. Baker, 
with whom he continued until Dr. Baker's death, when 
he succeeded to the entire practice of the firm, which had 
become very extensive. Dr. Whitman died January 13, 
1879. About ten years before his death he was thrown 
from his carriage and received injuries from which he 
never recovered, although lie continued his business for 
about five years afterward. Two years after his accident, 
however, his rapidly declining health compelled him to 
relinquish outside practice. For many years Dr. Whitman 
was a Director in the Phenix National Bank, always at- 
tending the meetings when able, and discharging the duties 
in a faithful and conscientious manner. He was for many 
years a member of the Masonic order, having united with 
the Warwick Lodge in 1857. He married Susan Congdon, 
daughter of Isaac Congdon, of Cranston. Upright and 
honorable in his dealings with his fellow-men, he gained 
the respect and confidence of all, while his kind and genial 
disposition drew toward him a large number of friends, 
whom he never failed to greet with a kind word or a 
pleasant smile. To the Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner we are 
indebted for the facts contained in this sketch. 



_^?AKF;R, Rev. John H., son of Elisha and Hcnri- 
'"^" etta (Miner) Baker, was born on Dodge's I-land, 
'_(j"' in the township of .Stoniugton, Connecticut, Scp- 
f^0)s tember 26. iSov His paternal grandfather, Elisha, 
^v was a soldier in the French and Indian wars. His 
maternal grandfather was Deacon Thomas Miner, distin- 
guished for his excellent character and public services. 
Mr. Baker was educated under General Joseph Mason, 
and in the Academy at .Stonington Borough under Samuel 
G. Fry, and witnessed the stirring naval scenes on the 
coast in the War of 181 2. He sat under the preaching of 
Rev. John G. Wightman, Rev. Roswell Burrows, and Rev. 
Elihu Chesebro. In November, 1822, he united with the 
Baptist Church in Stonington Borough, and afterward be- 
came a teacher on Mason's Island, in (iroton, .Stonington, 
and North Stonington, meanwhile preaching in destitute 
places. After .assisting in revival meetings with Rev. Jabez 
S. Swan and Rev. Asa Bronson, he was ordained in April, 
183 1. His theological studies were pursued at Hamilton, 
New York. Conversions followed his preaching in Gro- 
ton, Stonington, and other places in Connecticut, and in 
Richmond, Exeter, Wakefield, Wickford, and Newport, 
in Rhode Island. The i>rincipal fieUls of his labors were 
Voluntown and Lebanon, Connecticut ; .S-iylirook and 
Killingworth, Long Island; Richmond, Charlestow'n, 
Hopkinton, Westerly, South Kingstown, New Shoreham, 
and East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Remarkable revivals 
followed his labors. Mr. Baker was an evangelist rather 
than a pastor, and was regarded as a model missionary. 
His first wife was Mary, daughter of Hon. William Mar- 
chant, of South Kingstown, and his second was Marcy 
(Spencer) Miller. His family home from 1842 to his 
death was in the village of Greenwich, but he was con- 
stantly engaged, when health permitted, in missionary and 
evangelistic labors. From December, 1865, to October, 
1866, he travelled 2935 miles, mostly on foot; made 737 
visits; attended 256 meetings; preached more than 100 
sermons; and baptized 140 persons. Overtasked, he fell 
by paralysis while engaged in prayer in the church on 
Block Island, January 5, 1867, and never fully recovered 
from the shock. He died at his home in East Greenwich, 
January 16, 1869, at the age of sixty-three. 



fiJl^.ECK, Ir,\ B.-vllou, genealogist, son of Royal and 
Abigail (Ballon) Peck, v\as born in Wrentham, 
Massachusetts, February 12, 1S05. His father died 
' 1 September 20, 1S49, '" '^"^ ninety-first year of his age, 
J" honored and respected both in his public and private 
life. His mother, one of the best of women, who died June 
6, 1846, in her eighty-fifth year, w.as the daughter of Noah 
Ballou, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Ira B. was the 
youngest child in his father's family. He remained at home 
in his boyhood and youth assisting his father upon the 
farm in summer and attending the district schools in winter. 



RfOGRArnrCAL C ! 'CL OPED I A. 



nconming deeply inieiesteil in lii"- -tuilies lie rclini^in^hcil 
his f.iini (huies and resolved tn olilaiii a lilieral education, 
and lo do -.u without as'-i^lanc:- I'lMin any one he entered 
\Vn iilhain Academy an! qnalilicd himself fcir teacliing, as 
a nuaus uf [laiinj,' his c\|Hnsis while inirsuin;; his ijre- 
l)aratc.i\ and collcj^iale -Indies. He studied and laiyht 
schoiil wuh liltle vacation niiiil the siiinmer of 1S25, which 
he spciil 111 the coiiiilim; ii'um uf his coiisiii. I )e\tcr Ballon, 
at Wuiiiisncket. Rhode Islainl. In ( icn.l.er of that year he 
resumed his studies, and for some lime ihcreafler was en- 
yaged in teachin;.; in AtllelioniuLjh. Medway, Canlon, and 
Deilham, Massachusetts, and in other ]ilaces; his last ser- 
vice as teacher lieinr; rendered in what was then known as 
the Academy Building, in Altlel)orout;h, >lassacluiseits. 
where he had a select school of advanced schcdars, some 
of whom liad been teailurs (ir were pr^pariiii; to teach. 
Here he taught all the higher English lir.iiuhcs, a work of 
whiili lie was very fond, hut which with his ow n studies 
pro\ed too arduous for him. This school with <tthers had 
been to him a continuous teaching while pursuing his own 
studies for a long time, when his healtli failed, and he was 
obliged not only to abandon his teaching, but his own 
studies also, and w ith them the hope of a life of usefulness 
in literature an<l seicnce ; and now. \\ hile exceeding his 
■■threescore and ten." he looks back on his days sjient in 
leaching as the most pleasant of his life. .After ]iartially re- 
gaining his health, by the advice of his friends, he turned 
his alteiilion with much regret to less intellectual pursuits, 
and soon after liecame interested in cotton manufacture. In 
lS;i he removed to Woonsoeket and took the mill then 
owned by Lemuel May, to run ■■by the yard." .\t the ex- 
piration of this Contract he took charge of the mill of George 
C. Ballon lor some time. In 1S3.S he took charge of the 
cotton machinery of \V. iV I). I'. Farnum, at Waterford, 
and in lN_^o paircluised ami moved it into tlie *' Xo. 1 " mill 
of Ivlward ilarris, at Woonsoeket. leasing this mill for a 
term of live years. Here he manufactured .Sea Island cotton 
warps, supplying the mills of Messrs. W. ^: I). 1). Farmini 
antl Kilward Harris an<l other mills w ith yarn until he i.lis- 
posed of his machineiy. The winter of 1S44 Mr. Peck 
spent in .Xshliurnham, Massachusetts, superintending the 
mill of I leoige Blackburn, of Boston, and m. iking such 
alterations and iniprovenu iits as with his practical knowl- 
edge he tht'ught iteccssars'. In 184^ and much ol the time 
until i.Soo he was emjdoved by .^amuel B. (."usliing. Master 
in Chancer;', umler a decree of the I'liited States Circuit 
Court, to assist him in the di\ ision and appoitionment of 
the \\ ater of the Blackstone Ri\ cr among the owners of the 
water-power at Woonsoeket. To do this eipiitably and to 
have the water used to the best advantage, it was necessary 
to make a long series of measurements and ex]>erimenls, 
which were made by .Mr. Beck, by the direction of Mr. 
Cushing, and sulimitted to him for his consiileiation and 
approval. This, and talcing charge of the apertiir^-s, occu- 
pied much of Mr. Beck's time until iSiki, when it had lie- 



come apparent that the Master in Chancery should have 
power given him to eiifore obedience to the decrees of the 
court, so far as to have the right to stop the mills of the 
several owners, if necessary, for the correction of any al- 
terations which might occur in their apei"tures, or to stop 
any leakages by which the ])arty would be drawing more 
water than he was entitled to. In 1.S62 the Court gave Mr. 
Cushing this authoiitv. and also power to aj^point a 1 )eputy 
or .Assistant Master in Chancery, to reside at Woonsoeket, 
with all the powers which he himself jiossessed. This ap- 
liointment was given to Mr. Beck, wdiich he continued to 
hold until the decease of Mr. Cushing. after which his son, 
the present Samuel B. Cushing, was appointed by the Ci.urt 
to fill his father's |. lace, and he re-appointed Mr. Beck, who 
still continues to hold the position and perform the duties 
of ta!<ing charge of tlie ai:)ertures. a ta-k which he has 
faithfully performed during a pciioil of more than thirty 
years. In 1S47 he was appoint.d .Admini-trator of the 
estate of Judge David Daniels, who was a lawyer of ex 
tensive |)raclice, and engaged in other pursuits. .After a 
peiiod of fi\-e years' btigation with doubtful claimants, and 
alter the disentanglement of questions of great perplexity, 
the settlement was accomplished by Mr, Beck. IniSb^he was 
api'ointed r)eputy (.'ollector of Internal Revenue, and contin- 
ue. I to hold that position through the years 1S62-4. For 
more than tliiit)' years he has been a 1 tiicctor in the Woon- 
soeket National Bank, and is one of the Trustees in the 
Woonsoeket Institution for Sa\ings, and a member of Uie 
Woonsoeket Hospiital Corporation. From his first settlement 
at Woonsoeket Mr. Beck has taken an active interest in its 
wants and improvements. He was instrumental in the 
purchase of the first fire-engine, and afterwards of the first 
forcing pump for the extinguishment of tires. He super- 
intended la\ing the pipes connecting the forcing-pumps of 
the mills with the hydrants throughout the village. He 
was also influential in obtaining a charter for the Fire Cor- 
lioration, and afterwards attendeil to its business, being its 
Secretary for several years. He also took an active inter- 
est in the introduction of gas, assisted in the erectiim of 
the works, and took charge of them until he saw them in 
successful opeiaticui, and then exteniled the |)ipes to Wa- 
teitord and Blackstone, whicli sujijilv these villages and 
mills w Ith gas. In addition to his business pursuits. Mr. 
Beck has g^^en much attention to some of his favoiite sci- 
entific and genealogical investigations. In 1S46 he began 
his researches concerning his mother's ancestiy, tracing it 
back to the one w ho emigrated to this country. He con- 
tinuei-1 his genealogical researches concerning the Ballous 
until he had li'aced all the early families of that name 
w hom he could find, back from the present generation to 
the emigrant ancestor. In searching for old records, public 
and private, in the towns where the Ballous settled, he 
found a buni-Ue of |>apers of (.leeds, wills, letters, receipts, 
etc., in the till of an old chest in a garret, which probably 
had not been read lor more than a hundred vears. .As he 



BlOGk'APllICA L C YCL OPED [A. 



333 



opened them some cnimbled to pieces, \\hile others could 
be read. One was found tliat contained a record of great 
genealogical value, enabling him to niaUe an important 
correction in one of the earliest generations, with a cer- 
tainty otherwise unattainalde ; another was a letter written 
by a son of the ance-.tor of the Ballous to his mother in 
his last sickness; another was a receipt, written and signed 
by Roger Williams, given to the maternal ancestor, who, 
on account of her great age, in some of the papers re- 
ferring to her deposition in a suit at law between some 
of her children and grandchildren, was called the " ancient 
woman," who was highly esteemed, and to whom was 
willed property by her aunt. Mr. Peck continued his re- 
searches in relation to the descendants of this Ballou and 
the other Ballous who are supposed to have been his 
brothers, and in relation to the Ballous of France and 
England and their coat-of-arms, until he had expended 
about one thousand dollars in time and money, and not 
recei\ing the assistance promised to enable him to ]iublish 
a history of the Ballous, he relinquished, with much regret, 
his purpose, and turned his attention to the genealogy of 
the Pecks, where he found more interest in the subject. 
He commenced with his father, and with much lalior 
traced his lineage through all the generations to his an- 
cestor Joseph Peck, who emigrated from Hingham, Nor 
folk County, England, in 1638, with his brother Robert, a 
minister, both of whom with their families and servants 
settled at Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 
where Joseph remained, and Robert, the minister, after the 
persecution in England, from which they had fled, had in 
part ceased, returned to Hingham, England, with all his 
family, except a daughter, who married Captain John Ma- 
son, the conqueror of the Pequots, and resumed his rec- 
torship, where he died and was buried in his cliurchyard. 
He was born at Beccles, Suffolk County, England, in 1580, 
was a graduate of Magdalen College, Cambridge, and re- 
ceived the degree of A.B. in 1599, that of A.M. in 1603, 
and was ordained to the ministry January 8, 1605. Mr. 
Peck traced the lineage of his ancestor Joseph, who re- 
mained in this country, and connected him with his father's 
and grandfather's families in England. Joseph's father, 
Robert Peck, was born at Beccles, England, in 1546, and 
died there in 1593. His will, after great research, was 
found at Ipswich. By the heljj of papers in the Herald's 
office, in London, and other places, the name of Peck has 
been traced by the subject of this sketch back in England, 
from son to father, through twenty generations, to John 
Peck, E.sq., of Eelton, Yorkshire. He then began to fol- 
low out the branches of the Pecks in America, supposing 
them all to be the descendants of his ancestor Joseph, who 
are now designated as the Massachusetts Pecks. But he 
soon discovered that other Pecks had emigrated to this 
country at an early date, whom he has designatefl as the 
Connecticut Pecks, and found that there were numerous 
descendants of each, w-ho, with those of his own ancestor, 



were settled in nearly all the States and Territories and in 
the Canadas. To trace out and separate these reijuired a 
great amount of time and labor, but by his diligence and 
perseverance, the relationship of these intermixed branches 
has been traced out, and they have been separated from 
each other, and placed to their own ancestors, in their 
proper generation and families, with almost mathematical 
precision, covering centuries of time. As a result of his 
labors Mr. Peck published, in 1 868, The Pfck Genealogy, 
a work of 442 pages, Svo., containing n,ooo names, care- 
fully arranged in genealogical order, with several steel en- 
gravings of prominent men of the Peck family, their coats- 
of-arms, in colors, a chart of twenty generations in England, 
and the genealogy of ten in America. Of this work it was 
well said by the Coiigregnlional Qiiartirly, of July, 1S70, 
"We scarcely know which most to admire, the genius to 
search out, arrange, and correctly to set forth the lineage of a 
great family for thirty generations, in all its wide-.spreading 
branches, or the patience and hard work requisite to such 
herculanean labor. The Peck family are highly favored 
in having one of their own members, who has been en- 
dowed with bi.>th the genius and patience essential to give 
one of the best genealogies it has been our good fortune 
to examine." In collecting material for his work, in addi- 
tion to travelling in different towns and States for informa- 
tion. Mr. Peck has written manv letters in relation to it, 
of which he has preserved co|iies of over six thousand, 
and in answer to which he has on lile over four thousand, 
and has sent aliroad several thousand circulars. Although 
he has requested those who had the work to point out any 
errors they might find in it, none have been brought to his 
notice in the arrangement of the v\ork, and but a few, and 
those typographical ones, in names and dates. He is now 
preparing a supplement to his genealogy, in which he gives 
the descendants of the females of the Pecks, and is l)ring- 
ing his genealogy down to the present date. He is tracing 
out in England, for the supplement, the descendants of the 
Rev. Robert Peck, before mentioned, and others. He has 
already collected for the work the different coats-of-anns 
of about thirty families into which his branch of the Pecks 
of England have married, and the arms and pedigrees of 
different branches of the name, from the Herald's visita- 
tions of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, York- 
shire, and Norfolk, and hopes to obtain much more valua- 
ble and interesting matter in relation to the different 
branches of the name there. Mr. Peck is a member of 
the Ilarleian Society of London, England, and a subscriber 
to the works it publishes; a life member of the New Eng- 
land Hi^toric Genealogical Society, of which he has been 
a member for many years ; a corresponding member of the 
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, and has 
been a member of the Masonic order for more than fifty 
years. His life has been one of quiet industry, seeking no 
office, enjoying his own religious views, conceding to 
others the same privilege, and keeping aloof from party 



3}\ 



BiocR.iriiiCAL CYcrori.niA. 



politics. Ik- ni.miid. juiu- lo. 1SJ4. Mary lUackinton, 
(I;hil;1iI.-i- i.I i:i)is aii-l Mary 1 Jarksnn) i^hukinlon, of At- 
tU-l"ir<iu;^li. Ma-.^ac!iiis''U -. She was lioin Maruh 4, 1S09. 
ami ilicd ScptfinlKT ;0' iSjo. llcr father was iKirn Marcli 
iS. i-S^. aii'l (iif'l May jj. iSyo. II<r iiiMiher was horn 
I'Vhruary 17, 17S7. ami dicl !-\-Kruary 11. iS^i). Mr. 
lllackinloii w.i- a in'iiiiiiii.-iit man, and h<_l'! varimis nthc^s 
ill lii> town. Mr. IVhK's milv cluM. Ira K. iVck. was 
Iioi'ti AiiL;u--t 1\. 1X4(1, and rc--id(.-^ in (.'lunlicrkind. Rhodt.- 
I^h.nd. 



^YJ^' \I.l.< T. Akiii, M.I), sun ..I" ,\rirl and Kdilda 
^j[y ri"-acrl naMnu. was l.nrn in ( ■und't.i kind. Rhode 
^^]'' Idand, I ),_tMlK-r 2S. I'^o'^. 1 1 is L^i-^al -_^randra'hrr. 
I -. James Rrllou. Tn .ni that iiartuf Pro\idenee known 
''v as Smithlield. with his kn.thL'rs ()liadiah and Xa- 
ihnniel. piirehased kinds in Cinnkerkind. uliieh was tlion 
called Dedham. the name having been elianwcd to (_'um- 
berland in 1747. His ^^randkither, Ariel ikilk>u, who. for 
a loni; ]>eri<.d owned a j'ortion of iho^e kind--, had tw-<t , 
sons and nine dau^^hters. srven of wlioni liad lar^e fanii- j 
lies, wliieli were widely scattered. Hr, Ralknrs father, 
Ariel, wa- a Revolulionary soIdii.-r. He occupied the land 
almve mentioned, whicli still remains in the family. For 
many year^ he wa- a I teacr.n in the (.'hn-tian Bajitist 
(.duirch. ami was known far and wide as a man of great 
enerL^y. decision, and uUe_L;rUy. iii- house was distin- 
t^uished as the home of travelltnt; ministers. IK- was one 
of the founders ()f the Social Manufacturiii-j; Comjiaiiy nf 
Wonnsocket. antl its (ust aijent, He was married, hr-t, to 
laicinda t/onisti.ck. dauL^hterof Hon. Nathaniel (."■onistock. 
of Wrenthani. Mass.Kliusett--. 1"lieir children were Ro^ina, 
iiorn He ember j, 178^; Nabbie. born April H\ 17X1:1. .iied 
in 1S74, and w a- the wife of Hon, l)a\ is (."ook, of Cum- 
berland ; ( "yiu^, born Mareli |S, 17S1"). du-d m March. 
1S16; Arnold, boin M.n\h ;^ i . 17'iJ. died 111 November, 
1S16; S.illy, born March l, 1705. dird ( t,lubcr II. 1S03; 
MajiT Alfreil, born lune 2. i7<)o. and now oecu|iies the 
land which descended from tlie aiiLe^tor, |ames Dallou. 
The second wife of Ariel Rallou w.i- Kdilda Tower. 
dauL^IUer of t'aptain Levi Tower, of I 'iiniberkind. Their 
eliiiibeii were .\din, brnn April 2^^. iS'j;^. now a distin- 
i;ui>hed cleiL^vman, known a-, the founder of ilie I ro[iedaIe 
Ci'mmunil_\ , and a-, an author of various reliL^ioiis works ; 
and .Ariel, the youn;^est of the family, and the subject of 
this sketch. Hr. Ikdlou's boyliood and youth were spent 
at home as-.i-,tinM hi, f.;ther. who was a successful farmer. 
He had ordinary advantages of education, but his rapid 
physical development for a time impeded his mental im- 
pio\einenl, as In- attained nearly his full stature of six feet 
at the ai^e (jf fo nieen. Soon afier this his mental acijuisi- 
t lolls wet e r.ipid and lhorouL;h. When se\enteen years old he 
spent si\ months at the private scho<il of Rev, .\biel Fisher, 
<'f HtdliML;h,im. Massarhu->ett-, who prepared younjr men 



for colk'f^e. r.ut I'cin;^ obbs^ed |o forego his desire of a 
collci^iate course ,il ihe time, he revoked to faidifully serve " 
his father until of at^e. and from that time forward to study, 
at least one hour a day, during his minority. These reso- 
lutions were f.iithfully adhered to, and the benekts result- 
in-^ therefrom realized dnnn_L^ life. He tau;^ht school in 
the winter-time, paying his wages to his father. For twu 
years he t night 111 the public seho-ilsof Mas^achusetts, and 
at the age of twenty one \\as Principal of the Academy at 
fumberland Hill, and w hile there began the studv of mefli- 
cine. .An able lawyer, and hi'.nd, of that place. Aaion 
White, ad\i^ed him to omit a lollege (ouise, which he 
regarded as umuli. es-,ar\ in Mr. llallou's lase. as lie ha'l a 
disiiphnc of mind suMieieiit lo enter upon t!ie studies of 
his j>roh-ssion. .Mter -tud)ing al^out one year under I'ro- 
lessor L'sher I'aisoris, (if I'roxideiue. with the intention 
of entering the Navy as Surgeon, he sjieiil about four 
months at the iJerkshirc Medical Institute, at I'itt^field, 
^bl.ssachuset{s, where he became aci|uainted w ith (iovernor 
(_'hihU, one of the jirofessors in the Institution, who mani- 
te^ted a deep interest in his welfare. He subse'"[Uently 
spent aliout a year with Dr Hanul Thurber, of Mendon, 
Massachusetts, a man of ni.ile, and then leturned to Wooii- 
socUet. where he studied and practiced with Hr. Hiram 
Allen four months. At the end of that time he entered 
his name as a pupil with I'ni feasor I rione I >. Wells, nf the 
Maine Medical School connected with Rowdoin College. 
Here he made rapid and thorough progress, and attained 
an enviable position. Having hni^hed his course in May, 
iS^o, he located in that part of his native town know n as 
Woousoekit . in |ulv, and in Septrniber ol the same year 
received his degree of M.H. Here he h.is remained in a 
large jiractice until the present, a jieriod of more than fifty 
years. He was President o\ the Rhode Nland Medical 
Society in 18^5-6, and sjnee then has been one of it-- cen- 
sors. He \- the autlior of a thesis on LiutaiiKn^ puldished 
in the American [ournal of Medical Science about the year 
18^0, which has been copied exlensivelv into luiio|)ean 
journals. For seventeen years he was an active member 
of the SlIioo] (■ommittee of Cumberland. From 1842 to 
rSt:;2 he was ino>t of the time a member either of the 
House or Sen.ite of the (.leneral Assembly of Rhoile Isl- 
and, and introduced the lull for aboli-.h!ng capital punish- 
ment, wIulIi statute remams in force at this time. He was 
Chairman oi the L'tammittee on the Bill of Rights in the 
Convention for tVammg the People's Constitution of Rhode 
Island. In 1879 80 he was a member of the Riu)de Island 
Senate from the new town of Woonsf»cket. and served 
several years as Coroner in said town. In 1852 he was 
one of the Presidential electors. As Pre-i<lent of the 
Woonsockel Ilo-pital Corporation, and of the Hoard of 
Trustees of the " Hairis Instuute " from its origin, he has 
rendeted efliLienl service, Fiom l8(Jl to 1805 he was 
Grand Nbr^ter tT Ma>ons in Rhode Island. For a long 
time he ha- been a worthy member of tlie F.pt-^copa! 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCL OPED/A. 



335 



Church in Woonsocket, and is now one of its wardens. 
For more than half a century he has maintained an honor- 
able position, both as a successful physician and a citizen 
of integrity and moral influence. Dr. Ballou married, 
September ii, 1832, Hannah Ilorton, of Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts, to whom he ascribes much of his profes- 
sional and financial success. They have had five children. 
Ariel A., born November 23, 1S33, who was drowneil 
September 1 1, 1844; Annah ; Ella, who died in infamy; 
Laura, who married Daniel M. Edwards, M.D.; and 
Noble, who died in infancy. 



^URLINGAME, Rev. M.wey Wiiiitlk, was born 
in Glocester, Rhode Island, May 4, 1S05. and 
Llj was the son of Stephen and .Mniira Burlin- 
f If game, being the youngest of ten children. He was 
I 1 i early susceptible of religious impressions, and when 
but a mere boy united with the Free Baitist Church in his 
native town, having received ba|Jtism from Rev. Joseph 
White. He applied himself to study and oljtained an edu- 
cation in the schools at Killingly, Connecticut, and Wil- 
braham, Massachusetts. Having decided to devote him- 
self to the work of the ministry, he received license to 
preach in May, 1S2S, and ordination the year following. 
He commenced his work in his native tow'n and in the 
towns in close proximity to it, and was also engaged in 
teaching in the public schools. In this vicinity he spent 
the closing years and the larger portion of his life. Imme- 
diately after his license to preach he spent a year in Deer- 
field, Pennsylvania, where his parents had removed, and 
performed effective service. Becoming pastor of the Free 
Baptist Church in (Waterford) Blackstone, Massachusetts, 
he continued in this relation sixteen years, terminating it 
in 1S46. During this time the church grew rapidly, and 
the influence of the pastor was great. He was subse- 
quently pastor of Free Baptist churches in Greenville, 
Chepachet, West Scituate, Georgiaville, Tiverton, and Caro- 
lina, in Rhode Island ; also, of churches of the same denom- 
ination in other .States, notably of those in New Market 
and Danville, New Hampshire ; Tapshorn and North 
Berwick, Maine; Farnumsville, Massachusetts; and East 
Killingly, Connecticut. During his ministry he was a pro- 
moter of missions, education, and reforms. From 1S44 to 
1S59 he was a corporator of the Freewill Baptist Printing 
Establishment, the publishing house of the denomination. 
He died at Georgiaville, March 4, 1879. In January, 1S30, 
he married Harriet Winsor, of Glocester, who, with a 
daughter, still (1881 ) survives. Mr. Builinganie possessed 
such qualities of mind and heart as served to make his 
ministry effective. In his intercourse with others he ever 
bore himself in a manner betitling his high calling. His 
life, which began with promise and trust, terminated with 
honor and blessedness. 




ETil'lROURTELLOT, Colonel Lebi!eus Chandler, son 
of Ethan and Alpha (Fletcher) Tourtellot, was 
born in Mendon, Massachusetts, .^pril 22, 1806. 
His father, who was born December 25, 1789, and 
* died in March, 1S76, was a direct descendant of a 
Huguenot family, and a soldier in the war with England 
in 1 81 2. His mother was of English descent, and con- 
nected with the Bucklin and Britain families of Rhode 
Isl.ind. She was born in 1789, and died in June, 1853. 
Colonel Tourtellot is the eldest of five children. He re- 
niaine<l in his native town until his eighteenth year, being 
employed most of the time on a farm and in a cotton fac- 
tory at Blackstone. In 1S29 he removed with his father to 
Providence, where he learne<l the carpenter's trade, which 



he followed until 185 



He removed to Woonsocket in 



1S32, and for seventeen years thereafter was with the Woon- 
socket Manufacturing Company, ten years of which as 
Master Mechanic and Chief Engineer. In March, 1849, 
he accepted the agency of the Albion Mills, in Lincoln, 
where he remained until June. 1S37. In that year he re- 
turned to Woonsocket, and eng.ageil in the manufacturing 
business for himself, renting the Bartlett Mills for oiie year. 
In 1859 and i860 he had a hired mill at East Blackstone. 
In August, 1S61, he raised a company for the Third Rhode 
Island Heavy .Artillery, and went into camp at Amestow^n, 
afterwards went to Fort Hantilton, New York, and thence 
to Fortress Monroe. The third regiment joined Sherman's 
expedition to South Carolina, and participated in the im- 
portant engagements at Hilton Head November 7th, and 
about Charleston, and he was senior in command of a 
battalion in taking Foit Pulaski, having two batteries and 
four companies, (jn the surrender of the fort he was de- 
tailed by General Hunter, through Cohjncl Terry, to gar- 
rison the same, and remained there until June, 1SO2. 
While in the investment of Charleston Colonel Tourtellot 
was prostrated with fever, and was not expected to live. 
After a respite of twenty days he rejoined his command, 
but was again prostrated and compelled to resign and re- 
turn home, in October, 1862. In 1S63 he became a man- 
ager of Messrs. J. P. \- J. G. Ray's cotton mills, in Woon- 
socket, in which posiiion he has remained until the present. 
He was in the State militia service from 182S almost con- 
stantly, rising through the various grades to that of Briga- 
dier-General, and in the great riot in Providence, in 1831, 
had his first experience •• under fire." The not originated 
at OIney Lane, with the crew of the ship .-^nn Hope, and is 
said to have been more serious in its effects than the " Dorr 
War." He was at that time Quartermaster of United Vol- 
unteers. In iS44he was chosen Colonel of the Woonsocket 
Guards, and in 1854 reorganized the company. He held 
that position until 1S57, and has ever since been recognized 
by the title of Colonel. He has been a prominent member 
of the Masonic order during the past tw^enty-nine years, 
and since 1845 ''»* hitun a leader in the fraternity of Odd 
Fellows. He served for some time as a member of the 



33t> 



BIOaKAPillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



'\\>\\\\ rmuu-il. lly iiKlii^liy aii.l iiitri;rity he has accumu- 
ialni a oiiipctcmr, an-l won thr r^ir.-iii ..f liis iVihnv-riti- 
/ciis. I-'nr ^i-vi-ral yrar^ Ik- ha> l»CL-n a iiiniiliur of the 
I-:pisc()i>aI Clmrcli. Cuhuicl I'onrtcllni marrid, in May, 
iS;,i, Al/ada 'i\nirlell(.i. .Kui-htrr of William, jr., and 
l,y.lia iKililyl Tnuru-IIoi. ..f Ch.ccMcr. Rhode Maml. 
Shr "lifd in 1 >^^\-iiilii-i. iS^i. Ili-s st-cnd wilV- was Caro- 
liiK- Coiiu-lia, daii-htri- ..f William and Sara)i (Lovelt) 
Sherhuitic. nf Wiciiiham, Massachusetts. Mr. Lovt-tt was 
a wtaltliv meu-liaiil of rinvideiice. C'ulunel Henry Sher- 
hurnc jt^iilii ipated in the l\f\nlulinnary War, chieHy in 
New |)oi[, Kliodc Island. Mrs. Touikdlot died in Novem- 
hcr, 1S7J. There were four children hy the second mar- 
riai^e : Al/ada S., (leorgiana S.. wlio ilied in Xovenilier, 
lSt)2, in licrluentieth yrar, Almy S.. who die<l in infancy, 
and William Klhau, wii<» is now in the juiutmg budness 
in I'ruvidenee. 



GREENE. Hi NJAMIN Eranki IN. nianufacturer, son of 

ft^ Caj'lain Renjannn aii<l 1 lariiet i, (_ireene ) ( ireenc. was 

born in WarwieK. Rhode Kland. January I, 1S07. 

--;•■■> The family homestead was south of Pawluxet. ami 
"ij' included the fanufus Mark Rock, with its notable im- 
pres-^iiins and inscription-, and in a rej^non memorable for 
events in Rln»dc Island history. Captain Benjamin Greene 
wa'' a Iiold commander in his day, makint^ voyages to the 
Indie-> and to remote countries. Ili> children were \Vd- 
liam M.. Weltha A., (iudhey, Henjamin E., Harriet G., 
Henry P.. Richard W., and I'hibp A. The gramlfatlier of 
Uenjamin I'", was ( lodlVcy Greene, a farmer of the old 
school, who hail seven chddren. Amy, lletsey, Sarah, ( God- 
frey, WiUiam, Caleb C, and Benjamin. The mother of 
Benjamin E. wa-. the daughter of Hon. William Greene, 
Cjiief lattice of the Suj.reme Court of Rhode Island in the 
davs of the kevoliitiMii. 'i'he judge wa^ a brother of Ma- 
jor-t jeneral Nathanael ( Ireene. The Lhildren of Ju'Ige 
t ireene were Thomas, Chri>topIier, Warren, Catliarine, 
Harriet, and leremiah. .\t one lime judge Creeene was 
the owner of about Iw eiilv ^la\ e--. all ot whom lie hiiallv 
liberated. ( )n the marriage ol his daughter Harriet he 
gave her a slave named Sarah. I-'rom disaster^ at sea and 
other causes, Captain Benjamin Greene, lost hi-^ juoperty, 
and his family were oldiged to labor for their support. He 
was born June 25, 1771, and died September 21, 1S47, 
aged sevenly-six years. His wile, Ilariiel, born Aiird 22, 
i/"'), died March 21, 1S37. in lier fifty eighth year, and 
was a woman of great energy and wulli. Benjamin E. 
had siii.dl opportunities of education in the schools, but lie 
supplied this dehiiency somewhat by reading. At the age 
of eight he began to work in the Crompton Mills, in War- 
wick, for one ilollar per week. in iSiri he worked in the 

Xatick Mills for ( ieneral Chiistopher Rhodes. Subse- 
ipieiitly he worked lor William Sjirague, who Inst estab- 
lished calico works in the State. In 1824, at the age of 



seventeen, he engaged at ('entiai I'alK as a second hand 
in making thread, fttr \N'alker \ Allen, and in 1S25 began 
to oversee ilie milk Here he remained as an ovcr-eer till 
I.S40. Wlien he came to Central Ealls he brought all his 
worldly goods tied np in a handkercliief. His industry, 
integiitv, and skill suun won for him a good name. In 
1840 he commenced business in Central i-\dls with Stephen 
Benedict, Iose]>h Wood. Thomas Bencli't, ami Samuel 
Wood, lie o\erseeing the com[iany alkiirs in the manu- 
facture of thread, ami the others furnishing capit d. In 
1S45 he went to MapleviUe (so named by him), and manu- 
factured thread and warps for Hill & Carpenter. In 
iSso he engaged in the tliread manufacture at Claike's 
Mdls, in Richmond, Rhode Island, where Mr. Horace 
I)aniels became his bookkeeper and suggested the idea 
of putting up the thread ujion spools. In iS:;:; he 
leased a mill in (Vntral Ealls for ten years. Mr. Haniels 
finally entered into liu-.iness with him as a partner, and 
invented a machine for polishing the thread. In i.S(io 
they erected a new mill, wdiich was enlarged in iSd^, 
making a solid and beautiful brick structure four liun. 
dred and twenty feel long, fi.air stories Iiigli. with a 1-rench 
roof, gi\ing another story, and three large towers. The 
mill co4 when completed about $1,000,000, and runs 
altout twenty -five thousand spindles. After the death 
of his partner, (ieneial H. Daniels, in 1876, Mr. Greene 
bought out the intere-t held by General E)aniels in the mill 
and thread business and made all the mill property and 
operations his ow n. In 1877, however, he made a joint- 
stock property of it, though continuing almost the sole 
owner, and named the corporation the Greene i\: Haniels 
MainifaLturing Company, the capital stock being $300,000, 
all paid in. < )l this comjiany Mr. Greene is President, his 
son, Edward A. (ireene. Treasurer, and George P. Grant, 
agent. Mr. (.ireene is now the oldest American manufac- 
turer of thread in the country. IJnring the Rebellion, 
though exempt Iroui nulilary service, he was an active 
member id' tiie home-guard. In politics he was at first a 
Whig and then a Republican. In 1S66 he served the town 
ol Smithrield a-^ a member of ihe Slate Legislature. He has 
long been a Director in the Slate National Bank, of Paw- 
tucket. In 1835 he and his wife united with the Eirst 
Baplist f'huich. in Pawlucket, and in 1S44 they became 
constituent members of the Central Ealls Baptist Church. 
In the building of the new church edilice, on Broad Street, 
Mr (ireene has contributeil alunit .$16,000. He is a mem- 
ber of the home and foreign nnssionary societies of the 
Baptists, is one of the managers ,if the Rhode Island P»ap- 
tist State (_"(uu eiition, and a Di'eclor in tlie Bapdst \'ine- 
yard Associatitm, of Cottage City, Martha's \ ineyard. 
\\ Idle ap]'lying himself closely and successjullv to hisman- 
ufaLturing interests, he has yet found cf|'portunity for travel 
throughout the Cniled Slates and Canada. He has a large 
an<i beautiful residence in Central Ealls, He married, 
June 17, i8jj, Rebecca Borden Liniiell, daughter of Jo- 




). / ^/ //r 



" r //v' 



B/OCRAP//ICAL CI CLOPEDIA. 



337 



siah and Rebecca Linnell,of Ilyaiinis-rort, I'arnstable, 
Massachusetts, a woman of great industry and rare prudence 
and piety. She was born June 2S, iSo8, and (bed in Cen- 
tral Falls, in the Greene mansion, June 3, 1878, in her 
seventieth year. Jler memory is fondly cherished by all 
who knew her. Mr. C^roene had six children, Eleanor, 
who died young; Sarah J., who married Wanton Durfee; 
Herbert F., who died young; Maiy A., married Ellcry 
W. Greene ; Richard F., married Augusta Brown ; and 
Edward A., wdio married Anna Houghton. 



fULLOCK, WiLLl.\M Peckh.\m, merchant, the son 
of Richmond and Rhoda (I'ecUham) Bullock, was 
born in Providence July 6, 1805. His father was 
ptfti a prosjjerous merchant, and largely concerned in 
navigation. He was fitted tor college in the best 
schools of his native town, and graduated from Brown 
University in the class of 1824. On leaving college he 
decided to pursue the calling of his father, and formed a 
partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Edward Pearce, 
which continued until the death of his father in 1849, the 
firm of Pearce cS: Bullock being regarded as among the 
most enterprising and successful mercantile houses of 
Providence. Upon the decease of his father, finding him- 
self in possession of an ample fortune, he retired from the 
cares of an active business life, and devotefl himself to such 
pursuits as were congenial with his tastes. For fourteen 
years he was the President of the Commercial Bank of 
Providence, and for several years one of the trustees of the 
Butler .\sylum for the Insane. For some time also he was 
one of the Inspectors of the State Prison. He was in the 
City Council of Providence for two years. He was also 
chosen Presidential Elector from Rhode Island. He sus- 
tained, moreover, intimate relations with some of the re- 
ligious and financial institutions of his native city, and in 
a variety of ways made his influence to be fell for good. 
He did not court publicity, but sought rather to live the 
quiet, unostentatious life of one who was content to serve 
his generation in his own modest and unobtrusive way. 
He was twice married. His widow and seven children — 
two by his first marriage — survived him. His death oc- 
curred in Providence December 22, 1862. 



tice ol his jirofession in Xew Bedford, Massachusetts. The 
death of his father in 1838 led to his removal to his native 
place, where he took his practice, and for forty years was 
a well-known and successful physician in all the section 
of country in which he lived. " For this practice," we 
are told, " he was admirably fitted, both by the knowledge 
gained from thorough preparatory studies and by the qual- 
ities of his mind and character; by his clearness of percep- 
tion and his promptness of decision ; by his caution and 
patience and tact, and also by his genial disposition and 
his excellent conversational powers." Both his father and 
his grandfather on his mother's side had been physicians, 
and in the resolutions which were passed by his brethren 
when honoring the memory of their associate, it was said 
of Dr. West that he was " worthy of belonging to such a 
succession, by performing his full share of nearly one hun- 
dred years' hereditary and consecutive medical service in 
the community" in which he lived. In 1869 he married 
Mary, daughter of Judge Job Uurfee. He died at Tiver- 
ton, Rhode Island, January 7, 1S79. 



EST, S.-\MUEL, M.D., the son of Dr. Samuel and 
Hijpjljil I'olly (Whitridge) West, was liorn in Tiverton, 
"i^'-lW Rhode Island, Augu-.t 9, iSofi. He prepared 
(jJls for college at the University Grammar School in 
oi. Providence, under the tuition of Professor George 

W. Keely. On completing his preparatory studies he 
entered Brown University, and was graduated in the class 
of 1828. After pursuing the required course of medical 
study he received the diploma of M.D. from the Medical 
School of Harvard University, and comniLnced the prac- 
43 



g««^ARTSHORX, Is.\.\c, M.D., son of Edward and 
y^ Nancy (Bucklin) Hartshorn, was born in Man- 
chester. Vermont, July 6, 1S05. .At an early age 
*S|f he went to Providence, to reside with his uncle 
1?' Charles, father of Thomas C. Hartshorn, wdio lived 
on Westminster Street. There he acquired his rudimen- 
tary education, and subsequently pursued his medical 
studies at Vale College, where he graduated from the 
Medical School. After receiving his degree he returned 
to Providence, opened an office on Eddy Street, anil de- 
voted himself to his profession with the same enthusiasm 
for which he was afterward distinguished in his business 
career. When the cholera Ijroke out in this country, and 
was raging in New Vork city in 1832, Dr. Hartshorn went 
there and spent six weeks studying the disease, preparing 
himself to meet it in Providence. He soon became a 
thorough and successful physician, though young in prac- 
tice. He was very studious, a keen observer, and always 
ready to profit by any |iew experience. He continued in 
the practice of his profession for ten or fifteen years in 
Providence and Pawtucket, and then decided to engage in 
some vocation that would afiord him an opportunity for 
the exercise of his great energy and business capacity. 
He therefore relini|uished the quiet duties of his profession 
and embarked in the india-rubber business, at Providence. 
That branch of imliistry was then in its infancy. Rubber 
shoes were then imiKjrted from Brazil. They were made 
by dipping lasts made of clay into the gum as it came from 
the tree, drying them, and then dipping again and again 
until the formative process was completed. The inventive 
genius of New' England then endeavored to devise a better 
method of manufacturing that class of goods, and within 
a short time Edv\ard M. Chaffee, of Providence, produced 



33^ 



B lO a RA Fine A A C ) TV. O PED 1. 1 . 



a in.uIiiiR- for i^iindiii'^ tlie rnhlu-r. lon;^ known as rhaffcc's 
])alcnl; a citi/i-n nf Cunnfcticut, Xatlianicl Ilayward. <!is- 
covcrcil ilic sccift of ini\in;^ ihr nihlit-r wilh Vu\A and Mil- 
j'liiir, kiiuun a-- llic ^iil|iliiir paiL-ut; and very soun after- 
ward the cclcluau-d < "hailc^ I I'ludycir in\cnted the htrat- 
inj^ pr(jcc>s w liii. h iirndiui-d what i^ calldl \ idcani/ed rul.i- 
Inr. d hoc thiL-f threat <h-<<_ m cii.s ha\c laMii^iit the nianu- 
f.K'tute 'if iridiarul'lier ^uud^ tn it> perfccuoii. Dr. Hart-.- 
liorn linally nnited will; llie late (diaries Jackson. Earl 1'. 
Ma^on. and lUity ( heenc. and formed what was known as 
the I'rovidcnce Shoe (.■uni|)any. As an evidence of the 
sh.w prut;rc^s of iniprovenieiU in this branch of manufac- 
ture kv tiic new i>r<>ce-s, it may he stated that the first shoes 
were made cd' ru!>ker ili>sol\ed hy turpentine, mixed wdth 
lampldav k. and --plead iipnn elodi. d lie-.e shoes had leather 
soles. ddie ne\t nicthitd y\i manufacturing was to melt 
the ruM'cr iiUo sheet-., pullin;^ U upon i;ra--s cloth, and tan- 
niuL; it with an ocid. d'hc-e ^Imc^ were hmn'l t<.i keconie 
\c]\ haid. d hen came the iirocc-s tif di->--olving the rub- 
brr 111 lamplune and heating it. ddii-, liow e\cr. \\'as found 
t" deconlpu^e, and nnalU the soKent was omitted, wliich 
left the \ulcaiii/ed rul-l'er. liut the care and superintend- 
ence of these various procc-ses were lait a pait of Dr. 
] Iart>hoiirs trials. As there were no commercial "drum- 
mers ■' Ml those iLivs. the maiuifaclurer s(dtl liis own gcnids, 
and 1 Jr. Uarlshoni wa^ ihciefore ie<[Uired to make many 
trips to New \'oik, I'liiladelphja, and other Cllie^. Gir tlie 
purpose of intr'.'duciiig liis g(.)ods. Although he had many 
obstacles to e<)ntend against, he finally succeeded in carry- 
ing tlie manufacture of rubber shoes to ])erfection. But 
this jioint having been reached other troubles awaited him. 
Horace IT. Day obt.dned possc^siun of the Ciiaffee patent 
and sued Dr. Hartshorn for infringement, ddie suit was 
one of the most protracted and memorable ever ju'osecuted 
in Rhode Iskmd, .md resulted in a hea\y verdict against 
I )r. Hartshuin. dhis tlecisiun was atterward reversed m 
his favor at Washiuglon l>y the Supreme Court. At the 
termination of the trial his health was so seriijiisly impaired 
by the lung-continued strain iijion his nervous system that 
he was ol)Iiged to give up Inisiiiess, and at tlie advice of 
his physician he w ent to Kurope. to be treated by celebrated 
])hysicians in Paris and He rim lie made three trips al.iroad 
for this purp'.'se, and on t!ie leUii ii v(j_\age, in 1S74. had an 
attack of [)aralv-is. w hit h fuially terminated hi^ life, Janu- 
ary 29, 1S77. He was also engaged in another celebrated 
lawsuit gr<iw ing out of the rubber bu-vine^s. It was brought 
by Mr. (loodyear to restrain Horace Day ami others from 
Using his patent. Rufus (_dioatc, Hrady, and other eminent 
counsel were rel.diied, and Dr. Hartshorn gave k)aiitel 
Wehster, then Secietary of State, .^25,0.7)0 to go to New 
lersry and argue the case. Dr. Hailsliorn was also agent 
and one of the original owners in the toin])any which 
maiinfacturcd the Ilurnsidc Ri'lc, and nia<le an iinprove- 
iiicnl in that Inciim which added \er\ much to its eltect- 
ivtncss. He did much to ad\ancethe business interests 



of Providence, and was well known politically and sociallv. 
During the " Dorr Rebellion " he maintained a tirm posi- 
tion in lavor of law and order. He was a frank, straight- 
forward man. a^.^ a\s true to Ids con\ictions. He married, 
-April 20. i,S52, 1-di/a I.)ayton ( lardiner, of Llrooklyn, New 
\'ork (wlntse himily were originally from Gardiner's Isl- 
and), the is-,ue of tlie mariiage being three children, Nella 
\V.. and Ivliih Ik, who are now living, and Edward Gar- 
diner, deceased. I'dith Ik married Arthur Livingston, a 
son of the late Earl I'. Mas.m. Dr. Hartshorn owned an 
elegant country home un the s..uth side of the hailjor at 
Newport, w iierc, with his faiinly. he was wont to pass the 
summer. 



I.\LL, CoLoM I. Will. I AM, second son of Ikvekiah 
■•-\ and Ann I-rances (Low) Viall. was born August 
5, 1S05, at the old homestead in Seekonk, Massa- 
t' -1 cluisetts. This homestead formerlv belonged to the 
"^ Hon. ddiomas Willett, first Mayor of New V.-rk 
city, and at his ileath in 1679 was purchased by John 
Viall, ancestor of \Vikiain, in whose faniilv it has re- 
mained for more than two luindred years. In 1S21, Wil- 
liam \ iall removeil to Providence, and engaged in mer- 
cantile business with a considerable degree of success. 
He was f(»r some time associated with his brother; was 
afterward a mendier of the tirm of Child, \dall lV Wood ; 
and later became a cotton merchant and manufacturer of cot- 
ton goods. Iduis for nearly fifty years he was actively iden- 
tified with the business interests of Providence. In March, 
1S70, he was elected Preddent of the Firemen's Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company, winch uflice he held until his 
death, which occurred January 16, iSSo. He was also a 
director in se\eial banks, l.ieing connected with the < dobe 
Bank in that capacity for forty-five years, and was a director 
in diilereiit insurance companies. In iSj^ he became a 
niemlier ol the First Light Infantiy Comj-any. and after- 
ward joined the Veteran Association, in l)oth of which he 
was chosen to various offices. During the ]>oIiticaI dis- 
turl)ances in 1N42. known as the Dorr Rebellion, he com- 
mandetl the 1 iiud Ward (_luards, which comprised numy 
of the leading citizens, and soon after was apjiointed Aid- 
de camp to Go\ernor Fenner, with the title t.d Colonel, by 
wdiich he was aiti.ru ard generally known. Ci.'Ioiiel \dall 
was fur several years a member of the Common Count il of 
Providence, and subse<|uently Alderman from the d hird 
Ward. He also represented the city in the General As- 
sembly. He was much interested in agriculture and horti- 
culture, ha\ ing been an active member of the Rhode Isknul 
Society lor the luicouragemeni of Douicstic Industrv troni 
its formation, and for several years Pre-ident of the Horti- 
cultural Society. ( 'olonel \iall travelled c\tcnsi\ely in 
his own and loreign lamls. and possessed a fund of \aiied 
inlormation which made liini an entertaining conversation- 
ist. .\liuut the year iSiN he united with the Congrega- 



BIO GRA PIIICA L C i XL OPED I A 



339 



lional Cliiirch in Barrington, where liis family bail wor- 
shipped for many generations. In 1S52 he was associated 
with others in organizing the Central Congregational 
Church of Providence, and was a member of it until bis 
death. In 1831 he married Elizabeth, daughter of the 
late Isaac Bowen, Esq. .She died in 1836, and in 1839 
he married Mary B. Anthony, daughter of the venerable 
Hezekiah Anthony, of Providence. The till figure of 
Colonel Viall was noticeable on the streets of Providence 
for more than half a century. His love of outdoor work 
in his garden and grapery, and his keen enjoyment of 
society, kept him fresh an<l youthful, so that he was com- 
monly supposed to be much younger than he really was, 
as he had neither the appearance nor the infirmities of 
age. His manners were easy and cordial, and somewhat 
after the type of the old school. His personal character 
was always above reproach. Though he had but few early 
advantages, and in boyhood was dependent upon his own 
exertions, yet by industry, perseverance, and native force 
of character he earned an honorable and useful position in 
the community, and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew 
him. 



has been twice married, and has two sons. His second 
wife, who still ( 18S1 ) sur\ives, is a nati\e k\{ W'aiw ick. 



^lijji|HELON, Kfv. Bknj.\min. was born in Halifax, 
Mp^ Yorkshire County, England, June I, 1S06. At 
^^ an early age he became a nienilier of the general 
T Baptist denomination, and pursued a course of study 
■i. at an institution of that denomination which has for 
its object the training of young men for the Cjospel minis- 
try. He also studied under the direction of the late Rev. 
J. G. Pike, and preached as he had opportunity. Having 
decided to make America his future home and scene of his 
labors, he arrived in this country in January, 1835, and 
through the influence of the late Rev. Dr. Sutton, an Eng- 
lish missionary to India, but then in this country, he lo- 
cated at Apponaug, a village in Warwick. A Free Baptist 
church was soon organized there, of w-hich he became 
pastor. He occupied the position some two years and a 
half. During the twelve years which followed, he was 
pastor of Free Baptist churches in North Providence, 
Rhode Island, Nashua, New Hampshire, and Boston and 
Fall River, Massachusetts. He was in tiie last-named 
place seven years, and devoted himself to vigorous and 
ceaseless efforts, though, in consequence of peculiar ad- 
verse influences, they were w ithout large permanent results. 
In 1849, 1"^ returned to Warwick and continued to be pas- 
tor of the church there until 1 870. I)uring the past ten 
years he has resided in Providence, enjoying a serene old 
age, and beloved and respected by all. Devout in spirit, 
scholarly in his tastes, and industrious in his habits, he 
made a decided impression upon tlie community in w Inch 
he fiu- many years resided. Having a deep interest in 
public education, he superintended the schools of the town, 
and was thus enabled to increase his power for good. He 



PHOMAS, .\LLEN M.\50N, son of Richard and Polly 
(Nichols) Thomas, was born in Wickford, Rhode 
_)j Island, July 25, 1S06. His father and his grand- 

(•r;f)> father, Samuel Thomas, were also natives of Wick- 
•'y fonl. His great-grandfather, Sanuul Thomas, was 
born in .N'ortli Kingstown, Rhode Island, in 1720, and was 
the son of George Thomas, whose father, Colonel George 
Thomas, was a son of John Thomas, of Wales, wdio came 
to this country and settled at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, as 
early as 16S8. Mr. Thomas has always resided in Wick- 
ford, and has been prominently identifled with the various 
interests of that place. His father being a merchant, he 
early eng-igefl in mercantile business, which he has prose- 
cuted with success. Since 1832 he has been a Director in 
the Wickford National Bank. He united with the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church iii 1831^, and for many years has 
served as Warden. He married, March 7, 1833, Charlotte 
Proctor Smith, daughter of Captain Elisha Peck and Han- 
nah (Phillips) Smith, of Pawtuxct, Rhode Island. Their 
children are Elisha Smith, a clergyman of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church; Philander Jenkes, of the mercantile 
firm of .A.. M. Thomas & Son, Wickford: Clarence Eu- 
gene, a merchant in Providence; .Varon Smith, of the firm 
of Thomas & Covel, shoe manufacturers. New York city ; 
Mary Charlotte, wife of Dr. Robeit 1!. Talbot, of Hartford, 
Connecticut; and Hannah .Mien, who married Waldo P. 
Clement, of Rutlaml, Vermont. 



^M^URREY, Hon. Samiu:i„ lawyer, the son of Daniel 
S^lg Currey, was born near Fredericktown, Nova Scotia, 
ci&Sh October 12, 1806. His father, at the beginning of 
■•»! the Revolutionary War, was a Lieutenant in the Brit- 
ish army. So sen-itive was he about serving in the 
neighborhood of Peekskill, New York, which w.as his 
native place, that he obtained a furlough from both (k-n- 
eral Howe ami Sir Henry Clinton, by « hieh his removal 
to auother section juevented him Inuii taking up arms 
against his old friends. In 1830. the subject of lhi^ sketch 
left Nova Scotia and came to the \icinity of Boston, with 
a view to preparing himself for the work of the Christian 
ministry in the Baptist denomination. To carry out this 
purpose, he completed his acailemic studies at what was 
then South Reading, now Wakefield, Massachusetts, and 
graduated at Brown Univer-ity, in the class of 1835. Con- 
cluding not to enter the Chri-tian ministry, he took charge, 
for one year, of the University Grammar School in Pio\i- 
dence, in the meanw hile spending a portion of his time in 
the study of law, in the oft'ice of Hon. Albert C. (ireene. 
Having been admitted to the bar of Rhode I-land, .April 



3 to 



B/OGKA r/!/( -.If. C\L ■/. OPED LI. 



21. iS^7. lie opcnt-d ;in tiiru'i- in i'iii\ iiitncc. in which ci'y 
he cuntiniiiMl tn rcsiilc tor ihc rcin.iiiiilt. i t>\ lii^ lile, *• He 
w as ix-i^aiilfd." sa\ s l'i(.rt.'^s('r ( laninii-ll. ■■ as .1 jiulii i(.ius and 
cai\-rul inuiisclhir, and a cU-ar and fur.iML- uratur, and his 
jtraclicL- (.■xti'iidfd to tJR- conrls ot" other States ant! tri tlie 
Su]aenie Couit id" the I'niled States al WadiniLjlon." F.ir 
two Years he represented l'ro\idence in the ( leneral Asseni- 
h\\, m the 1 louse of Iseinesenlati\ es, and Tor se\en years 
in the Senate-. In liolh lirarulies of the Oeileial \s,enilily 
lie fieeupied a eoii^puuous po^U.on lie was a i^ooil elti- 
/eii, and ad\ o( a ted aii\ ino\ ( nuai! w hii h leaide i to inipro\ e 
the lionie ol lii^ adopliiin, lie was ne\er inanied. His 
death oeeniled in rro\idenee, lehriiary 2S. iS^S. 



died sudrlenlv, of apioplex)'. lanuar\- iS. iSSi. Hi- was a 
successful luisiness man, and uni\ er^ally respected lur his 
strict inte;iritv and jieiiial manners. 



i^IN'SI,K\'. Sm-I'ARI) ("arI'Y, nieiehant. was born in 
East IJridijewater. Massaehusi tts. .\uL;ust 2<), l8o:). 

'^ His jiarents were Kodol|ilius and Salome (Carey) 
'~" ^ Kinsley. He attended si Iiool in his nati\e town 

I? until nine yeaisof aj;e. when he went to I'awtuckel, 
Rhode Island, and theme, in i.SiS, to Concord, New 
liampshiie. where he continued his studies for tiiree years 
under the tuition of the Rev. ]. I.. I'.lake. a graduate of 
I'liown I'lnversiiy. In 1S2; he was employee! as clerk in 
the stiue of Hariiey Meriy \ Co., in I'awtncket, and con- 
tinued in tli.it position until i.Sjo, when he became a mem- 
ber ol the liini ol Rhodes & Kinsley, ilealers in hats, caps, 
boots, and shoes. In i.S^j he remo\ed to Providence, 
where he was eii^aeed in the hoot and shoe tra'le until his 
death, his linn, lately known as S. C. Kinsley, Son & Co., 
beiilL' one of the lais;est whole-ale houses of the kind in 
the State. Ill iSp .Ml. Kinsley united with C.r.rce Epis- 
copal (hunli, and, with the exception of one year, was 
,Superintendent of the .Sunday-school of th.d church from 
1S52, having been appointed by the late Iti hop lien haw. 
He was a teacher in the school for eighteen years prior to 
his a]ipoiiilnienl as .Superintendent. As an evidence of the 
faithlulness with wliuli he di-cli,iii;ed liis duties in the 
last-named po-ition, it may be stated that during the 
twenty-eight ye. Us of his -uperiiitendency he was not absent 
more tli.in two .Sundays, except the \'ear"s aliseiice before 
mentioned, riuhr his managemeiil the school attained a 
jirosperous cianiblion, and sieadih increased in numbers 
and usefulness. Mr. Kinsley mairiecl, in .\piil, 1S2S, 
Eli/abetli I'. Eildy. daughter of the late llenjamin C. Eddy, 
of I'ro\idence. .She died in i.S^ij, leaving four daughters 
and one son; Eli/.alietli, w ho niairieil William H. Low, 
of rrmidence; Sarah buiies. who married (.Jeorge I-". Hol- 
10yd, ot I'io\ ideiu'e ; Minei\.i b'nks. who nun ried the late 
.\nias.r M. WdieeKr; (■.iioline Sinnnoii-. \\ho m.uiied Al- 
beit il. Kider, of I'lovideiice; and I'.enjamin hJld), who 
married, tiist, .Achliide Ikan I utlnr, and second, Emma 
Ereiicli ( 'obb. In 1.S40 Ml. Km lev m irried Eunice Clies 
ter .'simnioiis, w idow rd (ieoige Siinnions, d.iugliler ot VJen- 
j.iuiin C. l-'.ddy, and sister of his last wife. .Mi. Kiiislev 



'v/T(f:,( )!• I', Ib'N. I).\i;ils, son of Lieutenant Richard and 
I^gSt. Mehilabel ( I'.ullock) C..1IT, was born in Rehoboth, 
."■""■ Ma-sachiisett-, .\biy lo, 1.S09. His father was a 
V inaiiufacturei", and in I 700 lui lit a fulling and ch.dh- 
rj dtL-s-mg mill, .iiid tuinishrsl it with the best of ma- 
chinei\. ili- iiiothei was a ■laughter of Hon. Stephen 
liullock. Hi- grandl.ither. |oseph ColT, lived in H.irring- 
ton, and his griMt-grandlather was Rich.ird ( iolf. Ihe 
children id' Lieut iiant Rich.iril and Mehitabel ( iolT were, 
Richard, ( Ui-, I lor.uio, I'.ui^iice, Nelson, Ltai iiis, and M.iry 
r>. I >arius ( ;olt was educated .it home, and in the crMinnon 
schools. .At an earlv age he entered his father's lactoi)' ill 
Rehoboih, and spent four or hve years in the coloiing de- 
jiartmeiit of the mill, .md in trade in a variety -tore. lie 
was sul'seipn ntlv eiiijdoNed for a short time in the woollen 
mill of Jidm and b s,e l-aldy, of Eall River, Massachusetts, 
and for si\ ve.irs served as clerk in the grocer)' business, 
liist with William Woodward, and afterwanb with Tilling- 
hast .Mm)', m I'lov idi. iice. Returning to Rehoboth, he 
and his brother, Nelson, inirchased the I'liion Cotton Mill 
and commenced, in 1S35, the manufacture of cotton batting, 
which business they ]vrosecuted with success. Soon after- 
wards they began to make glazed wadding, sizing it by 
hami, a sheet al a time, on .1 table covered with sheet lead, 
then hanging it on racks with a common lath to dry. 
Fin.div thev coiKcived the idea of making it in a ciuuinu- 
ous sheet, and .d'ter experimenting for about two )'ears ac- 
complished the object, placing the cards over an endless 
apron, crmveving the web of cnt'.on from e.ich dotTer of the 
cards to the apron, whieh run al the same speed with the 
surface of the dofter, the thickness of the wadding being 
deterniiiieil by the number of cards operated. This plan 
of making wadding i- now universal. Its success callerl 
for a larger mill, which not being attainable then, experi- 
ments were made (o color the Continuous sheets as they 
came from the cards, and were, after two vears or more, 
successful in the object. .\ new mill was built, about two 
hundred feet long, and the old machinery was started in 
il about 1.S42, but in about a month i* was destroyed by 
lire, at a loss of ovir six thous.md dollars, b". A. llrown, 
of Rehoboth, soon afterwards bought out the interest of 
Nelson (joff, and a new linn was lormed, CiolT .S; Hrown, 
wlio changed the business to the manufacture of carpet 
w.irps and twine, and thisw.is ctuitinued under the sptecial 
direttion 'if Mr. I'.row 11, till iSikS, when the hrm was dis- 
solved. .\s early as iS;,o Mr. Colt had given special 
attention to the business of buying and selling cotton waste 
as paper stock. 'I'liis material hitllerlo had literally been 
thrown away. In tlii- new business, in 1.S40, he loiined a 
copartnership with Ceoige Lawton.of W.dtli 1111, Massa- 










p-'- 




rr^^^^^^J Ly^ 




BIOGRA rillCAL CVCL OPED I A. 



341 



chu5elt^, ami commenced dealing in ^va^te paper-stock, in 
Boston, on Gray's wharf. Mr Goffnow removed to Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island, where, in 1847, a wadding mill was 
erected near the railroad station. It was run by a steam- 
engine, the cotton being carded in the white state, carried 
through all the jirocesses of coloring and sizing, and brought 
out ill endless sheets. In 1S51 the mill was burneil, Init 
was at once rebnilt on a larger scale. In 1S59 the ])art- 
nersliip of GotT & Lawton was dissolved, Mr. Lawton taking 
the Boston Ijusiness in paper-stock, and Mr. Gofl' taking 
the wadding mill in Pawlucket. Mr. Golf then united with 
John D. Cranston and .Stephen Br jwnell, of Providence, 
Rhode Island, under the firm-name of Gofi", Cranston & 
Brownell, and carried on a general business in paper-stock 
and wadding. The mill was burned in 1S71, and rebuilt 
in 1S72, in larger proportions, and with more perfect ma- 
chinery. It is driven by a Corliss engine of 300 horse- 
power. The new niill, and necessary adjoining buildings, 
occupy an area of about four acres. Here are run about 
two hundred cards, turning out an average of al)Out seventy- 
five miles of yard-wide wadding and batting per day, being 
twice the size of any wadtling manufactory in the world. 
In 1878, the two companies, — (Joff, Cranston & Brownell 
and Union Wadding Company, — the latter of which, though 
previously formed, was chartered in 1871;, with a capital 
of $300,000, were merged into one under the name of the 
Union Wadding Company, of which Darius Goff is Presi- 
dent and Henry h. Stears Superintentlent. The company 
runs machinery of its own invention and construction, 
which in a large measure accounts for the remarkaljle suc- 
cess of the bu^ness. In 1S61 Mr. Cioff, with his son, 
Darius L., and William F. and Frederick C. Sayles, formed 
the American Worsted Company, for the manufacture of 
worsted braids — then a new industry in the country. This 
company was dissolved in 1S64, ami a new firm for the 
conduct of the same business was immediately organised, 
the name being D. Goff & Son, Mr. Goflf's son, Darius 
L., being the junior member. Lyman B., the youngest 
.son, was admitted in 1876. During that year, by the efi'orts 
of Mr. Goff, the business received protective legislation 
from Congress, and at once became an immense and flour- 
ishing branch of industry, the product — aljiaca braids — 
being well known in the market as " Clolif's Braids." The 
firm is the leading one of the kind in .America. Mr. llol'f 
served in the Town Council of Paw tucket. In 1S71 he 
was elected a .Slate .Senator. He was a Director in the 
Franklin Savings Bank from its incorporation to a late 
date; has been a Director in the Pawtucktt Hair Cloth 
Con'pany, and in the Pawtucket Gas Company, from their 
origin. He is also a Director in the First National Bank 
of Pawtucket. For many years he has been a devoted and 
influential member of the Congregational Church of Paw- 
tucket, and has largely contributed !o its supjiort, being 
one of four to enlarge the old house. He was a member 
of its Building Committee in the erection of the new edi- 



fice, and in the lirpiid.ation of its debt subscribed ten thousand 
dollars. Politically he has been a Whig and a Republican, 
and was always a strong opponent of slavery. During the 
Civil War his voice, hand, and [nirse were given to the 
support of the patriot army and the Union. To every good 
cause he has freely and earnestly given his aid and influ- 
ence. Notwilhstandiiig his extensive business relations he 
has found time to indulge his taste and increase his knowl- 
edge by travelling over nearly all parts of our country. 
His vigor of body and mind, sterling qualities of heart, and 
executive abilities, well entitle him to be counted as a rep- 
resentative man of New England. He married, first, in 
May, 1S39, Sarah Lee, whose only child died ; second, 
Harriet Lee. These were sisters, and daughters x:)^ Nrael 
Lee, of Dighton, Massachusetts. The children by the 
>econd marriage have Iieen Darius L., Lyman B., and 
Sarah C. Mr. GotT's sons, as already stateti, are now as- 
sociated with him in business. His daughter, .Sarah C, 
married Thomas S. Steele, of Hartford, Connecticut. 



^P|jf HE.-\RM.-VN, Hon. Svi.vesti.r G.-vrdiner, was 
SJgl born in North Kingsiown, in 1S02. His pre- 
, . -• piaratory education being completed, he pursued Iiis 
T law studies W'itli Hon. A. C. Greene, at East (Jreen- 
1. wicli. and commenced the practice of his profession 
in Wickford. In 1S43, ^ time of great political excite- 
ment in the State, after a very severe struggle, he was 
electeti a '* Law and Order" Representative from his native 
town to the (Jeneral Assembly. The victory wdiich he ob- 
tained was especially remarkable, as the town of North 
Kingstown had been a marked Democratic stronghold, 
and contained a large number of voters who sympathized 
with the Dorr movement. The election at which he was 
chosen was the first under the new constitution, when 
James P'enner was elected Governor over Thomas F. Car- 
penter. In 1S48, such was his popularity ih.at he was 
chosen Speaker of the House. At the Whig Convention, 
in 1S49, ^*^ received the noniiimtion for Representative to 
Congress from his district. There lieing, however, two 
other candidates, the one Hon. B. F. Thurston, of the 
Democratic party, and Lauristmi Hall, of the Liberty 
party, there was no elei-tion. When the second trial was 
ma<le, Mr. Shearman withdrew his name .as a candidate, 
and Hon. Nathan F. Dixon was nominated in his place, 
and elected. In May, 1855, he was elected a Justice of 
the Sui.reme Court, the Hon. W. R. .Staples and the Hon. 
Alfred Bosworth being chosen at the same tiine. The 
duties of his responsible office he continued to discharge 
until, stricken by disease, he was coniirelled to resign. As 
the result of a stroke of paral)'sis, he died in Providence, 
January 3, iS6,S. Judge Shearman is spoken of as having 
been " a man of strong common sense, of plain and simple 
manners, of quaiiit and original humor, anil of an integ- 



.;-i- 



BIPCRArmCAL CYCL OFEDIA. 



lily llial "as lu-vcr i|iK'sliiiiicil. A^ a (U-lialcr he was re- 
Tiiatkalili.' I'ur hi-. r^Miliiu-'-s, fnr liis apposite illustration, 
anil fur n lioniL'Iy wil, wliith often carried an audience 
upon uliicli argument would fall with but half its effect." 
{■"or a fuller ])ortrailure of Judi;e Shearman the reader i.s 
referred to the re|>..rts ,.f two niei Im^s of the Rhoile 
Nhiud Har .Assneiation, in wliiili eminent leLj.d gentlemen 
took pait, .ind their speeches, gi\-en somewhat at leni^tli, 
ni.i\' l)e louu'l in th-- I'iM\idence 'Ji'itrna! for January 6 
and 7. iSo.S. In i.S^s Ihown I'niversitv coidVrred on 
him the honMiar\- decree of M.tster of ,-\l1s. Two of 
his suns, liuth clei\;\nien, were ^ladiiates of the I'ni- 
\ersit\-, — I\c\. Sumner L pham ,Sheannan, of the class of 
l.Siii, and Key. William Ilemiis Upliam Shearman, of the 
class of 1S05. 



'.Ml-:s, S\Mii;i, ld,li., < hief Jiisiice of the Su- 
^, ]irenie Court of Rhode Island fmrn iSV' to 1S65, 
son of Samuel and .Xnne ifheckley) .Vines, \eas 
1 Iniru in Providence, Seplemlier 6, 1S06. He pre- 
»r [xired for crillet^e in the schools of his native town, 
and at riiillips Acailemy, and graduated from Brown 
I'lnxersity in the class of 1.S2;. Immediately after gradu- 
ating he cominenceil the study of law in the olTice of IJon. 
S. \V. Dridghani, and for one year allemled lectures at the 
I.Lw Sclio.il in I.ilchheld, 1,'onneLticnt. In I.S26 he w.as 
admitted to the bar of Rhode [.land, opened an office in 
Providence, and soc.n accpiired a successlul practice, his 
liusiiiess extending to the courts of the L'nited States. 
.Amid the pressing duties of his prolVs-icui he found time 
to prepare, in connection with Joseph K. .\ngell. an elab- 
orate treatise on Corpor.iti ins. which has passed through 
many editions, and is reganleil as a standard work on the 
subject o! which it treats. p"or man)- years he represented 
his native town in the I leneral .\ssembly, and was one of 
the Commissioners, in 1S55, for revising the statutes of the 
State. The 1 ieneral .-\s,enibly elected him, in i.S^S. Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court. .\t the same time he was 
ap].ointed Reporter of the Court. 'Phe re-ults of his re- 
poits. eml""lied in four volumes, are " reni.irk able lor their 
clearness, their leiruing, aii'l their conformity to the settled 
iuiiici]iles of jurisprudence." In conse pience of failing 
health he resigned the office of Chief |ustice, after ha\ing 
held It lor a period of nine years. He died Ileceinber 20, 
I.Siij. 'Phe wife of Judge .Ames was .Mar\ 'Pliroop, daugh- 
ter of Sullivan Ilorr, of Providence. 



..WPI lp',,\rs, Tl|ii\I\s p.iiiii;. was born in Hop. 
kiiitou, Rhode Isl.ind, J.muaiy 14, i,So6. He is 
the son of P'.li-ha .ind pei-e) 1 Pollen T.anphear. 
i His failiei was a piomineiii shipl-uilder in Westerly, 

> Rhode Isl.ind, and Ills moiheiw.is a desccmlant of 

Mailin Potter, whose histurv forms one of the most inter. 



esting items in the annals of Rhode Islaiul. Rev. !■'. Deiii 

-s in his work entitled IVali-iiy a)id iti ll'j/ii,-':sfs. wrief, 

of Marliii P'ltter as follows : " The progenitor of this woithy 
Potter family was Martin Potter, who is reporteii to have 
been a son of one nf tlie judges th.it condemned Charles I. 
On the reslor.iti ui of the monarchy he lied to this country, 
and came to South King. tow 11, w here he li\ed till his death. 
It was a-certauied that he owned a large estate in .\orth 
Shields, ill pjigland, valued at .^0,000.000, which he leased 
lor iiinet\-nme vears, and \\Iiich was subseijiieiiiK' conhs. 
cated and passed into the hands of the Ilishoji of i lurhain. 
Niiinerous descendants ha\e instituted proceedings to re- 
co\er ihi- I'li-perty, but to no a\ail. 'Phe est.ite now eni- 
bi.ices full I hundred acres, one mile of docks and three hun- 
died luiuscs." Mr. Paniihear received his education in 
his earlier years at Hopkinton, and afterward attended the 
Westerly ,Aca-leinv in Westerlv. In I.S24 he commenced 
learning the trade of machine liuilding w itli Joseph Wells, 
of Potter Hill, Rhode Island, going thence to Norwich, 
Connecticut, where he continued m the same business with 
Hopkins ^; Morse. In 1S26 he remo\-ed to Plieiii\, his 
lueseut residence, and entered the machine w orks of Dan. 
iel t.iorhani, w hich was sul'seijuenlly carried on by Cyriel 
liabcock, under whose administration he soon became fore- 
man of the shop. In 1S37 the owner removing to Provi- 
flence, disposed of his business to Mr. Lanphcar, Klisha 
Harris, Rnbert I.evalley, and l.dles .Sjiencer, who continued 
the business under the tiini-uame of Pevallev. P.iiiphe.ir A: 
C'o., which tiriu was linalh" merged, in I.Soy, into a stock 
coni|iany under the name of the Lanphear Machine Com- 
]iany, with Mr. Lanphear as President, treasurer and agent. 
It will thus be seen that Mr. Lanphear is one of the pio- 
neer machine builders of the l'nited .States. He has, by 
business talent, strict integrity, and honorable dealing, 
made for himself an imjionant position in the histm-y of 
manufactiiring in this n)uiitr\". .\t one time he \\ as cap- 
tain of the fourth ("oinpany, P'lfth Regiment, Rhode Island 
Infantry, and some of the ohl inhabitants still address Idni 
by his uiilitarv title. He was, for se\*er.il terms, a member 
of the Ciener.d .\ssembly, having been elected at one time 
to till the \ac.t!U\' as Representative from Warwick caused 
by the death of the elder Governor ,Sprague. His time 
being entirely ilcM'ted to business he has been ])re\eiited 
from accepting many important piobtical positions urgently 
tendered him by his pait\\ N'o one has a cUarer or more 
honorable political record, and both the old Whig, and 
later the Republican jiarty, found in him a most earnest 
supporter. .Mr. Lanphear married, t )clober ;, 1S42, Nancy 
.A. Perkins, daughter of Elisha Perkins, of Middletown, 
Connecticut, and granddaughter of Rev. Ransom Perkins, 
one of the aiicieiit divines of Connecticut, liy this mar- 
riage there were two children, tdw in 'P. and Paniiia E. 
Lanphear. buth of whom are living. .At an early age Mr, 
Lanphear iinilid with the Hopkinton Seventh. Day Ilaptist 
Chinch, and has ever been a most conscientious memlier 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



343 



of that communion, never permitting his liusiness intercsti 
to interfere with tlie diseharge of his religious duties. 



^I\(i. Hon. George Gorpon, Representative to 
from Rhode Island, son of Ijr. David 
King and Anne (Gordon) King, was born in New- 
I'l? port, June 2, 1807. He prepared for college in his 
I J 1 native place in part, and passed one year at the Phil- 
lips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. He was a grad- 
uate of Brown University, in the class of 1825, with high 
rank as a scholar. He studied law at the Litchfield Law 
School and in the law office of Hon. Joliu Whipple, of 
Providence, and was admitted to the liar in I.S27. He 
practiced his profession for a sliort time in Providence, and 
then removed to Newport. Although he continued his 
practice for a few years, the profession of law was not alto- 
gether suited to his tastes, and he gradually withdrew from 
it. Whatever concerned the higher piosjjerity of Newport 
enlisted his attention and secured his cordial co-operation. 
He took a deep interest in all matters peitaining to educa- 
tion, and the schools of Newport are greatly indebted to 
him for his efforts to raise their standard and make them 
the greatest possible blessing to the comnuinity. His char- 
acter and abilities were so much appreciated, that from 
1S33 to 1S46 he was chosen to represent Newport in the 
General Assembly, and would, witliout doubt, have been 
elected continuously, had not the succession been broken 
by his decision to take an extended trip in the Old World. 
On his return from his journey, he was chosen, in 1848, 
again a Representative, and many times was elected to 
serve in the upper or lower house of the General Assembly. 
Twice he was chosen a Representative from Rhode Island 
to the United States Congress, and was in Washington 
from 1849 to 1853. His career in Congress, as in the 
General Assembly of his own .State, " was marked by ex- 
cellent judgment, dignity of character, and spotless integ- 
rity." His literary tastes were of a high order, and in the 
preparation of papers which he was called upon to write, 
while performing appointed service for institutions with 
which he was connected, he displayed rare grace of com- 
position, and singular felicity in the use of his pen. For 
thirteen years he was President of the Redwood Library 
Association in Newport, and took a dee]) interest in every- 
thing that concerned the prosperity of that venerable insti- 
tution. He married, in Washington, Miss Seaver, in 1851. 
She died in 1853. His own death occurred July 17, 1S71. 




i?URRAY, Majok Jamks. The following notice of 



I'JfillJiS this remarkable man appeared in the AWc York 
-ir-y. o,- Ga:^i-lU\ of May 9, 1S07 : " Died at Calcutta, on 



% 



*- i ... . 



Tuesday evening, 23d of Sejitember, 1806, James 
Murray, Esip, late a Major in the service of the 
Holkar. He was a most amiable man, and an intrepid 



soldier. He had during a long career of honorable service 
acquired a handsome fortune, and was on the eve of his 
departure to his native land to enjoy in dignified repose the 
hard-earned fruits of his dangers and toils. Major Murray 
was a native of Newport, Rhode Island. His real name 
was Littlebridge. Why he assumed the name of Murray 
is not known. At an early age he left his relatives in con- 
se(|uence of some ill treatment he had received from some 
one of them, and went to sea. After a number of voyages 
he arrived at Tranquebar, on the coast of Coromandel, 
about the year 1790, when he formed the resolution of going 
into the interior for the purpose of entering the service of 
some one of the petty princes who at that period were par- 
ticularly desirous of having Kuropeans as officers to com- 
mand their troops. This resolution he accomplished in 
company with another person (whose name is not known) 
with some difiiculty, as they had to pass the posts then pos- 
sessed by the English, who were extremely vigilant to pre- 
vent Europeans going into the country. The life that 
Littlebridge now led required a constitution as robust as he 
possessed ; an invincible courage, and a presence of mind 
which no danger could appall. It was in the service of 
the Mahrattas that Littlebridge became noted for his supe- 
rior bravery. With these people he continued nearly fifteen 
years, traversing the country from Cape Comorin to the 
frontiers of Persia. In the service of Holkar, the celebrated 
chief of the Mahrattas, Littlebridge, who was now called 
Murray, became first know n to the British by saving, at the 
most imminent risk of his own life, the lives of some <'f their 
officers who had fallen into Holkar's hands, and who had 
ordered them to be put to the sword. It was shortly after 
this business that he quilted the service of Holkar, and raised 
a number of cavalry in his own name, with which he took 
possession of a district of country. Before he attained this 
he had experiencetl every reverse that such an undertaking 
could be subjected to, being at one time at the head of only 
seven or eight men not more llian half armed. When the 
i war broke out between the Biitish and .Scindeah, in which 
Holkar assisted the latter, Murray immediately proclaimed 
the British government in that jiart of the country where he 
was, and joined Lord Lake with about 7000 horse. It was 
at that period that the Marquis of Wellesley issued the 
proclamation recalling all British subjects from the service of 
the native princes under the penalty, in case they did not 
come in, of being treated as traitors should they afterwards 
be made prisoners. Murray could n(jt be estimated as one 
included in the proclamation, which by those whom it did 
include and who could escape from their different situations 
was immediately obeyed. Several in the service of the 
Holkar who were so unfortunate as not to get away were 
murdered by him. Murray coming in under different cir- 
j cumstances from the others was treated by the British gen- 
eral with great consideration, and there was seldom a 
dangerous service in which he was not employed, remain- 
ing still with the command of cavalry he had brought with 



314 



BrOGRAPlIICAL CYCLOPEniA. 



liiin. At lln- ^'n'j^c c.f l!linrt|«iii-. wli. rr tin-- IJriti^li army 
lii-l iRMiIv ti-ii lliciii-..nhl men in Imir altcinpts tu stoiiii. 
Mun.iv was in continual artion an.l .liitainnl the character 
ortlie best partisan oljicei' in tile anny. 1 Ii .Ikar was oulsiile 
of the Biilish with seventy (u- ei^lily tlimisan. I Inirsc. and 
tlie signal <if ass.uilt mi tlie lortress l,y the lintish was the 
siL;nal fur the attack on the ..ntsiile. I'he events ..f tliat 
siei^e are lait little known, as ihe Ihiti-ll kept ihenl secret. 
At tlie iMuclu-iiin 111' the war Murray, w Iki had accumulated 
a hamlsiiine fcrlune, deterniiiied mi returnini; home, and 
for this purpose remitted his funds to I 'alcutta, and repaired 
there himself. He was |,ut pltle satislied u itll tile rewards 
lie had met hsim the lirilish t;ovcrnnient in Imlia lor ser- 
vices that were cerl.iiiily of eiiiiii. iit utility. He had lieen 
made a noniin.il Major in the sei\ ice, and recci\ ed |ier- 
mission to return to .\nieiic.i with hall-|iay. .\ few days 
hefure he wa- to emliark for .\inerica a fall from his hor-e 
cause<I an internal rupture, which hciin.; i;^nioianlly treated 
ended in mortihcation of the kowels, and in death. Major 
Murray was of niuhlle statue, his countenance was good, 
liis person was well tonned, his agilitv was remarkaMe, he 
was supposed to he the lie I horseman in India, and unex- 
celled in the Use of the hioud s\i old. There was an instance 
of his being attacked when alone liy seven Mahratta horse- 
men, tliiee of whom he killed, ,ind effected his escape from 
the other fair. He w , is extiemely modest on the subject 
of his ow n exploits, scarcely ever speaking of them, and 
wdieii he did speak of any of the scenes he had been in he 
w.is seldom the hero ol his own t.ile." 



''K.W'TtlN, Rl V. JoNAlH.VN', son of l.odowick and 
Kli/abetli (Kiiighti llr.iylon, w ,is born in Cran- 
ston, Rhode Iskinrl, June 12, iSii. His ances- 
^^ :■.' tois were among the earU' settlers of the State. Fran- 
'i" cis Hrayton, who was born, probably in England, in 
ibii anil died in IMU, w ,is lor some tune a eiti/en of 
Portsmouth. His son, who lion- the iianie of his father, 
Framis, w.is also a resident of roilsinouth. He died in 
lyiS. Ills son Thomas 1st was born June 14. 16S1, and 
lived in wli.it is now known as IC.ist tliecnwieh. Thumab 
2d, son of the pn Ceiling, w.is born in 171^. His residence 
W.IS in W'.isliingtoii \'illage, tow n of (■o\ entry, where he 
owned .1 huge w aler-pow cr, w IiIl h he improved by the 
eixition of wli.it W.IS known as *■ The IJr.iyton Mills." 
The SI -n of riionias jd, loii.ith.in 1st, w ho came into posses- 
sion of a huge p.irt of hi, l.iiher's e-tate, was born .it W'ash- 

iiigt Klioile Iskind, ( ictober u, 1745. The latter j.ait 

of his life he lived w ith his son .Sainnei, .it Nichols t.'orner, 
lie. 11" W'ickford. where he died in iSit), and was buried 
there oil ilie laiiii ol his son Samuel, now known as the 
In. d'illiiiglia-l esl,ite. l.odowick I t, son of the preceding, 
and kit her of the subject of this sketch, was binn at Wash- 
ington. Rhode Island. .\biy 25. 1770, and died in iSjS. 
L'litil c.ulv nianhuoi.1 he livei.l in Washiiigtcn Villajje, and 



then took up his lesidence in k'r.iiiston, near what is now 
known as ( ),ik I^awn, where the Rev. jonatlian Br.iyton, 
the subject of this sketch, the se\entli child in the laniilv, 
was born. The f.imily of l.odowick Mr.iyton was a large 
one, consisting of lourleeii sons and one daughter, ddie 
eldest child was William, born M.uch 23, 1795, and died 
.May 10. 1S4S. Hismotherwas Hanii di (liuitoii) Hraytoii. 
sister of [udge (Jeorge Burton, fif (."ranston. The seCiUid 
w ife of Lodowick Ihayton was Fli/abeth Knight, daugh- 
ter of Deacon ,Ste|>hen Knight, and sister of Rev. Richard 
Knight, of Si iluate. Their children were Robert isi, 
born May 5. iSoo, and died 1 ictober ii), 1.S02 ; Robert 2d, 
liorn |nly 27, I.S02; .\lfred K.,boni .September S. 1S04, 
died ill iSdo; Hannah, the only daughter, born .\ugu~t2I. 
iSoii. died in 1S71; I'hilip F., born .\iigust 23, 1.S09, 
dn.d 1S50; lon.itfian and Stephen (twins), born June 12, 
r.Sll, the latter dying in infancy; Stephen 21I, born 
November 6, iSij, died in 1833; Lodowick 2d, born 
Septenilier 2S, 1S15 ; Samuel H., born October 13, 1,^17 ; 
Neheiiiiah, boin .\pril 21, I.S20; Edward 1st, born July 
9, 1S22. and died in infancy; Edward W. 2d. and hran- 
cis F. (twins), born December 10. 1823. The latter died 
in 1S43. The early life of Jonathan Ihayton was spent on 
his father's farm at Cranston. When he was eighteen 
years of age he took u]) the trade of a carpenter, and 
worked at it for four years. An aciident which happened 
to him w hile working ou the -Steeple of the Roger Williams 
Free lia]itist Church in Providence so disabled him that 
he could not engage in manual kabor. For the purjiose of 
obtaining a better education he became a stuilent in the 
Kingstown .\cadeniy at South Kingstow 11, Rhode Island, 
then under the ch.irge of ( 'hi ist.ipher I 'oiiistock. Subse- 
iliielilK he w.is .1 pupil in the Friends' School. I'lovidelicc. 
He then taught about three years in the laiblic sehooK of 
Fall River. .Massachiisclts. Having decided to enter the 
Christian ministry, he spent two years, 1.S30 41, in the 
H.imilton d'hcological Institution, New York. Having 
computed his leiiii of study, he was ordained as a regular 
Paplist minister by the faculty under whose instruction he 
had pursued his theological studies. Declining two 111- 
vit.itions to si_itle near Hamilton, he retiiiiied to his native 
State, and following an impues-ion to go to I'henix, Rhode 
Island, where tlieie was no church of his denomin.nion, 
he held a series of revival meelings there in the winter ot 
1S4I-42, assisted by Rev. John II. Ikiker. During these 
meetings he bapti/ed one hundred and nineteen conveits 
in tli.it pi. ICC and vicinity, most of wluun became members 
of the Ikiplist cliuich which he then organi/ed. and of 
which he was pastor for si\ years. His other settlements 
ill the minislrv have been with the churches in .\alick and 
Crompton, vilkigesin Warwick; at ijiiidneck, in Coven- 
try, where he organised a church; and 111 Pawtucket. The 
state of his health has prevented hiiii bom .1 continuous 
exercise of the pistoral office. He has occupied various 
posts of honor and trust to which he has been called by 




,^a: -^ ^ 



r / ^ o 



V^/ \. i^c::^' 



^ -^i"' 



BlOCKAPinCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



345 



his fellow-citizens. Three times tlie town uf WaiwicK 
elected him a Senator in the General Assemlily. l''or three 
years he was a member of the Board of State Charities and 
Corrections. He was for fifteen years Tresident of the 
Centreville National Bank in Warwick, and for the same 
time a Director in the Warwick Institution for Savings. 
He married in September, 1S41, Mary, daughter of Hon. 
Robert F. Noyes, of South Kingstown, by whom he had 
one daughter, Mary Noyes, who died at the age of six 
months. Mrs. Brayton died Septeml)er 17, iSSo. For 
many years Mr. Brayton has occupied a pnnniuent position 
in the Baptist denomination in Rhode Isl.iml, and taken a 
deep intere^t in all matters pertaining to it-, prosperity. 
For about ten years he was President of the Rhode Island 
Baptist State Convention. 



^KgKENNER, Nichol.'vs Arniu.d, manufacturer, was 
^fe|| born in Scituate, Rhode Island, March 2ii, 1S07, 
^•"^^ and is the son of Thomas and Mary (Leach) Fen- 
\ ner. His father and his grandfather, James Fen- 
's^ ner, were farmers. He attended the common 
schools of his native town until he was seventeen years of 
age, being employed part of the time on the farm, and then 
spent three years as a carpenter's apprentice, meanwhde 
devoting much of his time to the study of mechanical draw- 
ing. On completing his apprenticeship he spent one year 
in the employ of his master, and worked for one year 
as a journeyman carpenter. He then entered into business 
for hini'-elf as a builder, doing his own designing and draw- 
ing, and also making plans for other builders. In 1835 he 
foniied a copartnership with his brother, John L. Fenner, 
with whom he engaged in the buihling of macliinery for 
cotton mills. They were employed in the machine shop 
of Jillson & Capen, of Willimantic, Connecticut. Mr. 
Fenner also worked for some time on general repairs in a 
machine shop at Central Falls, Rhode Island, and also at 
the Steam Mill at Providence. Subsequently he had 
charge of the pattern making for the High Street Foundry 
in Providence. In 1S42 the idea was suggested to him of 
manufacturing butt-hinges, there being none made in the 
country at that time. Mr. Fenner visited the warehouses 
of importers, and being satisfied that a profitable business 
could be e-tablished in that line, he made the patterns for 
an assortment of goods. He then formed a company with 
Charles Miller and Stillman Perkins, and soon put upon 
the market a line of loose-joint butt-hinges, probably the 
first of the kind manufactured in this country. Mr. Miller 
sold his interest to the other partners after one year, and 
Mr. Fenner continued in company with Mr. Perkins for 
about ten years, when he disposed of his interest to Mr. 
Brown, who finally sold out to A. C. Barstow & Co. Up 
to that time Mr. Fenner had had general oversight and 
management of the concern. He then became superin- 
44 



teiideiit of the wnrk^, and was afterward agent. He has 
owned a lar^e interest in the corporation from the time of 
its organization, and was President of the Board of PJirec- 
tors, which position he now occupies, and also has general 
charge of the whole business. The company, which is 
known as the New England Hutt Company, has a capital 
of Sioo,ooo, and employs between 175 and 200 hands in 
the works. It is one of the largest establishments of the 
kind, if not the largest, in this country. Mr. Fenner ori- 
ginated the first machinery in the factory, and was the 
patentee of a wire-joint butt-hinge, the manufacture of 
which has been very profitable to the company. In 1875 
and 1S77 he was a member of the Providence Common 
Council, a member of the Board of Aldermen in 187S 
and 18S0, and represented the city of Providence in the 
Lower House of the General Assembly in 1S78 and 1880. 
He married, September, 1S32, Deborah Brown, daughter of 
[onathan and Amey (Arnold) Brown, of Smilhfield, Rhode 
Island. They have had seven children, only two of w hom 
are living, Maria Brown, who married Frank R. Holden, 
a farmer in Kansas, and Herbert Nicholas, wdio married 
Emma Brayton, daughter of Lodowick Brayton, of Provi- 
dence, and who is the treasurer of the New England Butt 
Conijiany. 



gKiJIjROWNSEND, Christopher, founder of various 
^M^K public institutions in Newport, Rhode Island, was 
fS^ born in that city, in February, 1807. His father, 
&m John F. Townsend, was born in Newport, Septem- 
* ber 6, 1777, and died there in May, 1862, at the age 
of eighty-five. His mother's maiden name was Ann Easton. 
She was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Rhode 
Island, from whom Easton's Pond took its name. .She and 
her husband reared two children. Miss Ellen Townsend, 
now living in Newport, and highly esteemed for her public 
benefactions, and Chri^tol)her. the subject of this sketch. 
Mr. Townsend enjoyed the advantage^ of a good practical 
education in Newport, an<l in early life turned his atten- 
tion to mercantile pursuits. In 1826, at the age of nine- 
teen, he Went to New York for employment, and several 
years afterwards entered into business relations with Messrs. 
Peter and John Crary, of New York city, with whom he 
continued for a long lime. Subsequently, he established a 
commission business of his own in New York, in which 
he continued until about the year i860, when he retired 
from mercantile life, and has since been engaged in the 
charitable distribution of his w'ealth. The first of his noted 
benefactions was the gift of ten thousand dollars for the 
endowment of the " Association of Aid for the Aged," 
which he has otherw ise assisted annually since its organi- 
zation. His second benefaction, gratefully acknowledged 
by his fellow-citizens, was a donation, in 1867, of ten thou- 
sand dollars for establishing and sustaining the " Home 
for Friendless Children." He also completed and donated 



34'> 



niOGKAPHICAL CVCI. OrEDIA. 



it^ inv^ciu liuililinj;, luid h.is (■iht-rwisc aiilo<l it. Mis last 
anl \w<A munilicciu ■;ifl to ilio city nf N'c\v|iuit is •' Tlie 
l\-.i|ili;\ l.iliiaiA," l.icalisl iin rhamcs Sin-tt, in llie centre 
i.f tlie city. Thi^ lil.r.uy, tnun'lcil in 1S70. Iiy hi-, ajiino- 
l>i-ia;ion^, has l.ecunie one of llu- niu-l iiinniinent aiul u-cfnl 
in-.lilnti.ins uC .\c«|iMit. It is Imilt "f liruwn stniie to tlie 
second vlory. and of l>rick alcove, and is com|ilcte in all its 
a|iiiointiiienls. Its volumes now nunilier over 21,000, and 
its spacious reading room is well furnished with periodicals 
and pajiers. to all of whith all classes have free access. 
The present lihrarian is Mr. 1 lavid Stevens. Tlie entire 
sum appropriated hy Mr. Townseiid for the purchase of 
building and repairs, and for l.ociKs, is estimated at one 
hundred thousand dollars. He continues to manifest a 
dee]) interest in the ■.lijecis of his benevolence, and the 
chief purpose of his life seems to be to devise means to 
contriliute to the welfare and happiness of mankind. For 
se\ci.d veals, he has di\ iilcd his time between re-idences 
in Newjioit, New \ork, and liavelliiig in Euro]ie. At the 
dedication of the ■• People's Library," in May, 1.S70, in his 
address before the Mayor and 1 'ity Couiicil of Newport, 
the lion. William 1'. Sheffield s.n.l of him: "Mr. Town- 
send has refused to permit his name to be associ.ited with 
this library, or to have any memorial of himself placed 
here to remind llie people, « ho may enjoy the benefit of 
this charily, of any obligation to him. This act is as mag- 
nanimous as it IS singular ; but cold and unappreciating, 
inileed, must be the lie.iit which does not warm with emo- 
tion in contemplation of the character w Inch has arisen so 
much above the selfishness common to our kind, and em- 
braced an entire conimunily as the fitting subject ol its 
charity." 



in the transactions of the vast business of the road. He 
has often been urged to accept public oliice, but h.is iini- 
formh" declined, prcierring to de\ole his entire time and 
energies to the di,charge of the ilutics of the position 
which he at ]ireseiil occupies. ]n early life, however, he 
took an aitive interest in pcilitics, having been a member 
of the Whig and Republican jiarlies. In 1S27 he joined 
the l-iist Light Infantry Company of I'rovidence, and is 
siill a member of the Veteran Association connected with 
that oigani/aliiiii. I le married Elizabeth C. Lawton, daugh- 
ter of Lai.ili and .Mary (Collins) Lawton, of .\eu|)iirt, 
Rhcide Isl.md. She died llLtoberI2, 1S79, in her si.vly- 
nimli ye.ir. Tlu-y had three children: John K., who died 
in ini'.iiic\ ; I'!iUn, who married Cieorge ( ). ( irmstead ; and 
Collins L., who married Cieorgia Hardy, of New York. 



'.VLCH, John RntaRs, Treasurer of the Proiidence 
and Worcester Railroad Comiiany, was burn in 
I'rovidence, .-August 27, iSoS. He is the son uf 
John R. and Saphira ( I'ack;ird) Raich. His father 
was a native of I'rovidence, w here for many years 
he engageil in nicreaiitile jniisuils, and was subsequently 
clerk in the Exchange Rank. His anceslor^ came from 
England and settled in .Newport about the time of the 
Ri\.iliition. Mr. Raich attended the pulilic and iirivale 
schools of I'roxideiKe until Ihe age of fourteen, when he 
became clerk for the lum of Cook & R.rown, cotton mer- 
eh:ints, located on Soiiih W.iler Street. He remained with 
this tirm f<u' twenty three ve.irs, until its dissolution in 1S45, 
during which time he acquired :iii evteiided ac()uaintance 
in business circles. He subseiiueiitly secured the [losition 
as clerk for the Providence and Worcester Railroad (_'om- 
jiany, which he tilled until I.S4,S, when he was elected 
Treasurer of the company, and has continued to serve in 
both ]>i-itions until the ]iresent time. I luring the lliirty- 
h\e years he li:is beni connected w iili this company, his 
e\]'eiieiice and sound linlgmeiil Inu e been of gre.it value 



!i^ 



EElil'.N, buiN 1".., MI)., was born in South 

J Kingstown, Rhode Island, ( Ictober 7, 1S08. 

"'VgGsy The first member of the family of whom we 

if;'If have been able to obtain any iiiformatiou was 

Daniel Weeden, who li\ed on the island of (.'o- 
nanicut, and died iluring the Revolution. He owned a 
number of slaves, and in his will provided fur tlieir inanu- 
missiun. His son, bdiii Weeden, represented Jamestown 
in the Ccdonial .\sseiiibly, and was one of the live men in 
Janiestuwii who vuted in favor of r.itilying the Constitution 
of the f'nited Slates. He was ccnhned in a British pirison- 
ship in Newport harbor, and during his imiiri-onment his 
house and farm w ere left in the care of his wile, Mercy 
Weeden, w ho displayed remarkable bravery in her endeavor 
to prevent the destruction of the property by the Rritish 
soldiers. She didl at the age of iiinety-tuo. There is 
now in the piossession of her great-grandson. William B. 
Weeden. of I'rovideiiee, the frame of a mirror, the glass 
of which was broken liy a British ofhcer. Her p.atriotic 
spnit and unllinching cour.agewere represented in the War 
of the Rebellion in the person of her grandson, who was 
chief of artillery in the B.ittle of .M.dvern ilill. Her son, 
Wager Weeden, was born on Conanieut Island, and at the 
age of twenty-one represented his native town in the ticn- 
eral Assembly. He niairied Sarah Hull, daughter of Ed- 
ward Hull, one of the largest landholders in the State. 
Edw-.ird Hull was an inlluential frieml and sujiporler of 
the Revolution, although he lived at that time on Block 
Island, wdiich was a "neutral |ioint." He w.is a member 
of the convention that ratihed the Constitution of the 
I'nitcd Si. lies, anil occupied a high po-ition in society. 
Wager Weeden reiiuAed to South Kingstown, was for 
many vears one of the Judges nf tlie t;ounty Court, was 
for a number of years a Stale Senator when twelve sena- 
tors chosen by llie peo]ile at large held one-half the legis- 
lative power of the State, and Presidential Elector in 1,S40 
when (ieneral Harrison was elected. He was a strong 



BIOGRAPHICAL C ) CL OPE VIA. 



347 



man intellectually, kind to the poor, and noted for his 
morality and uprightness of ciiaracter. His eldest son, 
John E. Weeden, the subject of tiiis sketch, \\'as sent to 
the Latin School at Kingstown, to be "educated for a doc- 
tor," and afterwards to Plainfield Academy, Connecticut. 
He studied medicine with Dr. William Turner, of New- 
» port, and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, in 
Philadelphia. He married Eliza Cross, only daughter of 
Judge Amos Cross, of Westerly, and connnenced the prac- 
tice of medicine and surgery in Bristol, Rhode I.sland. 
Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States, sent 
him his first patient. While President Jackson was visit- 
ing Bristol, a man had his hand blown off in firing a salute, 
and Dr. Weeden was called to amputate his arm, which 
he did successfully. In 1836 Dr. Weeden I'emoved to West- 
erly, and practiced medicine about fifteen years. In the 
meantime he engaged in the manufacturing business, which 
finally made so great a demand upon his time as to cause 
him to relinquish his profession. He represented the town 
of Westerly in the General Assembly during the W'ar of 
the Rebellion, devoting his time and energies to the ad- 
vancement of the cause of the Union. As Chan^man of 
the Fmance Committee of the House, he was instrumental 
in bringing the financial power of the State to bear on 
"the sinews of war" to some purpose. Rhode Island 
was able to equip and send into the field more artillery 
companies than the United States had when the war began. 
Since 1S70 Dr. Weeden has devoted his whole time to 
manufacturing. He has built up in a wilderness a flour- 
ishing village of five hundred inhabitants — one of the vil- 
lages which have made Rhode Island almost a continuous 
city. His mills are at Nianlic, where Xinigret, the chief 
of the Niantics, was executed. These nidis contain eight 
sets of woollen machinery, employ about one hundred an<l 
fifty hands, and turn out about one million two hundreil 
thousand yards of flannels and woollen shirlings per year. 



(y>WEN, TULI,Y DoRR.^NCE, son of Nathan and 
Betsy (Gardiner) Bowen, was born at Bowen Hill, 
Coventry, Rhode Island, January 29, 180S. At 
J an early age he entered the store of Dr. Stephen 

■L Harris, at Centreville; afterwards removed to Provi- 

dence, and was for some years clerk in the Merchants' 
Bank. He ne.xt entered the service of the Blackstone 
Manufacturing Company, and soon after formed a copart- 
nership with Mr. Holder Borden, and under the firm-name 
of Borden t,^ Bowen remained in business after Mr. Bor- 
den's decease until his own death, February 13, 1S69. Mr. 
Bowen served in the .State Legislature for the city of Provi- 
dence in 1849 and 1S50; also in the State Militia as private, 
and officer of the Marine Artillery Corps of Providence, and 
was for many years President of the Blackstone Canal Bank. 
He married, August 31, 1843, Louisa Holmes, of Bristol, 



Rhode Inland. He had seven children, of whom four sur 
vived him. 



i, ELDEN, .Stanton, A.M., teacher, son of Martin 
jjgjK and Prudence (Sholes) Belden, was born in .Sandis- 
"^ field, Massachusetts, January 15, 1808. His father, 

j^ifj. a farjner, was born in the same town. His grand- 
'9 father, James Belden, was from Wethersfield, Con- 
necticut. His mother was born in Groton, Connecticut, 
and had relatives who fell in defending Fort (iriswold at 
the time of the massacre, September 6, 1781. His grand- 
mother was a Bush, from Colebrook, Connecticut, a woman 
of great energy and ]iiety, wdiose brothers, Calvin and 
George, became early and honored settlers in Chenango 
County, New Vork. Slanton, brought up on the pater- 
nal farm, had an early thirst for knowledge, and would 
go miles to get new books to read. At the age of 
seventeen he began to teach district schools. Having de- 
teniiined to obtain a college education, he taught school 
in winter, and spent the money thus earned in studying 
during the summer. He was fitted for college by Rev. 
Emerson Davis, D.D., of Westfield, Massachusetts. In 
1829 he entered Yale College, under the presidency of 
Rev. Jeremiah Day, D.D., and graduated with honor in 
1833. While thus studying he defrayed his expenses by 
teaching, borrowing enough money to make up the de- 
ficiency. His indebtedness on graduation was about a 
thousand dollars. Self-reliance was always one of his 
marked characteristics, and his attainments were of a high 
order. Choosing the profession of teaching in 1S35, at the 
suggestion of Rev. Francis Wayland, D.D., President of 
Brown University, he removed to Fruit Hill, North Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island, and in .Xpril of that year opened a 
boarding-school in the old tavern-stand formerly celebrated 
as the residence of Dr. Thayer. .Such academies were 
then liberally patronized, the youth coming from towns 
and cities near and far. Mr. Belden's first year here closed 
with forty scholars. He then by invitation went to Sec- 
konk, Massachusetts — now East Providence, Rhode Island 
— and establisheil the .Seekonk Seminary, which he con- 
ducted with remarkable success fitr fijur years, jjreparing 
stuilents for college and for various departments of busi- 
ness. Here he was still encouraged by Dr. Wayland and 
other distinguished men, and was accounted " a superior 
linguist, a gentleman of great industry, and singularly apt 
to teach." In 1840 he was recalled to Fruit Hill as Prin- 
cipal of his old school, now termed the Fruit Hill Classical 
Institute, and here, doing a large and noble work, he re- 
mained at the head of the Institute for twenty-one years. 
Though the premises were large they were often over- 
crowded with students. The seminary was one of strict 
disci[>!ine, broad curriculum, and thorough study. The 
students \\ere from Proxidence and all parts of Rhode 
Island ; from Boston, the Southern States, West Indies, 
Souih America, and some from Africa. Thus Mr. Belden 



34S 



niocRAriiicAL CYCi. orF.niA. 



Iiec.imc widely ami honnr.iMy kiMwn. lie was ijreatly 
instrumeii'al m ~ii-Iainin^ tin- rci^ular lia|iti>t i iiurch ^^\'\\ 
e\i>tilit; I'll tlu- \\\.\. aii'l tin- sliulcnt-. rt-i^ularly atlciiilril llic 
Sabljatli woiship. He was active also in the e-tal)lislinieiit 
of an excellent Salilalh sehiinl. of whieli he was for many 
vcats the elTiuent Sii]iei'inteiideiit. iiiakiii^ it a moilel sehool. 
In lS6l, wearied with his luiii; ami severe tlioUL;h always 
successful lahors in teaeliini; in his Institute, and the lull 
ori;ani/ati')n of •jradeil sehooK haviii;^ heeii elfected direpui;h- 
out the Slate, aiul the exeiienuiu of the Rehellion in the 
nation hecominj:; i^reat, Mr. Ili-hhn determined to close 
his sehoed, and did so, lait was <]Mi^ed. in cinisequenee of 
the lilockade, to send his Southern iiupils home by way of 
F.nylaml. Ilurini; the "IlorrWar" Mr. L'.elden's prem- 
ises were occu|'ird f .r a iiiL^ht. iiuicli to the discomfort of 
himself and family, hy the " I , aw and (h'der" forces march- 
ing to Chepachet. He married, lieceiiiher o. i-S^i, -\n- 
toinettePerciv.il Manchester, of FaU Kiver, Massachusetts, 
the ceremony luing ]ierforiiied hy l>r. Wayland. lie h. is 
seven children livnii^ : Deacon I''r.Tncis ,S,, now i I.SSi ) in 
Chicago, Illinois; Mari.ui H.; Antiin'tte P., now Mrs. C, 
R. Bra\ton; Preston I.., now in Providence; Rev. C'laren- 
rion I>., ii'iw a P.a]:)tist minister in ,\iistin, Minnesota; 
Florence E., now of ISoston. Massachusetts; and Augustus 
AV.. now in ('oloiado. Since closing his Institute Mr. 
I'.elden has tilled various town offices, and has been en- 
g;iged in farming, meanwhile (.levoting much time to the 
religious interests ol the comniunitv. 



i-F.TF.RS, .-Vrnoiti, draughtsman and expert ma- 
chinist, son of Mark and Matilda Peters, was 
,-. I - liorn in Smithlield, Rhode Nkriid, [.inuary I. 
''-'i^; iSo2. He was the second of six sons. His t'.ither 
fe-il i being a farmer witii very small iiieaus. his cluca- 
tional advantages were liniit'd to an attendance at the dis- 
tiict school during the winter months, the balance of the 
time being employed on the farm, until the age ot sixteen, 
\\ hen he \\ei.t tct i 'i<j\ iik-nce to learn the trade of a car- 
jienter. .\t the age of twenty-one he removetl to Paw- 
tucket. Rhode Island, and for the next seven years was 
employed as pattern-maker and in doing the woodwork 
for new machinery in the establishment of Daviil Wilkin- 
son & Co., who were at one lime the largi st inanuraclurers 
of machinery in this countr\'. for ,il out ^ix years, from 
August o. I.Sjo, he was empdoved b\- Samuel Sl.iter & Sons, 
of ]*ro\ ideuce. in the s;iine line of work, ami from the end 
of that time uniil iS^^c} was variously em|"loyi,d in ilraftiug 
and superintending the erection and remodelling of ma- 
chinery and mills at various places. Since I.Sio. with the 
exceitionof two years spt-nl with the High Stiei t Iron 
P'ouiulry. in Proviilenee, he has been a stockholder in the 
Phenix Iron I''ouiidr\ , an exteii-ive corpor.uion i-t.iblished 
for manufacturing \aiious ni.Khiner\-. and h.is Ijuvii en- 
gaged in dr.tfiing and estimating the cost of coiistiuctioii 



of machinei)' of different kinrls. Many of the prominent 
stockholders of the companv with which he is coiinecied 
have died since Us organifation, including Pjenjamin and 
Ch.irles r)yer, Jrdin H. C"Iark, Colonel John Andrews, 
Oeorge B. Holmes, and others with whom Mr. Peters was 
associated in business. Mr. Peters has had a large and 
varied ex])erience in his calling, and his services have 
often been re(|uired in the erectitm of new mills, the re- 
modelling or enlarging of old ones, and in construction and 
placing of machinery for mills in various parts of the 
countrv, and the fulfilling of his contracts has necessitated 
considerable travel and alisence from his home. He has 
been a meml'erof the Freeand .-\ccepted Masons since I<S23, 
at w hich time he united w ith L'liion Lodge, No. lo, of Paw- 
tucket, and has held many offices in that order. He is also 
a nnnilier of the Providence Royal .\rch Chapter. He 
takes a tlec]^ intc-rest in horticulture and agriculture, and 
for 111 uiy Vkars has been a member of the Rhode Island 
Hiuticultural and the Rluide Island Agricultural Societies. 
He is also a member of the Society for the Encourage- 
ment of Iiomcstic Industry. Politically, he was formerly 
a Whig, and has been a firm Rejiulilican since the forma- 
tion of th.it party, although he has never taken an active 
part in politics. He iriarried, Xovember ig, 1S26, Eliza- 
1-ieth I >orr, daughter of Joseph Dorr, of Scituate, Rhode 
Island. She died .Xovember 10, 1S79. They had four 
chiKlren. tw o sons and two ilaugliters, but cure of whom 
is living, Josepliine M. I,., who married Jacob E. Farring- 
ton, a jeweller of !'ro\ideiice. Though in his seventy- 
ninth year. Mr. Peters i, still actively engaged in business, 
and is as cheerful, hopeful and energetic .as most men in 
the prime of life. 



/?H.\PM.\N, Dk-XC'in Rhodes Budlong, banker, 
and President of the State Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company, srur of Steidien and .Sally (Williams) 
&;& Chapman, was born in Pomfret (now Putnam), 
4i Connecticut, Septeinber 3. iSoS. Stephen Chap- 
man was for some time engaged as a master-builder, and 
oveiseei in a factory, and then removed to Paris, New 
York, wdiere he became a successful fanner. He was a 
leading member of the Baptist Church in Pomfret before 
his rcino\al to Xev\' \'ork, and his house was regarded as 
an inn for Ikiptist pre;ichers; his wife, who was also a de- 
voteil member of the Baptist Chuich, was the daughter of 
Re\ . Tlujinas Williams, a lineal descendant of Roger Wil- 
li. ims. Their cliihlren were Thonras, Phebe, Stephen, two 
daughters, deceased, .Sophia, Rhodes B., and James. 
.Stephen Chapman's father, Rhoiles B., and his uncle, Ru- 
fus, were soldiers in the Revolution. The latter endured 
intense sulTering from hunger and cold at the winter quar- 
ters at Valley Forge; yet he liveil to the advanced .age of 
one hundreil ami four. The genealogy of the Chapman 
famil)' is tr.iced back through Xo\a Scotia to Wales, the 




^^T7.^^^/ '"iHftin^f 



BIOGRAPHICAL C 3 XL OPEDIA. 



349 



Cliapmans of Massachusetts, Rlioile Inland, and Connec- 
ticut claiming to be descendants of one who lived in Nova 
Scotia. Rhodes B. was educated in the public schools 
and under the private instruction of a Presljylerian minis- 
ter. He became a school teacher at the age of seventeen. 
After alternating between fanning and teaching, he entered 
a store as clerk in Saquoit, and subsc(|ucntly removed with 
his employer to Utica, New VorU. While thus employed he 
became an earnest advocate of temperance princi|)les, and 
united with the Baptist Church. About 182S he left Utica 
and engaged in teaching near Worcester, Massachusetis, 
where his brother Thomas then resided. He soon after- 
wards entered the counting-room of Samuel Sinter, in Ox- 
ford (now Webster) as bookkeeper, Hlu-re he remained a 
year. With a view to entering the mini-try, he subse- 
quently prepared for college at the South Reading Acad- 
emy, in Massachusetts, and in iSji entered Brown L'ni 
versity, where he remained three years, when impaired 
health compelled him to leave the University, being then 
in the Senior class. He afterwards accepted a position as 
teacher in the Agricultural School at I'awtuxet, Rhode 
Island, where he remained two years, and then taught for 
two years in the Worcester County .-Xgricultural High 
School, in Massachu.setts, having among his pupils several 
young men who afterwards became distinguished. Obliged 
to relinquish teaching on account of ill health, he served 
as Teller for one year in the Citizens' Bank of Worcester, 
and in 1838 was elected Cashier of the MiUhury Bank, 
which position he held for four years. In 1843 he became 
an equal partner in business with Amos I), and Moses B. 
Lockwood, with whom he was associated for ten years in 
running the mills at Slatersville, Rhode Island, during 
which time Mr. Chapman resided at Slatersville and man- 
aged the finances. He finally removed to Providence and 
took charge of the books of the firm. In 1S53 he was one 
of the founders of the Continental Bank, now the Fourth 
National Bank, of Providence; was one of the first Direc- 
tors, and in 1S55 became President of that institution, 
wdiich office he has continued to hold until the present 
time, a period of twenty-five years. In 1858 he projected 
and started the State Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 
since which time he has continued to serve as its President 
and Treasurer. In 1854 he was elected a member of the 
Providence Common Council, and served for two years. 
He was chosen a Deacon of the Baptist church in Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts, in 1837, an<l on his removal to 
Provitlence his membership was transferred to the First 
Baptist Church of that city, with which he is still con- 
nected. For twenty-one years he was the Treasurer of the 
Rhode laland Baptist State Convention, and from early 
life has taken an active part in the various laanches of 
Christian work. He married, August 25, 1S35, Avis 
Waterman Lockwood, daughter of Bcnoni Lockwood, of 
Proviilence, of an old and honorable Rhode Island family, 
whose lineage has been traced to the last of the martyrs of 



England. They have had five cliildren, Robert I'.oyle, 
Charles Hemj, Frederick Rhodes, and two daughters who 
died in infancy. Robert B. is secretary of the State Mu- 
tual Fire Insurance Company, the American Mutual Fire 
Insurance Company, and the Enlei-prise Mutual Fire In- 
surance Company, the last of which he assisted in organiz- 
ing. Charles H., a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in 
this volume, served with distinction in the Union army 
during the Civil War, and is now assistant secretary of the 
American Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Frederick 
R. is clerk in the Stale Mutual Fire Insurance Company. 
Robert B. and Charles II. arc graduates of Brown Univer- 
sity. Mr. Chapman's long and varied business experience 
has been marked liy strict integrity and a faithful discharge 
of the numerous trusts reposed in him. 



pALLET, Coi.i iNEi, Georck W.vrrkn, son of George 
l»Jp and Eliza (Gordon) Hallet, was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, February 18, iSoS. His parents 
had fifteen children, five sons and ten daughters. 
I The family was of English origin, and came to 
Massachusetts in 1680. George W. completed his school 
studies in Boston High School. He first engaged in busi- 
ness in Boston as a dry-salter, a dealer in all kinds of dye- 
stufis. In 1823 he removed to Providence, and entered 
the house of Dyers & Manton, the firm consisting of Dr. 
Benjamin Dyer, Charles Dyer, Paris Dyer, and Amasa 
Manton. dealers in drugs, on Market S.|uare, where they 
remained till 1S25, when they removed to South Water 
Street. In 1S27 he travelled through South Carolina, Geor- 
gia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississijipi, and up the river to 
Cincinnati, where he purchased a horse and rode to Wash- 
inr^ton. In 1S29 he became a member of the new firm of 
Dyers, Manton & Hallett, the members being Benjamin 
Dyer, Jr., Charles Dyer, Jr., .i^masa Manton, and G. W. 
Hallet, dealers in ilrugs, oils, and dye-slufis, on South Water 
Street. In 1831 he and Amasa Manton united under the 
firm-name of Manton & Hallet, and continued the old busi- 
ness on South Water Street. This widely-known firm con- 
tinued successfully till 1S57, when Mr. Hallet retired. 
Prior to 1831 he became a member of the First Light In- 
fantry Company of Providence, and served at the time of 
the riot. In 1838 he travelled abroad, visiting England, 
Ireland, Scotland, France, and Holland, and returned in 
the first steamship that crossed the Atlantic. In the " Dorr 
War," in 1842, he was .Adjut.int of the city regiment, under 
Colonel A. D. Hodges, on the side of " law and order." 
On the organization of the Providence Horse Guard, in 
1842, he was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel under Colonel 
Hodges, and in time becoming Colonel, brought that body 
of cavalry to a state of remarkable efficiency and popularity. 
In 1861 he was appointed, by Governor William ^prague, 
Chief of Cavalry of Rhode Island, and successfully organ- 



3jO 



r.iocR.irniCAL oci.oj'ed/.i. 



i/iil the I'ir^t an.l SvC(.n.l KL-ginuiil- "f Klindc KUind Cav- 
alry tliat ciUerol tlie riiiniii army for tin- MipiTesMnn uf 
the Ribillion. The \"u-.\ Rei^iineiU eciiM^teil <jI two liat- 
tali. Ill, frniii Khi.ile Maml an.l one from New lh^^l|^^h^•e, 
and to., k the lieM uii<Kr the name. if the V\x< Reguiient 
New i:n;^laii.l ("avahy. In pnliiks ('..luiiel Ilallet is a 
Kepiihlicaii, ami ua> f.HTiieily a NX'hij;. Me was one of the 
constituent meniheis (.1 the We-tnnnster (.'.inyregational 
( L'nitarian ) Church, orgaru/e.l un.ler I ii , l-avley. Socially, 
puliticallv.anil fe'.igioiisly he has filleil a large ami honore.l 
]>lace in Providence, but |ieisistently refuse<l to accept 
i.ublic oftices. As .n\ ner, or manager, be has licen associ- 
ate.! with important manufacturing interests, particularly 
with tlie Dunnell Manufacturing ('ompany. of which he is 
still ( l,SSi ) a mernlier. I le marrieil. May iS, 1829, Louisa 
liraiich, daughter of Sanf.ir.l aii.l Malihla ((.ady) Branch, 
of I'rovi.lencc, and had five chil.lren, two of whom are now 
li\tng, (_;eorge now resides .at \'armoulli, Mas-achusetts. 
Louisa G. married Christopher Lippi'.t.'if I'rovi.jence. 



EDGE, JosiAH Dknuam, MIL, wa- h.irn in Cam- 
^v briilge, Massachusetis, januar)' 7, iSo'-i. His 
father was I'r.. lessor Levi Iledg,-, I.L.D., Alfor.l 
^:J.;'<.;i- Professor of Natural Theolo'^y, etc., in Harvard 
'i'-j' College. lie entereil Harvard College in 1S24 
anil was graduated in I.S2S, having among his classmates 
llr. H. I. IJowditch, Hon. George .S. Ildlard. and Hon. 
R.ilieit C. Winlhro]). .\ftcr graduation he t.iok a course of 
studv in ineilicine, receiving the .legrce ol .M.l>. in I.S^t. 
Pol tw.i vears he practiced his profession in one of the New 
\i<t\-. liospit.ds. p'or several years ]ire\i)us t.> his taking 
up his resiiL-nce in Pr.ivuh iice he .lirecte.l his .ittention t.) 
the cultivation of tastes desel.ipe.l anil fo-tere.l in his 
College life for literary pursuits. Such was the re]>utation 
which he ha.l ae.]uired as a lover and .liligent student of 
good hooks that on the reconimcn.lation of gentlemen of 
good juilgment, he was electe.l in 1S54 LihiMriun of the 
Providence .\thena;um, to fill the vacancy occasione.l liy 
the resignation of Mr. Thomas 11. Williams. The numljer 
of volumes in the library when he entere.l up.ui the duties 
of his oliice was iS,Soi. For a i|uaitei of a century he .lis 
charged with singular lideliiy an. I .icce|itance the trast tli.it 
was coinuiitte.l to his han.ls. ( in his ju.lgtneiit ami advice 
the coniniitlee on the jiurchase of books greatly relied t.> 
ai.l them in the selecthm I'f such works as wouh.l enrich the 
collection of books of which they had charge. Through 
his entire sei \ ice he was himself a niost generous don.ir of 
books to the institution, and took a deep interest ami an 
honest ]iri.le in its growth, liy virtue of the ]H>sition he 
hel.l. few persons in Piovi.lencc ha.l a wi.ler aC'|U.iint.ince 
with the liest part of the coniimunly tli.in .Mr. lleilge. .\ll 
bore witness to the uniform coiiit.-sy ,iiid palience with 
w liicli he treated those w h.'in he met in his oflli i,d relations. 
Ills life he gave liberally t.> his work, seldom .illow ing him- 



self rest or recreation. Under his adniinistrati.m the library 
more than doubled in the number of volumesoii the shelves, 
the number being at the time of his death n. t far from 
40,000. .\s alieaily intimated he was among the largest 
donors of the institution. "In the annual list of th.ise who 
have c.nuribule.l to our collections," says a minute entered 
on the reord of the .\then.cum, "his name is never want- 
ing, but he aiw.iys forbade the menti.in of the fact that not 
inhe.|uentl\ the value of his year's gifts excee.led the com- 
bine. I worth of all .lunations. The aggregate number of 
volumes given by him would form a respect.ible tracti.)n of 
the whole library." The last months of his life were full 
of weariness and physical prostration, but until within a 
sh.irt time of his decease he never reniittcl the discharge of 
duties which f.M- so many years had been the j.iy of his life. 
He <lieil in Providence a few months alter the .leceasc .if 
his wife, the event taking place August 2_;, I.S711, in the 
seventy -first vear of his age. The forty-fourth annual 
report of the ilirect.irs of the Providence .-XtheiKeum, sub- 
mitted September 22, 1S70, contains on ])ages six and seven 
a highly appreciative notice of the life and character of Mr. 
He.lge. Ihe wife of Mr. He.Ige was Abby E. Sabin. whom 
he marrieil May 24, 1804. There are no cliihlrcn sur\i\ing. 



•^?jpTT^'.-\LI.fJlI. (Viis riK.\Ti;R, son of (His ami Nancy 
( lenckes) Pallou, was born in (_'uinberlan.l, Rhode 
Islaii.l, January 23, 1S09. Having been left fath- 
i 1' erless in his childhood, and in.itherless in his youth, 
-^ I •! he had limited a.Ivantages of eilucaiion, but re- 
ceiveil a valuable disciiiline of imlustry ami self-reliance. 
.\ftcr .1 business experience of eleven \ears, from 1833 to 
1M44, he purchased a farm, which he managcl successfully. 
.Vni'ing other pro.lucts, his faun yicl.le.i twelve huiidietl 
bu-hels of p.iiatoes in one year. In 1,840 Mr. Uallou bought 
a hotel in Wo. uisocket, which he kept 1. a- eighteen years, 
aiul conducted on strict temperance princi]ih s, no inl.ixi- 
cating drinks, not even cider, being allowed on his prem- 
ises. .\ftcr the lirst five years, the business of this hotel 
bee. line ]>idlitable. In the latter part of his life, about ten 
\eais, Mr. PalloLi was etriployed in settling estates. ]-or 
al'out thirty years he was a Liireclor in the Cumberland 
Pi, ink. .>t" whi.h he was Presi.lent .luiing the last six years 
of his life. In the W.ionsocket Savings Hank he was a 
ineniber of the P.Mr.l of Investment. 'I'hough niaii\ times 
sohcite.l t.i accept jaiblic oHlce. he invariably declined. 
He marrieil, January It), 1S3.), Mrs. Elixa .\llcii, w i.low .if 
Arii.d.l .Mien, an. I daughter of Amos and IJlive (Darling) 
( 'ook, of Cumberland ; the issue of the marriage being two 
chil.Inn, .Ml. 11 hrancis and Irene. Mrs. Ballon had one 
chil.l bv liei lir-t marriage, Ida Allen, who died in 1S53, 
ill her twenty-secomi year. Mr. Ballou .lie. I in W.ioii- 
socki t. November 4, 1875. He is remembered .is an active, 
judiiaous, Christian man, of -tiict integrity. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



35' 



|pt|HACE, Prok. George Ide, I'h.D., I.L.D., son of 
gHjl Chnrles and Ruth (Jenckes) Chace, was born in 
i^jjir Lancaster, Massachusetts, February 19, iSoS. His 
I a I early years were jiassed on his father's farm, lie 
Viti fitted for college at the Lancaster Academy, and w.as 
a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1830. 
Among his classmates were Rev. Daniel Leach, D.D., Rev. 
C. M. Nickels, D.I)., Rev. S. B. Swain, D.D.,and Hon. 
B. F. Thomas, LL.D. Immediately after his graduation 
he went to Watcrville, Maine, where, for nine months, he 
was Principal of what is now known as the WaterviUe In- 
stitute. In 1S31 he was appointed Tutor in Brown Uni- 
versity, and soon after Adjunct Professor of Mathematics 
and Natural Pliilosojihy. In 1834 he was appointed Pro- 
fessor of C'henii^try, Physiology, and (leology. This Chair 
he filled until 1S59, a period of fifteen years, when tlie 
title of his Profes.sorship became " Professor of Chemistry 
and Physiology." In 1S67 he was appointed " Professor 
of Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics," and he held this 
position five years, 1867-72. Ui>on the resignation of Presi- 
dent Sears, Professor Chace was chosen President of the 
University pro tempore, and was in office one year. His 
connection with the University terminated in 1S72. The 
year an<l a half which succeeded his resignation, was spent 
in foreign travel, his journey extending as far east as 
Egypt. Since Iiis return Professor Chace has been called 
to fill important offices of trust in the city government. He 
has, for several years, been in the Board of Aldermen of 
the city of Providence. He is President of the Board of 
State Charities, President of the Rhode Island Hospital, 
and a trustee of the Butler .Asylum. He received the de- 
gree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1853 from Lewisburg 
University, and the (-legree of Doctor of Laws from Brown 
University in the same year. He married, July 2, 1839, 
Abby Wheaton, daughter of Earl D. and Lydia (Wheaton) 
Pearce. 



gi^iiJ^XOWLES, Hon. John Power, was born in Provi- 
raj^g dence, Rhode Island, June 13, 180S, the youngest 
gs'ij.j) of five sons of Edward Knowles second, and his 
^^I'l^^wife Amey, both of whom were natives of Provi- 
L b dence, where the father died in January, 181 1, the 
mother in October, 1S38. For some years a pupil of one 
of the " Free Schools " of Providence, of which Rev. 
George Taft was " Preceptor," he, in July, l8ig, was with- 
drawn therefrom, and apjtrenticed to the printer's trade in 
Providence. His apprenticeship terminating at an early 
age, he, before attaining his majority, engaged wilh a sen 
ior partner in the printing business in Providence, ami there- 
after, as a master-printer, continued to prosecute that busi- 
ness, until, in December, 1S30, in fulfilment of a jjurjiose 
long cherished, but from year to year necessarily postponed, 
he withdrew from mechanical pursuits, and commenced a 
course of study, among the notable incidents of which 



were his graduation at Brown University in 1S36, with the 
degree of A.l!., at Harvard Law School in 1838, witli 
the degree of LL.IJ., and his admission to the bar of 
Rhode Island in October, 1838, after si.x months' study in 
the office of General Thomas F. Carpenter. Of his prac- 
tice at the bar, ending in 1869, it is enough to say that it 
was alw.ays satisfactorily remunerative and extensive, and 
that, by ap|)ointment of the Supreme Court, he was one of 
its Standing .Masters in Chancery from about 1S45 onward, 
and the Reporter of its decisions from [anuaiy 1855 to 
January 1S57. when the duty of ap[iointing a Reporter 
was imposed on the (n-neral Assembly in ])lace of the 
Court. Subsequently, however, in January, 181)5, l"^' "'■i'* 
reinst.ited as Reporter by the Assembly, and served as 
such until his resignation, March i r-, 1S67. Previous to 
1S43 he was a not inactive member of the then so-called 
" Loco Foco " party, but thereafter ever disavowed affiliation 
wilh any party, whatever its title, nickname, professions or 
])roiniscs. Still, although notoriously an Independent or 
" Scratcher," defiant of all political parties or factions, he 
was not unfrequently put in nomination for office on ]>arty 
tickets, regular and irregular, and sometimes elected— twice 
in 1S55 and 1866, a Representative to the General Assem- 
bly from Providence, and twice in 1866 and 1867, City 
Solicitor of the city of Providence, resigning before the 
close of his second term. In the Suffrage movement of 
1841-43, after the supposed adoption of the People's Con- 
stitution (not before), and until the threat or promise of 
President Tyler and his cabinet to sustain the Old Charter 
government (not after), he sympathized and co-operated 
with Mr. Dorr and his associates, without hesitation affix- 
ing his signature to that much-reviled document known as 
"The Nine Lawyers' Opinion," embodying principles 
and doctrines which, it is believed, eight of the Nine, to 
their latest breath, adhered to and advocated, as sound and 
statesmanlike, and which it is certain the now sole sur- 
vivor, the Ninth, has never yet repudiated, disavowed, or 
sought or desired to qualify. In October 1869, he was, 
by the President, appointed Judge of the District Court of 
the United States for the District of Rhode Island, by com- 
mission under date of that month, and subsequently, on 
nomination by the President and confirmation by the .Sen- 
ate, was ap[)ointed to the same office, his commission bear- 
ing date January 24, 1S70; this position he occupied until 
Marcli, iSSi. when he lesigned. 



piii;i;URGF.S, Hon. W.m.ter Snow, late Associate Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, son 
of Abraham and Rhoda (Caswell) Purges, was 
f^fj>» born in Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 
H September ro, 1S08. His father and his grand- 
father, John Purges, were natives of the same town, and 
farmers. His uncle, Hon. Tristam Burges, was Professor 
of Oratory and Belles-lettres in Brown University from 



HlOGKAl'IllCA], CYCl-Ol'liniA. 



l.SiS til iSjS, ;in.l l.i'ciiiu- a cli^lini;iii-.ln.'il nK-nilx-r of Cun- 
gif". -crviiii; Irnm 1S25 lu iS;^. .mcl ilic^l in 1N5.V Hi'' 
moilicr \va^ tin.' il,iui;litfr of l\lij.ih l_\i^\vill, nf the ^aiiic 
t..un\Mlli hi-, r.itlicr. WalUT S. hail :^'i,„l hi.nn- Iraiiiini; 
ami L-\ci-llL-nt ccinilniin ^ilmol ailvaiUai;L-s. At tia- age of 
si-vciUccll. he flUficil the aiailniiv at San.lw it h, Massa- 
chll^t■t^^, iimlci- rnjfcv^or l.ullu-r l.iiuolii. and in iSjy en- 
tered lliouii Inivei-ily, al w liieli iii-titiition lie i;iaduated 
with honor in iS;i, havinrr anioiv^' his ela>Miiates l'rofc-.sor 
William Cammell, LL.I >.. and Rev. I )rs. Nielinlas Hoppiii 
and Henry Waterinan. He imnieilialely became Principal 
of ThaNter Academy, at Kdi;arlo\vii, Martha's Vineyard, 
Ma-.sachiisetls, and taiit;lit alioul four years, meanwhile 
|uiisuinV legal studies, in 18^5, he was atlmitted to the 
practice of law in the cmirts of kliode Inland, and soon 
att lined prominence in his profession. In politics he w as 
ideiitit'ied with the Federal, National Repuljlican, Whi;,', 
and hnally, RepuMican parlies. In the " I lorr troubles," 
lie sympatlii/!ed with the parly of progress and reform, but 
held lo the proper lines of law and order, taking but little 
active part in the general commolion. In 1S45, he was 
ap]>ointed United States Uistrict Attorney for Rhode Island, 
under the administration of rresident Polk, and acted for 
four years, ffis si.|si^t-s weie vari'uis ami elfiLient in both 
biaiiclie- of the Legislature of the .Stale, and he \\as elected 
Attorney-tieneral of the Stale in 1S51, and re-elected in 
lS^2, 1S53, and tN54. and again in 1S60, I^bl, I.S62, and 
1S63. In 1S6S. he was chosen .\ss.iciate Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the State, which position he hlled with 
honor until his resignaticm, June i. iSSi. The confidence 
reposed in him by ihe people of Klmde Island was not 
misplaced. His ambition was tu do light, to uphold the 
laws, ami to serve the coiiuik niw eallli that deligliled to 
honor him. Ills letiieiiieiit lo pii\ate lite (rom the se- 
vere labors of the highest Iriluinal of the .Stale has been 
earned by his long public ser\ices and liis tidelity. He 
married, June i, L'SjO, Eleanor, daughter of Hun. lames 
Hurrill, of Providence. She <lied in Providence, Ma\- 31, 
18I-15. He has three children: (.'ornelia .\., now Mrs. Ar- 
nold (.Ireene ; Sarah 1*2., now Mrs. Charles Moriis Smith; 
and Theodora Y . 



New llam|ishire, and then w itli hi- uncle, Ibm. (leorge 
Plake, I'lutid Slates .\tlcuney of lioslon. At this time a 
student c.iuld be admitted to the liar in Rhode Island 
sooner ihaii in other Stales, and Mr. lUake, w ishing to 
enter upon the practice of his pr.ifes-ion at the earlic-t 
liracticable period, came lu this Stale in 1S29 and com- 
pleted his law studies in the office of John Howe, of liris- 
lid. Upon being admilled lo the liar, he became the |iait- 
ner of Mr. Howe, and a few years afterwards formed a 
law partnership with 1. Russell Bullock, which continued 
until he was chosen .Attorney General. In lSj6, he was 
chosen to represent Bristol in the General Assembly, and 
continued a member of that body with brief intermissions, 
except when he was Attorney-General, to 1S66, being al- 
ways elected without opposition. In 1843, he was chosen 
.Altorncv-General, and held the office for eight years. .Some 
of the most memcirable cases, in which his professimial 
ser\ices were jiroininent, were the following: In May, 
1833, was held the tiial of Ephraim K. .-\very, lor the 
murder of Sarah Maria ("ornell. He was associ.rted with 
the distinguished Hon. Jeremiah Mason, and other gentle- 
men eminent in the profession, as counsel for the prisoner. 
Few trials have taken ]ilace in New England which 
awakened more widespread interest than this. Ten years 
after this, as Attorney-General, he occupied a prominent 
piosi'ion in the piosecution of 'I homas W. I lorr lor treason. 
At the .March term, 1844, of the Supreme Court, in his 
official ca|iacity, he was the ])roseculing attorney in the 
case of the bmthers < hirdon, charged with the murder of 
Aniasa Spragne, who was killed near his home tlie la^t of 
December, 1843. There were other memoralile trials in 
which he took a conspicuous part. He was among the 
ablest I'awvers who have been the ornaments of the bar of 
his adopted State, d he laier years of his life were embit- 
tered by severe bodily indisposition, from which he was a 
constant sulferer. His death took place in Ihistol, Novem- 
ber 8. 1871), 111 the sivty-ninth year of his age. 'Ihe wile 
of Ml, lil.ike was Hope E. T. Richmond, of Hristol, by 
wh.iiii he had three children, Mrs. Gower, Hunt lilake, 
Es(|., of .\ew N'ork, and (.'harles Blake, Clerk of the Su- 
]ireine Court of Rhode Island. 



>'LAKE, H..N. J.VMI.s M., son of Charles |M.i;).),an.l 

Famiie Hunt lUake, was born in .Xorthfield, Mas- 

'^C'\''-)' sachusetls, July 13, l8o(). His father was an 

eminent Surgeon in the United Stales .X.uv, and 

was in actual ser\ ice in the n.iv.il battle betueen the 
Constitution and (iueiiiere. He was deseeiuled from an 
honor;ible F'.nglish ancestrs, one of wlmm was the distin- 
guished .\diiiir.il 111, ike. Widiam lll.d>e came to this 
country in 1630. and settled in lioiche-ter. M.issachusetts. 
The subject of this sketch was the sivtli in line of descent became a successful merchant. In the ]irosecution o) his 
fiom William. H.iving coniplclcd his ] irepar.itory educa- business he spent a number of winters in Charleston. South 
tion, he studied law, at hist with loel P.irkei, 111 Keene, CaiohiKi, where he formed many pleasant friendships, 



!'^f^H' RtiF.SS, IIus. TlioM.vs M.vcKiE, eldest son of 

Hon. Thomas and Mary (Mackie) Burgess, was 

.■nee, June 6, i8o<), and was a 

i ' graduate of Ih'own L'niversity in the chiss of 1822. 

i .Among his classmates were President Caswell. Hon. 

S. I,. Crocker. Hon. Isaac Davis, Hon. Solomon Lincoln, 

and Rev. Dr. P. 1.'. Cutter. Soon after his graduation he 

commenced the study of law, but having decided to engage 

in mercantile lairsuits he abandoned the )irofession, and 




Ir ( /l/Lj / r/ ^-r /A 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



353 



which were kept alive during the remainder of his life. On 
the decease of the Hon. S. W. Bridgham, the first mayor of 
Providence, in February, 1841, Mr. Burgess was elected his 
successor, and by annual re-elections continued in office till 
1852. The early period of his mayoralty was in the midst 
of the exciting scenes connected with the " Dorr War," 
anil the position of Mayor Burgess was one of grave re- 
sponsibility. He was in favor at different times during his 
term of service of plans w'hich he believed would greatly 
promote the prosperity of his native city. He met with no 
small amount of opprobrium and opposition in the can-ying 
out of these plans. It was conceded, subsequently, that 
his purposes were wise, and that under his administration 
the city made healthy progress in its affairs. Having de- 
clined longer to serve as Mayor he was not re-elected to the 
office. On the organization of the Providence, Warren and 
Bristol Railroad he was chosen President of the corporation, 
and continued to perform the duties of the office so long as 
his health permitted. About two and a half years before 
his death he had a stroke of paralysis, wdiich was followed 
by a second stroke a few months prior to his decease, which 
occurred at his residence, loS South Main Street, Provi- 
dence, October 17, 1856. He married, October 10, 1831, 
Eliza Howard, of Providence. 




'?»r»xVI,SWORTH, Judge Eli, son of Arthur and 
Mary (Preston) Aylsworth, was born in Foster, 
Rhode Island, June 6, 1S02, and is a lineal de- 
scendant of Arthur Aylsworth, a native of Scotland, 
who was among the early settlers of North Kings- 
town. Judge Aylsworth was the eldest of twelve children, 
and as his father was a farmer in very reduced circum- 
stances, he was early thrown upon his own resources and 
obliged to contribute to the support of the family. At the 
age of eighteen he entered a village store, where he was 
employed for two years as a clerk. At the end of that time 
he began business in a small way on his own account, in 
Foster, and soon established a reputation for industry, 
economy, and integrity. He continued in mercantile busi- 
ness in Foster and vicinity for thirteen years, during which 
time he accumulated considerable property. He subsequently 
engaged in farming and the settlement of estates, removing 
first to North Foster, where he remained until September, 
1841, thence to West Killingly, Connecticut, and from that 
place to Brooklyn, Connecticut, where he remained about 
ten years. In 1850 he removed to Providence, where he 
has since resided, being engaged principally in the settle- 
ment of estates and in investing money for others, \\ho 
have been greatly benefited financially by his investments. 
From 1845 to 1878 he was a director of the Mechanics' 
Savings Bank, of Providence, a member of the Loaning 
Committee, and for nearly twenty years Vice-President of 
that bank. He was also a director of the Atlantic Bank, 
and the first President of the Jackson Bank. Since 1S58 
45 



he has been President of the Westminster Bank, the busi- 
ness of which under his management has been conducted 
with great success. While residing in Foster he served as 
Justice of the Peace, Deputy Sherilif, and held other offices 
there. In 1838 he was one of the Judges of the Court of 
Common Pleas of Providence County, being associated 
with Hon. Thomas Burgess, Judge' Daniels, Judge Uriel 
Potter, and Judge Armstrong. In 1854, 1 866, and 1867 
he was a Member of the General Assembly, serving for 
two years on the Finance Committee. His first vote for 
President of the United States was cast for John Quincy 
Adams; he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Federal 
and Whig parties, an abolitionist during the days of the 
anti-slavery struggle, and has been a member of the Re- 
publican party since its organization. Though not a church 
member, he has been a regular attendant at the Mathewson 
Street M. E. Church during his residence in Providence, 
and is a frequent contributor to religious and benevolent 
objects. "He married, August 3, 1S22, Martha Bennett, 
daughter of Jeremiah and Rhoda Bennett, of Foster. She 
died November 13, 1837. On the 20th of December, 
1840, he married Maria Fairman, of Killingly, Connecti- 
cut, who died July 16, 1S42. On the 20lh of September, 
1843, he married Eliza S. Angell. There were ten chil- 
dren by the first marriage, Mercy, Emily, .Susan, Eli, Albert, 
Hiram B., John H., Adaline, Ezra, and Eliza. The issue 
of the seecond marriage was a .son, Henry P., and of the 
third marriage, two children, Emor A., who died in in- 
fancy, and Ira C. W. Seven of Judge Aylsworth's chil- 
dren are living. His son Hiram B. Aylsworth, a sketch of 
whom appears in this volume, is a prominent wholesale 
merchant of Providence. Judge Aylsworth is a man of 
strictly temperate habits, of a cheerful and genial disposi- 
tion, and although now in his seventy-ninth year, is appar- 
ently as robust and energetic as most men at fifty. 



jlfatUTHER, Hon. Hknry Hicks, son of George and 
[*LrdK Rebecca (Hicks) Luther, was born in Warren, 
•;-'y Rhode Island, September 22, 1S08. His father, a 
T native of Swansey, Massachusetts, was for many years 
J" a ship-master in the merchant .service, and died in 
Cuba. His mother was the daughter of Samuel Hicks. 
Her father was a lieuten.mt in the American Revolution, 
recruited the quota of the town of Wanen for that war, and 
at its close resumed his occupation of sea-captain. Mr. 
Luther was educated in the schools of Warren. At the age 
of seventeen he entered the hardware store of J. Congdon 
& Son, of Providence, where he was employed as clerk for 
three years. He then returned to Warren and engaged in 
the whaling business, in which he continued successfully 
for several years. Afterwartl he engaged in the manu- 
facture of iron and copper rivets used in making barrels, 
which business he carried on until his buildings were 
burned. Mr. Luther hu» had a prominent aud buccessful 



354 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



]>olitica! career, cxtciulinjj over a pcrii"i ..f furt\ live year--. 
( )ii ihe 25tli of Aiii^Ust. I.S3S. li"-" \v;is elected a^ l-iepresciita- 
tive to the I\IioiIe Klaml tieiu-ral A'-scmbly, anil re-elected 
in iS;6-;7-3S-_i9-4.i-57~5'^-59- * '" il'^" ^'th of April, 
1853, lie was clecled State Senator, and suhseipiently served 
in that capacity for fuur years. 1872-73-74-75. The 
record-* of the (ieneial As^cinl'ly bear testimony to his 
failhfidness and efficiency as a member of that body, and 
the oonhdence reposed in hini by the community found ex- 
pression in liis fre<juent re-election. While a niemlK'r of 
the tieneral Assembly he served on many committees, the 
most inijHJrtant of whicli were committees un finance. 
Durini^ his political career he has been greatly instrumental 
in advancins^ measures designed to ]irnmote the welfare of 
the State. He \\ as one of the hr-^t Railroad lommissioners 
of Rhode Nland. Aut^iist 31, 1S41, he was elected by the 
t'.wn of Warren as -a dele_^ate to tlie convention to frame 
tile new C'onstiiution for the State. He has lieen an earnest 
advi.icate of the cause of p. .pular education, and has served 
cfticieiitly as a member of the Waneii School l^mimittee. 
Mr. Luther was also one of the founders of tlie Warren 
Voun;^ Ladies" Seminary, which was very popular in its 
day, and the second of it^ kind in New Eni^land. (in the 
iStli of Aprd, 1S60, he was elected Town Clerk of Warren, 
and has Iield that office Continually I'J the present time 
{1881 |. While scrvinij; in this capacity he has fre(|Uently 
been tendered the nomination a> candhlate for Representa- 
tive and State Senati>r, l)Ut dcelined to accept, as he con- 
sidered it his duty to devote his time exclusively to the 
interests of the town. Lor six or seven years he has been 
President of the I'hdanthropic Society of Warren, a nwitual 
benefit fraternity. Mr. Luther is well known as an advo- 
cate of the extension of free suffrage, and during; the davs 
of the Anti slavery struggle was a warm supporter of alioH- 
tion sentiments. 

»^(>L'RX, ( IioRf,!-: ( )-.nnRN, manufacturer, son of 
i^lsi Stephen aii<l I )eborah Roinn, was born in Sonier- 
^S^ set, .Mas-,aclui-etts. [uly 4, iSoi). an<l was a de- 
f/f)» scendant of jared llourn, who settled in Huston 
•"v about 1630, whence lie removed to Roxbury, where 
he was a constable, and sub^eijuently resided in Lort^- 
month, Rhoilc Island. Jared P>ourn was a member of the 
Rhode Island Legislature in 1007. At the time of King 
Philip'^ War he lived on the neck of land called Matta- 
poisutt, now (Gardner's Neck, in Swansey, NLissachusetts. 
Bourn's blockdiouse was the oliject of the hrst attack l:)y 
IMidip. .Hid w.is the refuge I'f many c)f the neighbors, 
until they were relieved by the Bridgewaler {_Vmi|)any. 
Jared Rourn's Inst wife, MaiT, died in IJoston, >Larch 30, 
1644. i I is secouil w ile's ( "hristiaii name was Frances. 
His son Jared, who was baptized NLrrch 7. 1651, and died 
in Swansey in 1717, marrietl and had six children, his 
wife's Christian name being lUi/abeth. These children 
were Mary, Eli/al^eth, Lrancis, Raiience, NLutlia, and a 



son whose name is unknown, l-'ranois married Charity 
Wheaton in Swansey, February 23, 1 7 15, and liad seven 
children,— Jared, Sarah, Stephen, Rachel. Francis, Natha- 
niel, and Content. Stejihen, who w'as born October 25, 
1724. married, September 16, 1756, Charity Chase, daugh- 
ter of Elisha and Elizabeth (Wheaton) Chase. Stephen 
Ijourn w a> lost at sea. He had an only son, Stephen, who 
married, first. Deborah Chase, daughter of Ichabod and 
I'hebe (Slade) Chase; ami. second, June 28, 1798, his 
cou-.in. I )eborah Bourn, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth 
(Sterns) llourn. The children by the hr-.t marriage were 
Charity, I'hebe, Saiah. ami Stephen; and by the second 
marriage, l>eborah, John, George, Eliza, Rachel, and 
Getirge nsburn, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Uourn's 
mother died October 2^, i8j2, when he was thirteen years 
of age, and his father's death oceurred No\cmber 5tli of 
the same year. He had no school ad\antages excejit in- 
struction in the rudimentary branches as then taught in 
the town slIiooU. At an eaiU' age he went to Providence 
on foot, carrying in his hand all In-, worldly posses^ions, 
On his way, to shorten the journey, he crossed fields and 
vacant lot--, and in getting over a stone wall sprained his 
ankle, which unfitted him for the mason's trade, to which 
he had apprenticed himself. He therefore learned the 
trade of a shoemaker, and soon startetl in business for him- 
self in Pro\ ideiice. He was one of the eailiest, it not the 
earliest, in tlie State to commence the manufacture of 
india-iubber shoes. He began on a moderate scale by 
merely lining and shaping the rubiier-. which were imported 
fnun IJra/il. His first attempt at m.uiufacturing was in the 
upper |iart of a chair or furniture factory of Thomas M. 
Parker, Providence. This was about 1S43 or 1844. In 
1S47 he as-^ocialed with him in business Colonel William 
W. Prown.of Providence, and in 1851. Edwin M. Chaffee, 
the inventor of the machinery now universally used in the 
manufacture of rubber goods, which partner.dup continued 
uniii his death, Their place cif business was on I »orranee 
Street, corner of Clifford Street. Pntvideiice; and though, 
111 view- of the present magnitude of the business, their 
faclorv would now seem quite small, it was in those days 
one of the leading establishments of the Country. About 
l8si or 1852, Mr. IJourn went to Canada, and there estab- 
lished the Montreal Kubiier Company, and a year or two 
later built the factory operated for a few years by IJrown, 
Llibliard, Rourn .!s: Co., which is now one of the largest 
establishments in America. Hiiring the " Dorr War" Mr. 
Pourn was very active on tile side of law and order, and 
was lirst Lieutenant in commaml of the (."adet Cttmi>any 
at the march to Federal Hill, in Providence, and also at 
.Acoie's Hill, in Che]iachet. He was in the arsenal as one 
of its defenders at the time of its attack l)y the Dorr party. 
For several years jinor to his death, which occurred Au- 
gust 17, 1S59, he had been in failing health, and was 
oljliged to spcinl hi^ winters in warm cliniales. The last 
live wmlers of his life were s|)ent in Cuba, stojiping on his 




MP' 



/ / / ^ / 



/^ ^ // ^ ^ ./ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



355 



return for a few \seeks in the Sniitlicrn States. He \\as a 
mail of remarkable energy, of indomitable courage, and of 
great executive ability in all his business relations. In 
private life he was above reproach, extremely kind and 
sympathetic, ever ready to help the needy, to cheer the 
depressed, and to lend his aid and influence to every good 
work. He married, December i, 1S3J, Hulda Battey, 
(laui^hter of Ezra and Sally (Peckham) Edily. She is a 
descendant of Rev. William Eddy, rector, in 1580, of 
Cranbrook, Kent, England. Their children are lion. 
Augustus O. Bourn, a skelcli of whom appears in this 
volume; Emma E. liourn, and Rachel, who married 
William C. Downs, and now resides in New York city. 
Mrs. Bourn resides with her eldest daughter in I'lovidence. 



gjpS^OYDEN, Rev. John, was born at Sturbridge, Mas- 
|mS» sachusetts. May 14, 1809, and clied in Woon- 
'^m socket, R. I., September 28, lS6g. He was the son 
^1® of John and Elizabeth (Adams) Boyden. His youth 
U was spent upon the farm with his parents. He 
attended the public schools of his neighborhood and the 
academies at Sturbridge, Brookfield, and Dudley. At the 
age of seventeen he began to teach during the winter, and 
so continued until his tastes and convictions led him to 
adopt the Christian ministry as a profession. He pursued 
his theological studies under the tuition of Rev. Hosea 
Ballon, of Boston, and entered upon the active duties of a 
pastor at Berlin, Connecticut, where he remained three 
years. He then went to Dudley, Massachusetts, where he 
remained five years. In 1840 he removed to Woonsocket, 
Rhode Island, and made that town his place of residence 
and field of labor up to the time of his death. His early 
labors, which were various and widely bestowed, were 
mostly of a polemical character. He often preached eight 
or ten times in a week. The advocate of universal inter- 
pretations of the Scriptures he often met with bitter oppo- 
sition, but never did equanimity or magnanimity fail him. 
Men, whom his reasoning, which was always clear and 
natural, could not convince, were often persuaded by the 
sweetness of his temper. He had that fineness of nature, 
delicacy of sentiment, justness of apprehension, and sound 
common sense which seemed a perpetual inspiration, and 
wherever he went he exerted an influence for good. In 
the various reformatory movements of the day he took an 
active interest. He was among the foremost to advocate 
total abstinence and prohibition. The Anti-slavery cause 
enlisted all his sympathies, and to its advancement he de- 
voted his utmost energy. He saw the injustice done to 
woman by restricting the sphere of her activity, and in the 
small remuneration paid for her labors, and persuasively 
plead for her relief. He was one of the original members 
of the Rhode Island Universalist Convention, and for years 
it> honored President. He was several times elected, by 
his fellow-citizens, a member of the General Assembly. 



But the most important service he rendered the public was 
in the capacity of School Committee and Superintendent, 
which offices he held for a quarter of a century. The 
cause of education could not have had a more judicious or 
efficient .servant. At the end of his service the schools of 
his town compared favorably with the be>t in the State. 
In his denomination his name was revered; he was re- 
spected by other branches of the Christian Church, and 
beloved by all who knew him. He married, September 
20, 1831, Sarah Church Jacobs, daughter of Richmond 
and Clarissa Jacobs, of Scituate, Massachusetts. They 
had one son, John Richmond, who died in early manhood, 
soon after leaving college. Mrs. Boyden survives her 
husband, and lives with her daughter-in-law, in the old 
homestead, surrounded by her own and her husband's 
many devoted and loving frientls. 



;OOKE, W.\RRK,N, M.D., son of Jesse and Lydia 
(Thayer) Cooke, was born in U.xbridge, Massachu- 
?.-'-?( setts, August 10, 1809. He pursued his medical 
^»t's studies under the direction of Dr. Hiram Cleveland, 
I of Pawtucket, and took the degree of M.D. at Co- 
lumbia College, Washington, D. C, in 1834. After prac- 
ticing two years in Maryland, he returned to Rhode Island, 
and took uji his residence in Lonsdale. In this village he 
was a successful physician for over thirty years. In 1867 
he retired from the more active duties of his profession, 
and moved a short distance from Lonsdale, that he might 
live a more quiet life, continuing his practice to some ex 
tent among old families, the ties between \\ hom and him- 
self had been strengthened by years of attendance upon 
them in times of sickness. In the alTairs of the village 
of Lonsdale he always took an interest. The Young 
Men's Lyceum sought his services to give them lectures. 
Of Christ's Church, of which he was a member, he was a 
vestryman for many years, and was a Delegate to the Dio- 
cesan Convention several times. He was also a member 
of the School Committee for several years. His death, 
which was sudden, occurred May 15, 1S73. The wife of 
Dr. Cooke was Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Arnold, of 
Smithfield, who, with one daughter, survives her husband. 



(^jTll^AMES, Samuel, son of William and Catharine 
lAJK (Field) James, was born in Providence, Rhode 
^^^ Island, January 27, 1814. His father, also a native 
' T of Providence, was for many years a successful dealer 
J" in cotton and other merchandise in Georgia, but sub- 
sequently returned to Providence, where he engaged in 
mercantile pursuits; finally inheriting a large estate from 
his father, he retired from business, ami until his death, in 
1824, resided on Federal Hill, in the house afterwards 
used, in 1842. by Thomas W. i>orr as his headtpiarters. 



356 



BIOGR.irillCAL C } TL OTEDIA. 



Tlie 5;rnnclf;illnT I'f tlif sul.jcct ortlii^ skelili, SanuR-l James, 
was widely kn.iwn as a Tiiamifac'urer ul |ia|ier-hanL;in;;5, 
aii'I was a .lireet'ir ul R^iger Williams P.aiik at a time 
wlu-li llirrcwnc Imt Iwo luiiUs in I'l civiilrncc. fHller 
iiiiiiiiiers 111 iIr- raiiiily wire liriiiiniiciil iii liie ennimunity. 
Mr. lames's iiiollier was a ilailL;hler nf Leimiel Flelil. of 
I'luMileiiee. She ilieil in 1S75, at the aiKaneeJ age uf 
ninety-three. She was a .lesceinlaiil i.f jcilin l''iehl,the 
aneestor of the family in Klio.le Island, ulm li\eil in Pinv- 
iileiice as early .is 10^7, and died m \i.v\i, .Mr. James 
entered ii["in .111 .ut!\'e laisiness eaieer at an early .ii^e. 
lie attended seliod nntd his twelOli year, and hn- smcn 
years there. dler was employed in tfie |iriiilini^-ulhee in the 
IJr.mite TUiihlini;, cm Market Si|uare, where the Rlunlr 
hl,!iiJ Cuiiiiliy yoiinujl, a weekly newsj.aiier. and the 
Mann fiU tit) cti' itnJ l'iiriit<rs^ yoio/tii/, a semi-weekly, 
were ]iiiiited. lie hnally relini|nish,-d the |iriniiliL; lalsi- 
ness, nil aeei'Uiitiif impaired health, hec.ime clerk in a 
yinceiy store, and in 1N35, with Juseph \V. I l.ivis. engaged 
in the groeeiy business, in wdiich the}' cimlinued suceess- 
fnlly hir aluait eight years, under the lirm name of Josejih 
\V. 1 lav is & Co. In 1S43 Mr. James snld his iniLrest to 
his p.utner, ereeted a Imihling nearly upipusite the old 
store, ani-l fir sc\eral years carried on the same business 
alone. I'art uf that lime, fremi 1852 to 1S55. he was the 
City Agent uiidei the Maine Law, his appointment assmh 
h.iving been received from Amos C. Ikir^nw. Mayor, and 
conlinncd by the ilnard of Aldermen. 1 in the 15th of 
May. 1S61. I'resident Lincoln appuimed him Weigher in 
the I'riixidenee Custom house, w hieh jii.sithin he occupied 
until L)eceniber jl. 1S6S, since which time he has been 
engaged in real estate transactions, and 111 the discharge ol 
his iluties as a bank ofticer. lie was a member of the 
Providence Cominuu Council, from the Lifth Ward, from 
June. 1.^42, to lune, 1S44. In 1S40 he was elected a 
member of tlie IJo.ird of ,\ldermen, by the Temperance and 
Whig parties, and re-elected successively until 1S55. In 
1S59 he was the nominee of the Republic, in party for 
Mayor, and received a large vote, but m-t suiiuient h-U his 
election. He was a director in the .St.ite li.tnk from June, 
lSs.|. to luiie, 1.S7 ;, and at the form.iliim ol the Mechanics' 
Savings Pank, July iS. 1S54, he was elected one of its 
trustees, which oftu e he still hohls. Since July, 1S60, he 
h.is been .1 member of the loaning committee, and has 
travelled exteiisivel)" in the interest ol the bank, de\ oting 
niueh time to the careful placing of its funds. He was 
elected \'ice- President of that bank ill July, 1.S7O, and siill 
holds ih.it ohice. He is also a director of the Westmin- 
ster I), ink, and a director in the Hope Insur.inee Company. 
In pi-ditics he li.is been iilentilied with the Republican 
partv since its organization, and was formerly a \Vhig. In 
1S4J he was a linn sujiporter of the Law and ( >rder jiarty, 
and served in Colonel William lilodgeti's cnmpany. which 
took a eouspicu ais ji.irt in the " Hoir War." In l-'sV) ■^''■ 
J. lines and his wile iiiiite-1 with the (."heslnut Street Meth- 



orlist Kjiiscopal Church, in which Mr. T-imes v\as for many 
years class-leader, steward, an 1 trustee. His home was 
ever o]ien to welcome the ministers and friends ol that de- 
nominatirin. In 1S63, becoming dissalished with the Gen- 
eral Confei'ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he 
united with Grace Ejiiscojial Church, and served ft»r several 
years as vestryman. He married. May S, iS;;, Tabitha .S. 
Rhodes, dauohter of ('aptain Richard and Tabitha ( Harris) 
Rhodes, of North Scituate. Rhode Island. They have had 
five children, two scms and three daughters. William .An- 
iliew, their eldest son. served in the I'liion army during 
the Civil War. and was lireveteil Colonel hir meritorious 
conduct. He removed to Chicago in 1SG5, where he has 
since engaged successfully in business, his residence being 
at Highland Park, of which city he was Mayor in 1873. 
bioni 1S74 to iS.So he was a member of the llhiniis Legis- 
lature, and since iS7(| h.ts been Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, which position he has Idled with marked 
ability. Colonel James married, March 31, 1.S09, CJeorgi- 
anna Case, of Springheld, Massachusetts, and has one son, 
Samuel Winthiop. The otlier children of Samuel James 
are, (_elia, w lio married I homas H. Sjiencer, a piromincnt 
merchant of Chicago, who is widely known as a lay 
preacher in the Presbyterian Church; laiiina Frances, and 
Isabel, the wife of Herbert West, of New Vor-k, a whole- 
sale dealer in wool Icn goods. Samuel Knight, the youngest 
son, died in iiifincy. Mr. James has succeeded in acquir- 
ing an ample fortune, and occupies a iirominent and intlu- 
ential position as a citi/en. 



'""^^^TEDMAN, 1),\NIIJ. M. C, son of Daniel and Free- 
love (Reynolds) Stedman, was born m South 
Kingstown, Rhode Island, June 3, iSlo. His 
(>;??^' father, gr.inilfalher (Daniel M. C. Stedman), and 
•' V great-grandfather ( I )aniel Stedman |, w ere also natives 
of South King-town, and lived and died in the same house, 
the date of the biith of the former lieing April 25, 17S7. 
Thomas Stedman. father .if the great-grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch, also lived and died in South Kings- 
town. The Inst of the family came fioiii Scotland. Mr. 

Stedman's Ijoyh 1 and youth were spent ]irindpally in 

Wakefield, Rhode Island. He early engaged in the shoe 
business, which he earned on successfully until he was 
about forty years of age, when he became cashier of the 
llopkinton P.ank, ill Westerly, Rhode Island. In 1S52, 
he became c.ishier of the South County Rank, in Wake- 
held, and continued to fill that position until lS6l,when 
he was elected cashier of the Wakefield National Bank, 
which ofilice he still holds. He has also been treasurer 
of the Wakefield Institution for Savings since 1S61. Mr. 
Stedman is treasurer of the Narragansett Pier Railroad 
Company, ami of the Riveiside Cemetery .-Vssociaiion, and 
has been treasurer of the Library Association of W'akefield 
since its organisation, in 1.S54. He has also served as 



£/0 GRAPHIC A L C\ CL OPED 1 A. 



357 



Town Treasurer. In 1S25, he united with tlie Baptist 
Church in Wakctield, of which he is an active memher, 
having held for a nunilier of years the ofilces of clerk and 
treasurer of the Society. His ancestors have been mem- 
bers of the same communion as far back as he can trace 
his genealogy. In 1S30, he organized and was .Superin- 
tendent of tile fir^t Saljlialh School in the Baptist Church 
in Wakefield. In i8j2, he was an active worker in the 
first temperance society in the town, and in 1S40, was a 
candidate for Stale Senator on tlie tenrperance ticket. 
He was also identified with the first movements for the 
abolition of slavery. In 1850, lie was a leader in the for- 
mation of the Niantic Baptist Church, Westerly, as.suming 
the entire responsibility of building their house of worship. 
In 1857, he gathered the facts and published the first sketch 
of the history of the Wakefield Baptist Church. For many 
years he has been a member of the Foreign antl Home 
Mission Societies, and is a member of the Board (.)f the 
Baptist State Convention. He married, Novemljer 3, 1S30, 
in Wakefield, Martha C. Allen. They have had five cliil- 
dren, M.irtha A., Mary A., Caroline W., Emeline S., de- 
ceased, and Julia. Caroline was married to Rev, Samuel 
I. Carr, April 19, 1859, Mary was married to Solomon 
H. Hale, of Wakefield, April 19, i86y. On the 3d of 
November, 18S0, Mr. and Mrs. Stednian celebrated their 
golilcn wedding, which was largely attended, on which 
occasion they received valuable tokens of tlie high esteem 
in which they are held in the community. 



,( )IES, Hon. Charles, manufacturer, son of John 
and Anna Moies, was born in Dorchester, Mas- 
^v;*j.i='f sachusetts, October 21, iSog. During his child- 
(jlu hood his parents removed to North Adams, and 

eL thence in a few years, to Northampton, Massachu- 

setts. In 1826, at the age of seventeen, he went to Paw- 
tucket, where he was employed as clerk by Barney Merry. 
After a residence there of about four years, he removed to 
Central Falls, which at that time, and for more than forty 
years thereafter, was a part of the ancient town of Smith- 
field. This town afforded superior facilities for manufac- 
turing, which invited capital and enterprise, and there Mr. 
Moies soon found scope for his talents and energy. In 1832 
he engaged successfully in business as a thread manufac- 
turer, and two years afterwards began to manufacture print 
cloths. From 1S37 to 1846 he was associated as partner 
with Ruel Richards and the Hon. James F. Simmons, for 
many years a United States Senator, and was associated 
with others at different times. Mr. Moies continued in 
active business until 1856, when a slight paralytic attack 
warned him to lighten his burdens antl withtlraw from the 
active control of his large manufacturing interests. Though 
his personal supervision of his Ijusiness ceased at that lime, 
his capital and counsel continued to contribute to the ac- 
tivity and thrift of the town wherein he resided until his 



death. One of his mills long stood at the eastern end of 
Cross Street, on the site which the haircloth mill now oc- 
cupies. Possessing a vigorous intellect, and having de- 
cided views on public affairs, he exerted considerable 
influence in political circles, and wasfrei|uently called upon 
to fill jiublic positions. His fellow-citizens not only claimed 
his services in municipal legislation, but for many years ho 
was chosen to represent them in the General Assembly, 
As a member of each branch of the General Assembly he 
wielded a marked influence on the legislation of the State; 
and wdien events had shown that the old charter, which 
for more than a century and a half had been the organic 
law of the ci-immonwealth, needed to i?e succeeded by a 
new constitution, he was chosen a member of the conven- 
tion which framed that document. In 1871 .Smithfield was 
subdivided, and the southeastern portion was made a new 
town, named Lincoln, of which he was for years President 
of the Town Council, as he had previously been of the 
town of Smithfield. As President of the Council and 
Judge of Probate for the two towns, his official career ex- 
tended over a period of twenty-five years. Besides hold- 
ing the offices named, he was for many years President of 
the Pawtucket Institution for Savings, and of the Pacific 
National Bank. Mr. Moies was twice married. His first 
wife was Clarissa Gano Jenks, daughter of George F. 
Jenks, of Central Falls, to whom he was married October 
15, 1S34. She died November 29, 1840. By this mar- 
riage there were three children, none of whom are li\ing. 
On the Ilth of August, 1S43, Mr. Moies married Robie 
A. Knight, daughter of Joseph W. Knight, of Central 
F'alls. There were three children by the second marriage, 
two of whom are living. Mr. Moies died December 
21, iSSo. 



'^v'^VJITH, Alfrkd, was born in Newport, Rhode 
Island, December 6, 1809, and is the only son of 
".£^7.y Benjamin Wluteliead and Hannah Howard ( Peck- 
• ^^ ham) Smith. He is a lineal descendant of Edward 
I Smith, who accompanied John Clarke in procuring 
the Charter of Rhode Island from King Charles II. In 
boyhood he received such an education as was ordinarily 
imparled in the common schcmls uf his town. .\t an early 
age he learned of Isaac Gould the tiaile of a tailor, and 
spent aliout ten years in New ^'ork city, where he was 
em|)loyed as a cutter. He exhibited such skill and energy 
in thi^ calling, that during part of the time mentioned he 
commanded a salary of six thousand dollars a year. About 
the year 1S40 he returned to Newport, where he has since 
remained, having been engaged in the real estate business 
there since 1S50 to the present time. In his real estate 
transactions he has been remarkably successful. During 
five years of the time that he has been thus engaged his 
sales amounted to a million dollars annually, and in one 
year they were one million eight hundred thousand, the 
aggregate amount of his sales since 1850 being over twenty 



n/OCA'APH/CAL CYC/ OPED I A. 



million dullnr^. Mr. Siiiilii's pracllr.il. fnrset-int;; Ini-incss 
faculties have been of inralLuhiML- value to Nuwport in 
making it an altracuvc and i-lcganl report for vi-,ilui's. and 
in contrilniting tu llu- lhowiIi an<l iti-osi>(.-iity oi that city, 
lie foresaw a loitunc for hini-^tlf. and |ioint(.'d out lor others 
fortunes then King in oM tiehU and pastures. ,Many of 
his to\\n•^UK■n are now enjoyinLj the wealth which thus 
came from increased value of their lands. lie pLinted 
thousamis of trees, and inaugurated and successfully car- 
ried forward imjirovenieiits wiiich have greatly enhanced 
tlie beauty of the city. He has laid out all the fashion- 
able drive ways of Xew]iort, Iiis greatest wurk in this di- 
rection being the splemhd drive-way of over eleven miles, 
including liellevue and Ocean Avenues. It was chielly 
by his skill that it was undertaken ami completed by the 
ciiy. The late Tliumas W'inans. of Haltimure, an exten- 
sive traveller and railroad budder in Russia, pronounced 
this the hnest shore drive-way in the woild. It afifords 
to \isilors a panoramic view of unsurjiassed ijcauty, and is 
indeed one of the greatest attractions of the far-famed city of 
health and jdeasurc. Mr. Smith mav well be proud of t!ie 
honor of l.icing forenii'st in the construction of an avenue 
so contlucive to the happiness of multitudes. He married, 
in l'Vd)ruary, 1S43, Ann M.iiia Talbot, .laughter of Captain 
Allen Talbot, of Dighloii. .\bissachusetts. Their children 
are Howard Smith. Mrs. Ellen Talbot Haker, Mrs. Harriet 
Fisher Browncll, anil Mary Luther Smith. 



ATKS. OiLoNEi. Samiij. H.\//\k:), was born in 
^•Jl'i|t'=^i Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Mareli I<». i-Sio. He 

iyr.m,',k^ is a lineal dcseemlant o| Nallianiel Wales, sliiii- 
(.P.ifc-'* i . , , ^ 

el/'' Wright, who came to this country Irom I'orchester, 

oi England, in the same slu]i v\ ith Rev. Richard Math- 

er, in 1635, and in 1654 scltle<l in Rtiston. where he died. 
December 4, 1661. The given name of the wife of Na- 
thaniel Wales was Isabel, and the names of his children, 
Timothy, John, and Nathaniel. Nathaniel w as born in 
England, and died in Boston. May JO, KifO. leaving four 
children, Nathaniel, Samuel, Mary, and Jonathan. Jona- 
than was kilh-d in King Thdip's War. Nallianiel married 
Joanna h'axon, dauglUer tif d'homas Faxon, and had hfteen 
chihlren. He was a deacon in the church in Itraintree 
[now (Juincy), and was made ruling elder in the same 
church February 27, 1701. He resideil for several years 
in .Milton. Massachusetts. His children were Ellis, born 
m lb75; Joanna, born in 1679; Sarah, born in u'lSo; Na- 
thaniel, born 111 loSi ; Joanna, bom in loS^ ; hdk.ina, born 
in I(»S5; Hcboiah. liorn in n>S7 ; '1 homas. born in 10S9; 
Mary, born in l6<^i ; Samiu I, born in i()t)3 ; d lionias, born 
in i(i((5 ; Jo-.e|)h, born in ib()7 ; John, bom in i 600 ; Rachel, 
born in 170I ; and Atlierton. i)oiii Man.li S. 1704. .\ther- 
loii Wales graduated at Harvanl Colh-ge in i7-:6; studied 
h-r the ministry, and served as I'astor id the Set tmd (duireh 
ill M.irvhtiehl. Massachusetts, hom 1730 niitd his d.alh. 



wdiich occurred in I 70c, at which time he was in the ninc- 
ly-second year of his age. He married. No\embei c;, 
1730, Mary Niles, daughter of Rev. Samuel and I'di/abeth 
(Thatcher) Niles. of Rraintree, Massachusetts. Rev. Sam- 
uel Niles was tlie siin of Captain Nathaniel Niles. son of 
John Niles, of Rraintree. Rev. Peter Thatcher, of Milton, 
grandfather of Mary Nilcs, was the son of Rev. Thijmas 
Thatcher, tirst I'astor of the ( )]d South Churcli, Boston. 
Rev. Thomas Thatcher, son of Rev. Peter Thatcher, was 
Rector of Si. l-Minond's Church, Salisbury, in the county 
of Wiltshire. England, antl came to Boston in l()35. He 
married, in 1643, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Ralj)!! Part- 
ridge, of l)u\bury, Massachusetts. The children of Rev. 
Atherton and Mary ( Niles) Wales, were Phelie,bom Marth 
4, 1731, and married Josluia Tilden in 1760; Rachel, born 
February 2, 1734. 'A'^^'\ married Amos Rogers, in I756; 
Mary, biu'n July 27, 1740, and married Thomas Magoun, 
in 1770; Atherton, hom September 3, 1743. and married 
Mary Niles, November s. l/j'-N 'lic'l in I/'IS; Peter 
Thatcher Wales, born August 3, 1745, marrie<.l Lydia 
potter; and Sarah, born ( teto'ier 10. 174S, and married 
Benjamin Hatch. Peter Thatclier Wales, above named, 
grandlather of (_'olonel .Samuel Ha/.^aid Wales, became a 
])hysician. lie was born in Maishlicld. Massachusetts, 
wlience he removed to Portsmouth, Rliode Islantl, where 
he engaged in the practice of medicine. His wife, 
Lvdia Poller, was the daughter of Rouse Potler, of Ports- 
mouth. 1 >r. Wales died in Portsmouth, in May, 1809, 
in the sixty-hfth year of his age; and Ids wife died in 
the same |dace, in A]ail, 1N03. in the tifly-tillh \e.ir of 
her age. ( )l their children who reached a mature age 
were Rouse, .Atherton. Peter, Mary. I .ydia, and Luke. 
Rouse (bed at sea when about thirt) years td' age. Ather- 
ton was ihe lather of Colonel Samuel H. Wales. He 
was born in Portsmouth. Rhode Island, May 29, 1772, 
and died I )ccember 17, 1S20, in the forty-eighth year 
of his age. He was for many years a sailor, and also 
engaged in farming. When about twenty-five years of 
age, he married Eli/abeth, daughter of Samuel llaz/ard, 
of South Iviiigstown, Rhode Island, ami great grand- 
daughter of Jonathan Nichols, Deputy-t lovemoi- of the 
Colony of Rhode Island. She died b^'ii^i-^'T 2i>, iSi^, in 
the forty-seventh \ear of her age. dlie children by this 
niarnage were RousC, Lydia. Atherton. Henry, Samuel 
Haz/ard, Eli/abeth, and Susan. Samuel lla//ard Wales, 
tlie subject of this sketch, was but hve years of age at the 
time of his mother's death, and ten years old when his 
father 'lied, for several years he was employed by his 
brother on a farm, and froni Ins thirteenth to his sixteenth 
year performed ihe principal pari <.d' the labor on a farm 
of thirty acres, impro\ed by 1 >r. William Richardson, in 
Poitsmoiiih. At the age of sixteen he w nit to Pro\iilenee, 
where he served -AW apjirenlice-liip of hve years at the 
clock and w .lU h making business, under Cieiuge S. Tomp- 
kins, on ihe completion of which he worked as jiuirney- 




' /-//C 



^ . ?. .^^- 



rrc^/ '<^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



359 



man for Mr. Tompkins until Octolier i, 1S34. In tliat 
year he bought hi^. emphiyer's establishment and com- 
menced business in Frovitlence on his own account, which 
he carried on successfully until 1855, when his store was 
broken into and robbed of nearly the whole stock, amount- 
ing to about seven thousand dollars, leaving him with an 
indebtedness of three thousand dollars. He continued in 
business, under great embarrassment, until 1874. lie has 
taken an active and prominent part in politics. In 1840 
he was Chief Marshal of the Young Men's Delegation 
from Rhode Island to Baltimore to confirm the nomination 
of Harrison and Tyler for President and \'ice- President of 
the United States. He was a member of the " Rhode Isl- 
and Suffrage Association " during the [Political agitation 
which resulted in the '• iJorr War," and was Chairman of 
the State Central Commiiteo which prepared tlie address 
and resolutions adopted at the adjourned meeting held in 
Providence on the 5th of July, 1S41, and took a prominent 
part in the stirring scenes which ensued during the contest 
between the " Dorrites," or " Suffrage Party," and the 
" Law and Order Party." Tlie Whig party opposed the 
doctrine of the " Dorrites," and the Democratic party es- 
poused it. This left him on the Democratic side in })oli- 
tics. For three years lie was Chairman of the State Cen- 
tral Democratic Committee. He was a member of the 
military organization known as the " Independent Company 
of Volunteers," and served in quelling the " Olney Street 
Riot," in the fall of iS;i. In April, 1833, he was elected 
Lieutenant-Colonel of that organization, w hich he com- 
manded at the reception of President Jackson, and held 
that office about five years. From i860 to 1S67 he was a 
member of the " United Train of Artillery " (Old Guards). 
For several years he served as Justice of the Peace, and 
Notary Public. In 1875 '^"^ ^^^•'' elected one of the Li- 
cense Commissioners of Providence, wdiich office he now 
holds. In January, 1868, he was elected President of the 
Franklin Lyceum of Providence, and is now President of 
the Rhode Island Horticultural Society. He is a nrember 
of the Second Universalist Society, of which he was for 
.several years President, and for eight years Superintendent 
of its Sabbath-school. On the 25th of April, iS3i,he married 
Esther H. Hathaway, of Freetown, Massachusetts. The 
issue of this marriage was eight children, Ksther, Na- 
thaniel, Samuel, Josephine, Alfred, kla, Frederick, and 
Mary. 

^OWRV, WlLLl.\M GULI.Y R.\ND.\LL, lumber mer- 
chant, son of Major Nathaniel and Lydia (Dex- 
ter) Mowry, was born December, 20, 1810, at 
. Smithfield, Rhode Island, near Lime Rock, where 
V his father was a prominent citizen. His school 
education was limited to an attendance of three months 
each year in the common schools of his native j.ilace, until 
the age of seventeen, when he w-as apprenticed to Lowell 
Fales, of Pawtucket, to learn the trade of a builder. He 



served for four years, and at his majority attended for six 
months the Friends' boarding-school at Bolton, Massachu- 
setts. He soon became a partner with Mr. Fales, and 
afterwards carried on the car|xnter business for several 
years on his own account, erecting mills, churches, and 
other buildings. In 1847 he removed to Providence, 
where, with the exception of a single year, he has since 
canied on an extensive lumber business, part of the time 
under his own name, and subsequently under the firm- 
names of Mowry & Steere and W. G. R. Mowry & Co. 
He has been engaged also in the buming of lime since 
1S54. In November of that year the Dexter Lime Rock 
Company was organized, and Mr. Mowry appointed agent 
and elected treasurer of the company. He resigned the 
position a-s agent at the end of the year 1854, but retained 
the treasurership for twenty-two years thereafter. He has 
also Ijeen employed in the settlement of numerous estates 
and in the administration of various private trusts. In 
politics he has always been a Democrat, uncomiuomising 
and independent in the advocacy of his views. Through- 
out his life he has been a firm friend of the temperance 
cause, and has maintained a decided stand in favor of 
prohibition, having been for several years Chairman of the 
.State Prohibition Committee. He has never sought oflfice, 
and only at the earnest solicitation of his party has he ac- 
cepted its nominations. He was appointed one of the 
original board of commissioners for building the new City 
Hall in Providence, being associated therein with the late 
Governor James Y.Smith and Hon. George IT. Corliss, 
and after the death of Governor .Smith and the reorganiza- 
tion of the board, he became its President. He is a mem- 
ber of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and the Rhode 
Island Agricultural Society. During his residence in Prov- 
idence he has uniformly attentled the I'"irst Congregational 
(Unitarian) Church, of the society of which he wa-. for two 
years Presiilent. He has been active in religious and 
charitable work, and many have had occasion to feel grate- 
ful to him for aid extended to them in time of need. He 
married, November 30, 1S46, Lydia Olney, daugliter of 
Obadiah (Jlney, and granddaughter of Elisha Olney, of 
Smithfield, a descendant, in the seventh generation, from 
Hon. Thomas Olney, who was an associate with Roger 
Williams in the founding of Providence, and the first 
treasurer of the colony. Their only child, Anna Frances, 
was born November 30, 1848; died September 15, 1849. 



PmITH, Governor J.\mks Youngs, son of Amos 
D. and Priscilla (Mitchell) .Smith, was born in 
Poquoiroc Village, Groton, New London County, 
Connecticut, September 15, 1809. This family of 
■L Smiths possessed sterling qualities and earnest piety. 
Some rif them were [uomincnt memliers in the Second 
Baptist Church in the town on Fort Hill. Priscilla Mit- 
chell was descended from Priscilla Mullens, of Mayflower 



^6o 



BIOGRArillCAL C VCL OPEDIA. 



fame, the liernine of 1 .mv^'fellow'-. \K^■.:m of the '■ Courl^llip 
of Miles St,iiiili>li." The Mil.jeet i.r tills sk.-teli was early 
tiaine'l to hahits of iinlu^liy. He was ein|iloyed on tlie 
farm in sniniiuvs, and atiendeil the ■li-.trict stiiool a few 
inoiilhs c-aeh winter nniil the a;^e of thnleeii, when lie l^e- 
caiiie a clerk in a country store in Salem. Connecticut, 
where he reinaiiuil three years, jieinj; intrusted with the 
chief management of the I'Usiness. In 1S26 ]te removed to 
Providence", Rhode Island, and entered the countinij-room 
of Ahorn & Smith — James Al.oin ,ind Amos I). Smith — 
lumber dealers. .-Xmos I). Sniilh was the elder hrother of 
Tames V., and is elsewliere sketched in tins work. He 
retiieil from the Inni in i.Sj.S, and in lSj;o, James V. 
formed a parlnerslnp with .1 nLpliew ol his former em- 
ployer, under the name of .Vljorn & Smith, which Hrm 
succeeded to the lumher luisiness. Seven years later .Mr. 
Smith liecame the side propriLlor of the husines,, which 
then became uuite extensis-e. He m.irried, .\uj^ust ij, 
I.S^S, Kmily, daliL,du<.a' ol the late Thomas riiown. of Tiov- 
idence. .As his father-in-law was interested in the manu- 
facture of cotton guilds in Scituate, Rhode Islam!, .Mr. 
.Smith, about iSj;, lie^an to iinesi his surplus capital in 
(he same business. In 1N4; he sold out his lumber busi- 
ness, and entered into partneisliip with his brother, Amos 
I)., nnder the style of .\. 1). i J. \'. Smith, for .1 score of 
years one of the best known firms in rro\idence. They 
carrieil on a i^enei.d wholesale merchandise business, rep- 
resenting also the mills in whith tlu-y were concerned. 
'The Iju^iness liecame \ei)' extensive, especially by the ac- 
([uisition of new mills. In iSoj the brothers sejiarated, 

and lames \'. s fonned a lu w firm, taking in one son- 

iii law- and then tla- ollnr, the busiiu'ss being, until his 
death, th' manufacture of cotton goods, carrieil on in four 
different mills. I iovernor Smith early turned his attention 
to public affairs, and few men in llie St.ite ever gave niijre 
tif their time to the public service. He served in many 
and imporfaiU positions. I-'or sever.il years he was Rejire- 
senlative in the (ieneral .\ssembl)-; for many years a mem- 
ber of the School ('ommiltee ; M.iyor of I'ro\idence in 
1S55 and 185(1; and (iovernor of the State from l.Sbj to 
iSfif), wdieii he declined .1 re-nomination. lie was nomi- 
nated for ( hnernor by the Rejuililicans in r.Sot.lint defeated 
by a combination of Demiurats and disaffected Re[mbli- 
cans under the lead of William .S|ir.igue. In 1S64 occurred 
a heated election, and t ioveriKjr Smith was opposed be- 
cause he would not commit himself to any candidate for 
the United States Sen.itorship. The oiiposition combined 
with the lieniocrats, bill in vain, liovernor Smith and 
the whole Republican ticket tnuinphed overall opposition. 
Mis election in iSti^ was still more rem.iikable. He re- 
ceived a majority in e\ery town and w.ud of the .State, a 
case ne\'er p.ir.ilKdi-d 111 the Sf.iti-'s In-ioiy. .\s a War- 
Go\-ernor his record w.is noble .iiid uiisui p.i-si <l. To the 
filling of the St.ites ijuot.i and the s(K-c-dy and decisive 
overthrow of the Rebellion he gave himself with untiring 



devotion, and bv special and wise exertions spared the 
Slate the necessity f)f resorting t'l a dralt ; and amid the 
multitude of hea\\- duties growing out of the war and ilie 
dem.inds of an exteiisise business, his time and attentir)n 
were given to the humblest applicant for aid or advice, his 
oflice being crrrwded from morning till night. His dona- 
tions to the soldiers and their families w'ere large, and 
w hen a friend suggested that he was giving too largely, he 
rejilied, " I allow no man to come between nie and my 
charities; that is a dutv I am responsible for only to my 
( jod." .After retiring from the chief magistracy, lio\ernor 
Smith served on many imblic commissions, and always with 
self-sacrificing attention and zeal. His unusual mechan- 
ical ability was very frequenlly called into requisition for 
tile public welfare, lie was Chairman of the commission 
to build the new' (-"it\' Hall, and was on the Building Com- 
mittees of three of the principal churches of Providence in 
the erection of their jilaces of worship. He also ser\ed in 
■\'arious wa)'s, offici.dly antl b\' his means, the diflerent 
charitable societies and benevolent institutions of the city 
and .State. I'or three years he was President of the Provi- 
dence I'.oard of I'lade. At the time of his death he was 
President of a bank of discount; of two savings-banks; 
director in eight insurance companies, in some of which 
he was President; direcior of the Pro\idence and Worces- 
ter Railway f'onijiany ; of the Xew York and New Eng- 
lanrl Railway Company ; and a member of tive commis- 
sions under the citv government. With all these responsi- 
bilities, in addition to the duties of his regular business, 
n|ion him, he was yet one of the most approachable of 
men. and ga\'i' profuseh of his time and nicmey to a host 
of appliLauls. Ili> biendship and kindness were truly 
remark. ible, though often bestcjwed only to be abused. 
When, however, in business and political affairs, he had 
reached a conclusion, his determination was firm aiul un- 
alterable. He died at his residence on Hope Street, March 
2tT, I.Syii. in his sixt\*-seventli year. His children were 
Thomas li., who died young; Isabella B., wdio married 
Charles .\. Niclmls; KniiU' P., who married General 
Hoiatio Rogers. Rarely has the death of any one in 
Rhode Island called forth such general mourning as did 
that of liovernor Smith. The public offices were closed; 
the General .\sscmbly adjourned; the city and State 
officials attended his funeral in a body, and in carriages 
two abreast preceded the hearse, wdiile an immense con- 
course of cili/ens in carriages and on foot followed to 
Swan Point (A-metery. Ivpially the rich and the poor felt 
their loss and paid their trilnite of respect to the able, 
faithfid, hoiH)red man. 



^EEDE.X, .Srr.i'iii'.N' K.wd.m.i., only son of George 
jiV^I'-'j Eversiui and .\iin Prances (Randall) Weeden, 
:yVV-'.'^ was born in Providence, September 22, 1S09. 
3,''» His ancestors on his mother's side were lineal 
.^r descendants of Roger Williams. In his boyhood 



BIOGRAPHICAL CJ CI.OPEDIA. 



36' 



anil youth he attended the public scIiooN, and also a jiri- 
vate school on Benefit Street. taut;ht by Oliver Anj;ell, a 
famous teacher in his day. At the age of sixteen he 
entered the establishment of Smith tt Parmenter, publish- 
ers of the Cadet, where he learned tlie trade ^"i^ a jiriuter. 
This employment he followed for several years. In I.S55 
he engaged in bookselling, doing business in a store on 
the corner of Westminster Street and Washington Row, 
the name of the firm being B. Cranston & Co. Tliis was 
the store afterwards occupied for many years by George 
H. Whitney. The Providence ."Vthenaum having com- 
pleted their new building in the spring of 18,18. the Board 
of Directors held a meeting there, and on the 2d of July, 
from a list of forty-five applicants, elected Mr. Weeden to 
the office of Librarian. This position he filled for more 
than seven years "to the entire satisfaction," quoting from 
the records, "of the Board and of the proprietors," resign- 
ing the office in October, 18-15, "" account of ill-health. 
The following year he became associated with his uncle, 
Stephen Randall, in the manufacture of braided candle 
wicking. About this time he engaged once more in book- 
selling, at the corner of College and North Main Streets, 
the name of the firm being Weeden & Peck. Here he 
continued until 1S50. Upon the death of his uncle, in 
1S74, he assumed the entire man.agement and control of 
the wicking business, his oldest son, George, being asso- 
ciated with him. Here he has continued until the present 
time, the name of the firm being .S. R. Weeden & .Son. Mr. 
Weeden has been for many years a prominent and efficient 
member of the Fourth Baptist Church, being constant in 
his attendance upon the various meetings of the church 
and society, and liberal in the appropriation of means for 
the support of public worship, and the spread of the gos- 
pel. In 1838 he was elected Superintendent of the Sab- 
bath-school. In this position he labored with zeal and 
success, with occasional interruptions, until 1869, a period 
of thirty-one years. Upon the formation of the Rhode 
Island Baptist Sabbath-school Association, in 1841, he 
acted as Secretary pro lent. In 1844 he was elected Secre- 
tary. This office he continued to fill from year to year 
until 1852. For many years he has been Treasurer of the 
Rhode Island Baptist State Convention. In 1S65 he was 
appointed one of the Board of Inspectors of the State 
Prison. To this honorable position he was annually re- 
appointed until 1877, when the Board was dissolved. 
Since then he has been a member of the Board of State 
Charities and Corrections. Mr. Weeden married, October 
16, 1831, Nancy, daughter of David Bachelor, of Provi- 
dence. She died January 28, 1845. For his second wife 
he married, November 25, 1847, Maria, daughter of Allin 
Hunt, of East Providence. Five children are the fruits 
of this marriage, viz. : Stephen Randall, who died in in- 
fancy; George Everson, who was graduated at Brown 
University in 1870, and who is now associated with his 
father in business; Caroline Bachelor; Allin Hunt, who 
46 



was also graduated at the University, and who died [uly 
2, 1879, universally^ beloved and lamented; and Maria 
Hunt. Mr. Weeden resides in the Tenth Ward, his house 
being the one built and occupied liy his uncle, Stephen 
Randall. 



ii: 



;..\\DALI.. Rr. Rf.v. Georce M.\x\vi:ll, D.I)., 
^*| son of Hon. .Samuel and Martha (Maxwell) Ran- 
dall, was born in Warren, Rhode Island, Novem- 
ber 23, iSlo. It was his purpose to be a printer, 
and he learned the art, but subsequently concluded 
to obtain an education with a view to entering |)rofessional 
life. Having passed through the preparatory stage of his 
studies in Warren, he entered Brown University, and grad- 
uated in the class of 1835, and in 1S38 completed his theo- 
logical course (if study at the General Theological Seminary 
of New York. Having been ordained deacon by Bishop 
(iriswold, soon after his graduation, he became rector of 
the Church of t..e .Ascension, in Fall River, Massachusetts, 
where he remained until 1844. He was then called to 
take charge of a newly organized parish in Boston, the 
Church of the Messiah, and continued to belts rector until 
1866, twenty-two years. Whde acting as the minister of 
the Church of the Messiah, he was also for many years the 
editor of the Cliriilian Wilnas, which represented the 
Episcojial Church in New England. He took a deep in- 
terest in the educational affairs of Boston, and was one of 
the most faithful and efficient members of the School Com- 
mittee for several years. He was secretary of the General 
Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States, 
and a member of the Standing Committee of the diocese of 
Massachusetts. He was selected by his church, in the fall 
of 1865, to be Missionary Bishi'p of Colorado, Wyoming, 
and New Mexico, and was consecrated in December to 
take the oversight of the interests of his church in the vast 
territory embraced within the limits of his wide-extended 
diocese. He entered ujmn the discharge of his Episcopal 
duties with apostolic zeal and earnestness. He was, so far 
as human helpers were concerned, nearly alone, there 
being but two clergymen and two parishes in all the region 
which came under his supervision. The record of a period 
of seven years'work is thus summed up by Professor Gam- 
mell. When his labors came to an end " his diocese con- 
tained twenty-four parishes, twenty church edifices free 
from debt, and fifteen clergymen. He had established 
.schools for boys and for girls and a theological school, 
which together had cost upwards of J 150,000. These he 
designed to be the beginnings of the future ' University of 
Colorado.' He was accustomed every year to visit the 
princijjal settlements of his diocese, stretching many hun- 
dred miles in every direction from his home in Denver. In 
doing this he was obliged to use all sorts of conveyances, 
often to lodge in the rudest hovels, and to incur all the 
exposure and risks that are incident to frontier journeying. 



BlOGKArmCAL CYCLOPEDJA. 



He i'lL-HtilicI liini-clf uith all tin- iiilcn-vts of civilizntion 1 

ill the Rocky Muuntain-. lie- iironioicil i; l-«ill towaril- 

the IIl(lian^; he L-iicoina;;cii ciliu aii'U ami all ^ucial im- 
provement^: and he preachecl the c;u-.pel to all sorts of 
people in settlements where it liail sehlom been preacheJ 
before." liishop Randall died in Denver, Colorado Ter- 
ritory. September 2S, iS;^, ha\int; a wife, Eliza I Hoar) 
Ranilall. aani;hter of Lewi^ Hoar, of Wairen, to whom he 
was married m Mav, iSjy. 



f^\( iWI.F.S, |iist,l'll, printer and publisher, was born 
in Westerly, Rhode Mand, July 3, iSlo. Ilis 
_'^ paternal am estor, 1 [enry Know les, emigrated from 
\ " I,(jndon, ICnuland, Aprd 15. 1635, and settled in 
■L I'.irtsnMmh, on Rho-le Island, w hcie he u as a free- 
holfler in Iii-t4. lie removed to Warwick in 1045. In 
1070 hi- soli William seitled in .South Kin_;-towii, Rhode 
I-land. where the imnnsliale ancestors of Joseph Knowles 
re-ided unid 1.S04. when his fuller, jose]ih Mumfcird 
Knowde-., reiiio\ed to Westeily. I >n his ni.itcrnal side he 
is descended from the Tillinghasts. also an ancient family 
of the State. Mr. Knowles was educated in the common 
school, of his native place and at the academy at Kings- 
tow n. an insiiiiition of much repute at iliat time. He wa, 
appicnliced to William Sioier.tlic publi-hcrol a new-]«aper 
at Slonington, ('oiiiiccliciil, w nil whom he remained two 
years, but the jiapcr wa-, not succcs-ful. and the indentures 
of apprenticeship were cancelled, lie removed to I'rovi- 
dence in 1S32, where he entered inio (he service ol Josiah 
yones, publisher of the Fyi<:'i,/iii,-,- r,itrn<l ,iii,i C.'/iimoiuii 
PJu'iiix, a famous newspaper in the politics ol Rhode 
Island, which numbered ainoiii; its contributors some >A 
the ablest writers of ihe Stale. Mr. J.iiies was a jirinter 
and jaiblisher for many )ears, still working at tlie ca-,e 
when eightv vear, of age, and at the lime of his death was 
reputed to be the oldest printei in the fnited St.ites. In 
early life Mr. Know Us engaged in .-everai new spajier en- 
terprises. With tile late James S. Ham he purchased 7X(i- 
A/iinhosm, which was continued about one year. He also 
published the Comnutiial Ai!;',:rtisi-r for a short time, 
and the I.ilerary Journal, wliiidi was cimtimied but one 
year, and of which Albert li. lireeiic was editor. In 183S 
Mr. Knowles and William 1.. buiroughs |iurchased the 
Proi'iUcHce JintDK}!. but soon Mr. Uiiiroughs retired, and 
the copartnership of Knowles, \'ose & .\nlliony was after- 
wards formed, which was .nice interrupted by death, and 
once enl.irged by the addiiion of another partner, .Mr. 
George W. I lanieKon, the Inin name becoming Knowles, 
Anthony & Danielson, under which the business of the 
Diiilv Jonin.il and l-'.ioihi;^ Ihilhlhi is sliU conducted. 
Mr. Knowle-'s connection « illi the 7'''"""'' ''^tended ovei 
a period of lliiil;--i\ year-. He mariled, July 3. I.S34. 
Mary Caroline, only d.iughier of his secoml employer, 
Josiah Jones. She died June 17, I,S7o. .iged M\ly-eiglit 



years. They had se\en children, of whom only one son. 
lohn C. Knowles, is living. .Another son, Frank H., 
attained the age of twenty-seven. He studied meilicine, 
but left his medical studies to serve in the First Regiment 
Rhode Isl.iiid Volunteers in the war of the Rebellion. His 
death was hastened by the exposures and fatigues of the 
service while assistant surgeon on hospital duty at Hampton 
Roads. He was a young man of more than ordinary 
promise, and a favorite pupil of the late Dr. Lewis L. Mil- 
ler. Joseph Knowles died ill Providence, December 2 1 , 
1.S74 .As was s.iid of him in an obituary which appeared 
in the columns of the Proz'idiiiiC Daily JouDial, from 
which the above fads were obtained, " He was in many 
respects a tvpe of the .\ew England character. In his 
voutli he learned an honest trade, and learned it thoroughly 
in all It! bunches and ajiplications. As apprentice, as 
jonrneynian, as master |irinter, he performed tlie duties ot 
each positicm ; hrst, faithful to those whom he served ; then 
kind and considerate t.i tho^e who served him; always just 
to all, and jusi to himself; jiaticnt under difficulties, cheer- 
ful in adversity, moderate in prosperity." 



'I'INK, XicHi'i AS X.. son of Christopher and Hannah 
\ (Xoithupi Spink, was born in Wickford. Rhode 
Island. .-\ugu-,t 20. I.Slo. His boyhood and youth 
«'''to were |ia-sed in his native town, excepit some time 
spent at school in I'lainfield, Connecticut. j\t an 
early age lie engaged in mercantile bu-mes-., in w liicli he 
continueil until 1S37, when he became cashier of the 
Narraganselt iJank. now merged in the Wickford Xational 
Rank. He still hold- the jiosit 1011 of ca-liier, having served 
in that capacity over loity year-. FcU' many years he was 
town clerk of Wickford. which office he was obliged to 
resign on account of impaiieil he.dtli. He is a member of 
the lia|itist t/hiirch, and has ever taken a deep interest in 
matters pertaining t'l the religion- and moral welfare of the 
Coninuinitv. .Mr. Spink married, July 12, 1S37, in Wick- 
ford, Fluhlah .\. Wcedeii, daughter of Peleg and Mary 
(Fowler) Weeden. 'I'heir children are Benjamin W., now 
of the firm of I diver, Johnson cV Co., Providence ; Fannie 
A., and Mary F. 



f'\\-V.\\V., Ibi.N. ,\i..\Ns(iN, maiiufacturer, son of llo- 
S sea and Hannah (Tinkham) Steere, was born in 
'" Clocestcr, Rhode Island, September 2, iSlo. He 
-■;■>' is of luiglish descent, and, according to tradition, his 
'"'S aiice-tors in this ciuintry were among the early set- 
tler-. He was educated in the common country schools, 
and when about sixteen years of age, began to serve an 
appieiiliceship as a millvviighl with hi- father, with whom 
Ik continueil to wink at hi- trade until his twenty-fourih 
vear. For about four years thereafter he carried on the 
same business for himself. In 1S3S, in company with his 




^^ <^, 



FnoGR.irmcAL ever. opedia. 



363 



brnthcr, Otis Steere, he began tlie mnmifncture of cotton 
yarn, at Kent's Corner, in Scituate, Rhode Island, where 
tliey continued in successful business until 1848, at which 
time they sold out, and leased for ten years the Brown Mill 
in Johnston, and commenced the manufacture of cotton 
sheetings. They continued there until 1852, when they 
cancelled the lease and removed to Chepachet, where 
they leased a mill of Samuel W. Hunt, and engaged in 
the manufacture of print-cloths until 1857. They subse- 
quently removed to Rockland, where they leased a mi 
of T. P. Remington and I. Saunders, and continued to 
manufacture the same class of goods, under the iirm-name 
of A. & O. Steere, until the sprinj; of 1863. when Mr, .Steere 
bought out his brother, and carried on the business with 
the assistance of his two sons, Miram and Byron L. In 
lS6s he bought the Rockland Mill, and also leased the 
Red Mill near by, both of which he carried on in his own 
name until 1876. At this time he took his son Byron L. 
into the business, anrl the tirm-name has since been A. 
Steere & Son. In 1S71 he built an addition to the Rock- 
land Mill, and greatly enlarged the business. Mr. Steere 
began with 1500 spindles at the Brown Mill, and has grad- 
ually increased his business to more than 8000 spindles. 
He has also owned, since 1S60, one-sixth interest in the 
Ponagansett Mill, which runs 6000 sjiindles, and has a 
share of the business management of the same. Vox live 
years he was President of the Town Council of Scituate, 
and has held various other town offices. In 1865, he was 
elected to the .State Senate, and continued to represent his 
town for four successive years, serving on the Committee 
on Corporations each year. In 1872, he was a delegate 
to tlie National Re|nd)lican Convention at Philadelphia, 
lie was formerly an ( )ld Line Whig ; was a member of tlie 
Law and Order party during tlie Dorr troubles in Rhode 
Island ; became a Republican on the formation of that 
party, and was an active supporter of the Union during the 
war of the Rebellion. Mr. Steere has always been a pro- 
gressive man, and interested in the promotion of public 
enterprises. He has been an advocate of temperance prin- 
ciples ; has been a member of the Sons of Temperance and 
the Good Templars and Temple of Honor, and has held 
vaiious offices in these orders; is also Treasurer of Ham- 
ilton Lodge of Freemasons, and of the Scituate Royal 
Arch Chapter; and a member of the Rhode Island Society 
for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. He mar- 
ried, February 14, 1836, Julia, daughter of Jeremiah and 
Olive (Burlingame) Wescott, of Coventry, Rhode Island. 
They have had three children, .Sarah Frances, who is un- 
married and at home, Hiram, who died June 20, 1872, in 
the thirtieth year of his age, and Byron L., who, as before 
stated, is a member of the firm of A. Steere & Son. Hiram 
was educated at the Beldcn School, North Providence, 
Lapham Institute, Scituate, and Eastman Business College, 
Poughkeepsie, New York, and married. May 23, 1863, 
Elizabeth A., daughter of Richard and Mahala (Round) 




Bishop. For nearly ten years he was actively engaged 
in his father's business, anil in 1S70 and 1871, represented 
his town in the (jeneral Asscmiily, as a member of the 
House. He left three ilaughlers, Ina V., Vivian M., and 
Lulu B. 

oOUTHWICIv, Is.AAC Harrison, son of Isaac and 
Tabitha (Roberts) Southwick, was born in (irafton, 
Massachusetts, .August 14, 181 1. He is of the sev- 
■|" enth generation of Southwicks in New England, his 
ei L English ancestor being tlie famed Lawrence South- 
wick, who with his wife Cassandra, being stanch Quakers, 
were banished (as sung by Whittier) from Massachusetts, 
in 1658, by (iovcrnor Endicott, and took refuge on Shelter 
Island, in tlardner's Bay, near Long Island, New York. 
Lawrence Southwick had a son Daniel, who married, in 
1663, Elizabeth Boyce, and had a son Daniel, a husband- 
man, who married, near 16S8, and had a son Jonathan. 
In 1735 Jonathan married Hannah Osborn, and had a son 
Jacob, who, in 1778, married Sarah Fowler, and was the 
father of Isaac, the father of the subject of this sketch. 
Isaac Southwick was a shoe manufacturer, and ranked 
among the solid yeomen of Grafton. The maternal grand- 
parents of Isaac H. were John and Tabitha (Leland) Rob- 
erts. John Roberts was a farmer, and a gallant soldier in 
the Revolution. The children of Isaac and Tabitha .South- 
wick were Tabitha L., Isaac H., Eliza L., Joseph E., Cla- 
rissa M. (who died young), and John R. Isaac H., was 
educated in the common schools of Grafton, and learned 
the trade of his father. At the age of twenty-one he went 
to New Orleans, Louisiana, as clerk in a wholesale shoe 
house, where he remained one season. Returning to Graf- 
ton he began the manufacture of shoes, and continued the 
business for two years. In 1S35 he engaged as clerk in 
the house of Wood, Kind>all & Co., in the boot and shoe 
trade, where he remained one year, and then went to New 
Orleans as a member of the firm of Prentice, Hinds & Co., 
in the North, but of I. H. Southwick & Co., in New Or- 
leans. After one season there he travelled up the Missis- 
sippi and Ohio Rivers to Madison, Indiana, and there car- 
ried on business for five years. He next removed to 
Bunker Hill, Illinois, and con<lucted a faim of pi-airie 
land, cutting his furrows half a mile in length. In the 
meantime he travelled on horseback one summer through 
Northern Illinois and Iowa. In the sunnner of 1845 '"^ 
returned to Grafton, Massachusetts, and in 1847 became 
Station-master on the Providence and Worcester Railroad, 
at Saundersville, Massachusetts. In 1848 he was trans- 
ferred, as the (General Agent of the same road, to Worces- 
ter, and in 1850 he became General Superintendent of the 
road, removing to Providence, wdiere he acted in that ca- 
pacity for five years. In 185 1, as Superintendent, he 
formed an important contract with parties to start a line of 
freight steamers from Providence to New York, connect- 
ing with the road which he managed. These parties or- 



i<H 



B 10 GRAPHIC A L C] -CI. OP EDI A. 



i;aiiizc-il iIk- CDmnu-rcial Stenmbnat Coiii]i,iny, ami run llie 
firsl icL;ular line t)f frci^Iit steamers iliai L-\ri I'licl helwccn 
I'r iviilciKi- ani NVw York, starliiii; fmu Imat-. jnaliiiii,' tri- 
weekly tiip^. riio hi->i boats wi'ie tlic IVln-l a)iil Pcbcaii 
(Ijiuli e\|iri'-^ly fur tho line), ami tlie c ),ceula and West- 
chester, sonn lullinved I'V uthei*s, until the line Ihiall)- be- 
came a (lulv une. The ct)nii>anies siuceeilini^ the Coiii- 
nierei il Steamboat Company ]ia\e been the Xeptune 
Steamship ( omjiany, the Merehants' Steamship Company, 
the l')d\ii!i'iHe ami New \'orIs Sleainshiji (Company, ami 
tht,' present line, the I'l-ovitlence aii'i Sionm^ton Steamship 
t"oinpany, in all of whieh. save the last, he was a l.liL^e 
owner. I'he contract t'oimed liy Mr. Southwiek with the 
hr-t eom]>.)ii\ has been reitewed. in its original form, with 
the succeeding cjnipanies. In 1^55 -Mr. Southwiek became 
.Superintendent of the Central (Jhio Railioail, extending 
from the I ihio River, near Wheeling, to Columbus, whieli 
position he held for one year. In I,S5lS he returned to 
I'rov idence, and becoming an owner and l)irector in the 
Commercial Steamboat t_"ompany, served as Agent of the 
transportation line, with his rilhce in IJoston. where he re- 
mained until tSo^, wdien he became General Manager and 
Treasurer of the Company, with his office in Providence. 
In this jiosition he continued till 1S05, when he transferred 
his interest to the Neptune Steamship ("ompany, then or- 
ganized, and retired from the heavy transportaiion business. 
In I. Si 16. when tlie I'rovidence and New York Steamship 
Company succeeded the Merchants' .Steamship Company, 
he again became Cieiieral Manager and Treasurer, and 
served in that capacity h>r two years. .Since that time he 
has iieen eng.iged in Irduciary trusts and in settling estates. 
From 1S5S to 1S71 he was a director of the Providence 
and Worcester Railroad Comjiany. In I.Sy.^ lie was elected 
a member of the t_ieneral Assembly of i\liode Island. I'^or- 
inerly a Whig, he is now a stanch Repulilican. He has 
long taken an active fiart in the Rhode Island Historical 
Society. He married, .\ugust .S. i.S_;y. t ;kni-sa .Vnn Keith, 
daughter of Roval Keith, a man of mark and wiMtli in 
C.ralton, Massachusetts. Mrs. Southwiek was born .May 
Ij, I.S12. They have had seven children: Henry K.. 
Cl.irissa M.. Sarah E. (who died young). Royal K.. Joseph 
II., .\nnie K., and Isaac II., (i. Though of (.Juaker an- 
cestry, Mr. Soiilhwiek woidjips with the Congregation- 
alists. His e\euiti\e ability, genial disjiosition, bene\o- 
leiice, and deep interest in jniblic affairs, have given hiin 
an honored place m the regards cd" his fellow -citizens. 



} iW.VRD, Gkorge .-Vl.l.EN, merchant, was born in 
Warwick, Rhode Island, I ictober (i, iSio. When 
he was nine years of age he went to li\e ndth his 
d'ira grandmother, in ^VaI■wlck, with whom he made his 
* home fir more than ele\en years, hroin early youth 
he was brought up ti' hard wink, and his educational ad- 
vantages were \ erv linrited. He soon found einplo\iiient 



among the farniers of the neighborh.iod. for whom he l;i- 
bored by the day, or month, or season, as opportunity 
offered. His patient industry soon attracted the attention 
of Captain Elisha P. Smith, of Pawtuxet, who was the 
owner of a farm and mill in the town of .Swanse)', Massa- 
chusetts, and in M.ircli, 1S31, he engaged Mr. Howard as 
a farm hand and teamster for eight months, at ten dollars 
per inontli. .'\t the end of that term of service he li.id 
sa\'e<l seseiity dollars, which enabled him to allend school 
fiu" a short time in Pro\idence, where he jjursued a course 
of bookkeejiing. In the spring cif iSj2 he went to New 
Hedford, Massachusetis, where, in company with William 
K. Thurber, he commenced the inaiuifacture of cigars. 
Mr. Ihurl)er soon retired I'rom the lirni, and Mr. Howard 
c.irried on the business alone, in connection with the grtj- 
cery trade, until 1835, when he sold out anil removed to 
Providence, \\hcre, lia\ ing bought the furniture w.ire-roonis 
of Ivekiel Adams, he entereil that business in com|'aiiy 
with Isaac S. Hall, on tlie loth of June, iS35,in the four- 
st'U'v bud ling which then stood on Westminster Street, 
where m iw is Ilorrance Street. In the same building he 
continued to manufacture cigars on his ow n account. About 
the beginning of iSjfj the partnership with Mr. Hall was 
diss. deed, and he continued the business alone in the same 
place with only one man to assist him. He resided m the 
third slorv of the same building, and deli\"ered goods to 
his customers in a hand cart m the esening, after the day's 
business was done. In 1S3Q he enlarged his warehouse, 
and after awhile, the owners having taken advantage of 
circumstances to evact exorbit.mt rents, he determined to 
have a building of his own, and in 1S47 began to erect the 
Howard Building, into which he soon removed his busi- 
ness, occupying a large part of the building himself. How- 
ard Hall was puldicly o|ieiied November I, IvS4,S. 1)11 the 
joth of Clctober. i.Ss3, ''''s building was consumed by 
fire, together with all his stock in trade. The following 
year Howard Building was rebuilt, and he purchased the 
.Museum Building, then in ]irocess of erection. Both of 
these buildings were destroyed by lire November 15. 1S5S, 
but within a year were rebuilt, d'he first hre left him with 
a debt to struggle against, and before that was paid the 
second fire occurred. The hall in the present Howard 
Building was opened November 28. 1859. Mr. Howard 
was miu i]wner of all the ground occupied by these build- 
ings that could be purchased, besides other propcity in 
various parts of the city, and a farm in Cranston. He was 
ein]ili.itically a man of business; very exact and methodical, 
piompt, upright, sagacious, energetic, and ]iersevei ing, and 
devoted to his calling with that singleness of ]>urpose 
which almost always insures success. His ambition to be 
rich was accompanied by habits of industry, temperance, 
and economy, for which he was distinguished throughout 
his hie. He earned his e.ipital by hard Labor, and by wise 
iinc-tmeiits it was steadily increased, uutil he became the 
owner of large and valuable esiates. Mr. Howard w.as a 



BIOCRArJIlCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



365 



member of the Rliode Island Society for the Encourage- 
ment of Domestic Industry. He was a very decided tem- 
perance man, and resolutely refused to rent his premises to 
be used for the purposes of the liquor traffic. He was a 
life member of the Voung Men's Christian Association, 
though as a rule he believed in personal charities rather 
than in institutions for doing good. His early struggles and 
acquaintance with poverty brought him into close sym- 
pathy with the needy and unfortunate, to whom he was al- 
ways a friend. As was said of him at the time of his death, 
which occurred September 21, 1863, " The poor have cause 
to bless his memory." He married, November I, 1835, Miss 
Eliza A Gardner, daughter of John and Chloe Gardner, 
of Swansey, Massachusetts. They had nine children, 
four of whom are now ( iSSo) living : Eliza Adaline, wife 
of Hon. George H. Slade ; Mary Elizabeth, wife of 
Charles C. Harrington; Emma I,uella,and Jesse Howard, 
all residing in Providence. 



fOOK, Hon. James Sulliv.\n, son of Ichabod and 
Louisa (Cook) Cook, was born in Mendon, Massa- 
chusetts, December 4, iSlO. His parents were 
'. i members of the .Society of Friends, and highly re- 
spected for their sterling qualities of character. His 
father was a well to-rlo farmer, and for one term repre- 
sented his native town in the Massachusetts Legislature. 
His grandfather was also named Ichabod, and resided in 
the town of Mendon, M.issachusetts. Mr. Cook was edu- 
cated in the common schools and at the Friends' School in 
Providence, much of his time, during his boyhood, being 
employed on the farm at home. In 1833 he accepted a 
position as clerk in the store of E. T. Read cS: Co., in 
Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and afterwards was a copartner 
with E. T. Read and A. Hixon, in mercantile business. 
He also served for some time as clerk for the Clinton Man- 
ufacturing Company and others. In 1847 he removed to 
Pascoag, Burrillville, Rhode Island, where he has .since 
resided. In 1S51 he was elected cashier of the Granite 
Bank, now the Pascoag National Bank, which position he 
has ever since occupied, with great credit to himself and 
satisfaction to the patrons of that institution. He was also 
treasurer of the Pascoag Savings Bank for several years. 
From 1854 to 1862 he was engaged in the manufacture of 
fancy cassimeres, in company with Pitts and Thomas D. 
Sayles, at Pascoag, the firm being known as .Sayles, Cook 
& Co., Mr. Cook being the financial manager. He served 
for several years very acceptably as town clerk and town 
treasurer, and has been a member of the School Committee 
since 1 871, taking an active interest in educational matters. 
In politics, he was formerly a Whig, and has acted with 
the Republican paity during its existence. In 1S58 he was 
chosen State Senator from Burrillville, re-elected the fol- 
lowing year, and servefl in the same capacity from 1869 to 



1S75, being for four years Chairman of the Finance Com- 
mittee. He married, November 13, 1.S37, Elsie Ann, 
daughter of Daniel and Phebe (.Smith) Sayles, of Pascoag. 
She died in October, 1854. They had seven children, five 
of whom died in early childhood. Two daughters are now 
living, Marcella S. and Phebe Smith. The former mar- 
ried T. E. Hopkins, and the latter, William H. .Sayles, 
both manufacturers near Danielsonville, Connecticut. On 
the 28th of October, 1856, Mr. Cook married Mrs. Harriet 
A. Pettet, daughter of Harvey and Ruth (Gould) Ballou, 
of Cumberland, Rhode Island. 




-iPKREENE, S.\Mtu:i. Stii.lMAN, LL.I)., Professor in 
Brown University, was born in Belcherlonn, 
Hampshire County, Massachusetts, May 3, iSlo. 
'.'. His parents were Ebenezer and .Syliil (Hitchcock) 
Greene, both of whom were educated at Leicester 
Academy. The subject of this sketch was brought up on 
his father's farm, receiving such advantages for early cul- 
ture and mental discipline as a short term of the annual 
district school aflorded. His fondness for study, and es- 
pecially for arithmetic, led him to procure what books he 
could upon this subject. He took special pleasure in mas- 
tering, by himself. Pike's Arithmetic, a book far in advance 
of the ordinary textbooks of that period. At the age of 
eighteen, in the winter of 1828, he attended a private 
school taught by his brother. Rev. John Greene. The fol- 
lowing winter he was employed in his native town. to teach 
a district school, at Sio per month, "boarding round." 
The two succeeding winters he taught in Leicester, mean- 
while preparing for college. He had, several years pre- 
vious to this time, united with the Baptist Church, and his 
mind had received quickening and gracious influences 
through the power of religious truth. In the fall of 1S33 
he entered the Freshmen Class of Brown University, under 
the Presidency of Dr. Wayland, whose fame as a teacher 
w-as then rapidly extending. He was graduated from this 
institution in 1S37, with valedictory honors, selecting as a 
theme for his commencement oration " Caution Re(|uisite 
in the Character of a Philosopher." Immediately upon 
graduating he was employed first as .Assist.nnt, and then as 
Principal, of the Baptist -Academy in Worcester, Massa- 
chusetts Here he taught with the most gratifying success 
three years, when he was appointed .Superintendent of 
Public Schools in .Springfield. This was the first position 
of the kind ever known in Massachusetts, and the second 
of the kind in the United States. From 1S42 until 1844 
he taught in the English High School of Boston. He was 
Principal of Phillips (Grammar School of that city, from 
1S44 until 1849, when he was appointed Agent of the 
Massachusetts Board of Education. This, too, was the 
first office of the kind ever filled. Upon the resignation of 
the Hon. Nathan Bishop he was elected to fill his place as 
Superintendent of the Public .Schools of Providence, and 



366 



BIOCRAPinCAL CYCL OPED I A. 



in iS^i \v;is ■ijtpoiiUci] rrnfrssi.r of Didaiiics in r.niwn 
I'liivei^ity. lit- at unrr cnnmu-ni-i-Ml a cnir^e of lecture^ 
tn ifarhfis. wliuli rcMillc-l in llic o^taiili^linient, in I S53, 
ul tho Rh'iile Klan<l XMiiiial SJioi.l, llie hist Principal of 
wliicli was (lu- laic i laiia i'. Cnlhuiii. an assncialt: and in- 
liniate fiiund of I'lufc-sor (liVLMif. In 1.S55 he wa^ ap- 
pointed Prnfc^Mir of Mallicnialics and Civil Kni^inucrincj. 
when he resiL^ncd Iiis pusid-m a-. Supn mtcndciil. Kri-ni 
tliat tinu- on. a pciiod uf twcntv-iivu yeai^, he ha-, Iieen 
connected with Ihuwn Uni\ ri-sity, nssinniiii; hea\y hurdeiis 
and respoiisiltililit"^, and rendering; ^mid and elt'ieieut 
service. Fur eighteen yrar^ Ik- was a niend.ier nf the 
School romnnttcc, and tluriiiy most of the time he was 
Chairman of the Com mi tier on ^^)naliticati^n'^. Tie has been 
President of the Khodi- Niand Teachers' Institute, of the 
American Insiitute oi Insiriuiion. and of thr National 
Teachers' Assoeialion. 1 11 rcli;_dous matters lie has I>een 
especially active, mai^nifvin^ and makin;^ honorahle the 
office of Deacon in the churcli. lie has heen ['resident 
of the Rhode Nhind Baptist Sundav-schnol Convention, 
and is now (18S01 ric-tdmt of ihc Rliodc Kland Baptist 
Educational Society. In 1X70 I'.iown l'ni\ersity conferred 
upon him her hiL^he>t decree, that of Doctor of Laws. 
Professor Greene is widely awA favoraldy known as an 
author of textlxjoks. He puldishcd, in 1S4S, Aiialvih of 
the English Lii>i'^ua\;c : also, hirst L<:\\fii\ in {j ra>!i mar : 
in l8s2, /r/rw/;;/v ,'/" I\)igli:^h iir<nu»hJ) ; in lS()7, Eng/ish 
Griuniiiiir : \\w<\ in I.SdS, /iifr,},//ntii>/i to /-An^/inh Grani- 
niar. He married, in iN ^o. l''dna Amelia Ilai llctt, i.»f Wor- 
cester, who died in I.S51. ( tnc son hv tins mariia;^'e, 
Fraidv P>art]ctt (.lieene, was i^raduated at l5rown L'ni\'er>ily 
in 1S72. He married. Inr hi-, second wife, AuL;ust. i-S^4, 
Mary Adeline Bailey, of Salem, Massachusetts, eldest 
daughter of Kbenezer Bailey, a distinguished educator, and 
autlior oi Baih'v' s AIg<-l>f\2. P'ive chihh'en are the fruits 
of this marriage, of whom three aie now living. The 
eldest son, Percival Bailey (ireene, died Xovemher 24, 
1S75, during hi-- senior \ ear in college. He was the hr-t 
scholar in his class, and was hclovetl and esteemed liv all. 
'I'he remaining two sons, John Slimson and Samuel Suiart, 
are now members of the l'niver>ity. 



y^REENE, Gkhkck WAsiiiNfrroN. EI..I).. was born 
t\C^ at East (ircenwich, Rhode Island, April 8, iSii. 
•'l,T^'■■^. His father was Nathanael, second son of Major- 
'<i '^- ■.' tieneral Nathanael Greene, of the Revolution, and 
I Qi I his mother was Anna Maria Clarke, niece of 
( iovernnr Samuel W.nd of the ("onlinental Congress. 
I-rom early childhood he was fond of bonks. His mother, 
a woman of singular culture and taste, and who is still 
living, at the age of ninety seven, taught him early to 
love Pop^' and AiiJtsini anrl (io/ihmif/i, thus laying the 
foundations of jane taste and a love of gi.iod reading. 
In the fall of iSjt^. at the age of fouiteen, he entered 



Brown L'ni\ersity, then under the Presidency nf the Rev. 
l_)r. Messer. In consei]Uence ol the unsettled sta'.e of the 
college at that time. President Messer having resigned, 
but niaiidy on account of ilbhealth, young Greene aban- 
doned his studies durmg his junior year, and travelled in 
I'aiiope. Ileie he remained, with the exception of several 
visiis home, until l''^47, a period of twenty years. From 
iS^7 until lS.j.5, he was LlnUdl States Consul at Rome. 
During his residence abroad he published in \\\t A'orth 
AnirriLiHi Prviciv a series of essays on Italian hist(.)ry and 
literature. He at one time niteudeil to j)ublish a history 
of that c<iuntry, and had ab'eady ma<le progress in the 
work when die paitial h.tss (d" his eyesight ami a recall to 
Ameiiea interrupted his ])lans. Soon .iller his return, in 
the spring of 1S4S, lie was appi >inted Instructor in Modern 
Languages, a position which liis rare culture and scholar- 
ship enabled him to fdl with singular credit and useful- 
ness. In I-S5J he removed to New York, where he de- 
voted himself lo teaching, and esjiecially to historical re- 
searcli. the libraries of the metropolis affording ample 
facilities for this purpose. In 1833 he married Catharine, 
daughter of Addis, m and Ann 1 1 logeboom ) Porter, and 
granddaughter of the l\e\. Di. David Porter, for twenty- 
eight years pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Caiskdl. 
New York. Her elder bi'other was the lamented and 
gifteil [ohii A. poller, for several years Professor of Chem- 
istry at P.rown LauNcrsity, and afterwards Professor at 
Yale College. In iSi)6 Mr. (Ireene removed to his heune 
in East Greenwich, where lie has continued to reside until 
the present time. Several childien are the fruits of this 
marriage, the second of whom has recently married a cler- 
gyman of the Presbvterian (hurch. Professitr Crreene has 
long been regarded as one of the best of our writers, espe- 
cially on historical snbjecls jx'rtaining to America. The 
late Washington Irving was accustomed to speak of him 
as without an ci[ual in this department of literary eftbrt. 
His niost important work is the life of his grandfather, 
Major-General (Ireene. Iirst published in the Second Series 
of Sparks' s Amcyicau Biogr<!phy {l2mo., Boston, 1846), 
and afterwards enlarged to three royal octavo volumes, 
and |iublished in New \'urk in 1867-71. The preface lo 
the hrst volume, addressed to his fiiend Henry Wadsworth 
Longfelh.-w. is one of the linest efforts of genius, and de- 
serves to l)e treasured as a classic m this style of writing. 
His other works, given in the order of their publication, 
are as follows ; J'rimary Lrssons in Ercnrh, iSmo., New 
York, I.S4(); new edition of J*fitz and Arno/ifs Aiuioit 
iiiognipiiv atiii Ilistorv, I2mo.. New York, 1S49; Cotn- 
pauiou to ()//, ■/!</, >rff\^ Ert-;uh Gianimar, l6mo., New 
\'ork, iSi^o ; J'ri/fNiry LrsKons i>i Italian, lSnn.>., New 
\nik ; Jlistoriral StiiJit's, chiclly on Italian subjects, i2mo., 
New York, 1S50; I/istory and Geography of the Middle 
.•/;'r(, 1851 ; Addison's Complete Works, Bishop I Bird's 
edition, with Notes by Professor Greene, 6 vols. l2mo.. 
New \'ork. 1854; Historual View of the American A'er'o- 



^^^>s. 




■y 



/ 



,<..<< /^( ^ .■ C 



/ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



367 



hitioii, I2mo., New York, 1865. This work, which has 
been favorably noticed in all quarters, consists of twelve 
lectures delivered before the Lowell Institute of Boston, 
in yanuary and February, 1863; and also belore the 
Cooper Instilute of New York, in March and April fol- 
lovvini;. nis latent works are, Crmaii Eli-iiunt in Ihe 
American IVar of Iniifpt-ndenit', I2nio., New York, 1876; 
and Short History of Rhode Island, I2mo., Providence, 
1877. In addition to the works above enumerated, he has 
contributed many papers on historical and critical subjects 
to the' Ao/'//; American Review, Christian Review, A'nick- 
erbocker Magazine, Harper's Magazine, Putnam's Maga- 
zine, and other periodicals. In 1S72 he was appointed 
non-resident Professor of American History at Cornell 
University. This, we believe, was the lirst attempt to 
introduce American history as a specialty in our Ameri- 
can colleges. He had already entered upon the duties of 
his office, and was looking forward to years of useful and 
honorable labor, when a partial stroke of paralysis im- 
paired the use of his limbs. Though he still continues his 
historical labors, it is not without great effort that he can 
hold his pen. The appearance of the three volumes of his 
Life of Ceneral Greene involved him in a controversy with 
Mr. Bancroft, which led to the publication of a pamphlet. 
The main points of the controversy ^re given in lull in the 
second volume of his life. Professor Greene is a member 
of several of our foremost literary societies, bu^ of none 
of these as.sociations is he prouder, than to have formed 
one of the original members of the Dante Club, which 
meets regularly at Professor Longfellow's home to pass an 
evening in the study of the great Florentine. 



^I^^ABOLL, Wli.Ll.AM Y'lNCENT. manufacturer, son of 
John and Sarah Haley DaboU, was born at firoton, 
Connecticut, April 13, 1810. His father, who was 
of French descent, and a carpenter by trade, was a 
Revolutionary soldier, and wounded at the massacre 
of Fort Griswold ; he was also one of the franiers of the 
constitution of Connecticut in 1817. Mr. Daboll was edu- 
cated at the common schools, and at the age of Jifteen, his 
father having died, he was employed as a teamster for one 
year at Fort Schuyler, New York, after which he served 
an apprenticeship of four years with a carpenter at Astoria, 
New York. Having acquired a thorough knowledge of 
his trade, he commenced work on his own account as con- 
tractor and builder, in and about New York city, and 
continued in that business for about eight years. In No- 
vember, 1838, he removed to Providence, and engaged in 
farming for one year at Cranston, now Elmwood, after 
which he entered into the employ of Amos D. and James 
Y. Smith, manufacturers of cotton goods. He remained 
wjtli this firm until the formation of the Union Butt Com- 
pany, organized for the manufacture of butts and other 
castings, and was chosen agent and treasurer of this com- 



panv. This position he held until the works were destroyed 
by fire in 1866, when that branch of business was abandoned 
for the manufacture of cotton goods, the Elmwood Mdl 
built, and the company changed to the James Y. Smith 
Manufacturing Company. Mr. Daboll was retained as 
.i^gent and Superintendent, having sole charge of the Elm- 
wood Mill, the products of which took medals at the Vi- 
enna Exposition and the Centennial Exhibition. He con- 
tinued to serve in this capacity until the spring of 1879. 
He is now engaged in manufacturing the improved Union 
Carpet Sweeper, of which he is the .sole owner. Mr. Daboll 
has been continuedly and successfully in business from 
early life, and has had a large and varied experience as a 
manufacturer. He has held several prominent public 
positions. During the civil war he was one of the State 
Commissioners of Enrolment. For a number of years he 
was Chairman of the School Committee of Cranston, and 
has held almost every oftice in the town. For four years, 
from 1868 to 1871, he was a member of the Common 
Council of Providence from the Ninth Ward, and was 
Alderman from the same ward in 1S71 and 1872, and 
again from 1873 •'' 1876. He was one of the first movers 
and promoters of the Roger Williams Park enterprise, and 
was for several years a memljcr of the Committee on Parks. 
For about fifteen years he was President of the Elmwood 
Bank. In politics he has always been a Democrat. He 
has ever been active in promoting eilucalional interests and 
benevolent objects. He married, February 2, 1835, Mrs. 
Caroline Celia Smith, daughter of John and Grace Smith, 
and widow of Frank Smith. She was a descendant of one 
of the first settlers of New England. They have had seven 
children, three of wdiom are living, Josephine, Floride, and 
William Smith, who has attaineil consideralile reputation 
as an opera singer. 

|I^SE; ICE, FiTZ J.\MES, was born in Barre, Massachusetts, 
fa|3<!^ J"'y M. 1S14, and is the son of Micajah and Lucy 



(Bannister) Rice. During his infancy his pa- 



.^gjiii.. rents removed to Framingham, Massachusetts, his 
1 ' father's native town. The pirogenitor of the Rice 
family in America was Edmund Rice, who lived in Berk- 
hamstead, County of Hertfordshire, England, and in 163S 
came with his family to this country and settled in Sudbury, 
Massachusetts. A genealogy of the family has been pub- 
lished containing the names of about seven thousand per- 
sons, who are traced to one common ancestor. In this 
great number may be found representatives in all the prom- 
inent walks of life, and among those in New England dis- 
tinguished for patriotism no name is more conspicuous than 
that of Rice. Phineas Rice, the paternal grandfather of 
Fitz James Rice, was a Lieutenant in the American army 
during the Revolutionary War. When the English Parlia- 
ment, previous to the Revolution, closed the port of Boston 
to commerce and navigation, he rendered the country great 
service by transporting by means of ox teams valuable 



368 



BIOUKArmCAL CYCL OPED! A. 



nu'uIianilisL' fniiii Xrw \'iirL to Iluston. lie was alsn niiL- 
of the I'iiiMci-is ill llif fuinililrL' hu^iiics^ in .XiiRTica ; and 
lii> \\ iff, whose iii.iiiK'n n.iitie was Kiilh l'rn'\', a iela[i\c nf 
< 'Dmniiiihnc I'errw wa^ one of the fil-t in the i.iiuntr\" to 
vngai^e in the hiaidin;,; ol 1 liin-laMe straw h ir tlie niami- I 
faelure of lials. \'\\./ James Riee liveil in Kraiuini^liam, 
Massacliiisetts, until he was se\enteen veais of ai^^e, when 
he went to Meilliehl. Massachusetts, where he s|)ent four 
years in leaiiiiiiL^' the hakiiiL^ latsiness, in the well-know n 
cstalilisliment ol \\ . i'. I'.aUh. Alter conijiletin^ his ap- 
prentieeshiji lie went to h'all River. Massachusetts, where 
he remained one year. In i.S ;; he removed to I'rovideiue, 
where lie was enijiioyed in tin- liakerv of Menjaniin Halch 
for I'lve years, at the end of w hieli time he entered into husj. 
nesy lor hillisell. In 1N40 he foimed a jiai tliel ship w ith 
( ieor^e W llaywaid. foimeilv an a])prelitiee willi him at 
Med liekl. and I ail i the fraind a I ion of the extensive anil prol'it- 
alile liUsiness n..w l.einy carried on hy the lirm of Rice & 
I lay ward, their estaMishnient hriut;one of the largest of the 
kind in New Knuland. In i8iio, Willi, ini S. llayward, 
soli indaw ul Mi, Rice, was admitted as a meniher of the 
lirm. In I.S'iJ tlie partnership was dissolved, and the busi- 
ness -.old lo Mr. William S. Il.iyw.ird. In the division of 
till' property of the Inin the real estate which was occu[iied 
in canyini; on the husiness came to Mr. Rice as a part of 
his share, which he leaded to William S. llayward, who 
carrieil on the lai-iness alone lor two years, at the expira- 
tion ol whiili lime Mr. Rkc ai;ain liecame associated with 
William S. 1 1. IV w. nil, under the old firm name of Rice & 
ll.iyward, which piartncrship still continues. In 1S6S Mr. 
Kice wasclected a nieml lei of the Providence C 'ity CiTimcil, 
and re-elected in i.Si'.c). He joined the IIii;li Street I 'on- 
gregational Church in i.Sjd, under the pastorate of Rev. 
Dr. Woolciit. This church afterwards united with the 
Richmond Stn-ct Church, and is now called the Ciiion 
Church. In i.Syy he liecame a hie inenihcr of the Vouiii; 
Men's Christian .\ssociation of I'rovidcnce. in winch he 
has for many years taken a deep inleresi, and to wliitli 
he has liberally contributed bolli of his time and means. 
He is also particulaily interested in missionary w ork, and 
for a numlicr of years has been a member of tlie .\ineric.in 
Hoard ol ( oinniissioners of p'oreign Missions. In iSS/ he 
joined Wli.il Cheer Lodge of Freemasons, of which he 
has since been a member. He married, December 2S, 
1S57, Elizabeth I 'ooke, of I-'all River, Massachusetts, They 
have had live (hildren, I.ucy .M., I leorge .\., .\rtluir ( I., 
Caroline C., and l.iz/ie J., the lirsi two of whom are the 
only ones now living. His wife died in 1.S7J; and in 
iS74he married .Mrs, Rebecca R.Cooke, w nlow i.f Willi. un 
H. Cooke, of New liedford, M.assachusetls. .M r, < \ loke was 
a brother of Mr. Rice's first wife. During Ins long resi- 
dence 111 I'lovidencc, e\t(.-ndiiig o\i-r a period of more than 
forty years, Mr. Rice has .Uways resided on Christian Hill, 
ill the Sixth Ward, He is higiily esteemed for his business 
ca]jacity, social ipudities, and benevolent dis|,ositioii. 



,";RiiWN, Jiisf;i'H Roci'RS, manufacturer, son of 
D.nid .uid Patience (Rogers) Rrown, was born 
in Warren, Rhode Islanrl. January 2U. iSio. His 

.::,- father was a mamif.icturer and dealer in clocks. 

^v watches, Jewell V, and silverware, and was engaged 
in business successively in .\tlleboro', Massachusetts |his 
native place), Warren, Rhoile Island, and I'awtucket, 
Rhode Island, where he died in iSoS, at the advanced 
age of eighty-seven years and live months. His mother 
was a daughter of loseph Rogers, of Newport. Mr. 
Rrown attended the district school of his iiati\c tow 11 until 
he was seventeen years of age, pait cif his tinu- being oc- 
cupied in assisting his f.ither in the labors of the shop. In 
the spring of \'^2~ he went to \',illey halls, where he was 
lor so|-ne time einploved in the manufacture of cotton 
machinerv and in turning throstle-spindles, his employers 
being Walcott & Harris and William Field. In 1S2S he 
returned home to assist his father, who was then resirling 
in i'awtncket, and until his m.rjority was engaged in ccnr- 
striictlng tower clocks for churches in I'awtucket, Taunton, 
and New Indford, Fur some lime he carried on a small 
shop of his own lor the manufacture ol tools for machini-ts 
and the liilil bug of lathes. In i,S_5;, he bcianie assOLi,itcd 
in business w ith his father in Providence, with whom he 
continued until 1S41, when the latter retired from the firm 
and removed to llureau County, Illinois, where he re-ided 
until iSs6, and ihetr returned to Pawtncket. Their busi- 
ness embraced the manul.ictiiie of w atches and clocks, and 
surveying and maihematic.il inslriunents. .-Mter the with- 
drawal of his father, Joseph R. Prow n conlinueil alone for 
several years, being also engaged in the gcner.il jobbing 
business unid iS^.b after which he confined himself to his 
manufacturing interests. In the year last mentioned he 
formed a copartnership with Lucian .Sharpe, who for live 
years had been his apprentice, and the firm of Brown & 
Sharpe was organized. In 1S5S they entered into a con- 
tract with the Wilcox & (iilibs Sewing .Machine Company 
to mamilaiiiirc all their machines, which necessitated a 
large increase in their manufacturing facilities and the em- 
ployment of sever. d hundreil workmen. In i.SoS they ob- 
tained a chaiter, under the ciuporate name of the Brown 
t.\; -Sharpe Manufacturing Company, since which tiiire the 
business has steatlily increased, and the company is now 
recognized as one of the largest and most prosperous cor- 
jioratioiis in the .State. Mr. lirown possessed a very in- 
genious mind, and it is said that the tools and machinery 
employed in the factory he hiundeil are to a large extent 
the [products of his inventive skill. He attained a prom- 
inent piosition among the inamilactureis of New Kngland, 
and largely contributed to the industrial we.dth cif the 
country. He was twice married: first, ,Sc|ilember iS, 
iSi7, to Caroline E. Niles, daughter of J.mathan and 
Susan NiKs, of Providence, who ilied January 7, 1S51 ; 
and second. May ;, I.S52, to Jane F. Mowry, of Pawtncket, 
who survives her husb.rnd. There \\ ere two children bv 



B I OCR A PI lie A L C VCL OP ED I A . 



369 



the I'list marriage— Walter Clark ami Lyra Frances. In 
1866, and again in 1867, Mr. Brown visited Europe with 
his wife and daughter, remaining abroail two years during 
his la^l visit. He died at Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire, 
July 2;, 1876. 



*^HO.\DE.S, Benj.^min Hurd, Secretary and Libra- 
Wll't'i rian of Redwood Library and Athenaium, New- 
port, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, August 
26, 181 1. His father, Ebenezer Khoades, was the 
publisher of the Boston Indi-f<cndL-nt Chroiiirlf,i\\<tn 
the chief Democratic paper of New England. Mr. Rhoades 
early developed a taste for study, and alter pursuing the 
reiuired preparatory course, entered Brown University, 
from which institution he was graduated in the class of 
1833, during the presidency of Dr. Wayland. He soon 
afterward entered the Baptist Theological Institution at 
Newton Centre, Massachusetts, graduating in 1836. (Jn 
the igth of April, 1837, he married Harriet P. Still- 
well, daughter of Nicholas Stillwell, of Providence. Soon 
after completing his theological course, Mr. Rhoades en- 
gaged in teaching, in which he continued successfully for 
a quarter of a century. From 1837 to 1839 he was the 
Piincipal of the University Grammar School in Providence, 
and he was also for a number of years associated in teach- 
ing with the late Rev. J. 0. Choules, D.D., of Newport. 
In 1856 he opened a school for boys in the Hazard House 
on the Parade. This school he continued until about 1858, 
when he accepted the office of Librarian of Redwood Li- 
brary. This office he held until his death, which occurred 
on the 23d of December, 1880. In the arduous, perplex- 
ing and often annoying duties of his post, he was uniform- 
ly courteous and gentle. He was never known to utter a 
harsh or angry word, however great the provocation. He 
was a gentleman in the real and highest sense of the term. 
Though of retiring disposition, and always shunnmg pub- 
licity, his conduct was marked by a firm and unyielding 
integrity. Visitors to the fine old Library will miss the 
scholarly and pleasant countenance of Mr. Rhoades. He 
was a lover of books, and he found a rich pleasure in liv- 
ing among them, and in aiding others in their pursuit of 
knowledge. His religious views of late years underwent 
a change, and he worshipped with the Unitarians, Rev. 
Messrs. Schemmerhorn and Brooks officiating at his funeral. 
He leaves a widow, a son whose home is in Providence, 
and a daughter. 



|^WsPENCP;R, Willi.am Bennett, son of William and 
^KOT Betsey (Bennett) Spencer, was born in Cranston, 
^C^ Rhode Island, February 7, 181 1. His father, by 
' T trade a mason, and long an esteemed deacon of the 
J" Warwick and East Greenwich Baptist Church, re- 
moved from his birthplace to Apponaug, thence into Crans- 
ton, about one mile from Lippitt Village, and, in 1815, to 
47 



Lippitt Village, where he dieil, in 1S71, aged eighty-nine 
years. His grnndfather, Henry Spencer, was a blacksmith 
and mi.-on. Both his father and his grandfather were born 
in East Greenwich. His great-grandfather was William 
Spencer. His mother, who died in 1839, aged fifty-six 
years, was the daughter of Samuel Bennett, of Cranston. 
Mr. Spencer had a sister, Lucy Ann (who married Otis 
Steere), and a brother, Caleb B., now living (1881) at the 
homestead in Lippitt Village. After being well educated 
at home, the subject of this sketch worked for two years at 
the trade of a mason, and then, for two years, taught school 
in Natick Village. In i83r he opened a drygoods store 
in the then small settlement of Phenix, and, after remaining 
there about six monlhs, built a store in Lippitt Village, 
where he resided until 1837. About 1832 he was instru- 
mental in establishing the Lippitt post-office, and served 
as postmaster there, and subse(|uenlly at Phenix, to which 
place the office was removed and the name changed to the 
Phenix post-office. In 1837 he resided for a short time in 
Washington Village, and manufactured cotton-yarn. He 
finally returned to Lippitt and began a line of trade in 
paper-stock — the waste-cotton of mills — a business which 
he prosecuted successfully for many years, dealing at length 
with more than forty manufacturing companies, and selling 
to large dealers in Providence and elsewhere. With paper- 
stock he united some other articles of trade. He became 
the leading business-man of Phenix, and greatly contrib- 
uted to the prosperity and welfare of the village by erect- 
ing dwellings and blocks of buildings for the accommoda- 
tion of the people. In 1842 he was a delegate to the Peo- 
ple's Convention, but when it was proposed to resort to 
force he left the " Dorr Party " and became a Whig, and 
afterwards a Republican. From 1845 to 1851 he was a 
member of the Town Council. In 1S45 he was chosen a 
Representative from Warwick in the General Assembly, 
and was returned to the House for five years. In 1S47 'i^ 
erected in Phenix a fine mansion, and, afterwards selling 
it, built in 1869-70 a second one, his present residence, a 
view of which is found in Fuller's History of Warwick. In 
1849 he erected " Spencer's Hall," and soon after enlarged 
an edifice for business purposes. These structures were 
burnt in 1855, but were quickly rebuilt. These new build- 
ings, however, with three others belonging to him, were 
burnt in 1871. He then erected two blocks of brick. One 
of these was destroyed by fire in 1873, and another was 
injured. Thus he endured severe losses. Being the prin- 
cipal man in founding the Phenix Village Bank, he became 
its first President in 1S56, and served about sixteen years. 
Being also influential in organizing the Phenix Savings 
Bank, in 1858, he was chosen the first President of that 
institution, and filled that position about eighteen years. 
By his capital he aided largely in establishing the first and 
second printers in the place. The first bakery of the place 
w-as erected by him, and twice rebuilt and enlarged in dif- 
ferent localities. He also furnished the capital for starting 



37° 



BIOGKAPHICAL CYCL OPE VI A. 



tin- fir-.t ii,i|ii'r ill the (iLu-c— tliL- k\iit Ci'unty Atlas — by 
John 1!. l.inccilii. 'I'n liim aKo is due the st.irtini; dI' the 
fir^l ]]iil>bc liliiaiy in the |il.ice. the Iw.iks of which, how- 
ever, were liiii nt ill one .)l lii^ huihhngs in 1S71. In A|iril, 
iSvS, he buu^ht, jii^t aero^s the town line, in (.'oveiitry, 
thirty aere-. of lanil on the liilltop, and laid out tvielve acres 
as Greeiuvood Cemetery, inclosing it with a solid wall, ex- 
pending on grounds, walls, gates, and receising-tomb, two 
years of lalior and about Sio,ooo. In 183S he united with 
the Arkwright and Kiskeville Baptist Church. Since 1S42 
he has been a constituent and leading member of the Lip- 
pitt and l'heni\ Maj'ti-t ( hurch. being its lir-t clerU, and 
serving in thai c.ipacity till 1.S70. Here his religious ac- 
tivities have been con^t.inl and effective, and on the Board 
of the Rhode Island Baptist Stile Convention have reached 
through the State. For forty years his hou^e has been an 
o)ien and generous home for ministers. 1 1 is coiuriliutions 
have been large ami timely, always according to his means. 
He donated the lot on which stands the Ba] tist meeting- 
liouse in I'hcnix. and added a gift of S1500 for the house 
erected in iStio-oi. He married, .Vjiril 20, lSj4, Wellha 
Carpenter, daughter of John Car])enter, of llopkinion, 
Rhode Inland, and had a daughter, Elizabeth, now married 
to John M. .\inold. Ills wife died A]nil 24, 1.S51. aged 
thirty-seven years. He married, second, October b, 1S52, 
Harriet Clark Gorton, daughter of Clark Gorton, of War- 
wick, a great-granddaughter of Rev. John I loiton. a de- 
scendant of the famous Samuel Gorton, one of the lirst 
settlers of \\ai\\ick. B\' his second niarri.ige he has a 
daughter, Ida Harriet. 



■^.WVTOX, Henry .\., was born in .Newport, Rhode 
Island, June II, iSlI, and was the son of Robert 
.- ; " and Sarah (.-Vnthonyl I.awton. His father was a 
r n' descendant of tPiie of the early settlers of Rhode 
II Island, and his nioiher was a daughter of Klisha 
Anthony, a wealthy and esteemed citi/eii of Newjiort. 
'Ihev and their ancestors for sever. d generations were 
members of the .Sot iety of Friends. Henry .\. Law ton 
began life in \erv humble circumstances, being obligeil to 
earn his (jwn living \\\k\\ he was eleven yeais of age, lait 
by industry, frugality, and integrity, he became a prosjier- 
ous farmer, and an influential citizen, to whom were com- 
mitted many important ]iublic tru-ts. During his minority 
he was employed in farm wurk, hrst, for a shiiit time, with 
•Samuel Wilboui, of l.itlle l_'ompton, and afterwaiil in the 
service of his brother, I'disha .\. Law ton, in Portsmouth 
and Cranston. In iS ;2, he and his younger brother, George 
R. LaAvlim, hired a [arm of Joseph Harris, in Cranston, 
and contimieil together ior a short time, when Mr. I.awton 
sold his interest to his brother, and turned his attention to 
the improvement of his brother's farm in the north part of 
Cranst..n. lie subsei|uently hired other farms, which he 
tilled successfully, ami in 1S43, purchased a part of what 



was then known as the ]ol» F'isk farm, in Scituate, leasing 
the other |iart, w hich was a life estate. In I.S4S, he bought 
an adjoining tract of woodLunl, and afterwanl a<lded still 
further to his real estate possessions, until his estate at the 
time of his death enibraceil 720 acres of valuable land, be- 
sitles several thousand dollars in personal propertv. Al- 
though his attention was closely devoted to his farming 
interests, he served the public in various ways. He acted 
as Surveyor of Highways for forty years. In 1S47, he was 
elected Town Sergeant in the town of Scituate, which 
position he tilled for several years. In 1S52, he was cho- 
sen a member of the Town Council of Scituate, being the 
nominee of the Kepublican jiaitv. He was appiointed G\er- 
seer of the Boor in iS57.and continued to serve in that 
capacity until 1S05. In 1S07, he was elected to the Gen- 
eral Assemljly as a Represent. itive of the town of .Scituate, 
aiitl servetl acceptably for two years, being recognized as 
an efficient and intluenlial meinl>er of that body. For thirty 
years he was an acti\e member of the Agricultural Society, 
and did much to promote the general farming interests of 
the State. ( )n the 9th of February, 1S33, he married .Sarah 
A. Searles, daughter of William Searles, a well-known 
farmer in Cranston. .She dieil July 15. 1S40, leaving three 
children, Elisha G., F'rances K., and .Mice B. Lawton. 
On the 24th of August, 1S41, Mr. Lawton married Char- 
lotte Richarilson, daughter of Dr. William Richardson, of 
Johnston, Rhode Island. .She died April 14, 1S62, leaving 
si.x children, Theodore F., Mary Elizabeth, Charlotte. Saiah 
A., Margaret G.,and Henry \. I.awton. Scp'tember I4II1, 
1S62, Mr. Lawton iriarried Mrs. Almira \\"illiams, widow 
of Elisha Williams, of Cranston, who survived him. Mr. 
Lawton died July 26, iSSo. He was an excellent business 
man, a faithful public servant, a firm friend of the cause of 
temperance and religion, and noted for his kini.lness and 
generosity. 



?V^OGGESHALL, Riv. S.VMfEL Wll.HE, D.D., a 
|ly~K prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
v^^ Church, son of Timothy and Rebecca (Bullfinch) 
0-'^ Coggeshall, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Feb- 
"s ruary iS, iNli. He is descended from I'ilgrim stock, 
John Coggeshall, his great ancestor, having come, w ith his 
wife and three children, to Boston in the ship Lyon, Cap- 
tain William I'lerce, .Seiiteniber 16, 1632, the same ship 
which hail previously brought Roger Williams and others, 
w ho subsequently became men of note in the history of 
the Colonies. John Coggeshall was descended from Sir 
Thomas de Coggeshall, who lived about the latter part of 
the reign of King Stephen, grandson of the Conqueror. 
He derives his patronMuic from the town of Coggeshall, 
on the Blackuater, County Essex, built liy King .Stephen, 
1 142, near which was Codliain Hall, the lainily seat. 
.Members of the family fought with Kichar.l Co-ur de 
Lion against Saladin and his Saracenic hosts on the plains 




\/y / 




^:^d /Yi' ^ r 



BIOGRArillCAL CVCL OPEDIA. 



37' 



of Palestine, as is attested bv the armorial bearings of the 
family; also in the Wars of the Roses, tinally eniled at the 
Battle of Bosworth and the final accession of Henry VII. ; 
also in the Wars of the Scottish Borders, under the Pianta- 
genets and Tudors, which finally terminated with the ac- 
cession of James VI. of Scotland as James I. of Enijland. 
The same martial spirit of the family was exhiliited in the 
War of the Revolution, and also in the War of the Rebel- 
lion, in this country. John Coggeshall was a member of 
the first church in Boston, under Cotton and WiUon, and 
was also associated in the government with Winthrop and 
others, till the famous General Court of November 7, 1637, 
after which, in pursuit of lilierty and conscience, in carry- 
ing out religious convictions, he with Coddington and six- 
teen other prominent and influential men purchased Aquid- 
neck (now Rhode Island) of the Narragansett sachems, 
where they removed in M.arch, 163S, and founded New- 
port ; and in connection with Roger Williams, who was 
in Providence two years before, established religious free- 
dom on this continent. Dr. S W. Coggeshall was born 
and educated a Methodist, to which communion his mother 
belonged. He was converted at an early age, and soon 
heard the voice of the Divine Master calling him to the 
work of the ministry. On recommendation of the Brom- 
field Street Church, Boston, he was admitted on probation 
in the New England Annual Conference, which held its 
session in Providence, June 27, 1832. At the division of 
that Conference, in 1840, he was assigned to that portion 
which, from its chief city, had been known as Providence 
Conference. Although an itinerant minister and subject 
to constant changes, he has been a close .student from early 
life. He is critically acquainted not only with English 
literature, but with ancient languages, especially the Greek 
and Hebrew. He has been a great reader of ancient and 
modern history, and is thoroughly versed especially in 
Methodist history. In this line he has a valuable library, 
the contents of which he has well studied. He has a 
marvellous memory, so that whatever is once committed 
to its keeping is retained and ready for use in any emer- 
gency. Not only facts, incidents, and principles are re- 
membered, but dates and figures respecting town, cities, 
Stales, and nations. Dr. Coggeshall is an able preacher, 
a fine platform speaker, and strong debater; not eloquent, 
but effective. When in the prime of his manhood he gave 
himself to preparation on some special theme for pulpit or 
platform ministration; he was very elaborate and direct, 
courting no favors from evil-doers, but compassing the 
whole subject, and creating a profound impression. His 
writings are clear and forcible. Although he has published 
no book, yet he has written an elaborate work on the 
*' Life and Times of Bishop Asbury." ^He has aUo made 
many valuable historical contributions to the periodical 
literature of Methodism. In 1S56 he was a delegate to 
the General Conference, and represented his brethren in 
that body which met in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1863, 



upon recommendation of the Bench of Bishops and dis- 
tinguished friends in New Vork, he was made a Doctor of 
Divinity by the Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. 
The honor was worthily bestowed, and is creditably worn. 
On the 20th of June, 1837, he married Miss Mary Ann 
Dykes, daughter of Joseph Dykes, of Bramley, County 
York, England. She dieil at Little Compton, May 11, 
1864, and is buried in the Island Cemetery, Newport. 
Their children were : Joseph Dykes, who died in infancy ; 
Ann Dykes, now the wife of F. R. Brownell, Esq., Little 
Compton, Rhode Island; Alexander Bullfinch, a Captain 
in the late Federal army, now of Austin, Texas; Samuel 
Wilde, also an officer in the late war, died of yellow fever, 
in New Orleans, August 25, 1878; Rebecca Booth, died 
at Geneva Junction, Wisconsin, December ir, 1S75 ; and 
Lemira Porter, died in infancy. His second wife was Han- 
nah Partridge Richardson, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, 
whom he married June 17, 1866. She died June 13, 1S68. 
His present wife was Susan Maria Harrington, of Wanpun, 
Wisconsin, whom he married January 10, 1870. Dr. 
Coggeshall is noted for his generous and sympathetic nature 
and benevolent disposition. Like many men of large book 
culture, money has not been esteemed of much value when 
in his possession, and like the Pentecostal converts, he 
never " says that aught of the things which he possesses 
is his own;" but every human brother comes in for a 
share. Most fully has he believed in the second, as well 
as the first great commandment, " Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself." He now, 1 S80, resides in Middle- 
town, Rhode Island, three miles from the city of New- 
port. Being in feeble health he has retired from the 
active work of the ministry, yet he is still a close student 
and an occasional writer for the press. 




AVWARD, George W., was born in Middle- 
Wt^ borough, Massachusetts, Novemljer 23, 1817, and 
is the son of Benjamin and Phila Burt (Leonard) 
Hayward. The Haywards trace their ancestry 
to the first settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts, 
from which place, in 1651, John and Thomas Hayward, 
with others, removed to Bridgewater, M,xssachusetls, where 
they each received six acres of land on condition of re- 
maining as permanent settlers. Mr. I lay ward's father was 
for many years engaged in the furnace business in Bridge- 
water. His paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Rev- 
olutionary War. His mother's ancestors were the famous 
Leonards of colonial times, who lived in Raynham, the 
first of whom, James and Henry, settled there in 1652, 
and built the first iron-forge in America. Thi-, forge, hav- 
ing been repaired from generation to generation, is still in 
operation. Such was King Philip's friendship for the 
Leonards, that as soon as the war broke out in 1675 '^^ 
gave strict orders to the Indians of his tribe never to harm 
them. Zedick Leonard, Mr. Hayward's grandfather on his 



BIOGRAPFUCAL CVCL OPF.Dl-t. 



motlier's side, \\ns a c;iiitnin in iho UrvoUuion. \Vhen 
Mr. Havward was quite youi\t; his failicr removed to Prov- 
idence, where he soon nfteruanl .lied, leaving but little for 
the support of Id- fandly. As his mother had live children 
to provide for, he was ol.Iiged to earn his own living at an 
early age. and therefore had very limited educational .id- 
vantages. He worked in factories in diflerent parts of the 
State, attending school a few luonlhs each year, until he 
was fifteen years of age. lie then served an apprentice- 
ship at the liaker's traile, hi-, first enipl.iyer being Deacon 
Warded, of l'r.i\ i.lence, wiih wlmni he remained one 
month, when Mr. W.udell retired hum business. For 
one year therealur he w.is « itii Arnold Russell, wlin at 
the end of that iItuc failed in bu-iness. Mr. Hayward 
then went to Medlield. Massachusetts, and completed his 
apprenticeship under W. I'. I'.alch, and attendeil school for 
three montlis. Mr. I'.alcli being a geiuleninn of exemplary 
Christian character, and deeply interested in the welfare 
of his employes, exerted a wholesume intlucnce over Mr. 
Hayward, to which he greatly attriljute- his success in 
life. After finishing his trade and working as a journey- 
man for -.eveial ye.ir-. Mr. Hayward accepted a position 
as clerk in the hardware and lundier establishment of Jo- 
seph Burrows ^; .Son, in I'rovidence, with whcuir he re- 
mained about three years. In 1S4CI he entered into part- 
nership with Mr. Fit/' lames Rice, an old friend, whose 
ac |uaintance he had formed w hen they were apprentices 
together under Mr. Balch. Iliey carried on the baking 
business successfully for fourteen years, and in lS6j Mr. 
Hayward retired from the tirm. their establishment then 
being known as luie »if the huge t and nio-'t complete of 
its kind in the country. In 1S03. Mr. Hayward was 
elected to the Providence Common (.'ouncil, in which he 
served acce[itably for four yeais. He i- now, and has 
been since its organization, a director in the Citueus' 
Savings Bank of Providelne. He is a member of St. 
John's Lodge of Free and .\ccepted Mason-, whic'' he 
joined in 1S59, and has also been a member of Calvary 
Commandery, Knights Temiilar, since I.S60. He married, 
November g, 1840, Julia .\. (1. liurrows, daughter of Jo- 
seph Burrows, deceased. They have had four children — 
Maria Burrows, who died in I'lovideiice .\ugii-t i>, 1S42; 
Annie Leonard, who died in l'ro\nlence .Mar(.h 3, 1N57 ; 
Joseph Burrows, who married I'hebe 11. Ralph, of Paw- 
tuxet, March 29, 1S71; and ( ieorge W., Jr. Mrs. Hay- 
ward's father was a well-known and highly esteemed citi- 
zen of Providence. He represented that city in the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and held several offices of trust and honor. 
For sixty years he was an active member of the Christian 
Church. Me died at the advanceil age of eighty-seven, 
and could distinctly renieniber iiuident- which occurred 
during the adniini-tr.itioiis of all the Pre-idents of the 
Un.ted States from Washington to Hayes. Mr. Hayward 
is a member of the Central Hapti-t Chinch in Providence, 
with which he became connected in I.S^.S. 



jtfOXCDl IX. GllBlRT, merchant, vounciest son if 



Ij Jonathan and Elizabeth (Arnold I Congdon, was 
'e_f born in Providence. Rhode Island. March 17, 
'TiSii. He was educated in the Friends' Boarding- 
»r School in Pro\,idence, and at an early age entered 
the business house of his brother, .'VrnoUI Congdon, who 
was engaged in the iron trade. In due time he was ad- 
mitted as a partner, and the death of his brother in 1S47 
left him al the head of the establishment, the oldest of its 
kinil in the .Stale, and which is still maintained under the 
lirm-uame of Congdon & Carpenter. Mr. Congdon was 
habitually methodical and attentive to his business, yet in 
llie midst of his activity and ]:)rosperity he was always 
able to the interests of the public, and was greatly instru- 
mental in fiirlliering religious and benevolent objects. He 
devoted a poitioii of his time and income to the good of 
others. l-'t>r manv vt.ars he was a memlier, and at the 
time of his death President, of the Rhode Island Peace 
Society ; Vice-President of the Rhode Island Bible .So- 
cietv, of the Providence Franklin Society, the Christian 
Fuel Society, the Providence Dispensary, and other useful 
and bene\olent associations. He manifested a deep in- 
terest in the cause of education. ser\ ing as a member of 
the committee in charge of the Friend-.' School in Provi- 
dence, and of the S.ibbath-School .\ssociation. The wel- 
fare of the Frcediuen and that of the Indians engaged 
much of his attention, and he was a liberal contributor to 
their aid. He wa-a member of the Society of Friends, 
and from 1S56 a recorded minister of the gospel, in which 
capacity he was not only diligent at home, but often went 
abroad as a minister to vi-it prisons, hospitals, reform- 
schools, and other institutions. He was often called upon 
to attend funeral-, and performed this duty with accept- 
ance. Hi- last act of con-ecration was to visit his fellow- 
professors and others in North Carolina, on a mission of 
lo\e, in I'^/O. .Soon after his return home he was pros- 
tr.ited with a malarial disease contracted during the jour- 
ney, and died l)ecember 9, 1S70. in the sixtieth year of 
his age. The mercantile liu-iness in which Mr. Congdon 
was engaged is now carried on by Mes-rs. Francis W. 
Carpenter and Mr. Congdon's son, John H. Congdon. 



'iXTON, Ri \-. Fkamis, LL.Ib.w.as born in Provi. 
deuce, Rhode Islan<l. .August 2g. [S09. Gradu- 
Uj ating from West Point, one of the first five of his 

(>}jY class, in the year 1S30, he received his commission 
•■$ as second lieutenant in the Third P'nited States Ar- 
tillery. H-e was stationed in Port-mouth, New Hampshire, 
and at Fort Independence in Bo-ton Harbor, and pre- 
viously saw active service in Alabama and Georgia, in the 
war again-t the hostile Indians of that region. While sta- 
tioned at Fort Independence he began the study of law at 
Harvard I'niveisitv. and was admitted to the bar in Janu- 
arv. iNU- -^l ''"^ same time, and subsequently, he acted 



BIOGRAPHIC A I C ] CL OPED I A. 



373 



as civil engineer on severni of the railroads of New Eng- 
land. In 1836 Lieutenant Vinton resigned his commission 
in the army, and entered the General Theological Semi- 
nary at New York. He was ordained to the diaconate by 
Bishop Griswnld, September 30, i83S,in St. John's Church, 
Providence; and to the priesthood in March of the fol- 
lowing year. His first parish was at Tower Hill, Rhode 
Island, from which he afterward removed to Wakefield, 
where he built a church. He was successively rector of 
St. Stephen's Church, Providence (which he built I ; Trinity 
Church, Newport; Emmanuel Church, Krooklyn, New 
\'ork ; Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights (wliich he also 
built); and Assistant Minister of 'I'rinity Parish, New 
York, serving in St. Paul's Chapel from 1855 to 1859, in 
which year he was appointed to Trinity Church, of which 
he had charge until his death, in 1872. At the time of 
the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island, in 1S42, he took an 
active interest in the events of those stirring days, and on 
the return of the militia to Newport on its suppression, he 
opened Trinity Church and held a service of thanksgiv- 
ing, at which the military were present. The custom of 
Christmas-Tree festivals for Sunday-schools was inaugu- 
rated by him in his own house in Court .Street, Brooklyn, 
Long Island, on Epiphany evening, 1847. In 1S48 he 
was elected Bishop of Indiana, but declined. The same 
year he received the degree of S.T.D. from Columbia 
College, and afterward that of LL.D. He became Presi- 
dent of the "Sons of Rhode Island in New York" in 
1862, and on their first anniversary in 1863, delivered an 
oration before them on the Annnh of Rhode Hand and 
Providence Plantalions. The oration was repealefl by 
invitations of the New York and Long Island Historical 
.Societies; also in Providence and Newport. In 1S69 he 
was elected " Charles-and-Elizabeth-Ludlow " Professor of 
Ecclesiastical Polity and Law at the General Theological 
Seminary, New York. In the same year he received the 
degree of D.C.L. from ^Villiam and Mary College, of Vir- 
ginia. On his entrance on his duties as professor he pub- 
lished a work entitled A Manual Commenlaiy on Canon 
Law of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States, which is extensively used as a book of reference 
and te.Ntbook. He was also the author of Arthur Tre- 
tr/aine ; or. Cadet Life, issued in 1S30, and published 
many orations, addresses, sermons, and lectures, in 1865. 
Dr. Vinton died at his home in Brooklyn, New York, Sep- 
tember 29, 1872, and is buried in the graveyard at New- 
port, Rhode Island. He was twice married. His first 
wife was a daughter of John Whipple, of Providence; the 
second the only daughter of Commodore Oliver Hazard 
Perry. His brothers also deserve honorable mention for 
their distingui-shed service to their country. Major John 
Rogers Vinton was killed by an unexploded shell at the 
bombardment of Vera Cruz, in the Mexican War. Briga- 
dier-General David H. Vinton (who died February 21, 
1873) served in New York during the Civil War as chief 



quartermaster and as assistant quartermaster-general ; he 
was one of the most valued and trusted officers in the 
army. The Rev. Alexander H. Vinton, D.D., a prominent 
and talented clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
has recently retired from active duties in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, to the old homestead of the fanidy, at Pomfrct, 
Connecticut. 

^^''^OZZENS, Governor William C, was born in New- 
'■\ port, August 26, 181 1. He obtained his education 
chiefly in the celebrated school of Levi Tower. 
Having decided to devote himself to mercantile pur- 
suits, he became a clerk in the drygoods store of 
Hon. Edward W. Lawton, Lieutenant-Governor of the 
.State 1S47-1849. He devoted his life to the drygoods 
business, and was at the head of a house wdiich built up a 
large and successful trade in the city of Newport. His 
fellow-citizens, appreciating the sterling qualities of his 
character, called him to fill important ]iosts of honor and 
trust. He was elected, under the revised charter of the 
city, the second Mayor, having been chosen in 1854 to suc- 
ceed Hon. George H. Calvert. During his administration 
the cholera visited Newport, and he devoted himself with 
great fidelity to meet the scourge by carefully guarding the 
sanitary condition of the city. To his exertions Newport 
is very much indebted in seeming its beautiful Touro Park. 
Several times he representefl his native city in both 
branches of the General Assembly. In 1863, while Sena- 
tor from Newport, he was chosen President of the .Senate. 
Governor William Sprague was then in office. On the 3d 
of March, 1S63, he resigned, to enter upon his duties as 
United States Senator. Lieutenant-Governor S. G. .Arnold 
having been previously elected a Senator to Congress to 
fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. James 
F. Simmons, Mr. Cozzens, by virtue of his office as Pres- 
ident of the Senate, became Governor, and held that posi- 
tion until May, 1863, at which time, by a popular vote, 
James Y. Smith was chosen to the office. A memora- 
ble event, during his brief ailministration, was the visit 
to Rhode Island by Major-General Wool, U. S. A., and 
Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury. The 
hospitalities of the .State were gracefully extended to these 
distinguished gentlemen at the hands of the Governor. The 
short period during which Governor Cozzens occupied the 
gubernatorial chair was in the midst of the Rebellion, and 
grave responsibilities devolved on him as Chief Magistrate 
of the .State. These responsiliilities he met and discharged 
to the general approbation of the people of the State, and 
when he retired from oft'ice he carried with him the respect 
and benedictions of his fellow-citizens. Governor Cozzens 
filled important positions in his native cily. He was Pres- 
ident of the Rhode Island Lhiion Bank. For a number of 
years he was one of the directors of the Redwood Library, 
and several times its President. He took a very active 
and successful part in bringing the Old Colony Railroad 



374 



BWGRArHICAL CYCI.OrEDIA. 



to Xewpnrt. tliii'- liriiigins; llu- <ily into e^^y rnmmunicn- 
tif-Hi with lioston. so m:iiiv of wliose citizens have their 
summer honies in tlint deliglitful jilace. He was a niem- 
l:tor of Zion (Episcojial) Cliurch. and for many years one 
of its wardens. Ilis deatli occurreti r>ecember 17, I.S76. 
He left a widow and \\\^ eiiilfhen, tliree sons and two 
dauelilers. 



5':^^|XGELI,. \\'il I WW I idKiiAM, for many years Presi- 
dent of the American Screw Company, ehlest son 
of Enos anil Catlierine (Corliam) Angell, was 
-^: >' ■-'.' born in Providence, November 21, 181 1. He was a 
'•■J -1 ' lineal descendant in the sixth tjeneration of Thomas 
Ani^ell, who came from England in 1631 with Roger Wil- 
liams, and was one of his companions in the early settle- 
ment of Providence. In the assigmiu-nt of six-acre lots 
made I'y Rciger \\"i]lianis In lO^^. he received the section 
which included tlie land on which now stand the First 
Kapitist Church and the State Normal School House. The 
subject of this sketch enjoyed sucli educational advantages 
as the public schools of his native town afforded, and early 
developed marked taste as a mechanical genius. He worked 
at the trade of his father, that of a carpenter, until he was 
about twenty years of age, when he entered into partner- 
ship with his uncle, John ( lorhani, for the juirpose of manu- 
facturing loom-reeds, a machine for making which had 
previously been jicrfected by him. In 1.S37 the attention 
of several enterprising persons in Providence was turned 
to the subject of the manufaclure of screws. In January, 
1S3S, a company was organized and securerl a charter from 
the General Assembly, authorizing them to hold capital to 
the amount of .<20,ooo for the manufacture of screws. This 
company was called the Proviilenee .Screw Companv. i 
Another company was foi nicd in the autumn of the same 
year which took the name of the Eagle Screw Company. 
Its authorized capital was S75.000. I )f this company Mr. 
Angell was made the agent, and in 1S40 retired from the 
firm of Gorham & Angell in order that he might give his 
undivided attention to the duties of the new position to 
which he had been callcil. 1 )dfiiullics of the most formid- 
able character met him at the outset. He had to meet 
heavy expenses connected with a suit at law brought against 
the company which he represented for an infringeinent of 
a fiatent, which he supposed had been secured to the com- 
pany when it purchased the machinery of the Providence 
Screw Company. The damages of ihi^ suit were $20,000, 
the payment of which with tin- costs made a heavy draft on 
the working capital of the company, crippling its operations 
for several years, and it w.as largely owing to the )iersistent 
will and the untiring energy of Mr. Angell that the E.agle 
Screw Company was kept m existence. This company's 
machinery being unfuted for the manufacture of gimlet- 
pointed screws then in demand, it was mostly laid asiile, 
and new inacliinery consii neled embodving the invention 



of riuunas J. Sloan, of New York. .Subsequently the com- 
pany |ielitioned the General Assembly for an increase in 
their capital stock. The petition was granterl januarv, 1854, 
and the capital raised to half a million dollars. After ne- 
gotiatiims, w hich wei'c carried on for nearly two years, there 
was a consolidation, which was formally ratified January i, 
iSoo, of the two companies, the New England .Screw Com- 
])any. which had been ni operation nearly twenty yi'ars, 
auil the Ivigle Screw Company, which had been in ojicra- 
tion since I.S;S. The new company look the name of (he 
American Screw Company. Its nominal ca])ital was 
51,000,000. ( )f thi^ compau)' Mr. Angell was chosen Presi- 
dent, and to him ^vas intrusted its executive manageirient, 
for which position he liafl rare qualifications. His long ex- 
]ierlence and constant devotion to the interests intrustei.1 to 
him matle him thorough master of all the details, a knowl- 
edge of which was so important to the successful prose- 
cution of his work. He was acquainted with the whole 
history of the manufacture rtf screws, and hafl a complete 
understanding of the ]ieculiar characteristics of every machine 
used in this country and in Europe in this branch of busi- 
ness. He had remarkable gifts as an administrative officer, 
and looked after all the minuti e in the general management 
of the \asl interests committed to his care. He w.is also 
sagacious in anticipating the future and Ia>'ing wise plans 
for the jjioscciition of his work. So perfectly well balanced 
was Ills judgment that his associates relied upon hi^ de- 
cisions without atlempting to bias his individual action, 
confiding in his siipericu' knowdedge and practical good 
sense. He made it his business to study the markets, and 
was early able to bring the products of manufacture into 
competition with English screws, and as the merit of his 
screws became known they flisplace<-l those of foreign manu- 
facture. " Mr. .\ngell was thoroughly conscientious and 
honest in all his dealings. His object was liv fairness, 
fidelity, pronii>tness, and unwearied attention trilaisiness to 
\\'\\\ the conhdence itf the puldic ami ad\ance the interests 
of the company, ami in both these respects he had reason to 
be gratified with his success." The ten years of Mr. Angell's 
administration of the affairs of the American .Screw Com- 
pany were years of great I'lnaneial prosperity. As his policy 
was to dislrilmte the earnings of the company among the 
stockholders, r.ither than lay them by for a reserve fund, the 
dividends wIiilIi caiiie into their hands were very large, 
surpassed in amount by few corporations in the country. 
During the Civil War the increased duty resulting from the 
advance in the price of gold, prevented the importation of 
foreign screws to the .\merican market. With the adwiii- 
tages growing out of a successful preoccupation of the 
market and of the sale of the article at prices commensurate 
with the times, the American Screw Company was able to 
comjiete successfully with all new companies which were 
formed in this country. It is said, on good authority, that 
of more than seventy companies and firms engaged in the 
manufacture of screws, not connected with other interests. 



#^ 




^m'^^.^ 



^^t^*- 
wff 




/cc ^ /tcJ J^- /h' ^<^ ' ' i'-' 'i^ 



BIO GRAPHIC A L C YCL OPED I A. 



375 



besides the two companies comprisini; tliis comi)any, only 
two, the Bay State, at Taunton, and the National, at Hart- 
ford, were fairly successful, the success of the latter being 
attributable to the close connection which it had with the 
American. After a period of nearly thirty-five years' devo- 
tion to the interests committed to him, Mr. Angell died in 
Providence, May 13, 1S70. His wife was Ann R. .Stewart, 
whom he married January 4, 1S36. Their children were 
Edwin Gorham and William Henry. The former succeeded 
his father as President and executive manager of the 
American Screw Company. 



gODMAN, JAME.S H., son of William and Martha 
Ig (Tennant) Rodman, was born in South Kings- 
f^r town, Rhode Island, January S, 1S15. He was 
employed on a farm until the age of nineteen, 
i and for several years thereafter was engaged in 

fishing and boating. .Subsequently he became captain 
of a coaster, and served in that capacity about four years. 
He then resumed farming, in which he continued until 
1853. Soon afterwards he erected the first hotel on Front 
Street, at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, for the accom- 
modation of summer visitors, which was opened to the 
public in 1855, and which he has since carried on success- 
fully under the name of the Revere House. Additions 
having been made from lime to time to meet the require- 
ments of an increased patronage, his house now accom- 
modates one hundred and twenty-five guests. Mr. Rod- 
man's success induced many others to follow his enterpris- 
ing example, and he has thus been instrumental in con- 
tributing to the growth and prosperity of the fashionable 
summer resort, at which he has resided for over a quarter 
of a century. He married, at Peace Dale, Rhode Island, 
April 12, 1866, Abbey E. Smith, daughter of Wescott and 
M.ary (Holland) Smith, of South Kingstown. They have 
had four children, Ethel M., Mary L., Bessie L., and Car- 
rie L., who died December 9, 1S78. Mrs. Rodman's 
father received a pension from the United Slates govern- 
ment for services rendered during the war with Great 
Britain in 1812, and her grandfather, John Smith, was a 
pensioner of the Revolution. Mr. Rodman is a member 
of the Baptist Church, with which communion he united 
at Exeter, Rhode Island, in 1840, and is highly esteemed 
for his integrity and religious character. 



^jf|lp|cKENZIE, Rev. James Alexander, son of 
Ml^^g James Douglass and Joanna Freeman (Hoxie) 
£35 McKenzie, was born in Newport, December 3, 
i/L 1812. His father was a Scotchman by birth, 
and a sea-captain in his calling. His mother 
was a native of Newport. He had an early Christian ex- 
perience, and his predilections for the work of the ministry 
was early manifested in his preaching to the boys in his 



neighborhood, who gathered lo hear him in large numbers, 
which was productive of good results, and gave him the 
distinction of being "the boy preacher of Newport." In 
1828 he united with the First Baptist Church, in Newport, 
and soon became the assistant of Rev. Michael Eddy, its 
aged pastor. The church subsequently divided, and he 
became pastor of a iiortion of it, which w-as known as the 
Fourth Baptist Church in Newport. Finding himself to 
be in sympathy with the doctrinal views of the Free Bap- 
tists, he identified himself with them in 1832. His church 
united with them a few years later. For one year previous 
to 1840 he was pastor of the Free Baptist Church in f'orts- 
moulh. New Hampshire, and this was the only pastorate 
which he ever filleil beyond the limits of Rhode Island. In 
that year he became pastor of the Roger Williams Church, 
Providence, and continued in the position seven years. 
During this period the foundations of the subsequent 
strength and usefulness of this large church were laid. 
He was pastor of the Free Baptist Church in Tiverton from 
1847 to 1854; of the church in Greenville from 1854 to 
1S56; of the Park Street Church, Providence, from 1856 
to 1859, and again of the church at Tiverton from 1859 
until his decease, which occurred April 10, 1873. For 
some time he suffered severely from a cancer, which caused 
his death. He was twice married : first, to Mary S. 
Tilley, in Newport, September 26, 1S33, who died in 
Tiverton, April 23, 1869; and, second, to Elizabeth S. 
Manchester, in Tiverton, November 10, 1869, who sur- 
vives him. His work was large, and its influence abiding. 
He was especially devoted to the church in Tiverton, to 
which he ministered, during his two pastorates with it, 
twenty-one years. But w hile he labored so devoutly with 
the people of his choice, his influence w-as widely manifest 
and his work appreciated. He was simple in his habits 
of life, quaint in his manners, peculiar in his methods, trans- 
parent in his motives, an able preacher, and pre-eminent 
for his piety. He was ever bold and decided in his utter- 
ances in favor of peace, anti slavery, and temperance. 
His attachment to his native Slate was very strong. 



|MITH, Rev. Francis, was born in South Reading 
'^^m (now Wakefield), Massachusetts, July 12, 1812. 
He was the son of Noah and Mary (Sweetser) 
l'^''- Smith. In his native town was an academy which 
took high rank as an instilulion of learning. Here 
he pursued his preparatory studies under the tuition of 
Rev. Messrs. John Stevens and William Heath, and was a 
graduate of Brown University in the class of 1837. Having 
completed his course of college study, he entered the New- 
ton Theological Inslilulion, where he took the prescribed 
course of three years' study, graduating in 1840. He was 
ordained March 31, 1S41, and became the pastor of the 
Fourth Baptist Church, in Providence, where he remained 
thirteen years. The church, under his ministrations, grew 



37'' 



lUOGRAFHICAL CYC I. OPEDIA. 



m mimlx-is an. I ^IrciiiMli. ami cxi-ilr.l a most beiifhcent 
mlUi.-nci- 111 ili.it |)ait of tlic- cily in ulmli il "as located. 
Mis iniiH^tiy w.is a Iniii; (im- cmiipai cl with tli.il uf ninsl 
clcrt;vniru in his (.Icn.'niiiiatiiiii, llnir ii-miic ..f ollice being 
nnt unfiei)iiLiuly viiy slcmicr and easily liiuken. .After his 
resitjnatinn, Mr. Smith cnntimie.l to reside in I'rovidence. 
.\s .1 stated supply lie preaehed to conL;rei;ations at Fruit 
lldl, .Mlendale, and Wansluiek, and lor two years at Rut- 
land, \ennorit K.ir three years lie was District Secretary 
lor New Kngland of the .American liaptist rublicatiun 
Society. The later years of his life w ere spent in mission- 
arv si-rvice in and around I'rovidence. The influence of 
his life and teachings still lives in llie fields of Christian 
l.dior wiiirli he endeavoied to eultu.ite. He marrieil, 
Much 3, tS4i, Martha (i, Iha.lfor.l, uf New Bedford, 
Massachusetts. Ills death occurreil in I'rovidence, Janu- 
ary 2y, 1S72. 

■VKR, Hon. Ki.isha, F.x-Covernor of Rhndc Island, 
f; son of Flisha and Frances (J,,nes) 1 Iyer, was born 
in Providence, Rhode Island, July 20. iSu. He 
f'.-':> is a lineal descendant of Willi.nn I Iyer, who came 
•k from London, Falkland, and settled at Bost.in in 
16 55, with his wife Mary. William and Mary Dyer were 
disfrancliised and ilri\eii to Rhode Ishiml in Ibj.S for s«p- 
jiorting 'JuaUeiisiii. The firmer became ClerU of the New- 
poii C.hiin'. .iiid the latter, bein^ a linn adherent to the 
principles maintained by the Society of Friends, it was re- 
corded of her at Boston that •' the insane clesire for mar- 
t\'idoiii led tlie poor woman back fiere in 1600 to the scal- 
fi.ld." d heir grandson, Ji'liii, married Freelove Williams, 
a great-granddaiigliter of Roger Wdli.uns, and John [i>er's 
son, .\nthony, was the grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch. Tradition says the Dyers were originally from 
luigland. Governor Dyer's mother was a daughter of 
Esther Jones, a great-granddaughter ol Mary Bernon,who 
was a daughter of (hrbriel Beriion, a Huguenot and a 
refugee from La Rochelle, France. ( labriel Beriion w as 
a merchant of an ancient and honorable family of Rochelle, 
where in: was born,.\pril 6, 1044. I iovernor Dyer enjoyed 
superior educational advantages. He received early and 
careful training in private school, in I'rovidence, spent a 
short time at Benjamin (heen's boarding-school, at Black 
Hill, in I'lainfield, Connecticut, ainl was prepared for col- 
lege in Roswell C. Smith's sclio.d. in I'rovidence, from 
which he entered Brown Cnii ersity, September 7,1825, 
at the age of lourteen. He graduated from that institution, 
September 2, 1.S29, ami Seplember 2ist, of the same year, 
entereil the .store of F.lisha Dyer & Co., commission mer- 
ch.ints. No. 5 West Water .Street, I'rovidence, where he 
served in a clerical capacity until .April I, lS;i, when, .Mr. 
Cary Dunn having retired Irom the firm to engage in busi 
ness in .New York, young Dyer became tlie junior partner. 
(In the Sth of (Jctober, iSjS, he marrieil Anna Jones 
Hoppin, daughter of d'homas C. Iloppin, Esip, the Rev. 



jaiiies Wilson, then pastor of the Beiieticent Congrega- 
tional (duirch, being the officiating minister. By this mar- 
riage there were st-ven children, hair of whom, Flisha, 
.Anna Jones, Cabriel Beriion, anil William Jones, are now 
living. In early life Governor Dyer became ideiitilied 
with various jniblic interests, and has always taken an 
active jiart in promoting useful enterprises and social re- 
forms. Tin the 23d of September. 1S33, he was tendered 
the appointment of Vice-Consul of the two Sicilies, which 
honor he ileclined. About this time he became a strong 
temi'erance man. and lj\ earnest jiersuasion jirevailed on 
his lather to give up the sale of intoxicating lii|Uors, then 
a l.irge and profitable part of their business, which course, 
as was expectetl, proved very damaging to their trade. This 
incident illustrates a strong characteristic of ( im liiioi Dvcr's 
life. He is a man of high moral principle, and has always 
been true to his convictions. r)n the 30tli of .September, 1S35, 
he became a member of the Rhode Island Society for the En- 
couragement of Domestic Industry, of which he subse- 
([ucntly serveil as Secretaiy, member of the .Auditing Com- 
mittee, and I'resident, and from 1S59 to 1S7S was an honor- 
ary member, and a member of the Standing (_'ommiltee. Per- 
haps nil one has done more for the success of this .Society 
til. Ill lioveiiiiir Dyer. He worked earnestly, both at home 
and abroad, to promote its usefulness. He visited agricul- 
tural colleges in Europe, and obtained valualile statistics 
anil information for the Society in this country, w Idle trav- 
elling for his health. In 1S35 his father Iniill the Dyer- 
ville Mill, in .North Providence, and established the L>yer- 
ville ManufaeUiring Company, for the manufacture of cot- 
ton clulh. Mr. Dyer became the agent of this company, 
in whiidi position he served until the death of his father, 
in lSs4. when he became tlie sole owner of the properly, 
aiii-l continued the Inisiness until 1S67, when, on account 
of failing health, being obliged to retire from business, he 
sold the mill. During his business career he w as promi- 
nently identified w ith many of the commercial interests of 
the cily. I'or many years he was a member and director 
of the Providence .Atheiuxnim, a director of the I'rovidence 
\'oung Men's Bible Society, of w hich he was I'resident in 
1S43, and was a menilier of the Providence Dispensary, 
being aniiing the most generous in caring for the poor and 
unfortunate. He became a member of the RluHle Island 
Historical .Society in 1S37, and was one of the Board of 
Trustees from Se]itember 10, 1S45, until the .rlxdishment 
of the same in 1S4S. In politics Governor liyer was for- 
merly an Did Line Whig, and has been identilied with the 
Republican party since its organization. He was a dele- 
gate to the Whig Convention at South Kingstown, Rhode 
Island, October 31. 1.S39, and .Secretary of the same; and 
a delegate to the Whig Jubilee and Festival at Niblo's, 
New ^drk, in November, 1839. He was Chairman and 
First Vice-President of the Young Men's Whig Convention 
at Providence, April 2, 1840. He was a delegate to the 
Young Men's Whig Convention at Baltimore, May 3, 1840, 



BIOGKAFIUCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



yii 



of which he was Chairnnn, aiul at tliat time addressed ten 
thousand people in Monument S ]uare, HaUinioie. On the 
27th of June, 1S40, he was elected Adjutant Cieneral of 
Rhode Island, and re-elected for five successive years, in 
which capacity he rendered very efficient service, beinj; on 
active duty under Governor Samuel W. King, constantly, 
from April 3d to July 2ist, 1842, having almost entire 
charge of the plans and movements of the State govern- 
ment during the " Dorr War." He served as a member of 
the Providence School Coinmittee from January 3, 1S43. to 
June 6, 1854, when he resigned. He was elected President 
of Fire Wards September 9, 1850, and served until his 
resignation, June 2, 1851. In 1851 he was nominated for 
Mayor of Providence by the Temperance party, and de- 
feated by a small majority. On the 4th of April, 1S53, he 
was nominated for State Senator, but not elected. He was 
President of the E.xchange Bank of Providence at the time 
it became a National Banl<, and served as a director of the 
same from 1837 to 1879; was elected a director of the 
Union Bank of Providence, September 2, 1S45, ^"'' 
became a director of the Providence and Washington 
Insurance Company in January, 1850, hut soon afterward 
resigned. He was Second Vice-President of the Rhode 
Island Art Association in 1853. In 1S54 he became an 
annual member of the United States Agricultural Society, 
and in 1S57, a life member, and Vice-President of the 
same. He was also a member of the Windham County, 
Connecticut, Agricultural Society. In August, 1851;, he 
became a member of the American As^ociation of Arts and 
Sciences. He was a member of the Butler Hospital Cor- 
poration, and trustee of the same from January 23, 1S56, 
to June 5, 1857, when he resigned; was Vice-President of 
the Lake Erie Monument Association ; President of the 
Young Men's Christian Association from May 12, 1857, to 
April 12, 1S58; honorary member of Franklin Lyceum in 
1858, and of the Providence Association of Mechanics 
and Manufacturers, in i860. On the loth of March, 1853, 
he was a delegate to the Whig State Convention, and Sec- 
retary of the same, and at the .same time was Chairman of 
the Eastern District Convention. He was also a member 
of the Whig State Convention from February 3, 1S51, until 
1855. In 1S57 he was elected Governor of Rhode Island, 
and re-elected in 1853, and declined in favor of Hon. 
Thomas G. Turner in May, 1859. Concerning his ad- 
ministration as Governor, the Providence Posl, a leading 
Democratic paper, which was opposed to him, thus referred 
on the 7th of March, 1859 : " It is proper to say that his 
retirement is wholly voluntary. It is not often that men 
thus voluntarily decline an honorable office, and especial- 
ly when the office may be used as a stepping-stone to 
others of still greater value and importance. . . . We 
have from the first looked upon him as an honorable, 
high - minded opponent, and a straightforward, consci- 
entious man; and candor compels us to say, that he 
has never failed to reach the standard we set up fur 
48 



him. Hi^ abilities have been equal lo his official dutios, 
anil his integrity has been equal, so far as we know or 
suspect, to every assault which the intrigues of ])rofessed 
friends have made upon it. He reiires from an office which 
he did not seek, wholly unscathed, and wholly uncon- 
taminaled with the slime which too often clings to men 
wdio dispen->c official favors." Governor Dyer was made 
a director of Swan Point Cemetery February 7, 1S60. He 
was one of the foumkrs of the Providence Aid Society, 
and was one of its board of managers from November 16, 
1S55, to October I, 1S59. On the Sih of November, 1849, 
he was elected an honorary member of the Board of Na- 
tional Popular Education, represented by Ex-Governor 
Slade, of Vermont. He was a member of the Rhode Island 
Horliculturiil Society, and one of the Coinmittee on Fi- 
nance, in 1854. Governor Dyer has taken a prominent 
part in military matters. He joined the First Light Infan- 
try Company, of Providence, in 1S3S, was made an honor- 
ary member of the New])oit Artillery Company in 1858, 
and an honorary member of the Providence Marine Corps 
of Artillery in 1859. During the Civil War he exhibited 
in various ways his patriotic devotion to the cause of his 
country. On the 25th of September, 1861, he was chosen 
Captain of the Tenth Ward Drill Company, of Providence, 
and May 26, 1S62, his son Eli-.ha having been disabled 
and prevented from continuing in the service. Governor 
Dyer felt it his duty to volunteer himself, and accordingly 
went to Washington and served for three months as Cap- 
tain of Company B, Tenth Regiment of Rhode Island 
Volunteers. This company was composed of about one 
hundred and twenty-five students from Brown University 
and the Providence High School. President Sears, of the 
University, consented for his students to enlist only on 
condition that Governor Dyer should go with them. He 
was a director of the Providence and Plainfield Railroad, 
and has been among the first in projecting and promt ting 
various railroad enterprises in the State. He was the 
originator of the Providence and .Springfield Railroad, 
known at first as the Woonasijuatucket Railroad, and was 
one of the first movers in the proposed Ponagansett Rail- 
road. He drew the charter of the Narragansett Valley 
Railroad, and was one of its corporators. In 1851, he was 
a director of the Rhode Island Steamboat Company. The 
same year he served on a committee sent to Washington 
to secure the removal of the Providence Post-office. In 
1S52, he was elected a trustee of the Firemen's Associa- 
tion, Gaspe Company, No. 9. He was at one time one 
of the directors of the Rhode Island Sportsman's Club. In 
18O3, he was a delegate from the Rhode Island Society for 
the Encouragement of Domestic Industry to the Interna- 
tional Agricultural Exhibition at Hamburg, in July of that 
year, and made an able repoit of the same. He was Vice- 
presitleiit of the Roger Williams Monument Association, 
and Chairman of the Executive Committee. On the 24th 
of September, 1S69, he wa, elected President of the First 



37S 



JJIOCK.irniCAL CYCL OPF.DJA. 



\,>tiiiii:il Musual Coni^rcss, in Music I I.ill, Huston, \,e. 
cause <if his uui^ic.il al)ilily, ami Iiis c\lcnsi\c aC'|Uiint- 
ancc in nuisical circles. He was Cnminissiiinii (nr Rhmle 
Island Ii> ihe Inlernatiuual K\hil itiun at l.tiiuloii, in Mav, 
1S71. anil maile a vahuilile re|Kii-l iif the same to tlie 
Ceneral A-seniMy. 1 in the jotli of M ,irli. iS;;, he was 
a]*]>ointeiI lloiiMiars ( 'dinniissic .net* to the \'ienna E\})C)- 
silion l)y I'lesitleiit (iianl, an.l while there reinleieil veiy 
ini[)oitant service tc^ the ('i:)niunssi(jn hv reason of his 
Iar.L;e anil varieil eN|ierience, an.l eMelleiit tasle ami juilg- 
nient. His |M|riotic /"cal leil him to over-exert liimself at 
the Exposition, so much to the injury of his health, that 
since then he has l.een ohliyeil to retire altogether from 
[lulilic life ami from business. He is a memher of the 
I'rotestaiit Kpiscopal Church, l.eiiii;, w iili his fannly, con- 
necteil with Orace C'liurch, rro\i,lencc. < In the Sth of 
June, 1N5-', he Mas a delcLjate to the liu.cesan ron\ention. 
Xotwuhsianiliui; liis active Inisiness ami |iulilic career, 
(lovernor liyer has lieeii an invalid for the last thirty 
years, and very much of his w.nk lias been done under 
the liurdeii ol inlirniity and siifteriiii;. l-agliteen times he 
lias crossed the .\tlanlic in search of health, and in 1S54 
^i^ited l\L;yiil. He has heen in all the places of note on 
the Usual roulcs of European travel, and ihoiigh travelling 
for he.ilth. alvv.ivs had his eyes open, and note-hook in 
hand, to gle.iu \\h.ile\er of value or interest he could pre- 
serve lor other-. He is an effective speaker, and has made 
a large numlier of puhlic addresses on political, educatnuial, 
musical, and mi-cell meous suhjects. In the Rhode Island 
Si-liiiii/m,:>/,r. of .\o\emlicr, 1S61, he puhli-hed a charming 
sketch of his school d.iy exjieriences at '• lilack Hill," and 
in 1S04, |.iiiili-heil a hook entitled .-/ Smiiiii.r'i Travel to 
Jin,/ <: il.iiH.ni //om,\ ( hjvernor iJyer i-,i man who might 
li.ive succeeded in almost .iny chosen line of work that he 
ll.ld selected. 



k-l)TTEk. HiiN. i;iisiiA K,, Jr., was l.oni at Kings. 
, ton, Rhode Isl. mil, then called lallle Re-l,Juiie 
, ,'■, ' 20. iSii ; gradu.ited at Harv.ird (.'..liege .Septem- 
i^VJi her, 1.S50; .i.lmilted to the har 1 la .her 9, lSj2; 
* was Commissioner of RuMic .Schools i,S4C)-i.S54; 
.•\djulant-(.;eneral, I.Sj5-(); memhcr of Congress. i,S4i-5; 
and for some years meml.crof the .St.ite Seii.iti- .iiid House 
of Represent.itives; meml.er of the Con-liiulion.d Conven- 
tion- of 1.S41 and i.S^j, the latter of uliiidi pri.|.osc.l the 
Ci.nstiiuiion wlinh w a- adopte.l, and is ilu- cxi-ting Con- 
stitution of the .St.Ue; elected .\--oci,ite Ju-ticc ..f the Su- 
lireme Court, iMjS. I'ul.lications : i. /■:,,,!i' Iliilorv vf 
A',ii>;ix,i!is,f/, Providence, IN,;,, I vol., Soo pp., :;I5 of 
which is volume 3d of Rhode Island Historical Society's 
Collections. 2. A Bii,/ Accoiiii/ of Ilu- /■: missions of 
J'll/',-}- Moil.-y iiuulr hy tho Colony of lOlo.lo A,',//;,/, Sv.j.. 
|N;7. This has l.een lepniite.l in I .S.Scj. with large addi- 
tion- l.y Si.lney S, Ri.ler, an.l Willi illu-lrations of ilu- ,,1,| 



paper money hills, and makes \o. S of Mr. Rider's valua- 
ble series of Kliodc hhuid //ii/orioiil Tnuis, i vol., small 
4I0., pp. 229. 5. Considoralions on llic Qiioslion of tlic 
Atlof'lion of tlu- Conslitnlion and Iho Exionsion of SHffrai;e 
in A'lioilc- Island. (Uorrism.) lioston, 1S42. Reprinted 
I.S7C1. 4. Kopoii on A/'oli/ion J'o/i/ions, Januaij', I.S40. 
5. I\oport on f\oli^ions Coy/<ora/ions, January, I-Sj4. 6, 
AddroM lu-fore Khodo fdand llidolical Sooirly. I'rovi- 
deiicc, I.Ssi. Reprinted. 7. /i',/,.// on Pn/dii Soliools, 
Itildo and Prayer in Pii/di, SJiools. S. A, count of the 
J-'ren,/i Settlement in Pliode Island (including an account 
of the treatment of the early settlers of Rhode Island by 
the Massachusetts I'uiitans], small S\o., Providence, 
iS.So, being Xo. 5 of .Mr. Rider's A'liode Is/and Iliitoriea! 
'J'raets. Q. Speee/l in the i'nited States Jlotise of Repre- 
sentatives on the .Meniori,:l of the Denu\ ratio nienihers of 
the Rhode Island Lei;islalure. (Oorrism.) 10. Rhode 
Plan, I E,lne,itional Mr^a:ine, monthly, 1S52-4, 2 vols., 
Svo. 



\M.Mi:H., pR(.|-iss..K Wii.i.iAM, son of Rev. Wil- 
liam and Mary (Slocomb) Clammell, was born in 
;..;.y MeiUield, Massachusetts, FcbruaiT 10, 1S12. la 
^n'^i 1823 hi- father removed to Newport. He pur-ueil 
* his early studies at a classic, d -cliool in tliat town, 
of which the Hon. Joseph Joslen wa- then the Precep- 
tor, ami entered Ilrow u L'niversity in 1.S27, where he 
gra.luate.l in iSjI. He was appointed a d'lilor in the 
L"iii\ersity in I.S32. in 1835 he w.is mai.le .\s-isiant Pro- 
fessor K\i Rhetoric and P.ngli-h I.itei.Uure, and Professor in 
the same department in I.S36,oii the lesignation of the late 
Professor William (d. Codd.ir.l. In this Professorshiji he 
continued till I.S51, when he was appointed to the Profes- 
sorship of History and Political Economy, then ju-t e-tab- 
li-he.l 111 the L'liiver-ity — a ].osiiion wliieh he held h.r 
ne.iilv thiit.cn years, resigning it in lS'.4. His ollicial 
conn. -. til 11 with the l'iii\ ei-ity, as .ui instructor, thus coir- 
timied through neailv tliiit\-two \e.irs. Pr. .lessor (.iam- 
nicll has written much for the picss. He has contributed 
numerous articles on educational, literary, an.l historical 
subjects to periodical magazines, especially to the thris- 
thin R,ri,:o, of which, h.r several )cars, he was one of the 
edilors. He was f.jr a considerable jicrh.il a regular con- 
tributor to xho P\,:'niner anil i'hronief', a weekly news- 
paper piintc.l in Xew York, and for a slid longer period to 
the editoii.d columns of the Pr,>'videnee y,'nrnal, in which 
have appeare.l obituary sketches [n.ni his pen of many oA 
the eminent men of Rhode Island. He has also deluered 
discourses on jiublic occasions which have been ]niblished. 
He wrote a life of Roger Williams, ami a life of Governor 
.Samuel Ward, which were published in the volumes of 
Sparhs'^ .hneiiean Bi,\oraphy. sec.md series. The life of 
Roger Willi.ims also api>e.ired in a separ.ite editi.in. At 
the ici|uc-t of the Managers of the liapti-t .Missionary 
I'liioii he prepared a History of the Haptist Missions, which 



BJOGRAmiCAL CYCL OPED/A. 



379 



was j^uhlislied in 1S49, For more thnn tliirtv years lie has 
written the annual necroh)j^y of the graduates of lirown 
University, wliich is printed every year in the Providence 
journal on commencement day. In 1859 he received 
from the University of Rochester the honorary dei^ree of 
Doctor of Laws. He has held the office of President of 
Providence Athen;T^um since 1S70. He is President of 
the Rhode Island Bible Society, and First Vice-President 
of the Rhode Island Historical Society. He is also a cor- 
responding member of the Massachusetts Historical .Society. 
In 1870 he was elected a member of the Board of Fellows 
of Brown University, a position which he still holds. He 
is aUo officially connected with various charitable and 
financial institutions of Providence. In Oclol.ier, 183S, he 
married Flizabeth Amory, daughter of the Hon. John 
Whipple, who died in November, 1S39. In Septemljcr, 
1S51. he married Elizabeth Amory, diughter of Rol)ert H. 
Ives. They have six children, three sons and three 
fiaughters. 

?ir^,IXON, Hon. Natii.\n Fellows. Jr., son of Hon. 
^JLJjf, Nathan F. and ICIizabeth (Palmer) Dixon, was 
JZiU- born in Westerly, Rhode Island, May i, 1812. 
i He ])ursued his preparatory studies in Westerly and 

i. at Plainfield Academy, in Connecticut; entered 

Brown University in September, 1829, and graduated in 
the class of 1833. Among his classmates were Hon. Henry 
B..'\nthony; Rev. Kdward A. Stevens, D.D. ; Rev. Arthur 
S. Train, D.D.; Lemuel W. Washburn, M.D. ; Nehemiah 
Knight, and others. He studied law in his father's office 
in Westerly, attended a course of lectures at Camluidge, 
Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut, and in (_irtler 
to prepare himself fully for practice, spent considerable 
time in the office of the late Lafayette S. Foster at Nor- 
wich. He was admitted to the bar in New London in 
1S37, and settled in his native town for the practice of his 
profession. He immediately became j^roniinent as an ad- 
vocate, and his practice soon extended widely in Rhode 
Island and Eastern Connecticut, It is said by one who 
knew him well, that '* from the time of his admission to 
the bar until his death, with the exception of the period 
when he was in Congress, there was never a term of cither 
of the courts at Kingston which was not graced by his 
presence," and that " no man at the bar in Rhode Island 
was ever more cordially welcomed by court, jury, counsel, 
clients, and friends than was Mr. Dixon through all these 
years." Both his qualifications and tastes fitted him for 
the efficient discharge of public duties. He was electetl a 
member of the General Assembly in 1S40, and serveil Con- 
tinuously until 1849. During the "Dorr War" he was 
chosen by the General Assembly as one of the Go\'ernor's 
Council. In 1844 he w,as appointed a Presidential Elector. 
He was elected by the Whig party a Representative to Con- 
gress in 1S49, and served until March 3, 1S51. In 1851 
he was again elected to the General Assembly ; re-elected 



in 1852 and 1S55, and served until 1S63. After the Whig 
party had been merged into the Republican party, the latter 
elected him as Representative to Congress in 1863, where 
he remained until 1871. Having served five terms in Con- 
gress, and having seen the country safely through the perils 
of the Civil War, he declined a re-election to the national 
Legislature. But he was again immedi.ttely called to serve 
the .State in the CJeneral Assembly, and was a member of 
the House from 1872 to 1877. He married, in June, 1S43, 
Harriet -Swan, daughter of Rev. Roswell R. Swan, of 
Stonington, Connecticul, a talenteil and popular Congre- 
gational mini-ter, who died in the meridian of life. Five 
children were the issue of the marriage: Nathan F., Ed- 
ward H., Annie P., Walter P., and Harriet S. At the 
announcement of his death a writer in the Providence 
younia/, after referring to Mr. Dixon's public record, 
spoke of him as follows: " In each sphere and at all times 
he was admittedly a strong, fearless, genial, an honest, 
and most useful ])u])lic sersant. His convictions were 
clear and intense, but he resjiectetl a sincere opponent, 
and his ways were open as the day. Perfectly versed in 
the methods of advocacy, his prominent and predominant 
characteristics were a common sense which scorned pre- 
tensions or disguises, and a kindness of disposition which 
prevented undue aggressiveness. In a deliber3ti\e assem- 
bly he debated a subject so as to show that he understood 
it, and so as to enable others to understand. He took no 
snap judgments. As an individual, Mr. Dixon was one 
of the most pleasant, hospitable, ami agreeable of men. 
He was a Rhode Islander in every fiiu'c of his mental con- 
stilulion. Generous in whatever regarded his personal 
affairs, he uas prudent lor the Slate. .\cceptinL; office 
both as a privilege and a duty, he never sought it by illicit 
means. \n able lauyer, a good farmer, a steatlfast friend, 
and an h(iiioral)]e opponent, he stood in every resjiect a 
man." 

^?ROWN, Colonel Natii.^nii-.i. Williams, was born 
■IffiK 'It Dighton, Massachusetts, February 22, 181 1, and 
was connectefl with the family of Brown conspic- 
uous in Rhode IsKinil history. He was taken to 
Providence wdien quite )'oung and placed in school, 
where his proficiency in his studies was so marked that his 
parents decided to give him a full collegiate course. 
Wlien, however, he was eleven years of age, a severe in- 
flammation of the eyes disabled him from study, and the 
plan of a college education was abandoned. He entered 
the counting-roimi of his father, Isaac Brown, in 1825, 
where he remained until 1833, when he undertook busi- 
ness on his own account, devoting himself especially to 
the wool trade. In 1839 he entered into partnership with 
Mr. Jacob Dunnell. The firm was subsequently known 
as the Dunnell .Manufacturing Company. In the great 
commercial crisis of 1S57 the company met with disas- 
ters, and Mr. Brown retired from business and took up his 



3So 



BIOGRA PIIICAL CYCl OPED I A, 



residence in Pi^htitn, in the limiM' in wliich lie was born. 
Colon.;] r.rown's interest in military ni.itier-. was developed 
when he wns ennip.ir.itivrly a voun^ man. lie lield tiie 
office (if I.ieutenani-rolonel in the l'io\ idt-nce First Lij^hl 
Infantry romi)nnv for several vear->, and f^r a short lime 
was ill coiiimand of tlie C'lnipany as its ( "olnncl. Wiitn 
the (_'ivil War hroUc out he aeeepted the C'lnnnaml ol Com- 
pany I), in the I'iist KlK^de Island Re^niient. He was in 
tlie first i'.attle of P.ull Run. and hore him•^elf with great 
l^aliantry and honor upon lli.il disastrous day. Returning 
to Rhode Island with his reL;iment. Caplain Brow n once 
more repaired for rest to hi^ 'piiet Imnie in l.)ii^htini. His 
next apipointmcnt was ( "0101101 of the Third Rhode Island 
Regiment, his commi>si(iii datin;^ Se]>tember 17. iN'ii. 
After a stormy ])as>ai;f the re^^inu-nt reached Hilton Heail. 
Novenilu-r 5. and took part in the faniou--, Imndiardment of 
the rtlicl finis, under Admiial I>u[ioiit, which rcsultei.l in 
their surrender. The rcL^iinent of Colonr! Rrown re- 
mamed in commaml of the eajilurcd pos[ fi.r some time, 
and were eni;aged in different attacks on the enemy which 
were made on the niainlanrl and llic islands in the 
nei^hhorliood of Charlest<in. He rrturned to hi^ lionie 
n the summer of 1S62, and in the fall went hack lo lii^ 
coniman'l. lie w a -. at oiu e appointed ('hief of Artillery 
in the department hv (ieneial .\Iilchel!. which position he 
held only a few weeks. A reconnoissance of the rebel 
forces near the viilaL;e of Roeotaliij;o ha\in!^ been deter- 
mined uixm. Ceneral Terry, uuh ( 'olonel iJiown as Chief 
of Artillery, was intrusted with llie commrnd of the ex- 
pedition. Havin;^ reatdicl their destination, the troop-^ 
were attacked by the enemv. and were obb>^ed to retreat 
to their transport-. ( )n his return to Hilton Head. Cohmel 
Brown was attacked with a fever, and <lied ( letober 30. 
1S62. His remains %\ ere tinally brou'^ht to I'ro\idcnce 
and liuried. lannarv 30, iSd^. He was married, lune S- 
1S34. to Sophia S. h'roihingham, of Boston. 



^EYXOLDS. H.'N. J..UN J., s.-n of Jonathan and 

Mary (Spink) Reynolds, was born in Wickford, 

in North Kini^stow n. Rhode Island. r)eceniber 7, 

'■\'-', iSi2. His hither, for manv vcars a prominent mer- 

t/ ""."-■■ . . . I 

fe,'i chant ol \\ ickfi)rd. was boi n in N<Hlh KinL;>town. 

March 31, 1774; represente^l the town in ihe Mate Sen- 
ate, and was Town ("lerk ov<.r thiity years. Hi- mother 
was a nilive of Norih Kin;^si(>w n, the <lale of her birth 
being .March 2-^, 1773- In I^^35 lie- began mercantile 
business, succeeding his father, in Wickford. in which he 
has successfully cintinued until the present time. In 1S51 
he was chosen a member of the House of Representatives 
of Rhode I-kuid. and -ei ved two terms in tlie Stale Senate, 
1S52 and 1S53. He was eh cted 1 deutenaiit Covern ir of 
Rhode Island in 1854, antl at the exi)nalion of lii->term of 
ottice, w ithdrew from public life. h'roni iS^i to iSd;; he 
was I'l-e^ideni of tlie North Kingstown Bank. In the vear 



last mentioned he was elected T'rc^ident of the Wickfiird 
National Bank, which originated from the cons'jlidation of 
the North Kingst.iwn and Narragnnsett Banks, and slill 
holds that ollu e. He married, April 9, 1840, Hannah 
Congdon, daughter of Benjamin and Phebe (Bailey) Cong- 
don, of Ni>rth Kingstown. They have had "iwt children, 
three sons and two daughters. 



■,I).\MS, Hon. John A., manufacturer, son of K/ra 
^' and Su-an ( .\yU worth) Adams, was born in Noi th 
Kinn-.town. Rhode Island, June 20, 1S15. IIi-> 
-,;'--^ father was a seaman by profession, and died in the 
* Island of Trinidad when his son John was but seven 
years of age. The fatherless boy fi.)und himself dot)nicd to 
comp.irative |)riv.iti<'n in childhood, and early learned the 
\ntue of self leliance. At the age of twelve he worked y\\\ 
a larm. Tlie connnon-school system had not been in- 
augurated in his boyhood, and he had to gain the elements 
of his education in a jirivate school. With his scanty re- 
sources he couhl not jjay much for tuition, but he wisely 
supplemented the iii-triictioii of the school by hard study 
iir the evening, after tlie wearisome labor of the day. At 
the age of seventeen he entered a factory store as a clerk, 
in Franklin, Massachusclts, and also assisted in the post- 
oftlce. Being ambitious lo become (he manager of a cotton- 
mib, he went to wurk in a factor)' at the age of eighteen, 
with a resolution to learn all the details of the business. 
To this determination he intlexibly adhered, and was em- 
ployed as laborer and subse'iuentl ,• as overseer for eight 
year->. Meanwhile, in I .S37, he removed to Central Falls, 
where he exhibited such industry, sagacity, and skill that 
he attracted ihe attention of a capitalist, who proposed to 
acLcpt him as a partner in business. In 1842, therefore, a 
new tirm started, under the style of Willard ^: Adams. They 
manutactured varn- ;ind thread. After carrying on busi- 
ness for three years this partnershi]i w as dissolved, and Mr. 
.'\dams became associated with Mr. Joseph Wood and others 
in the manufacture of cotton goods, which partnership con- 
tinued from 1S45 to 1S48. Two of the paitners died during 
the latter year, and ihe lirni siyR- uas changed to Wood .S: 
.\danis. Thcxc gentlemen were asst.ciated together until 
18(13. when ihev sold their mill and privilege to the Paw- 
tucket Ibnr (loth Company. ( >n tlie death k){ Kufus J. 
Siafiord, .Messrs. Wood and Adams transferred their cap- 
ital to the establishment which had been carried on by 
him, and took charge of the business. The successors of 
Mr. Stafford, in conjunction with the new partners, look 
the name of the Staiford Manufacturing Company. During 
Mr. Wood's lile Mr. Adams acted a-. Agent of the corpor- 
ation, and p.iit ol the tune as Pre^iilent. ( >n Mr. Wood's 
death, which occurred m 1873, Mr. Adams being the only 
acii\e paitner remaining, liecame Treasurer also, and since 
tiiat time has continued to hold the offices iiamed. In ad- 
dition to the mills mentioned, Mr. Adams has been inter- 




c/ 



BIOGRAPHICAL C\CLOPEDIA. 



381 



c<^tecl in other est.ililislinient«;, and inliniately associated in 
liusiness undertakings with prominent merchants and man- 
ufacturers in Providence. He has also been for many 
years a Trustee in the Franklin Savings Bank, and a 
director of the Slater National ISank. Since the forma- 
tion of the town of Lincoln he has been a member of the 
Town Council, and has served six years in that capacity. 
He has also represented the town in both branches of the 
General Assembly of the State. For two years he was a 
memlier of the Lower House, and for two years was in the 
Senate. He has also filled the position of School Trustee. 
Mr. Adams has done much to promote the public improve- 
ments which have benefited and beautified Central Falls. 
Since 1848 he has been a member of the Congregational 
Church, and has given freely for the furtherance of the 
enterprises of that denomination and for the general good 
of society. lie married, in 1836, Sally M. Crovvell, daugh- 
ter of Nathan and Annie Crowell. They have had eight 
children, only two of whom, John F. Adams and Stephen 
L. .\dams, are living. Their son, Albert E., was in the 
Union army during the late war, and after escaping the 
perils to which he was subjected, came i.ome to die from 
disease contracted in the service. 



SifjM'FRRY, Hon Amos, the youngest but one of ten 
Sl^S children of Elijah and Mary (Jones) Perry, was 
|Sm born in .South Natick, Massachusetts, August 12, 
&M 1812. He is a descendant in the sixth generation 
* of John Perry, who came from England in 1632, 
and settled in Roxbury, where he died in 1642. He is also 
a descendant in the fifth generation of Lewis Jones, who 
came from England and settled in Roxbury about 1640, 
and in 1650 removed toWatertovvn, where he died in 1684. 
His paternal grandfather, Samuel Perry, who was born in 
1 740 and lived to the advanced age of ninety-one, witnessed 
deeds of savage ferocity occasioned by the French and 
Indian war, and shared in the trials of the Revolutionary 
struggle. His maternal grandfather, John Jones, born in 
1716 and mentioned in Mrs. Stowe's Oldto-vn Folks as 
'* Sheriff Jones and member of the House of Lords," was 
remotely related to the royal governor, Jonathan Belcher, 
and held under the Colonial government the ofifices of 
Militia Colonel, Justice of the Peace, Land Surveyor, and 
Proprietor's Clerk. He was a deacon of the old Eliot 
Badger Church with an Indian colleague. He surveyed, 
in 1762, under a commission from the royal governor of 
Massachusetts, Mount Desert, the original drawings of 
which are deposited in the archives of the Maine Histori- 
cal Society. After the close of the Revolutionary War he 
was reinvested with magisterial and judicial powers, which 
he exercised till near his death, which occurred in his 
eighty-fifth year. The frame of the house in which he 
lived for about sixty years is still standing near its old site, 
and some of the numerous manuscripts and surveyor's plats 



which he left, induding a unii|ue diary and a record of 
judicial decisions from 1767 to 1794, have found their way 
into historical cabinets and private libraries. At the age 
of sixteen two incidents occurred that resulted in turning 
the current of young Perry's life, and in subsequently re- 
moving him from a good home in a charming rural di.strict 
to the academic grounds of Harvard University. One of 
these was the reading of a book from a neighboring parish 
library, entitled DcgeranJo on Self-Edutation, the leading 
doctrine of which was that moral and intellectual culture is 
a matter of primary moment; and the other incident was that 
while moved by this principle and in a quandary in regard 
to its practical application he came across a guide-board in- 
scribed, "To Cambridge Colleges." This was, as it were, 
a hand from above to direct his way, and it had this effect, 
deciding, in connection with the book, his career. Five 
years afterward he was admitted a member of the Freshman 
Class of that institution, on condition of passing a satisfactory 
examination in Latin prosody. The examination terminated 
in an interesting discussion on the general laws of versifica- 
tion, in which Charles Sumner, who was then a member of 
Harvard Law School, took a leading part; and this inci- 
dental meeting in the class tutor's room was the begin- 
ning of a life-long ac(|uaintance and friendship with the 
future senator and statesman. During his collegiate course 
he had the privilege of seeing and hearing many of the 
most eminent men of the country. He was present on a 
memorable commencement when President Quincy ap- 
peared as the grand central figure, and on either side of 
him were Dr. Ware, Judge Story, Professor Greenleaf, 
Edward Everett, Daniel Webster, Jared .Sparks, John 
Quincy ."Vdams, Noah Worcester, William Ellery Channing, 
Nathaniel Bowditch. Washington Irving, and other persons 
of scarcely less distinction. It was, doubtless, regarded a 
greater privilege to look upon that assemblage than to see, 
as he did nearly twenty years later, the Duke of Wellington 
addressing the House of Lords, or than having as he did a 
personal interview wiih Baron Alexander Von Humboldt in 
his study at the Sans Souci Palace. During his Junior year in 
an animated discussion be fore the Institute of 1770, Mr. Perry 
took decided ground in favor of general emancipation, in 
opposition to the colonization scheme, then at the height 
of its popularity. He maint.iined a respectable standing as 
a scholar and graduated in 1837, since which time his life 
has been mainly devoted to literary pursuits. On leaving 
Cambridge he became the principal and proprietor of a 
classical school at Fruit Hill, North Providence, Rhode 
Island, where he also held the office of Postmaster, under 
a commission from the Hon. Amos Kendall, then Post- 
master-General. In 1 840 he removed to Providence, where 
he has since had a home, though he has passed much time 
beyond the limits of the St.ate. He served the cause of 
education many years a-s the Principal of a public grammar 
school ; as the Principal of a young ladies' public high 
school ; as a member of the school committee ; as a County 



-,S2 



li!Oi;i<AFHICAL C 1 ( 7. OPllDIA. 



Iii^|)in-li>riif pulilic ^rl 1- ; as a Su peri lit i.-iiiK'nl nf Salibath- 

schnoU; av .\ iiK-inlicr nnl fur yi'.irs \\ \'iiH'l'i\>iik-iit of the 
Aiiu-rir.in In^titutL- iif In-tnu-tinii ; ami as niic- of the 
foiimlers ami iiiL;.iiii/rrs ol tin- Khoile Nlaii.l Insiiiiitc of 
lustriK-lidii. Ill llu- llliilst nf his ciliii-aticiiial carci'r lie spent 
two \ eai s ill hireiLJii travel ali-l sluily. \isitiiiL; iiistiliitions 
of leaniiilL; in lln-at I'ril.iin ami nn ihe eeiilinent ol 
Europe, e\lemlllV4 his I. nil ihioui^h l\HVpl. I'.ilesliiie, 
antl (_lreeee. ( >ii his reliii n liMine he ih\(»ie<l himsell to 
the instruetii'ii of \uutli in 1 .nmhiii, ('unneetiriil. ami in 
I'rovidenee, Rhode Id., ml. In iNoi lie visited Europe 
for the third linu-, and while there reeidved. early in lSfi2, 
Piitiee of his aiipoinlnieiil to the ennsular and di|ihriiiatic 
post at I\inis. wdiere lu- resided ujiwaids rif tn*e years, re- 
st, -riiiu; anil niainlainin^ aiiiiealile relations hetween our 
L;,neinnieiil and that (d" Tunis, keepiiiL; the T lepartmeiit 
III Strte infiirnied in regard to vaiimis industiiil, emn- 
luercial, and dijilnnialie affairs uf eriier.il interest, and de- 
votin,;; mueli time to a critical study of the .i;eiiL;raphy, his- 
tory, antiquities, and the actual condition of the Kegeiicy 
of Tunis, He early interested himself in collectiivi me- 
inorials of his laimnted piedecessor in oftice, lohn How- 
ard I'ayne, who died in the ( 'oiisui.Ue ten ve.irs ii.Tore the 
arrival of Mr. I'erry ; and, at a later |ierioil, after much 
correspondence with Willi. on (dillen r,i\ant, and other 
friends of the poet, he foi w.ivded, under in -ti ui lions from 
the Uepartnient of State, to the lel.itiM- of Mi. I'ayne, 
such literary remains, inclmliiiL; diaiies and m.iiuiscripts, 
as could be found. In iSo:^ an eiidnssy w.is sent lo this 
country, under Ills condiu i, willi a laree, (ineU excLUted 
pioitr.iit of the llcy of liiiiis in full rei^'.di.i. as a token of 
fneliddiip. with letters of condolence on the death of 
rresideiil l.iiuoln, and of coiiL;r.itlil.iliolis on the reeslali- 
hshnieiit of peace, .iiid \\ itli in-tiiu lions to make a repi, irt 
on its return in relerem e to the i.oii litimi of our country 
and its various institutions, especially in re|;aid to our 
niodes and implements of warf.ire. Ilie mission was a 
success, bringint; distiiit loiiiitiies and dissimilar races into 
near rel.itions, exteiidiiiL^ the iv/Av/A- cort/'hiL: th.it tends to 
univets.il brotherhood and pen e. .iml .i;i\ini; iiiiipialilied 
satisfaction. The report of the Ainliassador, I ieneral 
Ilascin, was published in the ohu lal .\ral ic journals at 
Tunis, and embraced ,in acknou ledL^ineiit of the i^enerous 
and hospitable reception of the embassy, a relcience to the 
beauty and grandeur of .\iiierican scenery, and comjili- 
nientany mention of our cuiious inventions, varied im- 
provements, and marvellous contrivances fur human de 
struction. Specimens of our iinplements of w.irfaie, in- 
cluding Peabody lifles. ware c, lined to the IJcy and his 
ministers, bv whom tliev were reg.irded with great admira- 
tion. In l,Sb(i a suptab poitiait of W.ishington v\-as sent 
to Tunis b\ our govi.rnment, and ,il the loi ni.il pi esellt.ition. 
which w.is m.ide bv Mr. reri\', under iiisii m tnuis from 
the iJepartment of St.lte. it w,ls sii-peiideil \y\\ the w.llU of 

the Bey's palace at the Bardo, wlieie it lein.iins, in com- 



pany with numerous likenesses of European and (Htoni.in 
sovereigns. Since his return home, Mr. Perry has em- 
bodied siiiiie of the results ol his studies and researches, 
at his olVicial iiost. in an oct.ivo volume of sbo purges, en- 
titled, Citi-t/hii;,- iiiiil I'linis : I',nl and Piiiciil. This 
volume contains an epitomi/ed history of one of the most 
hi-tonc portions of the globe, together with an account of 
its aiiiiil (ondiliin. He has also exercised his jien for 
public ioiirnals and niaga/ines, and has taken an active 
part in the proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical 
Society. In a paper rend before that body in I.S74, he 
brought to light ihe Rhode Island Society of ( 'inciniiati, 
which was borii with ihe piace of 17.^3. and after exert- 
ing a saint. iry influence during a ciitical and Irving period 
of our national lite, diopt out of sight for a third of a cen- 
luiy, and then cimrged w ith the development of its his- 
torv ; but il was bereft of all the illustrious (■onlinenlal 
oificers who founded it lor social, cfiaritafjle, and piatriotic 
jiurposes. Since its re\i\al the society has been sujijiorted 
bv descend ints who, recogni/ing their heritage, stri\e to 
prove their worthiness by illustrating the virtues and per- 
pietuating the ineinory of ancestors whose places they 
occupv. .Mr. Peirv ieci.i\ed the honorary degree of .A.M. 
from Brown L'liiversity in i,S4i ; he is an honorary inem- 
iier of the Alpli.i (diapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society 
of H,-ir\aiil Uiii\ er^iiv ; an h inoiarv member ol the Rhode 
Island Society of ( ■incinnatl ; a Vice-President of the 
American Peace .Soiiety ; a ( 'orrespoiiding Member of the 
New York Hist Mical Society, of the Chicago Historical 
.Society; of the .\iiiericaii Ethnological Society, and of the 
Ameiicaii (deographical Society. He mairied, in 1S3S, 
I'.li/abelh .Vnastasia. daughter of F.ber and Waity (Irons) 
Pfietteplace, of (docesier, Rhode Nhnd. ddie issue ol this 
marriage was a daughter, llileii Eli.'alieth, who married 
P. Rcdlield S. Kendall, a gr.idii iteof 1 lartmouth f'ollcge, 
and an atloriiey-at-law-, settled in Rutland, Vermont. They 
have had one child, Eli/abeth Redheld Kend.dl. 



'1 1 1,I\( '. 1I.\S 1\ R|.\-. b'tlN. youngest son of twelve 
chdilieii of Ileal. on P.iidon and M.iry (.Sweet) 
dilliiighast, w.is bom in West Cbx-enwich. Rhode 
'■'!,"■' Isl.iiid, I >, lolier ;, i,Si2. He was a descendant of 
f-S Rev. P.ird.'ii d'lllinghast, who came to Providence 
in Ifi4S, iiud succeeded Roger Williams as the minister of 
the First B.iptist I liunh in that city and in America. In 
all the hisioiy of the State, the members of this family 
have held high rank for character and services, alike in 
ccclesi.istn.il and civil all'.iiis. The favorite names have 
been P.irdon .ind John. Mr. 1 illingliast's parents were 
pioneer settlers in West ( iixaaiw icli, and his school advan- 
t.iges were limited; but he lii.ide the most of his opportu- 
llllles. Being SI h-eduiatcd he knew his ground, and was 
never the echo of others, (/onvcrted at an early age, he 
commenced preaching soon alter his twentieth year. (Jn 



RIO GRA rillCAL C ) CI OPED I A . 



383 



the 8th of October, 1S40, he was ordained pastor of the 
West Greenwich Baptist Church, and lived to serve that 
body, and tlie region round about, from the time of his 
licentiate until his death. Of medium height, erect form, 
manly features, dark gray eyes, pleasing voice, and great 
force of character, he commanded attention, respect, and 
esteem. Among reformers he stood in the van, and was 
pronounced in all his convictions, inaintaining the right at all 
hazards. His name was a power in Western Rhode Island. 
His qualities and piety are sufficiently evinced by the fact 
that, in a wonderfully progressive period, he filled the 
same pulpit for more than forty years. He served his town 
efficiently in educational and civil affairs, and in 1854-5 
was a member of the General Assembly. Ncaring the end 
of his pure, laborious life, he said, " My work is done; I 
am full of joy ; I know whom I have believed." He mar- 
ried, March 2, 1834, Susan Caroline Avery, daughter of 
Elisha Avery, He died March 28, 1S78, and was buried 
with universal marks of honor. 



Harriet, survived her husliand. He died in Warren, May 
10, 1S62. 




DSWORTH, Judge .\lfrkd, eldest son of Daniel 
and Su.san (Mason) Bosvvoith, was born in War- 

,j,';^5 ren, January 28, 1812. He was fitted for college 
by Rev. George W. Hathaway, then rector of St. 

J la Mark's Church, in Warren, and was a graduate of | 
Brown University in the class of 1835. At the close of his 
college course, he commenced the study of law in the office 
of Hon. Levi Haile, in his native village, and was admit- 
ted to the Rhode Island bar in 1S3S. He commenced the 
practice of his profession in Chepachet, having formed a 
partnership with Hon. Samuel Y. .■\twell. He remained 
in Chepachet only one year, at the end of which time he 
returned to Warren and opened an office, succeeding to 
the business of Mr. Haile, whi) had been a]:)pointed a Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court of the State. Soon after his 
return to his native town, he was elected a member of the 
General Assembly, and from 1S39 to 1854, a period of 
fifteen years, he was chosen annually, to occu]>y the posi- 
tion of a Representative from Warren to that body. (Jn , 
the decease of Judge Haile in 1854, Mr. Bosworth was 
elected to fill his place on the bench of the Sujireme Court. 
As a practicing lawyer he conducted many important cases, 
both in the State and in the United States Courts. He 
was counsel of Rhode Island in several suits affecting the 
boundaries of this Slate and Massachusetts, and took an 
important part in the suits which grew out of the troubles 
of 1842. ^Vllile in the Legislature, he was. for several 
years, Speaker of the House. In 1854, he was chosen a 
trustee of Brown University, and held that position until 
his death. Judge Bosworth was twice married — the first 
time to Harriet Newell, daughter of Shubael V. Child, of 
Warren, who lived but a year after the marriage. His 
second wife was Anne, daughter of William Collins, of 
Warren, who, with three childicn, Daniel, .Mired, and 



^.\IRBROTHER, Hon. Licwis, son of Jarvis and 

Betsey ( Field) I'airbrother, was born in Pawtucket 

Zfi (then a part of North Providence), Rhode Island, 

f> August 2, 1812. His father, born in Rehoboth, Mas- 
sachusetts, was an excellent machinist. He removed 
from his native town and prosecuted the favorite work of 
his life with success in North Providence. His wife was the 
daughter of Hon. John Fieltl. Jarvis and Betsey Fairbrotlier 
had seven children, John, Lewis, Betsey, .Samuel, Phineas, 
Nathaniel, and Mary (wdio died young). Lewis was educated 
in the common schools, attending a few weeks each year, 
giving the rest of his lime to his work. He finally studied 
for one year in the Willirahain Academy, Massachusetts. 
At the age of about twenty he commenced the manufac- 
ture of -leather for factory uses. He began by making 
picker and lace leather. .\ few years later he entered 
upon the manufacture of lielting. Purchasing the hides, 
he tanned them and fitted the leather to the machines and 
wheels. The first to introduce belting made of leather 
was Mr. John Blackburn, who applied his bells to certain 
machinery in the famous old Slater Mill. Mr. Fairbrother 
began this branch, of business in 1834 and prosecuted it 
witli great skill and success. He had learned the art of 
tanning and manufacturing picker and lace leather in At- 
tleboro, Massachusetts, ami began business in I'awlucket 
with only one vat in a building measuring only fifteen by 
thirty feet. He made the manufactuiing of belts and fac- 
tory leather of various sorts a specialty. He has contrib- 
uted largely to the development of the industrial interests 
not only of Pawtucket but also of the .State. His son, 
Henry L., on reaching maturity, was received by him as 
a partner in Ijusiiiess in iSOi. In 1S05 Mr. Faiilirnther 
desiring to retire from the anxieties and respon^ilililies of 
business sold his interest to Mr. Henri E. Bacon, and the 
firm became H. L. F'airbrother & Co. Mr. Bacon retired 
in 1S70, and the establishment came into the hands of H. 
L. Fairbrother, the firm-name remaining. This is the old- 
est lace and picker leather establishment now in the United 
States, save one in Altlelioro, Massacliusettes, where Mr. 
Fairbrother learned his trade, and is the oldest in Rhode 
Island. It nnw occupies as much fioor-room as any similar 
factory in the .Slate. The business has increased till its 
annual products are valued at about half a million nf dol- 
lars. In 1S36 .Mr. Fairlirothcr unilcd with the Fir.->t Bap- 
tist Church in Pawtucket, and has ever been a strong sup- 
porter of that body. Politically he has been a Whig and 
a Republican, and has always been in the vanguard of 
moral reforms. In 1S55 he was elected a Representative 
to the General Assembly, and again in 1856, serving the 
two years as Chairman of the House Committee on Cor- 
porations. In 1857 he was elected to the State Senate, and 
re-elected in 1S5S, 1S59 and i860, and again in 1S64, here. 



3S4 



hlOGRAFIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



a- in the IIchim-. ^crvin^' all llu- time a^ Chairman (if the 
r.imniilU'c "11 I ■oiiMiraiiiiii-.. K"r in my yi-ar^ lie wa-. agent 
frir the imiia,;rnu-nl of the I'r.ix ideiiee and l\nvtucket 
tuin|)ike. and ^et many nf the tree-- (ni that thorc)UL;hfaie, 
anil fnr .me reason lia.l the track watered. In the erection 
of the -.oli<l Ntoiie hrirl^'C at I'awtuckel KalU, hy order of the 
State of Rho.le [slan 1 and the towns of North I'lovidence 
and Pawlncket. in iSvS, he was Chairman of the Com- 
iniNsioners, Iiis associates bein,^ Daniel Wdkinson and 
Enoch Brown, with Saninel 15. Cn^hin:^ as engineer nr.d 
lailher Kin^^^Iey as builder. Durini; the Rebellion, be- 
sides otherwise aidiiii; the L'nion cau^e, he was the Com- 
mittee of the town for distributing thousands of dollars for 
the relief and comfort of the families of the soldiers, aid- 
ing about a liunilred and lifty families. He was President 
of the Slater Dank (now the National Bank) at its organ- 
ization, and for many years after. In tlie oKl North Provi- 
dence Hank he was a director, anri is now a director in the 
P.iwtucket (k\s Coniiuniy, and the Slater Cotton Ccjiiipany. 
In lS66 he was a|i|ioinlcd by llie Slate an Ins|iector of the 
Slate Prison, and served in that office ele\en years. In 
every position in life he has been valued for his talent^, 
stabihtv. judgment and faithfulness, lie married, M.ay 3, 
lSj7, Harriet Eb/abelh May, born March 29, 1S13, daugh- 
ter of Jesse and Betsey M.irdi May, of Pawtucket (then 
North Providence I and has three children, Henry L., Har- 
riet Kli/abelh. and b-^e May. 



f^^Qr?EG.\R, Thomas Wanihn, merchanl, was born in 
South Kingst..un. Rhode Eland, ;\|iid 20, 1S12, 
and is the son of 'I'liom as and Rebecca (Ward) 
'*„,■;■•■ Seg.ir. In 1S13 the family rem. .veil to Lebanon. 
■s" Connecticut. His father and graiulfalher were well- 
known farmer>. His mother w. IS a dc-ccndant ol t. lover- 
nor Samuel Ward, of Wesierly. He received a common- 
school education, taught school for lliiee winters in his 
native town, and engaged in agriculuiral pursuits untd he 
was twenty-one years of age. In iSjii he became a trav- 
elling diygoods nieichant, and v\as thus snccesslidly en- 
gaged for seven years. In 1S43 he opened a store in 
Westerly, where he c.inied on a general meii h.indise busi- 
ness until 1.8(15, since "'lii"-'! •"">■ 'ic luis been principally 
engaged in the coal and giaiii Hade. I-rom 1,84(1 to i.So; 
he was in iiartneisliip with a relative, Samuel B. Segar, of 
We-terly. In 1S77 his son, William Segar, became asso- 
ciated with him, which p.artncrship continued until I.SSo. 
when the former withdrew lo eng.ige in business for him- 
self. Mr. .Segal's sales have amounted to sixty thousand 
dollars in one year, being the largest bu-ine-s in his line 
in the town of Westerly. I'roiii 1S54 to 1.S57 he was a 
member of the Steam Mill .Manufacinriiig Company, at 
Westerly, engaged in the manulaituie ol plaid lin-eys. 
For III. my years he has lieeii intire-ted in coasting vessels. 
For live years he was captain of an independent militia 



company in Lebanon, Connecticut. In 1S7S he was the 
Hemocratic nominee for State Treasurer, in 1S79 the Demo- 
cratic nominee for Covernor, and in iSSi a candidate for 
Eieulenant-l.hivernin , but the State being strongly Reinib- 
lican. he was not elected to either of the offices mentioned. 
He was 110 oliice seeker, and it was only at the most earn- 
est solicilations of his |iarly that he consented to accejil 
these different nominations, and in each case he received 
many of the Republican voles of his town. In 18S0 he 
was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at 
Cincinnati. He has been a direct<ir in the National Ni- 
antic Bank of Westerly since the date of its charter, 1S54, 
and is also a director in the Niantic Savings Bank of 
Weslerlv. Though not a memlier, he is a regular alteiid- 
ant at the ('alvary Baptist (_linrch, in Westerly, of which 
he is a lilieral supjiorter, and is a generous contributor to 
all benevolent objects. He married, February 5, 1S44, 
Eli,?abeth T., daughler of Hon. William T. ami Martha 
I Card 1 Browning, of South Kingstown. Slie died August 
2, 1.841). They had three children, two of whom, Thomas 
B. and William, are living. On the 5th of February, 
18^2, Mr. Segar married Jane C, daughter of Charles and 
Catharine ( I'hompson) Bradford, of Stonington, Connecti- 
cut, the issue of the marriage being seven children : Eliz- 
abeth T., who maiiied George R. Coy, of Westerly; Cath- 
arine B., (.harles P., Henry R., Fanny L., deceased, 
Albcrlu, \'., and Eriie-t G. 



^^W^KI;RM.\N, Ciiari.i-.s. the youngest but one of 
'\ thiiteen children, was born in Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, February 27, 1S12. Hi-s parents 
{■[--. were Joseph and llslhcr (Jackson) Akerman, the 
•V latter of whom allained to great age, dying in her 
ninetv-lirst year. His boyhood and youth were spent in 
his n.itive low n. w here he eiijo_\ed the ordinary advantages 
of public schools. Ills lust employment after leaving 
hiune was wiili an uncle engaged in the tanneiy business. 
Disliking thi>. he went lo Post, ,n, with but sixty cents in 
his pocket, yet w itli courage in his heart and a resolute iron 
will that brooked no obstacles in the way of luture success, 
he engaged as cleik in a drygoods store. From thence 
he Weill to the adjoining town of Cambridge, where he 
engaged in the book-binding business. Here he became 
aciiuaiiued with an accomplished and most excellent lady, 
Lucy Eveline Metcalf, daughter of Thomas and Lucy 
(Child) Melcalf, whom he married M.ay 22, 1836. With 
her he lived most happily thirty-eight years, she dying 
February 21, 1874, upon her lilty-eighth binhilay. She 
was a Wdinan of rare gbts and graces, beantilul in person 
and lowly .md aitrac.ive in di-positiou. Some of her jio- 
elical production, have real merit, and w ill bear tlie test 
of time. Tiiey have been gathered togetlier by her loving 
daughter,, and privately published in a neat and attractive 
volume under the title, Nothing but Leaves, atid Other 



BIOGRAPHIC. IL C YCL OPED [A. 



38s 



Poems. Previous to his marriage, and during the same 
year, he came to Providence and l)ought out Thomas Doyle, 
father of ex-Mayor Doyle, wlio was carrying on a binriery 
and blank book manufactory in a building on Westniin- 
ster Street, where Tibbitts & Shaw's book-store now is. 
Here he continued for some time. Thence he removed to 
Union Building, and afterwards to Washington Row, 
where he remained until his decease. Altogether he was 
in the book-binding business nearly fifty years. He w.is 
noted for his punctuality, for strict attention to all the de- 
tails of his affairs, and for his integrity and truthfulness. 
His word was as good as a bond ; hence the secret of his 
rare success, and of the many friendships which he formed 
in daily life. In public affairs he took a li\ely interest, 
and was always ready to engage in any good work for the 
benefit of the poor, and for the advancement of society. 
He was a member of the Common Council from the Fifth 
Ward, in 1847, a member of the General Assembly, in 
1855, and for many years a member of the School Com- 
mittee. But public life as such had no attractions for him, 
and he declined public service, satisfied with the cares of 
his own business and the attractions of his quiet and 
happy home. He died .April 14, 1 879, leaving two mar- 
ried daughters to mourn his loss. 



^^pi^IGGIN, Ch.^se, M.D., son of Richard Russ and 
K Eunice R. (Mead) Wiggin, was born in Centre 
Harbor, New Hampshire, November 17, 1812. 
t^i&> His father was a carpenter by trade, and his an- 
'* cestry in this country has been traced as follows: 
Chase Wiggin, born in I75i,died in 1791 ; Bradstreet, 
born in 1724, died in 1757; Chase, born in 1699, died in 
1733; Bradstreet, born in 1675, died in 170S; Andrew, 
born in 1635, died in 1710; Thomas, who came from 
England in 1636, to act as Agent or Governor of the terri- 
toiy then known as the Upper Plantations, now Eastern 
New Hampshire. Governor Thomas Wiggin died in 1667. 
The mother of the subject of this sketch was a native of 
Meredith, New Hampshire, her father being one of the 
pioneer settlers. Richard Russ and Eunice R. Wiggin 
had three children, John Mead, Chase, and Eunice Jane. 
John Mead was born in 1810, in Centre Harbor, and the 
family soon removed to Meredith, New Hampshire, where 
he resided until 1879, when he removed to Providence. 
He was for two years a member of the New Hampshire 
Legislature. He married Polly Fo.\ Wadleigh, of Mere- 
dith. They had four children, John Langdon, an inven- 
tor, Oliver Chase, and Charles Dearborn, both physicians 
in Providence, and Richard Russ, deceased. Dr. Chase 
Wiggin has been a practicing physician in Providence 
since the spring of 1842. He was employed upon his 
father's farm, and attended the district schools until his 
twentieth year. He afterward attended school in New 
Hampton, New Hampshire, and for several years there- 
49 



after was engaged in teaching at Great F'alls, New Hamp- 
shire, and elsewhere, until he entered upon the study of 
medicine as a private pupil of Dixi Crosby, then Professor 
of .Surgery in the Medical .School connected with Dart- 
mouth College, at Hanover, New Hampshire. He re- 
mained in the office of Professor Crosby one year, during 
which time he attended a full course of medical lectures, 
and then pursued his studies for one year with Josiah 
Crosby, M.D., a brother of his former preceptor. While 
studying under the direction of the last-named gentleman, 
he attended a course of medical lectures at Bowdoin Col- 
lege, in Brunswick, Maine. In the spring of 1841 he went 
to Providence and studied in the office of George Fabyan, 
.M.D., until the fall of that year, when he returned to Dart- 
mouth College, attended another course of medical lectures, 
and graduated witli the degree of M.D. He united with 
the Philadelphia Medical Society, and the following win- 
ter attended the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadel]ihia, 
from which institution he received a diploma. He then 
returned to Providence and began the practice of medicine 
in the office of Dr. tJeorge Fabyan, with whom he con- 
tinued for one year, when he opened an office on Benefit 
Street, where he remained two years, and in 1845 returned 
to his old office on Broad .Street, where he has ever since 
pursued his profession. But few physicians have had a 
more extensive practice, or have rendered more gratuitous 
professional service to the poor, than Dr. Wiggin. For a 
period of thirty years he was not absent from his office 
over one day in the year, on an avenige, while for eight, 
and again for six years, he did not lose a single day, and 
sometimes his visits were over seventy per day. Dr. Wig- 
gin is a member of the Rhode Island Medical Society, 
with which he united in 1S42, and is also a member of the 
Providence Medical Association. His time has Ijeen en 
tirely devoted to his profession, and he has long ranked 
among the successful and well-known medical practitioners 
of Providence. 




\TERMAN, Henry, D.D., son of Resolved and 
Lucia (Cady) W.aterman, was born in Centre- 
y.oj- ville, a vill.ige in WarH ick, Rhode Island, August 
17, 1813. The family removed to Providence 
when he was ipiite young, and here he fitted for 
college, and was a graduate of Brown University, in the 
class of 1831. He studied theology at Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, in a school of which Rev. Messrs. John Henry 
Hopkins and George W. Doane, at that time rectors of 
Episcopal churches in Boston, had the charge. He also 
went through the prescribed course of study in the Theo- 
logical Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York. 
Bishop Griswold ordained him as deacon in Providence 
in June, 1S35, and as Presbyter in Boston, January, 1837. 
He was rector of St. James, in Woonsocket, six years 
(1S35-1841), of St. Stephen's Church, Providence, four 
years ( 1S41-1S45), and of Christ's Church, .\ndover, Mas- 



386 



BIO GKA rilICA L C ) VL OP ED I. -I . 



sachusetts, four year^ ( 1845-184111. Kesij;iiing his rector- 
ship in An lover, lie speiU alioiit a year aliroa'l, and on 
his return was called a;;aiii, in 1S50. to take charge of St. 
Stephen's Church in l'ro\idenee. of wliich lie was the 
minister for twenty four years (1830-1874). During his 
ministry the |iarish was greatly jirospered. By his per- 
.«.onal eflorts cliieflv, funds were secured for the erection of 
the very attractive house of worship on (Jeorge Street, and 
a large congregation was gathered within its consecrated 
walls. " He was," says Professor flaniniell, "an instructive 
and effective preacher, and a careful student of the works of 
the old English divines, and was throughly Anglican in all 
his views. Beyond his immediate sjihere as a clergyman, 
he seldom cared to appear in public. In that sphere, how- 
ever, he was always ready f(U- any service, an<l he exerted 
a verv iniponant inlluence, and was greatly respected by 
his brethren." Coluiuliia College, New York, conferred 
upon him the honorary degree of Doclorof Divinity in 
1S5S. In October, 1857, he married Eli/a, daughter of 
William Han is, of I'awtucket, Rhode Island. Dr. Water- 
man, whose active ministry covered a period of nearly 
forty years, twenty-eight of which were devoted to St. 
Stephen's, in Providence, died in Providence, October iS, 
1S76. 



\XSON, IIiiN. CiiAKirs, third son of lonalhan 

j and Nancy (Potter) Maxson, was born in the 

fssi' "Amos Maxson House," near Potter Hill, in 

frt Westerly, Rhode Island, September 3, 1S13.' 




He was a descendant of Rev. John Maxson, 
born in 163S, ■' the fii^t white child born on the island of 
Rhode Island," and \\ ho was one of the fust settlers of 
Westerly. In every generation the Maxson, have been 
conspicuous fur tlieir abilities and \iitues. The three who 
became distinguished Sabliataiian iniiiisters are elsewhere 
sketched in thi- volume. The children of b'liathan and 
Nancy Mas^on were ( leorge P.. Mary P., William, (.'harles, 
Jonathan, Nancy, Edwin, and Elizabeth. Charles wasedu- 
cated in the common schools, and learned the carpenter's 
trade of his father, who was a skilful mechanic and suc- 
cessful builder. Removing to the village of Westerly he be- 
came the leailiiig car|x-iiter and one of the most prominent 
citizens of that place, lii 1843 I"-' =>"'' ''''' I'rother Jona- 
than became associated as master builders, under the lirm- 
name of C. Maxson & Co., and long maintained a high 
reputation. The coni|iany owned a large lumber-yard and 
planing-mill on Main Street in Westerly. In 184(1 their 
father, Jonathan Maxson, became a member of the firm, 
while the firm name was unchanged. Charles was the 
business head of the company. His executive abilities 
and excellent character gave him reinilation ami influence 
throughout the western jiart of the Stale. In early life he 
united with the Sabbatarian Church, and became one of 
its mo^t ariive and useful nieiiibers. He served on numer- 
ous tow 11 Committees, and was eho,cii to the Slate Senate 



in 1S52, 1853. and 1S54. From 1S5S to iSSo he was a 
directiir in llie Washington ISank ami Washington National 
Bank, lie was an ollieer if the River Bend Cemetery 
Association, and was Chief Engineer of the Westerly Fire 
I)epartnieiit, from its origin in 1S71 till the close of 
1874, when he declined a re-election. For many years he 
was President of the Boanl of Trustees of the Seventh- 
Day Baptist t'liiireh. His benevolent contributions were 
large aiul con-tant, answering both to his ample means 
and his generous nature. He was interested in several 
hotels at Narragansett Pier, and was personally interested 
in the Minint Hope House at the Pier, and the Atlantic 
House at Watch Hill. In 184I he married .Ann Maria 
Barber, daughter of .Xiiios and I.ucia (Champlin) Barber, 
of Hopkinton, and had two children, Abbie and Charles 
Clarence. Mr. M.ixson retired from active business in 
1S75 on account of imiiaiied health. In vain he vi-ited 
Clilton Springs, New York, for relief from disease in 1877. 
After much suffering he died at his residence in Westerly, 
February It), 1881, in his sixty-eighth year. 



|UFFUM, TiiiiM,\s B., son of David and Susan Ann 

\ (Barker) Bulfuin, was liorn in Newport, Rhode 

1- ,4, Island, |uly 15, 1813. His ancestors were among 

,;•'•; the early settlers of Rhode Island, and his father 
'I 'I' 
■i ami grandfather were prominent members of the 

Society of Friends, the former having been an elder in the 

Societv at Newport for many years in the latter pait of his 

life. Thomas B. lIulTuin was educated at the Friends' 

Boarding-School in Providence, and for a long time has 

been the minister of the friends' ('hurch at Newport. He 

occupies a high place in the esteem of his brethren and the 

coininuiiity geiier.illy. As the custom of his society allows 

no salary to their minister, he has devoted his time and 

energies to fanning as a means of su|iporl, and his etiorts 

ill that direction have lieen remarkably successlul. His 

farm is located a short distance back of Newport. Mr. 

Buffum is especially noted for the excellence of his stock, 

having taken v.iluable jiri/es for his cattle and Southdown 

sheep while competing « itli the L'nited States and Canada 

at the New England AgiKultural Fairs in 1865, 1S67, and 

1871. His integrity and liusiiiess capacity have caused 

hull to be called upon to lill |iublic positions, which he has 

repeatedly declined. He has led a ipiiet, useful life, an<l 

has been instrumental in accomplishing much to advance 

the general welfare of the community. On the 24th of 

November, 1S53, he married Eydia R. Potter, daughter of 

Willkam T. Potter, of Newport. 



'.\YEES, Coi.ciNEi. Wki.co.me B., was born in Bell- 
ingham, Massachusetts, in .-\ugust, 1S13. In early 
manhooil he settled in Woon-,ocket, of which vib 
. '■■>t^c' he became a prcuninent citizen. He was ap- 
! ? pointed Postmaster of Pro\ ideiiee by President Polk 




//////./< J:'>r^/i) 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



387 



in I<S+5, anil lielil the office until 1S49. In iSj.v lie was 
reap])ointed by President Pierce, and remained in oftice 
initil 1857. President Buchanan sent him to Arizona and 
otiier western districts to look after the interests of the 
United States Government, in connection with the War, 
Post Office, and Interior Departments. He was also ap- 
pointed to visit the principal cities of the South after the 
secession movement began, and endeavor to make such 
arrangements as he could with postmasters, so that the 
Government should sustain the least possible loss. The 
difficult and sometimes very delicate duties thus assigned 
to him, Colonel Sayles discharged with fidelity, and with 
the approbation of the Government. He was a faithful 
and efficient Postmaster, while for eight years the office in 
Providence was under his charge. He was a decided 
Democrat, and occupied a prominent position in the coun- 
cils of his party in the State. He was the originator and 
one of the first publishers of the Providence Daily Post, 
and during the first ten or twelve years of the existence of 
that paper, was its sole editor. When it was decided to 
raise the seventh regiment of volunteers in Rhode Island, 
a commission of Lieutenant-Colonel was offered to him 
and accepted, the date of the commission being' June 5, 
1S62. Bv his personal efforts, one of the finest regiments 
of the Slate was raised, and Colonel Sayles was very 
popular with the men as an able officer. The regiment 
proceeded to Washington and thence to Fredericksburg, 
Virginia, where it took part in the battle at that place, 
December 13, 1862. At this battle, a shell from the enemy 
exploding near him, while he was at the head of his men, 
killed him. His body was sent to Providence, and there 
was buried with military honors. Among his personal 
friends and acquaintances. Colonel Sayles was warmly 
esteemed, and his untimely death was sincerely mourned 
by his fellow-citizens. He was married by Rev. Dr. 
Crocker, to Deborah C. Watson, May 20, 1S39. They 
had six children, two sons and four daughters: Mary Olive, 
who died at the age of three years; Eliza Jane, wdio has 
been twice married, her first husband being Major Joseph 
C. Manchester, and her second Waldo L. Gales; Mary 
Edith, who married Major E. T. Raymond, of Worcester; 
Julia Wilkinson, who married James H. Tower, of Provi- 
dence ; Philip Allen, and Lewis Leprellette. 



IATES, Nauum, merchant, son of Nahum and Per- 
ley (Ballon) Bates, was born in Mendon, Massa- 
'«. s- chusetts, March 6, 181 1. His father, a farmer by 
T occupation, was a native of Bellingham, Massa- 
J" chusetts, and an early settler of Mendon. He 
died January 22, 1847. Of * family of nine children four 
are living, Nahum and his twin sister, Perley B., widow of 
Alanson Thayer, William B., and .Sylvia W., widow of 
Nathaniel Pierce, all of whom reside in Pawtuckct, Rhode 
Island. Nahum attended the district school in Mendon 



until he was fourteen years of age, and for the next seven 
years was employed as clerk in what was then known as 
Penniman's store, in South Milford, Massachusetts. In 
1832 he came to Pawtucket, where for five years he was a 
clerk for his brother-in-law, Alanson Thayer, in the dry- 
goods business. In 1837 he and his brother Whitman en- 
gaged in that branch of business, the firm-name being W. 
& N. Bates. Whitman Bates died in 1849, and his brother 
afterwards became a.ssociated with others under the firm- 
name of N. Bates & Co. Mr. Bates continued in business 
until 1S53, when he sold his interest to Chilson & Bates 
and was obliged to retire for a period of five years, on ac- 
count of ill-health. In 1858 he built the Bates Block, and 
in December of the same year, with his brother William 
B., opened a boot and shoe store there under the style of 
N. Bates & Co. In 1867 his brother sold his interest to 
Frank M. Bates, son of Nahum, and the business has since 
been continued as N. Bates & Son. During the forty-five 
years of his mercantile career, Mr. Bates has won the con- 
fidence of the citizens of Pawtucket by his integrity, indus- 
try, and business capacity. He has frequently been honored 
with important trusts and responsible offices, the duties of 
which w-ere performed so acceptably as to elicit unquali- 
fied testimonials of approbation. In 184S-49-50, he rep- 
resented Pawtucket in the General Court of Massachusetts. 
He served as selectman for several years, and was 
Town Treasurer fourteen years, from iS6oto 1S74, being 
elected annually. He was an incorporator, and has been a 
director in the Slater Bank (now Slater National Bank) 
since 1855, of which he has been Vice-President since 1871. 
He was one of the incorporators, and has been a Trustee 
in the Franklin .Savings Bank (Pawtucket) since its incor- 
poration in 1857, and Vice-President of the same since 
1869. In 1836 he united with the First Baptist Church in 
Pawtucket, and has served as deacon since 1862. On the 
22d of May, 1837, he married Sarah M. May, daughter of 
Jesse and Betsey (Marsh) May, of Pawtucket. .She died 
November 15, 1S72, aged sixty-two. They had one child, 
Frank M. Bates, who is associated in business with his 
father. Mr. Bates is a man of decided character and large 
benevolence. During his fifty years' residence in Paw- 
tucket he has been identified with every movement to pro- 
mole the interests of the town of his adoption, 



l^pHERMAN, Major-Gknf.r.'\l Thomas W., U. S. A., 
gSn) was born at Newport, Rhode Lland, March 26, 
f^^ 1813. His father was Elijah Sherman, and the 
' ! maiden name of his mother was Martha West. They 
J" had nine children, Thomas, the subject of this sketch, 
being the fifth. Elijah Sherman was a farmer, a man of 
strong will and great determination, qualities inherited in 
a large degree by his son Tliomas, who had but moderate 
.advantages at school, but who, through his own indomita- 
ble will and application, succeeded in getting an appoint- 



3SS 



BIOGKAnilCAL CYCL OPED/.t. 



nicnt as cadet al Wcsi I'uint. lie t-iitcrLMl the Miliar)' 
Academy Jiilv I, iS ;j, i;i.idiijt'd iii iSjo, and w.i^ com 
missioned a Secoml laeiiieii.iiit ol llie 'I'luid Arlillery. 
served in the Kioiida War, i.S_;(i-_;S. and in tlie I'lierokee 
Nalicjii in iS^S. Wilde enii:^ra;in_; tile Indiums to tlie 
We-t, Martli 14. iS^^N. lie \\a~ made a 1-ir^t Lieutenant of 
the Hilid Aitillery. and acted as ijiiarlerma-ter and Com- 
mi^saiy. l-n.m 1S4J to 1S44 he was in garrison at Fort 
Moultrie, Cliarleston llarhur. and from there he was 
ordered to Boston on recruitini^ ser\ice. In April, 1S46, 
hostilities began with Mexico, and laeuleiiant Sherman was 
ordered to Caniargo, to take charge of the ■luarterma^ter's 
department. His commission as L"a[iiain was dated May 
26, I.S46, anil as Hrevet Major I'ehniary 23. 1S47. After 
the capture of Monleie\ he was put in ci.immand of one of 
the four liLjht halleries. In the b. Itlc of Buena \'ista 
Sherman's battery ilid good seruce on the hi^t day, and it 
was still more etiicient on the second day, w hen Bragg's 
and .Sherman's batteries were both c<inspiciious for the part 
the\" ti.'ok ill the tight. I-'or braseiv Captain Bragg re- 
ceived a lieiitenant-colontd's commission. and Sherman was 
promoted to Brevet .Major. In I .S4S M.ijor .Sherman was 
in garrison at Port Tiunilull, ( 'onnecticut, at P^ort .\dams 
from 1S4Q to 1S53. and on frontier duty at Koit Snelling. 
Minnesota, the following year. .Vfter that lie was in com- 
mand of the e-\[iedition to \'ellow Medicine. .Minnesota; in 
I S57-5S was engaged in ipielling the Kansas border dis- 
turbance; and from 1S5S to I,S()i he was stationed at the 
Arlillery School of Pi.iclice. Fort Kidgely, except when in 
command of the expediiion to Kettle Fake. Dakota, in 
lSs9. Brevet M.ijor .Sherman sened through the War r)f 
the Rebellion from 1S111 to I.Soo. He was in command of a 
battery of United Stales .-XrlilUay .ilid a ball.dion of I'enn- 
sylvanian volunteers at Fdkton, M.iiyl.ind. His commis- 
sion as Major was dated .Xpril 27, iSoi. In May of that 
year he was eniployeil in guarding the Bhiladelphia and 
Baltimore Railroad, and I)elaware Canal, and in reopen- 
ing communication through Baltimore. May 17, he was 
commissioneil as Brigadier of \'oliiiiteers. organized an ex- 
pedition for seizing and holiling Bull's Bay, South Caro- 
lina, and Fernandin.i, Floi i la, for the Use of the blockading 
forces on the southern coast, from July 27. to I ictobcr 21, 
and in cominand of land forces of the Fort Royal expedi- 
tion from October, I,S6i, to .March 31, tS(i2. Fort Royal 
was captured, and Sherman was anxious to proceed against 
Charleston and Savannah, but the Commander-in. chief did 
not apjirove ol the nicasure. (iciieral .Slurin.in was in 
command of a division of the .\iinv of the 'reimessee fiom 
.-\piil ;o to June I, I.Shj, aiiil to.jk pail in the battle of 
Col I nth, tVom w hlch ]dace he w as onleud to New ( h leans, 
where he (-lid service in i-xpt.lliiig the Confeder.ites from 
the eastern jiart of Foui-iaiia. From Se| tcmlier i.S, 1S112, 
to January 3, iSo;, hewa- in comin.iiid of Iiivision He 
pailnielit of the (iulf, .ibo\ e New ( trleans. In the spring 
ot 1^()3 he was in command of a division ni.ade U}i of the 



troo|is at Fort Hudson, under General Banks, and opera- 
ted ag.lill^t the right of the enemy's works. 'I he assault 
he led in person. May 27, against a murderous fire, and 
fell b.idly wounded in his leg, which was ampul. ited at 
New ( )ileans. For some time his life was desjiaired of, 
but at length he recovered and was pl.iccd in commaml of 
the Reserve lirigade of Artillery, Department of the (.iulf, 
and of Forts Jackson and .St. Philip, Louisiana. From 
lune 16, 1S64, to F'ebruary II, 1S65, he was in command 
of the Division of New CJrleans. March 13, 1S65, hewas 
Commissioned Brevet Biigadier-General of L'nitcd .States 
.\rtillerv, for gall, ml anil meritorious conduct at the ca])- 
tuie of I'ort Hudson, and as Biigadier-tkneral, United 
.Slates \ (ilunieers, and Ihevel Major-Generpl, United Slates 
;\riny, for g.dlaiU and meritorious service iluring the Re- 
bellion, (ieiieral Sherman was in conimand ol the I{a-tern 
Division of FoLiisi.ina, February II to July 23, iSbv From 
laiiuary I, I .SoS, to J uly I of that year, he was in com- 
mand of the Deiiarlmcnt of the East, and made his head- 
quarters at F'ort .\dams. December 31, i,S7o, he was 
retired from active service, and fnun that time U|) to the 
day of his death, which tctok place March it», \'S']^), he 
resided at ,New])ort. 



/H.\CE, Bi: N.I.VMIN G., merchant, son of Clark Chace, 
was born in Somerset, Massachusetts, F'eliruary 24, 
1.S12, aiiil is a descendant, in the seventh genera- 
! lioii, of William Chace, who emigrated from England 
.P about 1020, and settled near Salem, Massachusetts. 
W'iliiam Chace being a 1 Hiaker, found that the Puritan ele- 
ment would not tolerate his religir.us sentiments at Salem, 
and he therefore removed to Roxbury. Being subjected 
to similar persecution at the latter jdace, he finally removed 
to ^"armouth, Massachusetts, w here he continued to reside 
until his death. He left two sons, William and Benjamin. 
.Several of the de-cendants of William, to the present gen- 
eration, have been prominent ministers in the .Society of 
F'riends, Benjamin G. Chace v\as early trained to habits 
of iiulu^tiy and econoni)'. He remained at home until the 
age of lueiit\-one, being eni|do\cd on the farm and in the 
]iotterv eariied on by his father. He attended school at 
intervals, and made very rapid progress in his studies. 'Fhe 
schools of that day being of an inferior character, he stud- 
ied surveying and other branches without the aid of teach- 
ers. < )ii attaining his majority he taught school for two 
winters, after which he v\as employed for four nioiiths in 
a [lotierv at Charlestown, .Massachusetts. In his tweiity- 
llllld year, he entered into partnership with his father and 
eldest brother, in the manufacture of stoneware and fire- 
brick, in Somerset, Massachusetis. Mr. Chace continued 
in ill. It business uniil I.'sS4, ^i^d then engaged in shij^buiid- 
ing, which proved disastrous, on account of the general 
depression of business at that time, the shipping interest 
being seriously aftected. In consequence of losses thus 



BIOCRAPIIICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



389 



Mi^taineil, he resumed work as journeyman, and continued 
in the manufacture of pottery-ware until the fall of 1S57, 
when he went to the south shore of Lake Erie and en- 
gaged extensively in purchasing apples for the Eastern 
market. Despite the discouragements attending the great 
financial panic of 1857, he realized a handsome profit from 
his shipments. The following year he commenced ship- 
ping butter and other produce to Fall River and Taunton, 
Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was 
thus occupied until the fall of 1S61, when he opened a 
store on Canal Street, Providence, for tJie sale of stone- 
ware and produce. The following spring he removed to 
the place now ccciipied by Waldron. Wighlman & Co., 
and engaged in the wholesale grocery business, under the 
firm-name of B. G. Chace & .Son. A short time afterward, 
Mr. William F. Brooks was admitted as a partner, and tiie 
business has since been carried on under the name of B. 
G. Chace & Co., being now located at 87 and Sg Dyer 
.Street. Mr. Chace has been prominent in advancing the 
business interests in Providence, and is an earnest advocate 
of a scientific monetary system that shall secure a better 
distribution of the products of labor, and contribute to a 
development of the industries of the country. In early 
life, he took considerable interest in politics, and in 1S39- 
40 and '42 represented the town of Somerset in the Mas- 
.sachusttls Legislature. Of late years his time has been 
entirely devoted to his business. lie married, in 1S38, 
Eunice Weaver Gibbs, daughter of Captain Robert Gibbs, 
of Somerset, Massachusetts. They have had four children, 
one son and three daughters. The son, Benjamin Frank- 
lin Chace, with his father, now constitute the firm of B. G. 
Chace & Co. 



^^p^ALLOU, Hon. L.\timer W., son of Levi Ballon and 
^^^) Hepra (Metcalf) Ballou, was born at Cumberland, 
^Na5>^ Rhode Island, in what is known as the Ballou 
^m neighborhood, March I, 1812. He was educated in 
* the schools and academies in the \ icinity of his native 
place, and at the age of si.xteen finding the employments of 
the farm, to which much of his time had been devoted, 
were neither suitable to his strength nor congenial to his 
tastes, he went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and there 
learned the art of priming, in the office of the University 
Press. In 1835, in company with Messrs. Metcalf & Torry, 
he established Tke Cambridge Press, and continued it untd 
1S42, when he removed to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to 
engage in mercantile pursuits. In 1850 he was chosen 
cashier of the Woonsocket Falls Bank, ami treasurer of 
the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, which positions he 
continues to hold. These institutions owe much of their 
prosperity and present standing to his wise administration. 
Brought by his official position into close relations with the 
business and economic interests of the town and Stale, he 
has had during a whole generation a continually increasing 



share in the shaping of them. .As counsellor or as arbitra- 
tor his services have been for many years in almost con- 
stant demand. He is at present a trustee of Oak Hill 
Cemetery, treasurer of the Woonsocket Hospital, and sole 
trustee cf the " Ezekiel Fowler Hospital Fund." In 1874 
he visited Europe, wdiere he spent several months, devoting 
a large part of his time to the advancement of business 
trusts with which he was charged. He took an active part 
in the organization of the Republican party in the State. 
In iS6ohe was Presidential elector on the Lincoln and 
Hamlin ticket. At the outbreak of the Civil War he lab- 
ored indefatigably for the enlistment and comfort of soldiers, 
and while the enlisted men were in the field he was the 
cheerful adviser of their families at home, and to a great 
extent the unpaid medium of communication between them. 
Throughout the war his services were unabated. In 1872 
he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention 
at Philadelphia, which nominated Grant and Wilson. He 
was elected representative to the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, 
and Forty-sixth Congresses successively, and has served as 
a member of the Committees on Education and Labor, 
Patents, and Printing. In the committee rooms he was by 
large experience and long training specially fitted to act, 
and here he made himself felt. By members of all parties 
his ojiinions were respected, and he himself honored as a 
man of incorruptible integrity. Of his addresses in the 
House of Representatives perhaps the most important was 
the one reviewing the relation of the National Banks to the 
currency of the Government. In the opinion of competent 
judges no more concise, logical, and effective exposition of 
the subject was given before Congress. His bill asking for 
the appointment of a commission to consider the subject of 
a reform in the orthography of the English language grew 
out of his interest in the cause of education, and the con- 
viction that the acquisition of the rudimentary branches of 
instruction by wise and uniform action may be greatly 
facilitated. The' leading colleges and more than fifty edu- 
cational institutions of the country have in general terms 
sustained his views. Mr. Ballou was for many years 
treasurer of Dean Academy, in Franklin, Massachusetts, 
and is now its President. He married, October 20, 1836, 
Sarah A., daughter of Chailes and Ruth Hunnewell, of 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, a lady gifted by nature and pos- 
sessed of those various excellencies that make the true wife 
and noble woman. She died in Woonsocket, on the 24th 
of June, 1S79. To them were born fi^ur children, one 
son and three daughters, Mary Frances, Sarah Jane, Henry 
Latimer, and Marie Louise. Mr. Ballou carried to Wash- 
ington the atmosphere of a refined domestic life, and his 
wife and family contributed largely to the needeil home 
element in the society of the nation's Ca] ital. He entered 
heartily into the various charitable and philanthropic move- 
ments of that city, and was especially active and influential 
in the cause of temperance, holding year after year the 
Vice- Presidency of the Congressional Temperance Society. 



390 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



Karly in IITl' lie l)i.-C;inie a int-inber of the Universalist 
Churcli. For more ihan lliirty years lie has hcM ihe office 
of Superinlemient of the Sinnlay sehoul in Woonsocket, 
and a _^rcat part of lliu lime has Iieen President tif the Soci- 
ety. He is at the present lime President of the Rhode 
Island Universalist ('onventiun. Ilrs interest in the cause 
of Christianity, warm ami deep at tir--t, has never aliated, 
and most effeclively has he labored to promote the religious 
and moral welfare of society, 



S>tir^OOKK. JosKPII JI'Ssk, secontl son of Joseph Sheldon 

and Mary (Welch) Cooke, was born in Providence, 

i)' Rhode Islanrl, June I, 1S13. He was a great- 

■' trrandson of ( Io\enioi- Niehi >I,is ( "noke, wlm was Gov- 



' enior <")f tlic (_'i-l<in\' frndi lyy; to 177S, dui-inL; the 
most critical period of our couiUry's history, ami was I)e]i- 
iity Ciovenior in r7'iS-Q, niul in 1775. Mr. Cooke left 
schot)! al ;in earl)' aLje, and IicL^an hi^ niei-cantile edueation 
in Prrividence. His niajorit)- found liini a clerk in his 
father's establishment, in New \'ork, in which he acquired 
an interest of several years' continuance. A brief niei'can- 
tile connection with another (irni ensued, after the close of 
which, in 1N4J. he jairchased and sctded upon an estate in 
tliat part of (.'ran^ton which ha^ since been annexed to 
Providence. When tin- early tide of emi.L;ratioii was setting 
towards California, Mr. Cooke, in connection wdth his 
lirother Ceorge ami Mr. Robert .S. liaker, establislied the 
hou^e of Cooke, I'.aker X (_'ci. . afterwards Cooke Brothers 
& Co. From 1.S52 to 1X54 .Mr. Cooke wa^ the resident 
partner of the lani of |osi.|ih J. (.'ooke & Co., New York, 
whose interests were identical with those of the San Fran- 
cisco house, being I'rondiu.nt alike for its early establish- 
ment and the magnitude of its business. When, in 1S69. • 
it was decided to construct w ater-w<>r!;s for }'ro\ idence, 
Mr. Cooke was ap)iointed one of the three Commissioners 
to carry out this great work of i>ublic iinpro\ enieiit, and on 
the death of Moses B. Lockwood, the first President of the ! 
Hoard, was made his successor. He contimieil to till this 
responsible posiihui with gre.it ability, fidelity, and credit, 
until November, !S7(), when the \\ ork was essentially coni- 
jilete. Pre\ious to tliis he )iuieh.ised an est.ite in Newport 
and liecaine a resident of that city, though j^assing the 
winter months at his Elmwood estate. The sale, in 1S72, 
of a great ]K)rtion of his Klmwuod pro))erty, for upwards 
of a million di.tllars, and his suljsequent repossession of the 
same, in lS7,S, constiUiti d a real estate transaction of ex- 
ceptional m.agnitude. Mi. Cooke accunuilateil one of the 
largest and linest private libraries in the country, comprising 
about 25,000 volumes, in every deiurtinent of literature. 
His suite of oftices in Providence, as well .is his iiouse at 
l.dmwood, w ere crr)wiled witli books, mam' of them exceed- 
ingly rare and valuable. Be-idesthe bibliographical works 
wdiich adorn the shelves, atid the treasures of history, biog- I 
raphy, and genealogy' that form so large a part of this col- 



lection, there are many scarce volnmes printed by tlie 
earliest American ]irinters. .\ copy of Eliot's Indian 
Bible, of l66jj, said to be the tinest now extant, was jiur- 
chased for this library at a great cost; also several missals, 
]irepared on vellum by monks before the art of ]'rinting 
was known, aii<I be.uitilully and elafioratelv ornauiented. 
Among other noteworthy leatures are superb copies of the 
first four folios of Shakespeare, the rarity of wdiich has en- 
hanced their value to an almost fabulous figure. The 
original letters written by lleneral Washington to (ieneral 
Jose)th Reed, of Philadelphia, during the Revolutionary 
War, together with other uuii|ue manuscripts, are of great 
historical and monetary value. The Washington letters 
were bought for S2250. Previous to the introduction of 
the slavery tpiestioii as a iiolitical issue. Mr. Cooke took 
but little |iart in politics, although having no small interest 
in subjects concerning the welfare of mankind; but when 
the tide of national events ])roduced the Republican party, 
he became luie of its earliest members, and was identilied 
with that organization until his death. He was President 
of the Rhode Island Re|)ulilican State Convention of 1S57, 
and Chairman of the Ke|iublican State Central Committee 
for the same year. He was President of the Rhoile Island 
Society for the F.nconragement of Homestic Industrv in 
1S55-6. He married, fust, at Lonsdale, Rhode Island, 
February i,S, iS;,4, .Adekiidc Martha Baker, of Providence, 
daughter of John ami .\vis (Tillinghast) Baker, formeidy 
of New|«iit. She died at Elmwood, February 9, 1S65. 
On the I2th of September, 1S65, he married Maria Ade- 
laide Salisbury, daughter of John and. Abby Wilson (Fos- 
ter) .Salisbnrv. The children by the tirst marriage were: 
Joseph Sheldon, born March 12, iSjS, and died .\ugust I, 
1S30; .Vdel.iiile B.iker. who manied. May 22, 1S02, Scott 
Alien Smith; Idlen ( ioddard, born iJeceniber 24, 1847, 
and died ,\ugust 10, 1S49; .Mice Eliz.ibeth, born March 
1-S, iSs^; and I-Mith, born March 8, 1S54, and tiled Sep- 
tember 0, 1S54. The names of the children by the second 
marriage art', .\illiiii l-dmwood, born and died lune 0, 
1S66, and Ileiirv Williams, born Juire 26, 1867. .Mr. 
Cooke ilied lulv .S, 1.SS1. 



■^IDIiEX, Hon. J,\mi-,s Clifford, son of James 
^:3 anil .M.iiy W. (Cbtfiud) Hidden, was born in 
Walpole. Massachusetts, May 15, iSlj. His 
f'y > father w.is twice married, the children by his first 
^v marriage being Mary Hidden, Mrs. Susan Butts, 
widow of Samuel Butts, both of whom are now living in 
Providence, and William, deceased. James C. was the 
second of the lour children b\- the second marriage. In 
the sketch of his brother, Henry .\. Hidden, will be fumd 
the n, lines of the other children and the genealogv' of the 
fmiilv. I.imes C. attended the public schools of Pro\i- 
deiiee, the private school of Dliver Angell, and the classi- 
cal school conducted by Thomas C. Hartshorn. He sub- 




y \^-^ // /J A / , ^ r- /' 



BrO GRAPHICAL C YC L OPED /A. 



391 



sequently read law and studied medicine, but never entered 
U]ion the practice of either profession. He taught school 
for a few years, ami then engaged in the engraving and 
copper-plate printing business with his brother, Henry A. 
Hidden, having purchased the interest of his brother's 
partner, Gejieral Thomas P". Carpenter. Twelve years 
thereafter, in 1S49, ^'^ ^"'"^l ''"' '° '''^ brother, who contin- 
ued the business alone. In 1851 he bought a large farm 
in Attleboro, Massachusetts, to which he removed and en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits until 1S61, when he sold his 
farm and returned to Providence, where he has since re- 
sided. Mr. Hidden was formerly a memlier of the Whig 
party, to the principles of which he still firmly adheres. 
Prior to his removal to Massachusetts he took an active 
and jirominent part in politics, and was frequently called 
to fill public positions. From 1843 to 1847 ^"f' from 1868 
to 1869 he served as a member of the Providence Com- 
mon Council, and from 1845 ^^ 1S47 was President of th-at 
body. For several years he represented Providence in the 
General Assembly, and from 1849 to 1S51 was Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, which position he filled with 
such satisfaction as to attain wide popularity. During his 
career as a legislator he was active in securing the passage 
of several important measures, and rendered the pul)lic 
good service. In early life Mr. Hidden devoted consid- 
erable attention to military matters, being an active mem- 
ber of the First Light Infantry Company until 1845, since 
which time he has been a member of the Veteran Associa- 
tion of the same. During the political troubles of 1842, 
known as the " Dorr War," he served as Captain of the 
Fifth Ward City Guard. He has long been a member of 
the Rhode Island Historical Society, in tlie proceedings 
of which he has ever manifested a deep interest. He 
married, March 27, 1839, Eliza Perrin, daughter of Daniel 
and Eliza (Dean) Perrin, of Medfield, Massachusetts. She 
died September 16, 1856, aged thirty-nine. On the 27th 
of November, 1867, Mr. Hidden married Mrs. Eliza I). 
Leeman, widow of Joseph Leeman, of New Castle, Maine. 
There were six children by the first marriage, but four of 
whom are living; Thomas C. Hidden, now a clerk in the 
Providence Post-office; Mary, wife of Francis A. Moore, 
of Jersey City, New Jersey ; Fannie and Ellen Hidden, 
By the second marriage there is one child, Elizabeth 
Tower Hidden. In 1869 Mr. Hidden was elected Asses- 
.sor of Taxes, which office he still holds. He has travelled 
extensively, and being a close observer, has acquired a 
fund of valuable information on various subjects. 






RNOLD, Rev. Albert N., D.D., was born in 

Cranston, Rhode Island, February 12, 1814. In 

his youth he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, 

and was looking forward to a business life, when, 

anxious to obtain an education and fit himself for 



more extended usefulness, he prepared for college, and 
graduated from Urown University in the class of 1838. 
On completing his college studies he entered the Newton 
Theological Institution, where he took the full course of 
stutly, and graduated in the class of 1841. He accepted an 
invitation to become the pastor of the First Baptist Church, 
in Nevvburyport, Massachusetts, where he was ordained 
September 14, 1841. He remained in this position for two 
years, when he received an appointment as a missionary 
to Greece, under the direction of the American Baptist 
Missionary Union. Amid some things to cheer and many 
to discourage him he did the work assigned him. A part 
of the time he was stationed at the Island of Corfu. He 
remained alnoad for about eleven years (1844-55), and 
then returned to this country. Soon after he reached his 
native land he was chosen by the Trustees of the Newton 
Theological Institution Professor of Ecclesiastical History, 
which chair he occupied for two years, 1S55-57, when he 
became the pastor of the Baptist church in Westborough, 
Massachusetts, where he remained seven years, 1857-64, 
and then accepted a professor's chair in the Hamilton 
Theological Seminary, which he occupied for five years, 
1864-69. In 1869 he was appointed Professor in Biblical 
Literature in the Baptist Theological Seminary, in Chicago. 
Failing health obliged him to resign, and he returned to 
his early home in Cranston, near Pawtuxet, Rhode Island. 
Dr. Arnold received the honorary degree of Doctor of 
Divinity, in l86o, from the University in Rochester, New 
York. He was elected a trustee of Brown University in 
1875. In 1841 he married Sarah, daughter of Mason 
and Amey (Crandall) AUin, They have two children: 
Alijert Allin, and George Francis, who is assistant libra- 
rian of Harvard University. 



;.\PH.\M, Hon. Benedict, manufacturer, son of 
M[| Rev. Richard and Phebe (.-Vrnold) Lapham, was 
born in Burrillville, Rhode Island, June 26, 1S16. 
f';'j)i He is a descendant of John Lapham, a weaver, born 
V in 1635, who came from Devonshire, England, and 
settled in Providence, where he married Mary Mann, 
daughter of William Mann. John Lapham's son Thomas 
was a Deputy in the General Assembly in 1747 and 1749, 
and a Judge in 1760. Rev. Richard Lapham was a farmer 
and a minister in the Wesleyan Methodist Church, though 
not settled as a pastor. His father, Levi Lapham, and his 
grandfather, Jethro Lapham, were members of the Society 
of Friends, the former a minister, and both were prosper- 
ous farmers and influential citizens. Benedict Lapham's 
mother was the daughter of Noah ■•\rnold, a prominent 
citizen of Burrillville. In early life Mr. Lapham was em- 
ployed on a farm and in manufacturing establishments in 
Burrillville, Rhode Island, Palmer and Douglass, Mas.sa- 
chusetts, and for a time had charge of the fanning interests 



393 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCI. OPE I) I A. 



(if llu; Allui'ii M.muf.u tni*in'4 ( 'oiiip.uiy at Saiitliheld, 
KhuiK- Islaii'l. Ill iS^7 Ik- .iHcikU-iI lUi'-hce's Academy 
at i'.ank Villai^o. KIkkK' Klaml. wIk-it iic i>aiil s]>ecia] nl- 
tcnti'iH to the vtiuly r>f im-t haiiiL-.. IK- iIkii w > ikt-rl sev- 
eral vcar-^ as a car|ieiUfi and w lirclu nt;lit. In iNjO lie- 
hired the 'i'dlinL^hast (or FreiKlitou nl Factnry, in Ea^t 
(ireeinvieli, and cni;ai^ed siiecesslidlv in the niaiudacture 
(.r foltun j4.hmIs until the fail of 1.S40, wlien he sol<l liis 
machinery and stock and lesiuneii lanniiii^, Iiis futlier hav- 
ing conveyed to hini the oKl Iiomeslead. He afterward 
carried on the manulacturing business in North Scituate, 
Walluni I'ond, and I'ascoaj^, in Hiirrilh ille, Rhode Island. 
In the smnnier id 1S52 he houi^ht of the executors of the 
will of the Late John < ireene, of Warwick, the Johntireene 
estate in C Vnlre\ ille. emiiracinL^ two-third-, of the water- 
power and all the niachinerv of the old mills, which were 
I'liiit in 1704 and 1S07. and adihlions later. This was one 
of the first coiion-milK huih in the State. Here Mr. Laji- 
h.im cnL;aL;ed in ihe manulaLture of cotton cloth, with 
aliout ^ooo spindU-s. In iSm he made a large addition 
to the mill, and in 1.S71 removed the old building and 
eroded a new* structvn'e ^^OJJ feet long. It is one of the 
tinest cotton-niilis in the Slate, anil is said to be the largest 
ever budt and owned bv any one man. It runs 30.000 
spindles, with a capacit\ for 10,000 more, and Ix'th water- 
and steani-]iower are employed, nece^sitating tlie use of a 
large (_"'">i'bss engine. Mr. l-aphani was his own aichitect. 
He maile all the plan-^, and liad o\cr-.ight of litc erection 
of the building. Ilis brother l^nos is associated with him 
as superintendent. Mr. I.aphain has also been consider- 
ablv engaged in the cotton and giain liade, visiting the 
West and the South in ilie inteiesi of this branch of his 
bu--ines-.. lie u as captain o| a conipan\ ot (lie Rhode 
Island militia "iurnig the"!ioir Rebellion." In 1S49 he 
was a member of the Rhode NIand Ibnise of Representa- 
tives fiom Scituate. In iSl)^ he was elected to the State 
Senate from Warwick, to till a vacancy caused by the 
resignation of the Rev. fonath.m IJra\ton. and was re- 
elected the following vear. lie was appointed bv ( lov- 
er nor Smith State ("onnnis^ionor of the .\nliet.im ( 'cmctery 
w liich j)i.)sition he held lor ti\ e \ cars, and w a-- then re 
appointed by (lovernor I'adehord. He has been I'residen' 
of the Town ("ouncil f<ir live years, a lustice of the I'eace 
and has lille<l other j.idilic oMue^. In iNo,:; he bouL;ht the 
Smilhville Semiiiai\', .ind ga\e il to liie hrccuill baptist 
Association. lie afterward carried r.n lli.U in-lilul ioii fo 
fi\e years at his own e\|lcn^e. lie married, Xo\ ember 
I.S4..1, Ann Kli/a, daughter of llu- late Russell and <.'athe 
rine (Essex) Austin, of \orlh Kingstoun, Rhode Island 
Mr. I.aphani's busines-. career extends oyer a period of 
forty years, and has been characteii/e<l by strict integ 
rity and ceaseles- a(ti\iiy. He is a man of iron consti- 
tution, indomitable eiieigy, and great e\etuti\e abdity. 
lie po>-.e>ses a thoiuugldy disciplined mtnd, and has 
been master of his business, comprciicnding U m all its 



details, from the buying of the cotton in the held, throiii^h 
all the processes of manufacturing, to the sale of the 
jnodu^^ts of hi-' mills. His progressive spirit and his 
inieiesi in the ]>ublic welfare have led him to devote 
much of his wealth to the cause of education and to be 
nevolent ]'urposes, and his bfe has been one of con- 
tinued usefulness. 



1\< »OKS, Rev. Ch.arlf.s Timothy, eldest son of 
Timothy and Mary King Brooks, was born in 
vr ,-?i Salem, Mass;ichusctts, June 20, iSlj. Mis fath- 
' ."' ; ' er's family came from Woburn ; his mother's father 
I* J \\a-- lonalhan Masitn. ,\t the age of ete\en he en- 
teral the Latin School in his native town, and was fitted 
for college by Theodore EanieSj deceased, and Henry K. 
(>liver, who for the fourth time is Mayor of Salem. In 
the fall of 1S2.S, then fifteen years of age, he entered Har- 
vard College. There were sixteen Freshmen from Salem 
that year in a class of seventy-four. In their Sophomore 
yeai Jo'^iah (Juincy relieved L)r. W'are, the acting President, 
and took the government of the University. In that year 
1 >r. I''ollen was inaugurated as Troft^ssor of German, and 
Mr. Rrooks began uniler him the study y^{ that language, 
wdiich, particularly in its jioetical department, has entered 
so largeh' into the studies of hi> subseipient life. The sub- 
ject of Mr. Rroiiks's oiation at Cciminencement was " The 
Love of d'rulli, a Practical Principle." Immediately after 
graduation, in lS_iS. I"-" enteied the Cambridge Hninity 
School, then under 1 )rs. Ware (father and son) an<i 1 »r. 
Palfrey, as Lean of the Faculty. In June, 1S35, his fare- 
well dissertatii>n had for its subject. " The Old Syriac Ver- 
sion of the New '("e-^tament." At the Commencement the 
same year he sp<.ke, for the Ma-tcr's I)egree, an oration 
on "Heci-^ion of Character, as I.)emandcd in our Hay 
and (_'oiiiitry." After leaving the Tlieological School, he 
])reachetl at various places, beginning at Xahant. and spend- 
ing the winter at Augusta, Maine. In June, lS;(). he 
preached as a candidate at Newport, Rhode Island, and 
tnially sctlled there in January, 1S37. He was ordained 
in |iine, Hi. lohn P>ra/er preaching the sermon, and Dr. 
\\ illiain I'^ileiy < 'hanning giving the charge. The winters 
of 1S4J-43 and 1S51- 5J he sjient in Mobile, seeking health 
and supplying the pulpit there. In 1S53 he made a voy- 
age for his health to India, and, in 1S65, a tour across Eu- 
rope as far as Rome, where he spent five months. On his 
reiurn he gave some twenty lectures. In 1870 a cataract 
conii>elled him to go to ('arney Hospital and have an 
ojjeration performed on his eyes, at wdiich time he ceased 
preaching ami has since devoted himself to literary labors. 
He has i)een a voluminous writer, and has attained wide 
celebiityas an author. His tirst publication was anony- 
mous, a lian^lution of Schider's \\'il!i,im TfU, brought out 
in 1S37 by Cranston lS: Co., at I'io\idence. In 1S4I, at 



BJOGRAl'lllCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



393 



Newport. \va^ printed a sermon of his own on Rn'h'ah ; in 
lS42.oneon Temperance : in 1S42 a volume of .S>;/;'5 ^?//(/ 
Ballads, from the German, in Ripley's Foreit;)! Series, ]nib- 
lished by James Munro; in 1845 h'* •'"''" ^''^'^ Poem was 
recited and printed ; the same year he contributed an ar- 
ticle on Poetry to the Christian Examiner ; in 1847 Munro 
published for him T/ie Homage of the Arts, and miscel- 
laneous pieces from Riickert, Kreiligrath, and other Ger- 
man poets; in 1S4S was printed at Providence, with other 
small pieces, Aijiiidneck, a poem recited a year before at 
the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Red- 
wood Library. In 184S he contributed to the Christian 
Examiner an article on the Apocalypse, and in 1851, one 
composed of small poems. The same year was published 
his Controversy Tottchins; the Old Stone Mill in the Town 
of Newport. In 1853 Ticlcnor & Fields published his 
Germati Lvries, which was highly commended by the 
London Atheniettm ; the same year was printed his Son^s 
of Field and Flood. In 1855 he contributed to Harper s 
Magazine a paper on Madras. In 1856 his Faust was 
published by Ticknor & Fields, In 1857 he had two pa- 
pers in the Christian Examiner, on India and on fohn 
Howland. In 1859, with Crosby & Nichols, he published 
a volume of sermons called The Simplicity of Christ's 
Teachings. In the Examiner for 1859, he reviewed 
Stevens's History of Methodism, and the Old Rhode Island 
Question: and in 1S60, printed an article on German 
Hymns. The same year he preached and printed a ser- 
mon before the graduating class of the Caml:)ridge Divin- 
ity School. In 1862 his Translation of Jean Paul's Titan 
was published by Ticknor & Fields. In 1863, Leypold, 
at Philadelphia, brought out the first part of the jtoisiade, 
a German comic poem. In 1865, Ticknor & Fields brought 
out Hesperus, by Richter. Since these Roberts Brothers 
have published for him : layman's Breviary, World 
Priest. Max and Maurice, Tall Student, Puck's Pranks, 
all from the German, and in 18S0, William Ellery Chan, 
ning, a Coitomial Memory. In 1S77, he translated for 
Henry Holt's Leisure Hour Series the following books of 
Auerbach : Poet and Merchant, The Ga-tuk from America, 
Lorley and Reinhard, The Com'icts. His yet unpublished 
translations are, beside a multitude of lyrics, Schiller's 
Mary Stuart, Schiller's Joan of Arc, Giillparzer's Ahn- 
frau. Autobiography of Claus Harms, Richter's Jubel- 
senior, a play of Hans Sachs, Last of the Tulifants, 
Riickert's Wisdom of the Brahmin, and Richter's Selina. 
In October, 1837, he married Harriet Lyman, daughter 
of Benjamin Hazard. They have four children, two 
sons and two daughters. Mr. Brooks continues to be 
prominently identified with the work of the church he 
represents. He is Chairman of the Channing Memorial 
Committee, and on the occasion of the Ceiitenary Com- 
memorative .Services, on the 7th of April, 1880, contributed 
a poem which was highly commended for its superior 
merit. 

50 



i|HETTEPL.\CF., J.vmes Smith, manufacturer, son 
SJj^P of Asel and Nancy (Smith) Phettcplace, was born 
(ifv® in Smithfiold, near Greenville, Rhode Island, 
■';- j*' June 12, 1S14. He received a common-school edu- 
el L cation, and worked on his father's farm until the 
age of sixteen, when he went to Providence, and for six 
years was employed as clerk in the store of Daniel Angell, 
a grocer. In 1836 he became Mr. Angell's partner, with 
whom he was associated for six years. At the end of that 
time he sold his interest to Mr. Angell and formed a part- 
nership with George A. Seagrave, with whom he carried 
on a large and successful wholesale grocery business until 
1872, under the style of Phetteplace & Seagrave. Both 
members of the firm having become interested in woollen 
manufacture in 1S50, at Graniteville, BurriUville, Rhode 
Island, they sold out their grocery business in 1872, and 
have since been engaged in manufacturing fancy cassimeres. 
In 1S70, their lease of the Graniteville Mills having ex- 
pired, they built the mill at Central Falls, and the business 
is now carried on under the name of the Central Falls 
Woollen Mill. Mr. Phetteplace is President of the com- 
pany, George A. Seagrave, Treasurer, and James L. Pierce, 
Agent, all being owners in the property and business. 
Their mill has a capacity for twelve sets of machinery, nine 
sets now being employed in the manufacture of fancy cas- 
simeres. Mr. Phetteplace is idcniified with various busi- 
ness interests of Providence. He is President of the Rhode 
Island Safe Deposit Company, and one of the trustees of 
that institution ; President of the Merchants' Savings Bank, 
of Providence; and has been a director in the Lime Rock 
Bank since 1848. He has been a director in the Atlantic 
Insurance Company since 1852, when first organized, and 
has served in the same capacity in the American Screw 
Company since 1869. He is also a director in the Mer- 
chants' Insurance Company, and a director and President 
of the American .Mutual Insurance Company. For several 
years he has l)een a member of the Westminster Congre- 
gational Unitarian Society. He married, .'\ugust 25, 1840, 
Loui.sa. daughter of John S. and Patience (Harris) .Ap- 
pleby, of Smithficld, Rhode Island. They have seven 
children : Isabel, who married James Tucker, a merchant 
of Providence; Louisa, who married Robert E. Northam, 
of that city ; Georgiana H., who married B. F. Chace, a 
wholesale grocer of Providence; Jessie Cryder; Frances 
Henrietta, who married Charles B. Fry, of Providence ; 
Gertrude, and James Foster. 



||^5KR.'\NGER, James N.\tiian.ael, D.D., was born in 

1^^- Canandaigua, New York, in the month of August, 

fTJj 1814. When he was seventeen years of age he 

fflll received an appointment as a Cadet in the United 

4> States Mi itary .-Vcademy at West Point, and was 

on the eve of departure to enter upon his course of military 

study when his mind passed through a remarkable revolu- 



394 



niOGRAPinCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



tiuii, and lie I'ct.inR- a drciilcd (.'liri-tiaii. In i.S_;i lir 
joined the Baptist church in !iiiH':il<i, New ^^'lk, and al 
once bei^an a conrse of |ire|)aialoiv stuilic., w ith a view 
to entcrint; tlie ('hIi^tian niini^'iy. He graduated at the 
Uainilton Literary and Tliecdogical Institution, in the class 
of 1S3S, and was ordained and scltleil as i'a-tor of the 
Baptist church in Avon, Xew York, where he remained 
two years, and was then called to take the pastoral charge 
of the Washington Street church in Iluffalo. I lis connec- 
tion with this church was a l.iricf one. In (ktoher. 1S42, 
he accepted a call from the First Baiuisi Church and So- 
ciety of IVovidence, and entered at once on his ministry 
in Rhode Island. For ten years he devoted himself most 
faithfully and successfully tri his work, and won a place, 
which lie never lost, in the affections of his ou n people, 
and in the respect of the community in which he li\ed. 
At the end id" tins jicriod il was liis purpose to secure rest 
antl inijirov enieiit hy a tour to luirope. llut as he was 
completing his plans to carry into execution a purpose 
whiih he had cherislied for years, he wa- urgently solicited 
1)\- the .'Vmerican I>a]);i t Missionary I'nion to l-e the asso- 
ciate of tlieir Foreign Secretary, the Rev. I ir. Solomon 
Peck, in a vi-it to the Stations of the Society. esp'..cially in 
the empire of UiMiit.ih. Willi great unselfishness, fir. 
(_iranger aliandmud his own plans and acce] ted the ini- 
ponant diitv which his lirethieii had assigned to him. " It 
was not the love of romance,'' says Dr. Caswell, "that 
quickened his step, nor the espectalion of glory, n ir even 
the prospect of lecoveiing his impaired he.ilth. though he 
hoped that a sea-voyage wouUl not be without its utilit)' in 
this respect. None of the^e motives teni] ted luni away 
from the bostmi of his family, and the sei \ ic^ of his people. 
His object was to do his M.isiui's wid." Having reached 
the place of his distin.uion he de\oti.il liini-ell with singu- 
lar ^eal and inUistiy to the l.i^Ks he h.id unlerlakeii. 
working many lu.iurs .1 d.i\* amid the ptiiU of a troj ical 
cliin.ite, where he was con tmily e\j>osc-'l not onl)' ti.> the 
enervating intluences which so prostrate the |ihysi<.al ener 
gies, but to the poisonous nialaria w Iiich lurks e\ cry w here, 
the enemy of those who breathe in its de.idly ^ irus. His 
mission acconijilished, he nturiied to liis naii\e laud, and 
to the scene of his miiiisieii.il labors. He h.id been absent 
a year and a half lie broughl b.ick with him ihe seeds of 
disease contracted in an ( liiental clime. It w ore him dow n. 
He sought relief by occasional rekixation Ironi his duties, 
Vjut he was ne\er able to con'juer his lot.-, tit.tdu.dly he 
failed, and at last tiled, January 5. lN57. He received 
the degree of L)octor of I.)i\init\ liom I'.iowii L'niversity 
in I,S46. He was chosen a member of the Corporation of 
the University in 1S51, and a Fellow in 1S53. Few cler- 
g\men who have been in the niini-Iiy in Rhode Isl.md 
are more worthy of a kisiing uiiu lubi.iiK e th.iii Fir. James 
.\. danger. His wile, three suns, and one d.iughter sur- 
vived ilis decease. The names of the t hildl en w ere. Tames 
N., William Li., Lianiel L, 1.)., and Crace. 



^I;RR\', 1)1. ivi.it II.\z.\Rii, was born at Xewpuut, 
J'. F'ebruary 23, I.Sl5,and was the third son of Com- 
modore Oliver Hazard Perry and his wife F-liza- 
J; > btth I'eriy, ilaughter of Dr. Benjamin Mason, of 
'v .\ewporl. Faithful to the traditions of two genera- 
tions before him, he entered the navy February 24, 1S29, 
and at the examination of the class so close was the crun- 
pctition between Perry and Morris, th.it it was left to a 
ballot to establish their respective positions. The lot fell 
on Perry, who thus became the senior. He served in the 
Wilkes Exploring Exjiedition, and was wrecked in the 
Peacock ; he was also on the Coast Survey, on the surveys 
for the Georgi.i R.iiboail, and in the expedition against 
Vera Cm/, where he landed and commanded a battery 
during the bomltardment. In 1S47, while a Lieutenant, 
he resigned his piosition in the navy, and in 1S4.S became 
the agent of the Middlesex Mills, at Lowell. There he 
remained until he Itecame the agent of the Bay State Mills, 
at Lawrence, in 1K50. In 1S56 he was admitted a [lartner 
in the Boston house of Lawrence, Stone ^: Co., selling- 
agents for the Middlesex and Bay State Mills. When the 
firm tailed, in lS^7, he was retained as manufacturing and 
punhasing-ageiit ol the .Middlesex, and in connection with 
Mr. M. R. Wendell, as selling-agent. Forteii years he drove 
d.iily iVom .\ndover, w here he resided, to Lowell and back, 
besides \ isitiiig Boston and Law lence several times a w eek. 
In iSi)2 the hrm of I'erry \ Wendell was formed, which 
him became selling-agents. In 18114 the Lawrence Wool- 
len Conip.iin' w MS formed; a mill was erected, equijiped, 
aiitl run bv .Nil*. Perrv. as s,-,le manager, Uj' to the time of 
his death. It was known as •• Perry's Mill." He also 
remained, from 1S57 to 1S76, as purchasing-agent of the 
Muldle-ex Mill and general manager of the manufacturing 
di ]).utment. The extraordinary success of the manufac- 
turing business under Mr. Peiry's charge, both as regards 
the 'jualiu' of the goods and the hnancial results, was well 
know 11, and the cause was eipiallv well under-tood. Mr. 
Perry beg.in his career as a manulactuier in Ihe prime of 
life ; he was possessed of remark.ible intellectual tjuali- 
ties, great insight into the capabilities of men and ma- 
cliinei), and marked executive ability; while through a 
pieculiar quiet manner, it was notdifticult to discover some 
of the traits ili.it made Ids father, at a much younger 
period in his lil'e, the foremost tighter of his time and 
country. Parth by inheritance, partly from the sharp tlis- 
ci|)line of his early years, Mr. Perry w%as possesse<l with a 
belief in the overpowering oblig.ations of duty, and he ex- 
peited others to govern themselves by it as he did. It was 
not hdebty to himself nor to his personal interest that he 
exatted. but fidelity to whatever duty was inciiniljcnt at 
the nionieiit. .\bove all. he pledged his personal honor 
and lidehly. in the broadest sense, to his engagements. 
.\o iii.m ever tried to overre.ich him the second time, for 
the liist aileiiipl iisu.dly ended in a signal defeat, and a 
cess.ui.in of all liiteicourse. In nuitters ol leeliug he was 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



395 



extrt'inelv tenacious, ami was strongly attached to bis 
native place. He had left Newport when he was fourteen 
years of age, and never lived thjre a;;ain, except durin:^ a 
few intervals durin,' hi^ voyage--. Hi-- la-t cx'.riion, two 
months before his death, was a long walk about the old 
parts of the town, reviving hi^ family memories and cher- 
isheil recollections. At his funeral in .^ndover the churcli 
was crowded with operatives from the mill, and hi^ pall- 
bearers were two agents and two overseers who had served 
under him m.jre than twenty-live years. Mr. Perry mar- 
ried, April 24, 1837, Elizalieth Ann Randolph, daughter 
of Richard Kidder Randoljih, of Newport, by whom he 
had three daughters and one son. His second wife, who 
survives him, was Mary Ann Moseley, of Newburyport, 
to uhom he was married March 3, I.S49, and who bore 
him one son. For many years Mr. Perry resided at An- 
dover, M.i^sachusetts, an<I diel tliere .-Kugiist 30, 187S. 



;.VMES, J.\MF.s Henry, D.D., son of James and Sa- 
rah (Mumford) Eames.was born in Dedham, Mas- 
sachusetts, November 29,1814. During hischild- 
hood his parents removed to Providence. He 
prepared for college under the tuition of Mr. Stan- 
ton Belden, at Fruit Hill, and Mr. Caleb Farnum, in 
Providence. In 1835 he entered the college at Bristol, 
Pennsylvania, where he remained until the college was 
given up. He soon after entered the Junior class of Brown 
University, and graduated in 1839. Preparatory to taking 
orders in the Episcopal Church, he studied with Rev. John 
Bristed, Rector of St. Michael's Church, in Bristol. In 
December, 1841, he was ordained deacon by Bishop iJris- 
vvold, and in December, 1842, took orders as a presbyter, 
under the same Bishop. His first parish was in Wakefield, 
w here he became rector of the Church of the Ascension, 
holding that position till January, 184(1, when he became 
rector of St. Stephen's Church, in Providence. He re- 
signed in 1850, at the solicitation of Bishop Henshaw,who 
wished him to perform missionary work in certain sec- 
tions of Rhode Island. For nearly eight years he was 
eng.aged in this work, from 1850 to 1S5S. Retiring for a 
season from his arduous labors, he made a long tour, Mrs. 
Eames accompanying him, through different countries of 
Europe, extending his journey to Egypt, Syria, and Pales- 
tine. In 1858 he was called to take charge of St. Paul's 
Church, in Concord, New Hampshire. His ministry here 
covered a period of twenty years (1858 to 187S) and re- 
sulted in building up a strong and efficient parish. A new 
and elegant church was built ; the congregation increased; 
and general prosperity attended tlie efforts of those who 
were interested in the welfare of St. Paul's. In addition to 
his parochial duties. Dr. Eames was, for more than eighteen 
years, chaplain of the Asylum for the Insane, located in 
Concord, and conducted a service on Sunday afternoon in 
the chapel of that institution. He al^o performed a large 



amount of missionary work in different parts of the State of 
New Hampshire. He filled important positions in his 
church in that diocese, representing it in the General Con- 
venli ms, being a member of the Standing Committee and 
a trustee of the (leneral Theological Seminary. In 1862 
Norwich University, Vermont, conferred on him the degree 
of Doctor of Divinity. Toward the close of his life, to 
esc.ipe the rigor-, of a niuthern climate and to secure needed 
relaxation, he spent a winter in the i->land of Bermuda. 
While ful'illing a |iurpo^e again to -.pond a wdntcr in Ber- 
muda, he died, in the harbor of Hamilton, December 10, 
1877. He married, in 1839, Jane .\nthony, daughter of 
He/ekiali Anthony, Es-p, of Providence. 



^Y]^^ \I''^''"-''^. f^'-^'- W]Lij.\M RdiiiNSON. D.D., son of 
fjC^'i Rowse 2d and H mnah (Brown) Babcock, was 
sjijitji born in Westerly, Rhode Island, March 28, 1814. 
;s'j9s5He enjoyed good advantages, and was trained to 
Is L habits of indu-try. His education was begun in the 
private schools of his native tow-n ; but he was fitted for 
college at Plainfield Academy, Connecticut. Early in life 
his attention was turned toward liberal studies and the pur- 
suit of a profession. When, at the age of twenty years, 
he became personally and deeply interested in religion, 
and for the fir.st time reali/eil the true nature and extent 
of his obligations and his duty, he promptly resolved to 
devote his life to the work of the Christian ministry. En- 
tering Brown University, he graduated with high rank in 
the class of 1837, which numbered among its members 
such men as Nathan Bishop, LL.D., David Burbank, 
LL.D., and Professor Samuel ,S. Greene, LL.D. In the 
following autumn he entered the General Theological 
Seminary (Episcopal), in tlie city of New York, and after 
completing a three years' course of study in that institu- 
tion, was ordained by Bishop Griswold in 1840. During 
the first sixteen years of his ministry he was rector suc- 
cessively of Christ Church, Gardiner, Maine, .St. Peter's 
Church, Salem, Massachusetls, and Trinity Church, Nat- 
chez, Mississippi. Then for a like period of sixteen years he 
was rector of St. John's Church, Jamaica Plain (now Bos- 
ton), Massachusetts. During the last year of his ministry 
there, his parishioners generously defrayed the expenses of 
an eight months' tour made by him through Great Britain 
and on the Continent, for the recovery of his health. He 
relinipiished his parochial charge in the autumn of 1872, 
and removed to his native Slate. During the summers he 
resides in his charming villa at Narragansett Pier, and his 
winters are passeil in the city of Providence, meanwhile 
rendering such occasional services to his clerical brethren 
as the state of his health allows. Religious and literary 
circles are always cheered by his presence. In i86g he 
received from Brown University the degree of Doctor of 
Divinity, a recognition richly merited by his abilities, schol- 
arship, and character. In October, 1S40, he married 



396 



BIOGRAPIIICA L CYCL OP ED! A. 



Calliarinc P. Poarce. youngest claii;^lit<r nf lion. Diitcc _]. 
Pi-.irci'.of Newport, Rhode Ul.ind. Their children were : 
Ann P., Iiorn Jinie 26, 1S41, married Lieiitenanl-Culonel 
\. S, Polajiil, U. S. A., Oeiolier I ]. 1S04; I'ninia (;., liorn 
A|)rd _•(>. lS;5, married Alon/o P. Howard April 23, 
1S67, died AuL;ii>t 7. 1.S6S; Calliarine P., liorn June 21, 
1S47. died Auu;iist 2(_). 1S4S. 



porter of the temperance cause, lie is l<no\vn as a man 
true to his own convictions and fearless in tlie advocacy of 
what he believes to be ri:;ht. 



p^.MITII, Hon. Lkwis I!,, sdu of Simon and Lydia 
.Smith, was bcirii at N'avatt, Harrnit;ton, Riiotle 
Island, Se]tend>er 14. 1S17, and was the second of 
j five children, two sons and three dau'^hters. His 
^ father was a farmer, and his sons were educate'! to a 
farmer's lil"e, with the usual educational opprirtunilies of 
fifty years ago. In addition to home-school training Lewis 
attended a select school for one term tif three months, 
at \\'ashirigton Village, Rlnide Island. lie has alwass 
li\-ed on the homestead at Xayalt. He entered into the 
service of the town at liis majority, and has occupied many 
of the local offices from time to time, serving now ■ as 
Presideirt of the Town Council, an otiice w Inch he has held 
in previous years. At the age ol tweiitv lour he was elected 
to the House of Keprescnlalives undei the old Charter, and 
coiitmued m ollite live years. In I.S42 he was ehi">sen with 
Nathaniel Brown as a delegate to frame the Constitution 
of the Slate. In 1S65 he was elected to the office of .State 
Senator, which he held till 187 >; was again elected in 
1S71), and still occupies that |H)-ition. In 1S7S Mr. Smith 
was apjiointed bv Governor \'an Zandt as a uieinber of the 
I»o;ud of St. lie Charities ai^d < "orreelioiis, which po-itiwn he 
now hohls. He has been a deleg.Ue to main- of the con- 
^'ention^ of the Repiuldiean jiarlv. of which he has been a 
jirominent member, and to wIiilIi he has given \erv valu- 
able services. His business interests of late yeais lia\e 
b'-en connected more directly with the attaiis of the Nayatt 
Brick Company, and with a large amount of |)robate busi- 
ness which has been committed to his care. He united 
with the Congregational Church in P.arroigton in 1.8j2.and 
has held the office of deacon since 1S57. He has also 
served as treasurer of the Ihnted Congregational Society 
fioni 1.S5; to the present time, a ]ieriod of twenty-eight 
years. In 1S71 he w as a delegate to the National 'Congre- 
gational Council, at (iberbii. In i.S;()he married .\nna 
D. Maitin, only daughter ol Sulliv.ui M.n tin, of l>arnnL,t >n, 
who dieil in July, iSiii.the issue of the marii ige being 
three soils. In Xovember, I.S62, Mr. Smith married Mrs. 
Judith R. Parker, daughter of Hon. James lioweii, of Bar- 
rington. In the varicnis services he has rendered the tow n, 
the State, and the Church lie has acted with w isdom, |iru- 
deiice, and a high regard for the w eliare (jf indi\ idn.ds and 
the best interests of society. In public life he has been an 
earnest advocate of honesty and eiinioniy in the Slate gov- 
ernment, n warm friend of education, and a strong sup. 



-nCKWi H 11 ), Mi>si:s Brown, manufacturer, son of 
y Beiioiu and Phebe (Clreenl I.ockwood. was born 
in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, August 25, 1S15. (jn 
! the completion of his thirteenth year he was sent to 
,P the Friends' School in Providence, w here his diligence 
and proficiency in the branches of study he pursued won 
for him a high place in the regard of his associates and in- 
structors. In I.S32 he was appointed assistant teacher of 
the schriol, and remained in that position for two years. 
In 1S34 he was engaged .as teacher of a similar institution 
in We^ttown, Pennsylvania, but in 18 Js "as recalled to the 
school in Pro\idence, with an aiijiointment as principal. 
He was strongly attracted to the study of mathematics and 
natural philosophy, and entered with enthusiasm upon the 
puisuit of knowledge in such depaitineuts as ])hysics and 
chemistry, at a time when such students and investigators 
as Davy, Lardner, Bache, Brewster, .Silliman, and Faraday 
were claiming a large share of public attention, keeping 
abreast in aher-life with the researches of Huxley, Tyndall, 
,\gassi/, and later scientists. His cruUiilnitKuis tr) scien- 
tific journals, and his instructions and lei-t tires in the school 
and before the F'ranklin Society of Providence, of w hich 
he became a memlier in the year lS;S, were interesting 
and \'alualile, show ing evidences of a close study of his 
subject, both from original e.\periments and discoveries, 
and the researches of other students in the same held. In 
i.S^g he was made (Chairman of the I>epartment of Chem- 
istry, and in 1S40 elected a member of the Standing Com- 
mitlee in the F'ranklin Society. His interest in natural 
science continued unabated tlirough his lifetime, and his 
accur.ite knowledge in the branches of study wdiich he 
pursued reudered him invaluable assistance in the various 
positi(ms he occupied in connection with Brown Univer- 
sity and the puldic schools of the city of Providence. He 
received from the Cniversity the honorary degree of .\.M. 
in 1S57, an I was lor many years a memlier of the Examin- 
ing Comm.ttee in mathematics and astronomv. He was a 
member of the School Committee of the City of Providence 
for touiteeii )e,irs, fomi 1S55 to iSiiq. .'\s an Examiner 
ill the (_'oIlege he manife-ted an intelligent apjucciation of 
the iirolicicncy of students rarely possessed by non-profes- 
sional men. He was always a friend of the University, 
and made from time to time liberal contributions to its 
funds. As a member of the School Comiriittec his counsel 
was always valued, and his labors were of great lienefit to 
the c.ui e of jaiblic education. I)eeniiiig a more actise 
oicnp.uioii than teaching conducive to his physic. d health, 
he lett the Friends' School in 1S3S, and engaged w ith his 
father 111 tlie stuily and practice of civil engineering, con- 
tinuing in that pursuit until 1,84^, when, in connection 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



397 



with Amos D. Lnckvvood and R. B. Chapman, he entered 
into the business of manufacturing, under tlie lirm-name of 
A. U. Lockwood & Co. Upon the organization of the 
Quinebau;^ Company in Daniel~onvilIe, Connecticut, in 
1851, he was appointed its treasurer, and held the office 
from that time until his death. He also aided in organiz- 
ing the Wauregan Mills, January 14, 1853, and w^as treas- 
urer of that corporation for several years. Resigning his 
trust as treasurer, February 22. 1858, on account of ill 
health, he went to Europe,. and spent nearly a year in 
travel, returning in November, 1859, with improved health. 
His capacity for business, and the confidence reposed in 
his good judgment and integrity, gave to him many offices 
of responsibility and trust. He was a director, Vice-Pres- 
ident, and President of the Mechanics' National Bank ; a 
trustee and Vice-President of the Providence Institution 
for Savings; trustee and member of the Committee of In- 
vestment of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company ; 
director of the Providence Gas Company; director of 
several insurance companies, and was one of the original 
directors of ihe Providence and Worcester Railroad Com- 
pany. He served in the Common C-ouncil of Providence, 
as a member from the Third Ward, from 1845 to 1847 in- 
clusive ; was a member of the House of Representatives 
in the General Asseinbly from the city of Providence in 
1862-63 ^"^' 1863-64; and was elected Chairman of the 
Board of Commissioners for bringing water from the Paw- 
tuxet River into Providence, September 27, 1869. He 
held the last-named office at the time of his de.ith, and was 
regarded as having largely contributed to the successful 
prosecution of this important public enterprise. In benev- 
olent and religious affairs he held an honored and honor- 
able place. He was a trustee of the Benefit Street Minis- 
try at Large from 1S52 to the time of his death, and in 1865 
was elected Vice-President of that charitable organization. 
In October, 1868, he was elected Vice-President, and on the 
6th of April, 1869, President of the First Cimgregational 
(Unitarian) Society in Providence, and held the office until 
October, 1S71. On the 9th of May, 1842, he married 
Alice Brown, daughter of Isaac Brown, Esq., who sur- 
vives him. He died May 13, 1872, leaving no children. 
The variety of Mr. Eockwood's gifts and occupations was 
harmonized by unity of purpose and principle. A student, 
instructor, manufacturer; a man of science and afiairs, he 
met the demands of the hour with a spirit of fidelity and 
a clear and intelligent judgment. While he was conserva- 
tive in his opinions, he was not tenacious in holding them 
under the li^ht of new discoveries and wider knowledge. 
His youth was earnest, active, well-balanced, and protected 
by moral principle and a sincere and simple religious 
faith. His mature manhood was kindly and mellow, 
happy in the enjoyment of literature, science, and art, 
genial, social intercourse, and a quiet domestic life. The 
interest which he took in public affairs was a]ipreciated by 
his constituents, whose confidence in his integrity and abil- 



ity outweighed his own desire for public life. He was not 
permitted to see the completion of the last great work with 
which he was intrusted — the introduction of water into the 
city of Providence — but the community is greatly indebted 
to his good judgment and skill. His desire to promote the 
public welfare caused him to provide in his will, that after 
the death of his wife, one-tenth of his property should be 
given for the establishment and maintenance of a free pub- 
lic library in Providence ; and in case of failure of i^sue 
on the part of another of his heirs, a second tenth was to 
be devoted to the same beneficent purpose. His life was 
so full of usefulness, and his services were so highly appre- 
ciated by the community, that his death was regarded as a 
public loss ; and the esteem in which he was held found 
expressicm in resolutions commemorative of his worth, 
adopted soon aftei his death by the City Council and the 
various organizations with which he was connected. 



I^ULLOCK, Hon. Jonathan Russell, was born at 
SK Bristol, Rhode Island, September 6, 181 5. He was 
S"^^ the son of Nathaniel Bullock and Ruth (Smith) his 
('SV wife. After receiving a preparatory education he 
H entered Brown University in 1830, and graduated 
in the class of 1834. He then entered upon the study of 
the law in the office of his father, and was admitted to the 
bar at Newport, in August, 1836. Soon after he removed 
to Illinois, and settled at Alton, where he commenced and 
continued the practice of his profession until April, 1843. 
During his residence at Alton he was chosen a member of 
the Common Council of that city. In 1843 he returned to 
Rhode Island, and associated himself in practice with the 
late Hon. Jos. M. Blake, then recently elected Attorney- 
General of the Slate. He continued in the practice of his 
profession until he was appointed Collector, in 1S49. In 
April, i8-i4. he was elected, without opposition, first Repre- 
sentative to the General Assembly from Bristol ; and again, 
in April, 1S45, ^""^ '846. In 1S47, having been engaged 
as counsel by the town of IJii^tol m an important question 
affecting its boundaries, then pending before the legisla 
ture, he declined a re-election. In May, 1849, he was 
appointed by President Taylor Collector of the Customs 
for the District of Bristol and Warren, and upon the death 
of President Taylor was re-appomted by President Fill- 
more. This office he resigned March 4, 1853, 'he day of 
the accession of Franklin Pierce to the Presidency. In 
Apiil, 1S59, he was elected to the State Senate, and in 
April, iS.:>o, chosen I.ieutenant-Ciovernor. In December, 

1561, he was appointed by the Governor Special Commis- 
sioner to adjust the account between Rhode Island and the 
United States, growing out of the expenses incurred by 
the State in raising and forwarding troops to suppress the 
rebellion. While engaged in this duty, in September, 

1562, he was chosen an Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the State. He remained u]»n the bench of the 



398 



PiocKAPincA I ( ■ ) •( 7, ori:niA. 



SuprcHK- ("I'url until Marcli. 1S64. w Ik'u Ik- \\'as apj-iriinicd 
liy I'lc-iik-nt l.iiiciiln Jud^je of iIk- Dislrict Cmirt of ilu- 
Uuilfil StMU's lor Oil- Di^hiil nf Rlin<le Isiaml. hi Si|i- 
tcnil'LT. iSiKj, jn C'liisi-fiiKiu c of ill IiL'allli, lu- ifsii^ncil this 
(irfit,\-, ;ui"l ha^ siiicr rniiaiiu-d in privatu lil\-. In Septeni- 
W\\ 1S40, he married Su^an Anndia, dain^diU-r i\\ Ii>lin I *e 
W'.dr. and Sylvia (Cnswa.M) his uife. Slie died (>i;tol,er 
7, iS()(i. in 1 >eLenil)er, iS'iS. he maifieti f'annia, daui^hter 
i.f Stephen Weslciitt. and Mary (Smith) Ins wile, of West 
Kn\lnir) , Massachiisell-.. 



(■■;N'ni(>.\\ , II, .N. IIiNRV li., United States Sen- 
ati'r. and e\-( ^rivernor uf Rhode Island, w.is 
horn, ol^ IJuaker anecstry, at ('oventry, Rhode 
Y j Island, .\|.rd 1, iNii. Ilis father, William .\n- 
<J el thony. was a nati\e of Pros i<.Ience, and a prominent 
manufacturer at Coventry. His mother's maiden name 
was Mary Kinneeut I oecne. She was a ilau^liter of James 
Cireene, of Warwick, a descendant of John (lieene, who 
was an associate of RoL;er Williams, and one of the orit;i- 
nal purchasers of .Shawonuit. now c.dled (lid W.iruick. 
Mr. .-Xnthony jirepared for Collet;e at his native town and 
.at a private seminary in Providence, and ;.;ra(luated at 
lirown L'niversity in lS^;i, at the a^je of eighteen. At that 
time he was a frcpu nt c outrihulor to the Columns of the 
Prt^'itit-ncf yoiinutl, of w hicli his cousin. ( leori^e W\ fack- 
son, was editor and proprietor. He early attaineil a repu- 
tation as a terse and \it;oi-uus writer. In iS^S, he became 
eilitor and joint proprietor uitli Joseph Knowles and John 
W. \'ose, and h.is ever since been one of the ]irr,prietors 
ol the /V-ervi/vz-c J^'uytial. His ]")aper. now under the 
editorial mana;.^ement of his copartner. .Mr. ( leoi L;e W. 
]),iniclson, is one of the best conducted .and most iiillueu- 
ti.il d.ulies in the country. In I.S49, Mr. .\nthony was 
elected, on the Whig ticket, (Governor of Rhode Island. 
His administration as (hnernor yave general satisfaction, 
ami cau-ed him to be re-elected in I.S50. He was urged 
to accept the nomination for a thinl teiin, but diadined a 
re-election. He was elected to the I'liiled States Senate 
from Rhoile I -land, as a L'nion Republitan, to succeed 
ex-thivernor I'liibp .Allen, and took his ^eat March 4, 
iSjf). Jell'erson I l.ivis, Sli.lell, Toombs, and Wigfall, with 
otlii-r Sailheruers, ilu-n occupied seats in the .Seirate Ldiam- 
ber, although they were meditating a secession from the 
Ihiion. 1 louglas, t'ritlenilen, and a few other Northern 
Democr.its, vainly endeavored to avert the impending 
calamity. The Republicans were yet in the minority, hut 
in llicii ranks were .Smniier, I-'cssenden, ("olLiuKr, Foster, 
(liimes, Ch.imller, Wilson, .iiid others who will be riaiiem- 
bert'd among the .dilest statesmen of the n-public. I.luring 
the w.ir w liicli so- ill folio wfd, Mr. .\nthonv w .is a pi'iininent 
nienibia- of the important I 'onimittei' on N.iv.il .\ll\urs, w here 
he aiihsl in tlu- ere.ition of a naval force and in the selec- 
tion of Its officers. He did much to promote the etliciency 



of the L'nion armies, and the comfort (if those who served 
in them, and supported liberal pension bills for the 
wounded, and for the widows and orphans of those who 
lell. He took an active piart in framing the great Recon- 
struction measures, adv(icatiiig equal rights for all. His 
most iniport.int .Senatorial services. howc\-er. have been 
renileied on the (_'omiiiitiee on Public Printing, of which 
he was Chaiiman for eighteen years. l.>uring that time, 
the execution ol the ]irinting and binding was greatlv im- 
jiroved antl its cost was diminished, while many important 
reforms were carried lail. In March, 1S69, Mr. Anthony 
was elected President /;,• //w/erc of the Senate, and served 
until the election of Mr. Wilson as Vice-President, when 
he deelined a re-election. He was a member of the Na- 
tional I'oinmittce appointed to acconiiiany the remains of 
President Lincoln to Illinois, in I.S65; and was one of the 
Senators designated by the Senate to attend the funeral of 
( ieiieral Winfield .Scott, in 1.S66. He was a delegate to 
the " Loyalists' Convention," at Philailelphia, in 1866, 
Having been re-elected in 1S64, 1S70, and 1S76, Mr. .An- 
thony's .Senatorial career extends over a period of more 
th.tii tw ciity \ears. and exceeds that of any other pierson 
now in the Senate. He is not a tVeipicnt speaker, but 
w lu-n he addresses the Senate, is alwa\'s li^iened to with 
marked attention. He has delivered numerous memorial 
addresses, among which may be meniioned tho.se on Sen- 
ator Stephen .A. Ilouglas, July 9, 1S61 ; on Senator John 
R. Thompson, December 4, lSb:>; on William Pitt Fcssen- 
den, Llccember 14, lS6y; on Major-General .N'alhanael 
(beene, June 20, 1S70: on Roger Williams, Januarv g, 
I'<72; on .Senator Jonathan rrumbull, March ,S, I.S72; on 
Roger Sherman, March S, 1S72; on Clievalkr (_'harles 
Louis d'Arsac de Teriiay, December 16. 1873; im Senator 
('harles .Sumner, March II, 1874; on .Senator William .A. 
liuckinghain, P'ebruary 27, 1S75 ; and on \ice President 
Henry Wilson. January 21, 1S76. Mr. .Anili.my married, 
October 16, iSjS, Sarah .Aborn Rhodes, daughter of Gen- 
eral Christopher Rhodes, of Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, a 
descendant of Zachariah Rhodes, an eailv settler of Rhode 
Isl.nid. .md an associate of Roger Willi.ims. .She died in 
New \ork. July 1 1, 1854. 



rf KWETT, Profe.ss(ir Charles Coffin, an eminent 
bibliographer and librarian, son of Rev. Paul and 
"J'g" F^leanor (Punchard) Jewett, of .Salem, Massachu- 
*'.U-' setts, was born in Lebanon, Maine, .August 12, 1S16. 
♦ J Concerning his chihlhood and youth we knowbut 
little. His father w.is a graduate of P.row n l'niversity, 
and for several years was a tut(U* in that institution, — a 
man of accui'ate learning, of cultivated taste, and of very 
it'tiring habits. In the education r)f his childien he tiiok 
unwearied pains. His eldest son was formerly a puljlisher 
and bookseller in Boston, well i^now n for his connection 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



399 



witli the celebrated Uncle Tom's Caln'n. Another son was 
for several years a professor in Amherst College. Charles 
attended the excellent schools of Salem, graduating at the 
Latin School. In 1831 he entered Dartmouth College, 
but transferred his relations in his Sophomore year to 
Brown University, where he graduated in the famous class 
of 1835. He spent two years in teaching at the Uxbridge 
Academy, in Massachusetts, and subsequently entered the 
Theological Seminary at Andover, Here he devoted him- 
self especially to philology and the Oriental languages and 
literature, in which departments of know ledge he attained 
great proficiency. While here Mr. Jewett was for a time 
Lilirarian of the Seminary, and he assisted Dr. Taylor in 
the preparation of the printed catalogue. At this time he 
was intending to spend several years, and perhaps his life, 
in the East, as a missionary, and he had accordingly, at 
the close of his theological course, marked out for himself 
extensive study and research, for wliich ample facilities had 
been offered him. When ready lo embark so slight a cir- 
cumstance as the misdirecting of a letter informing him 
when the vessel in which he had taken passage was to sail, 
changed his w-hole future life. The vessel sailed without 
him, and he took charge for a time of Day's Academy, 
in Wrentham, Massachusetts. His winning ways, genial 
temper, and cordial affection, especially for those whom he 
instructed, endeared him to friends and pupils alike. In 
1841 he was appointed Librarian of Brown University, 
entering upon his duties in October. He at once set him- 
self to the task of rearranging the books, then numbering 
ten thousand volumes, and of preparing a catalogue. For 
this kind of work he had a special aptitude. It was pub- 
lished in 1843 >''"f' attracted much attention, being favorably 
noticed in the Mortit American Review and other peiiodi- 
cals. Soon after the publication of the catalogue he was 
elected Professor of Modern Languages, in addition to his 
duties as Librarian. He immediately embarked for Europe, 
where he spent several years, principally in France, Ger- 
many, and Italy, devoting himself to the acquisition of the 
languages of those countries, and making liiniself familiar 
with libraries and library economy. During liis residence 
abroad he made valuable purchases of English and classi- 
cal books, under the direction of the Library Committee. 
He was also intrusted by the late Mr. John Carter Brown 
with large commissions for the purchase of standard Ger- 
man, French, and Italian books. These purchases, amount- 
ing to seven thousand volumes, were made with singular 
fidelity and skill ; and they now constitute the choice treas- 
ures of the Library. In 1848 he accepted an appointment 
as Assistant Secretary and Librarian of the Smithsonian 
Institution, at Washington. He entered upon his duties 
with characteristic ardor, determined to carry out the ex- 
pressed wishes of Congress, and build up a great national 
library for the " Diffusion of Useful Knowledge." In the 
long controversy that ensued between science and literature, 
as represented by Professor Henry and Professor Jewett, 



the former |iroved victorious, and in 1S5S the latter resigned 
his position at Washington to take charge of the Public 
Library at Boston. Here, in the metropolis of New Eng- 
land and the literary centre of the country, he found the 
true sphere for his varied accomplishments and bibliographi- 
cal skill. For ten years he labored with unwearied zeal 
to make this great collection the library of the land. It 
already numbers 350,000 volumes. The catalogues which 
he prepared, and the rules for the government of the libra- 
ry which he suggested, have served, and will continue to 
serve, as models in all parts of the land. In the midst of 
his work he was suddenly seized with paralysis, and after 
a brief illness often hours he died at his residence in Brain- 
tree, on the morning of January 8, 1868, at the age of 
fifty-two. Professor Jewett married, in 1S48, Rebecca 
Greene Haskins, a daughter of Ralph Haskins, Esq., of 
Roxbury, Massachusetts. A son and two daughters, with 
their mother, survive him. 



N'(TN, Merrick, I.L.D., a prominent educator, son 
of Deacon lonathan and Hannah (Smith) Lyon, 
i. ; 5," of Slurbridge, Massachusetts, w'as born April 7, 
'f 181 5. His father was a prosperous farmer and a 
i' leading man in town. He Iiad a family of seven 
sons and three ilaugbters, all of whom arrived at the age of 
maturity. Four of his sons, including the subject of this 
sketch, received a coUegi.ite education. Merrick remained 
at home until he was eighteen years of age, working on 
the farm, and during the winter months attending the pub- 
lic schools. While a boy he became deeply interested in 
religious truth, and in November, 1831, united with the 
Bajitist Church in Sturbridge. lieing naturally fond of 
study, and possessing more than ordinary gifts, he took a 
prominent part in ihe meetings of the church. Thus he 
was led to seek fur enlarged s]iheres of usefulness by a 
thorough course of mental training and culture. He en- 
tered Hopkins Academy, in Hadly, Mas.sachusetts, where 
he remained several years, teaching public schools in the 
winter. The last year of his preparatory course was passed 
at the Bapiist Academy, in Worcester. In September, 
1S36, he entered the Freshman class of Brown University, 
and continued with it for the year, teaching meanwhile 
four months. During the first term of the Sophomore year 
he left college for a time and taught the High School at 
East Dennis, Mass.achusetts. He graduated in the class of 
1841, having attained to high rank as a scholar. On leav- 
ing college he at once entered upon what has been his life- 
„.ork — teaching. For a few weeks he taught a private 
school in the upper story of a building on Market Square, 
and afterward in the De Witt Building, on Waterman 
Street, Providence. In 1S45 he became one of the princi- 
pals of the " University Grammar School," and although 
offered a professorship in the University of Michigan, at 



400 



HlOuhWPJlJCAL CYCL OPED! A. 



Ann Arbor, .nil siniil;ir positi ins in ollu-r inslilnlii ms, he 
has remainf-1 at !*ro\i(]i ncL- until tin- pn-^unt tiniu, lalmr- 
'\\v^ with si;;]] il (_lVn.ifi]i;\' anil /cal to prinin.tr classical and 
acadftiiic I ulturc. hiiiiii-^ the war iS^5 he alsii taught 
(Irc'-k ii] collcL^c. ( )t' the |acitiii]|]is Tor cxcelle]ice in 
Circck and I.ali]] awarded to sindetits enleiiiit; Krown Ihii- 
versit)-. fort}-si\ ha\e I'een L;i\en to those prepared by 
T'l. Lyon. In l.'sjv he tia\elleil extensively in Great 
Britain and on the ( 'ontinenl. and was a]'pointed " Hon- 
orary Coniniissioner to the World's h'airal Vienna." He 
was a member of tire Common ('ouneil of Providence in 
1S55, and was made Ch.nrnian of the i.'onnnitlee on Edu- 
cation. ]''or a i|uaiter of a eenlnry lie has been a leading 
anil active member of the School ( '(Jinniittee, doing an 
amount of gratuitous lab..r for which tlie public must al- 
ways hold him in gratebil esieem. He was President of 
the Rhode Island Institute of Instructi.ui in 1S73 •^""-' ■•'^74. 
and was also President for two years of the .A.merican In- 
stitute of Instruction, lie was President one year of the 
Rhode Island ISaplisi Social Union. In 1S74 he was 
elected a trustee of lirown I'niversity, anil in 1S77 was 
elected a Fclhiw . fdling the place made vac. int bv the death 
of the lamented President Caswell. In 1.S75 he received 
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws fromlhe University 
of Chicago. I"or twenty-six ye.irs he has held tlie ullice of 
a deacon in the chinch. He manied, August 2^, I.S42, 
Caroline Krown, ilaughtcr of I )r. Nicholas jcnks, of Mid- 
dleborough, Massachusitts, .nid sister of Professor fenks, 
of the University. Two daughters, both living, are the 
issue of the marriage. The elder daughter, ( 'aroline PL, 
was married, in i.'^oS, to Jantes C. ( loff, a pronnnent and 
acti\'e memlier lif the Common Couniil of Pro\ idence, ani.1 
also a member of the .School ( '<unmittee. 



J^TfRAXCER, Riv. .\f.HAii,\M I Ini.i i- v, D.D., son of 
William and I'hebe (liardnerl Cranger, was born 
in Suflield, Coimeclicut, I )ctober 10, 1S15. His 
R '^ father was a lineal descend. mt of Lancelot (iranger, 
a'i one of the original proprietois of Suflield, who 
came to this country from ^^)rksllire, England. Abraham 
H. was early deprived of |iareiit,il care and guidance: his 
mother died when he w .is but lour years of age, and liis 
father when he was eight years old. He spent his b(.iy- 
hood in agricultural pursuits and in attending the common 
schools. At the age of eighteen he Commenced to prepare 
for college in the Connecticut Literary Institution. In 
lS;5 he entered Waterville College, now Colby University, 
and graduated in iSjq, as the valediclmian of his class. 
At the beginning of his collegiate studies he coiiteniplaterl 
the leg.d pioles-i,,ii, but. boln a change in his lebgious 
views, w hile he « as piep.uing lor colie;_;e, he wa^ led, after 
teaching l(u' one year .it Iki'li, M.iine, to enter Newton 
'I'heoloMical Institution, in the kill of i,S4(i, I'r..in this 
in-titiition he graduated m 1.S4J, and in .Noveniljer of the 



same year was ordained as pastor of the Paptist church in 
Warren, Knox ('..uiity, Maine, where he labored with 
signal ability and success for eleven years. In May, 
I.S54, he accepteil a call to the Fourth Bajitist Cluirch, in 
Providence, of which he served as Pastor, with rare efh- 
cieiicy, for more than twenty three years, attaining celebrity 
throughout the State for scholarship and judgment. At 
the semi-centennial of the Rhode Island Baptist State Con- 
vention, May 12, 1875, he delivered the Historical Dis- 
course. Early in his public life he was elected a Trustee 
of Waterville College, now Colby University, and in 1864 
received from his alina mater the honorary degree of 
Doctor of I)i\ini|y. In l86j he was elected a trustee of 
Brown Laiiveisiiy, an oflice which he continues to hll. 
His labors as an instructor ami counsellor have lieen widely 
recogni/-ed and appreciated. Resigning his pastorate in 
Proviilence, in July, 1877, he s|ient the two following years 
in supplying jiulpits at Fianklin and Norfolk, Massachu- 
setts. While residing in F'ranklin his residence was de- 
stroyed by lire. In 1S79 '"^ liecame Pastor of the Berean 
Bajitisl Cliuich of lUirrillville, Rhode Island, where he now- 
resides. He m.irried, November 21, 1843, I'rances Maria 
Kimball, daughter of Tlnuiias Kimball, of Waterville, 
Maine. He had three sons, Frederic William, Eugene 
Fuller, and I'Mw.ird \'auglin. The two elder served in 
the Ibiion army during the Rebellion, the second ne\er 
returning, lieing reported missing. The youngest, Edward 
Vaughn, graduated ,it the ('ollege of Physicians and Sur- 
geons of New \'ork ('ii\', in .March, 1873, and is now suc- 
cessfully practicing his piolession in Burnllville. 



HT'ITT, Iln.N. IIiNRY, ex-Governor of Rhode 
Nliiid,soii of W.irren and Eli^a (Seamans) Li|i- 
]iil(, was bom 111 l'ro\idence, OctoVier 9, iSlS. 
1 He is descended lioiii lohn Lippitt, who came to 
}f Rhode Island in 1638, two years after its settlement 
by Roger Williams, and was the first person of that name 
whoiainc to .America. In 1I147, when Parliament granted 
a charlej" to organi/e the colon)', he was appointed one of 
the commission. Leaving Prosidence in 16^5, he removed 
to W.trwick, Rhode Island, ]>urchased a tract of land and 
engaged m (arming. ( 'hristopher, grandson of John Lip- 
pitt, was the father of Christopher and Charles Lippitt, the 
])ioneer manufacturers of Rhode Island. The former com- 
manded a Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revo- 
lution, and won distinction; was Brigadier-General of the 
Rhode Island militia in 1780; and at the close of the 
war eng.igeil in larming, his brother Charles, w lio was 
also an Lifticer in the Revcdution, Ixing a Providence 
merchant. N'o\eniber c), i.Voo, Cdiiistopher and (_'harles 
Lippitt, I'en|.\niin .Vboin, George lackson, Amasa Ma- 
son, and Willi. im Mason organized the Li]:»pitt Manu- 
facturing Company, with S40.000 capital. Christopher 





^i^t u-^ I '^^^^^ // , :^/> 




BlOGRAPIIICAl. CYCLOPEDIA. 



401 



I.ipjiitl was the first agent of the cnmpany ; tbcir cotton 
mill, the thiril in the State, was ijiiilt in 1S07; the 
yarns were first woven by hand looms into cloth, but 
in 1S20 weaving machinery was introduced into the fac- 
tory, Warren Lippitt, son of Charles Lippitt. and father 
of Henry Lippitt, was formerly a sea-captain, hut subse- 
quently became a cotton merchant in Providence, Rhode 
Island, and Savannah, Georgia. At the death of his 
father, in 1840, he was chosen treasurer of tlie Lippitt 
Manufacturing Company, and held that position until his 
death, in 1S50. Governor Lippitt received a good English 
education at the Academy at Kingston, Rhode Island. 
Soon after he went to Warren, Rhode Island, and was em- 
ployed for four years as clerk for Burr & .Smith. In No- 
vember, 1835, he returned to Providence, and for three 
years served as bookkeeper for Josiah Chapin & Co., at 
that time the largest cotton merchants in that city. In 
1838 he became associated with Edward Walcott in the 
commission business, under the firm-name of Walcott & 
Lippitt, Amory Chapin being a special partner. They 
dealt principally in bale cotton and print cloths. In 1S40 
Mr. Walcott retired from the firm, and Mr. Chapin became 
an active partner, and was associated with Mr. Lipi)iit 
until his death, in 1S46, the firm style being .\mory Chapin 
& Co. At this time a younger brother, Robert L. Lippitt, 
born in Savannah, Ga., and formerly a clerk for Walcott & 
Lippitt, and also for Ainory Chapin & Co., became a partner 
with Mr. I.ippiit. In 1S48, Henry and Robert L. Lippitt, 
with their father and other Providence eapitali.-ts, purchased 
the " Tiffany Mill," at Danielsonville, Connecticut, from 
Comfort Tiffany, the father of Charles L. Tiffany, of Tiffany 
& Co., of New York city. Tlie property they purchased 
consisted of three humlred acres uf lanil, the mill, with a 
capacity of 3000 spindles, and an extensive unimproved 
water-power. The next year, 1849, the business was or- 
ganized as the Quinebaug Manufacturing Company, and 
a new mill of 10,000 spindles erected. In 1850, on the 
death of Warren Lippitt, Amos D. and Moses B. Lock- 
wood bought a controlling interest in the property; the 
new mill was fitted up with machinery for the manufacture 
of delaines, and the company reorganized as the Quinebaug 
Company. About this time Henry and Robert L. Lippitt 
hired the " Coddington Mill," at Newport, Rhode Island, 
and manufactured cotton goods until 1S33, when that mdl 
was burned. In 1854, having sold their stock in the 
Quinel)aug Company, they purcha.sed an interest in the 
'• Social and Harrison Mills," at Woonsocket, Rhode 
Island. Robert L. Lippitt died June 29, 1858, and Henry 
immediately closed up the commission business, and de- 
voted his attention entirely to manufacturing. He pur- 
chased his brother's interest in the " Social Manufacturing 
Company," which company, in 1S60, increased their build- 
ings and machinery to a capacity of 40,000 spindles. In 
1874 the mill was burned, antl a brick mill of 60,000 
spindles was erected. About this time the " Globe Mill," 



at Woonsocket, Rhode Island, was purchased, which was 
built, in 1873, ''>■ f-eorge C. Ballou & Son. This mill is a 
stone structure, of 44,000 spindles, making 104,000 spin- 
dles in the Social and Globe Mills. The capital of the 
company, originally limited to 8300,000, was, in January, 
1870, increased by act of legislature to )J6oo,ooo, and in 
January, 1874, to $1,000,000. Governor Lippitt has been 
Treasurer of the company from its beginning, and owns 
the controlling interest in the stock. The first President 
was Orrcn A., son of Dexter Ballou, and on his resignation, 
in 1875, Charles Nourse, who has been resident agent 
since 1S55, was elected President, and now holds lioth 
positions. In 1859, Mr. Charles H. Merriman became 
partner with Mr. Lippitt, the firm-name being H. Lippitt 
& Co. From 1862 to 1S66 Mr. Lippitt was a large owner 
in the Manville Company, the mills of which are at Lin- 
coln, Rhode Island. In 1865, H. Lippitt & Co., with 
others owning the Harrison Mill, at Woonsocket, Rhode 
Island, changed the Cotton machinery, which was sold, and 
put in a full etpiijiinent of woollen machinery, with twenty 
sets of cards, ami bcg.in to manufacture fancy cassimeres 
and overcoatings, employing about five hundred operatives. 
The factory is known as the Lippitt Woollen Company. 
Governor Lippitt is the President, C. H. Merriman, Treas- 
urer, and the capital $400,000. Governor Lippitt organized 
the Silver Spring Bleaching and Dyeing Company, and 
obtained a charter in May, 1864, the capital being S200,000, 
which by act of legislature, in January, 1S73, was increased 
to %yiQ,OQO. He is the President of this cv>mp.uiy. and 
his eldest son, Charles Warren Lippitt, Treasurer and 
Agent, having full management of the works. This com- 
pany bought the old Silver Spring BleaChery, together with 
eighty acres of land. They bleach and color various styles of 
cotton goods. Clovernor Lippitt is I'resident of the Rhode 
Island National Bank; Rhode Island Institution for .Sav- 
ings ; Lippitt Woollen Company ; Silver Springs Bleaching 
and Dyeing Company ; Wheaton Hotel Company, which 
owns the Narragansett Hotel, of Providence; Pro\ idence 
Opera House Association; Dyer Street Land Ciini])anv ; 
Colonia Warehouse and Dry Dock Company, of Suuth 
America ; and Treasurer of the S.jcial Manufacturing Com- 
pany. He was one of the organizers and the first Vice- 
President of the Providence Board of Trade, and its second 
President for three j'ears. He was active in reorganizing 
the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery in 1S40, and in 
1842; was elected Lieutenant-Colonel of the corps, after 
serving in the different subordinate offices, and commanded 
a portion of the company, then armed and drilled as in- 
fantry, through the " Dorr War," in 1842. He was in com- 
mand of a section three nights at the Arsenal, when it was 
attacked by the Dorr forces; commanded the leading sec- 
tion. May 18, 1S42, at the attack on the Dorr forces on 
Atwell's Avenue, and again, in June, at the capture of the 
fort on Acote's Hill, being the third man to enter the fort. 
During the Southern Rebellion he was Commissioner for 



402 



BlOCKArmCAL CYCI. OPFniA. 



tlic ('tiunt\- <'f Piiu i.lcncr uii tlir i-iirulliiii; ;in<] (Ir.iflin^ of 
liRii, un^kr tlie rail nf l'i\-iilrm l.iiiruln. in I.SI12. fur 
llircc liuiiihril Ihouv.in.l nun. 1 Ir » a^ ( lovcniur uf KImmIl- 
KLuiil III 1^7^ .mil I S711, aii'l loi.k an acli\ r pait in liunnr- 
illL; the Stale at thf rcnirnnial l-',\|i.isiliMn at I'liilailcli'liia. 
ill 1S711. IK' iiiairinl, liccnnlHi-, id, 1S45, Mary Ann, 
fl.lc'-t daui^lilcr of Hr. |i,m-|iIi IkiKli. Uci ..l.lL-.t l.iotlicr, 
Jo^c|ili 1'. l;.ikli, was -Maj..! Ill tlic lust Kli..,lc Island 
I\t\^iincnt, unilcr (.'nl'iiu-i lIuinsiiK'; h.ii^ht at the first 
battle of IkiU Isun, July 21, iSdi, and served with the reL;i- j 
nient until it was discliaii;ed. (iuvernur Lippitt has had 
eleven ehildren : Chark-s Warren, I leiiry Merriman, Jiisejih 
liakh, (ienri;e [■jarilest, jeanie, I'ledeiiek, Henry Fred- 
criek, M.ii\' liakh, Rukeit kiiienln, Aiikv I'raneis, and 
Alfred,. )f will. in Charles W.irreii, Henry Frederick, Rohert i 
I.inenin, and the three dalli^hters .ue .ill that are nnw 
(I.SSi) liviii:;. {.''ihinel f'liarles W'arieii Lippitt was ("hief 
of Start to the (iit\eriiiii in I ^7 ^ and 1S7O; is now \iee- 
President of the I'-o.iid <if Trade, and Treasnierof the 
SiKer S[)iin;^ lileaeliiiiL; and I Keint; ('onip-in\'. .Since 
I.S3S (iovernor I.ippitt's annual laisiness has ne\er 
aniounted to less tlian SJOo,oijO, and se\ei.il years has e\- 
ceedc'l 54,000,000. He lias never faded, nor asked for 
an extension of time on ]ii> coniinercial oMig itions, and is 
tun versall)' esteenu-d as .m enert;etie, frank, outspoken 
linsines.. man, who can .tl\\a)s he relietl upon. 



gYTTLIKNER, HiCNRV E., M.H., son of James Varnum 
y and Catherine ( Ray| 'ruriicr, w.is km 11 at the (gov- 
ernor (iieelle Honie-lL'ad, in W'.nw ick, Rhode 
I • Island, June 15, iSlO. He is a diie^t descendant of 
J I. Cajitam Willi. im Turner, of l:o..toii, w h. 1 was one of 
the founders of the First Ra|itisl Cliurch tlieie in 11165,3111! 
was associated with Rew Tlioin-is ( Imild .iiid others in t!ie 
bufferings and contro\t i sies ot tli.it time. In 1070 he 1. used 
a company anil m.irched to Noiili.iiii| ti in, under M.ijor 
.Savage, and was ] rest nt at the lejiulse ol the In-lians Irmn 
that place in Maich, 1I170. ( in the 1 jtli of Nkiy lolhiwiny, 
M.ijor .Sa\aL^e luuiiii; left him m i. oinm.iiid, he or^aiii/cd a 
force ol one liundied iiicii .iiid siiiprised and se\ciel\* 
piinisiied the Indi.iiis at the ( 'oiiiic. tu ut ( ire. it h'alls. now 
called Turner's Fall-, hut wa, killed on the retreat. Lir. 
Turner's patern.il i^i.indl.itlu 1 w.is |ii. peter Turner, of 
F.ast (ireenwich, Rhode klaiid. He pi.icliced his pro- 
fession in that pkice for ahout hntv ye.irs with i;reat 
success and lionnr, ami died in i.Sji. He w.is a \cteran 
of the Ke\ olulimi, li.i\iii_L; keen suil^coii hi (Jolmiel ('hris- 
topher (ireene's Rhode Iskiml Regiment in the ("oiiti- 
iieiit.il I, me. and present at Red Ikink, and other h.iok 
foui^ht battles. 1 ir. H. F, ruriier is also a descendant of 
William .Mniy, of I'mt-moui h, and Simon K.iy, of Rloik 
Isl.ind. Ills mateinal er.md fillier w.i^ ihe Hon. R,n 
Cieeiic, of Warwick, ~'in uf the second (ioMinoi Willi. 1111 
Greene, and grandson of the Inst (Jo\eriior William (.ireene. 



whose t;randf,itlier was Ilepaity-t kivernor of the Colony of 
Rhoile Island from ifiijo to 1700. Hon. Ray (Ireene was 
Attorney I ieiieial of Rhode Island Irom May, 1704, to 
< Iclober, 1707, when lie was elected to represent the St.ite 
in Ihe I'nited St.iles Senate, w hlch position lie resii^ncil in 
M.iy, I.Soi,to accept an a].]"Untment as I'nited St.ites 1 lis- 
tiiLt JudL;e, under wdiich for some reason he never acted. 
Impaired health disqualilied him for any active duty for 
many years, thout,di he lived to an extreme old age. His 
son, the Hon. William (ireene, was Lieutenant-Governor 
of Rhode Isl.md from l866 to 1868. Through his mother 
Ih. riiiner is deseeiuled flora Roger Williams and John 
.Saylcs, of l'ro\ idence ; Samuel (imton, John Greene, Ran- 
d.ill Holdcii, Richard Caider. ami KuUis Il.uton, of War- 
wick; and Jereiiii.ih Clarke, of Newport, all oiiginal set- 
tlers of Rhodi- Island. In early life he attended the 
.\cadeiny of h'ast (iiecnuich. now tiie Methodist Semin.iry. 
In .\iirii, iSj.S, when he was twelve years of age, liis piarents 
remoNcd to I'oitsinouth; and in May, 1S33, to Newport. 
\\ that time he commenced the stuiiy of mediciite in the 
ojfice ol Ills uncle and father, Ltrs. William and James 
\'. ruiiui, who were then associated in practice, and grad- 
uated 111 medicine at the L'niversity of reniisykania, 111 
Marcli, 1836. The first year after graduation he spent in 
Inrliana, which was then criiisidcrcd the far West, but 
rrtui IK (1 lo K 1 1 ode Island at llic expiration ol lliat time, and 
on the decease cif I h-, William Turner entered upon the 
piactice td" his profession as partner with his father, wliuh 
partnership continued uiitd the death of the latter, in (. Iclober, 
1.S03, since which lime he has prosecuted his profession in 
the s.iiiie pl.ue. For lour )ears L)r. Turner was \'ke- 
I'lcsidenl, .md for tvvo\ears I'residellt of the Rhode Island 
Medical Socnty. locun .Noxembcr, 1.S02, to June, 18(15, 
he served ill the I'liited Slales .\riny as acting .\ssis|ant 
Surgeon, lieiiig .iltaLlied to licadcpiai ters of the Fifteenth 
I'niied St.iles Infantry, at I'ort .-Vdams. lly virtue of the 
Ri \olution.ir\ record of one of his jiaternal ancestois beloie 
mentioned he is a meiiiber of the Rhode Island .Society of 
(.'incinnati, of which he is Secretary. F'or aliout twenty 
\e.iis he W.IS a member of the School Committee, and lor 
llie s.ime k iiglh of tune a director in the Reilwood kibi.iry 
and .\lheiia-um, in which capacity he still continues to act. 
I'or two ve.irs, fr. .111 M.n , 1.^48,10 May, 1850, he was a 
Represent. ili\'e in the Rhode Island ( ieneial .\ssembly, and 
serveil with gieat satisfaction to his constituents and the 
jmblic gener.dl)-. Of late )ears he has declined public 
office, for the pui|io,e of devoting his entire attention to the 
practice of Ills piolcssion. .\niid his pirofessional and other 
duties he has fmiiid lime to gratify his literary tastes almost 
daily, and has a genealogical collection, which is proof of 
Ills great iiidllsliy for many years. He delivered two 
lecUircs before the Rhode Isl.md Historical Society, w-liich 
have been published, on ■• The (ireenes of W.irwick in 
Coloni.il .\fl.iirs," and ■•William Coddington," m the for- 
mer of which is exhibited extensive and critic.il research, 



BIOaRAFI/ICAL CYCL OPKni.l. 



403 



ami a vivid ] icUiro of the enrly ^t™;_;j;U's of the settlers of 
Rhoile Island, and of the relations of tin-, colony to Massa- 
chusetts at the time of its settlement. Dr. Turner mar- 
ried, Jidy 18, 1S44, .\nn Fdi/.a, daughter of I(>se|ih (i. and 
Sarah D. Stevens. They have had si.\ children, ol whom 
two sons and a dauirhter are living. 



^K'lf^OPPIN, TiioM.\s Frederic, son of Thomas Coles, 

IjKLj and Harriet Dunn (Jones) Honpin, was born in 

iTJ Providence, Rhode Island, August 15, 1815. He 



obtained his education in private schools in his 
native city, and at Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. 
When he was a lad of but ten or twelve years of age, he 
lost, for a time, the use of his lower limbs. Prevented 
from engaging in the sports of his companions, by wdiat 
appeared to be a calamity, he developed a remarhable 
talent for drawing. The state of his health was such that 
he was compelled to leave school wdien he was seventeen 
years of age. His love for artistic studies decided the 
course which his friends thought best to pursue with refer- 
ence to his continued education. In lSj2 he was sent to 
Philadel|)hia an't jilaced under the instruction of Mr. |. K. 
Smith, to perfect himself in drawing. His teacher was 
recogm/ed as hohling the iirst rank in his profession in 
this country, and under his tuition he made rapid and most 
satisfactory progress in his studies. That nothing might 
be left undone to give him every possible advantage for the 
cultivation of his peculiar talent, he was sent abroad, when 
he was not far from twenty-two years of age, and placed 
as a pupil under M. Poisson, an accomplished artist of 
Paris. He was also a pupil in the atelier of the famous 
artist Paul l)e La Roclie. While he was absent he made 
a somewhat extended tour through Italy, and returned to 
his home in l8j8. P"or several years he ilevoted himself 
to his artistic labors, painting several pictures for his fam- 
ily and select friends. One of the productions of his 
pencil, " ^'oung Locliinvar," was e.xhiljited at the Boston 
Athenivum, and was favorably noticed by the critics. The 
Art Union Bnllt'tin published a number of his spirited 
drawdngs illustrating scenes in the American Revolution. 
While residing for a time in New York he made cartoons 
for the great chancel windows of Trinity Church, rejjre- 
scnting the four Evangelists, and .Saints Peter and Paul. 
Later in his career as an artist he devoted his attention to 
statuary. Among the productions of his chisel were his 
"David Preparing to Cast the Stone," " Ilagar and Ish 
mael," " Robin Hood Watching the Flight of an Arrow," 
and " The Sentinel," a dog, which was cast in bron/e and 
e-shibited at the Fair of the American Institute. A gold 
medal, the highest prize in its department, was awarded 
the artist. His last work of art was a painting represent- 
ing a scene in tiie late war, " .V Uattery Wheeling into 
Line." In later years he lived the life of a gentleman of 
liesure, with ample means to gratify his literary an<l artistic 



tables, with ease and grace cultivating the amenities of so- 
cial life, and endearing himself to a large circle of rela- 
tives and friends by the amiable (Qualities of his character, 
and by his cheerful response to all the claims they might 
make on him for aflection and service. He died in Provi- 
dence, January 21, 1S7;. It was said justly of him at the 
time of his decease, " He was kimlhearted to a fault, not 
only attaching himself warmly to his friends but holding 
tlie most generous impulses toward all. Though not con- 
spicuous for the exhibition of many of the rugged elements 
of character, his friends have always recognized his clearly 
defined moral and physical courage, and feel that in his 
death the community parted with one who was truly sans 
peur <■/ sans i-epivc/u-." Mr. Hoppin was married in Provi- 
dence, June 24, 1S52, to Anna Almy Jenkins, daughter of 
William and .-\nna .Mmy Jenkins, and great-granddaugh- 
ter of the veneralile Moses I3i\nvn. His wile ami two 
dau''liters survived him. 




^IROWN, Henry Denison, son of Asher and Lydia 
(Palmer) Brown, of Preston, Connecticut, was 
? .'1 born in Lisbon, Connecticut, April 3, 1814. His 
i * father was a farmer, and also learned the trade of 
1. a cabinetmaker. Mr, ISrown received a common 
school e<lucation, ami at the age of nineteen began teach- 
ing in the public schools of Connecticut, in which he was 
engaged for several years. In July, 1836, he went to Mar- 
shall. Michigan, where he had charge of the grocery store 
and bakery of Swan & Crary, until the summer of 1837, 
when he went to Carlton, Iowa, and started a drygoods 
store for the same firm. He remained in the latter place 
a few weeks and tlicn relumed lo Lisbon, Connecticut. 
In 1841 he removed to I'henix, Rhode Island, wlierc he 
served as clerk in the store of William C. Ames, until 
1846, when he and J. P. Stone bought out Mr. Ames and 
carried on a general merchandise business, under the firm- 
name of Brown & Stone, until 1851. In that year the firm 
was dissolved, and for four years thereafter Mr. Brown 
engaged in farming at Lisbon, Connecticut. In 1S55 he 
returned to Pheni.x. and the following year, when the 
Phenix Village Bank, now the Phenix National Bank, was 
organized, he was elected the first cashier of that Institu- 
tion, which position he still occui>ies. The Phenix Savings 
Bank was organized in 1S5S, and Mr. Brown was elected 
its Treasurer and Secret.iry, which offices he has continued 
to hold until the present time. He was one of the corpo- 
rators, and is a director of both of these banks. In 1S62 
he was ajipointed Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue 
for Warwick and East (Jreenwich, Rhode Island, and 
served f.rone year, resigning the position at the expiration 
of that time. He has been Postmaster of Phenix, a mem- 
ber of the Town Council, and was a mcinlier of the Gene- 
ral Assembly in 1S113, 1S64, and 1S65. For many years 
he has been a memiiei <if the Masonic Fraternity, aiifl has 



404 



BIOCRArillCAL CYCL OPF.DIA. 



brill \nrious nfllccs in tlKit onK'r. IK; riiaiiii'l. Decemlx-r 
i~ , 1S4;, laiR- iUiiiili.iin. (ljiii;htrrnl Ilislmp :iiid Kli/nlnth 
II. i(.'laik) Uiirnlhuii. <if Lislxin, ('diiiH-c lit ut. Slic i!ir<l 
at I.i^b'in. I'lbiiKiiy 17. 1.S35. I M) llu- 5lli of Iuiil-. iS(>o, 
he nianii-ii Mary M. lilakc, ilaiii;]iu-i nf luiKun anil Marv 
(Ka^loni Ulakf, of rKiviilcnce. 



fjr^\\\V\^. J.iMiiA r.liKNUi., M.I)., was l,u)n at 
I [ilUlniriiiij;li, Nl'w 1 lanipshirc, in I.S14, ami was 
the s<in ul Ke\'. Selh (.'hai'iin, a ( 'nnL;reL;atioiial 
- cleriiynian. lie pin-ueil his |ire|iaiatiiiy stnilios at 
X Hay's Academy, in Wrenlham, Masvachnsetts ; en- 
tereil Willi, mis TolleL^e m iSji.anil gratiualeii a! Ilrown 
l'ni\ersily in iS^^. After his ^raiiuatiini he stutlieil inedl- 
cine "iih 1 ir. hive|ili Mauran, cme iil' the 1110. t eminent 
plusieian^ ol lii^ lime; atleii-leil his lir't cmise nf meilleal 
leelures at llaManl Cnll.^je, ami the scinml at the lirrk- 
shire .Meilieal Seln.i.l, al i'iilsliehi, Mas-aehiisetl^, w here, 
in iSv's. he received the cle_i;ree of I)oeiiir of Medicine. 
He snhseiiiienlly enL;ai^ed snccessluHy in the practice of 
his jirofession in I'loxidenee lor a |ieiioil uf live years, at 
the esi>iration of which he was drilled to aliandun the 
profes-ion on account ol analtai.1^ ol ileafncss. In iS_|g 
he and Mr. 1 '.eor;^e Tliurher, under the lirm-name of 
(r'ha|iin iK: Tliuiher, estaMrdied llie lirsi ,cii nlifie apothe- 
cary store in I'rov iiUaice. In lN54 I ))*- t^'ll.ipiii entered 
into jiartneiship with ( Ieor;^e I'!. Manchester, under the 
tirm-name of .M.mrhestei" \: ('Iiapiii. photoL^rapheis. and 
they printeil the lir^t pholoi^raph^ ever made in l'ro\ idence. 
This partnership was dissohed, and I Ir. Cliai in retireil in 
1S5.S. In lSso he was appointed Commissi, ,m-r of rul.lic 
Schools of Rhode Island, which oftice he In Id nmil i.Soi, 
anrl served in the s.nm- i apacily from iSo; to iN n,. il^ 
discharged the duties ol that ]iosiiion with rare .ilnlilv, and 
labored with great etleel to ath.ince the ciuse of ediic.i- 
tion. In I.S42 he married Louise \'alue, of I'lovidence, 
the issue of the marriage being three children, a sun ami 
two daughters. The son, Charles \'.due, after conqileting 
his preparatory studies at the English and Classical School 
of Mowry & Coff, in rrovidenee, entered Brown Univer- 
sity, where he grailuated in lS7(); then sindied medicine 
for three years, taking his first course of leclures at the 
College of Pliysicians ami Surgeons, New \ork, and the 
second at the Bellevue llospit.d Medu.il C.illrge, w here 
he received his degree of Doctor of .Mi-dnine, In i.Syo. 
The (laughter. Miss l,oui>e t'h.ipin, is an accomplished 
artist. I)r. Chapin died suddenly at his resilience in 
Providence, June 7, 1S81. " Me was a man of good edu- 
cation, sound judgment, a vigorous writer, and clear 
thinker, and his decisions as Commissioner, often subjecteil 
to the criticism of the Courl, were never reversed. His 
nianiiei was abrupt, and iilaimuss of speeih and a lon- 
tempt for all c.mt .iiid forms of hypocrisy were predomin- 



ating characteristics. His bearing was dignified and gen- 
tlemanly, and ill person he was faultlesslv neat. He in- 
dtdged In he.dtlrul exercise and was an early riser. He 
was passionalely fond of horticulture and the sciences, and 
was a member ol ihe hranklin Society. He had the honor 
ol winning two pri.'es for essays before the Rhode Island 
.Medical Sociely, |irovided for by ihe Fiske fund — the fu-st 
on asthm.i, 111 184^, and the second on tenotomy, in 1S44. 
I Hiring Ihe |ieriod in w liich he was .SehoolCommissiuner he 
edited ihe Rluhl,- Island Siluwhiia^tcr, to which he con- 
tributed ni.mv aiticles." 



.\RN'S\VflRTII, CLAlTiIfS BUCH.\NAN, manufac- 
turer, son of Luke and Sarah (Ilartwell) Farns- 
woiili, was 1.1)111 ;U Stan-tead, Lower t.'.m.ida, 
! Jaiui.iry ,S. 1S15, and is a descendant of Matthias 
J- h'.irnsw ortli, an original saltier of (buton. who came 
to ihis cuuntr\ from JMigkimi about 1050. Luke F.iriis- 
wortli resided in lioitou, where he died in 1871:1, aged 
niiiet\-one years, ills wile, .S.irah, was born in Liiin- 
lnei--ton, Vermont, January (>, 1705, and died in I.S41. 
She w.is a descendant of one of the original seiiK-rs of 
Cuiicoid, Mass.ichiisctts. Claudius I'., received his jire- 
]iai.itory eihuMlimi in ihe common schools and al I botnn 
Academy, since called tiu- Law reiice -Academy, and en- 
tered Il.irvard College in I S ^7, graduating in 1S41. He 
then siudied kiw ill the Harvard Law School, and also 
vvilli riiniillry 1;. Cnhin, of \ew Medloid, and was admit- 
ted to the bar, by the kite Chief Justice Williams, at the 
March term of ilie I 'oiiit of I 'oininon Pleas, Bristol (..'ountv, 
MassachusLiis. in 1S44. In April, 1844, he opened a law 
olliee in I'.iw tuike! , tli.it town then bt.ang in M.issaclui- 
sitls, but now in Khi'de Ukin I. He sui.cessfnllv ]>i!rsiied 
the pr.alice of the law in tli.il plai e till 1S5.S, when he be- 
came connected with tlle Liinni.ll .Mamifaetui ilig Coiii- 
paiiv, engaged in calico jirinting. He was chosen treas- 
iirer of ihi, ciiiiipany in iNoo, and has continued to iiccn|iy 
that position 111 the present time(iSSi). He declined to 
accept iniblic offices till the reorgani/ation of the town of 
['awtuekct in 187), when he was elected one of the Town 
(Council thai slia|ieil the present municipal regulations, and 
servid in that iiosiliiin fur two years. In 18711, he was 
chosen a Represent. ilive from I'.iwtueket to the (ieneral 
.■\ssembly, which office, with the exception of 1879, he 
has continued to fill with conspicuous ability to the jiresent 
time. Ill 1877, he m.iile a tour through the principal parts 
of ICiirope, and after his return became one of the origina- 
tors of the Rhode Island .School of L)esign, opened in 
October. 187S. He was chosen President of the School, 
and is still aeliiig in ih.il posiimn. i'olitieallv he has lieen 
a jiriiniim nt .iiid inlluciiiial niLiiiber of the Whig and Re- 
piibliean parlies, in beh.ilf of which he rcmlered valuable 
service, being an etfeLtlve speaker, and a wise counsellor. 
He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, .md 




-cr " -^ Oi-'^^ 




7 // ■ / 




BIOGRArillCAL CYCL OTEDIA. 



405 



f(ir about twenty year^ has been Senior Warden of Trinity 
Parish. He was chosen a delegate to the General Con- 
vention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United 
States, 1865, 1868, 1S71, and 1874. With liis treasurer- 
ship of the Dunnell Manufacturing Company, lie has found 
time to aid other associations in their pecuniary interests, 
and to render assistance in fiduciary trusts. He has ever 
taken an active interest in all that concerns the public wel- 
fare. He married, February 27, 1S51, Marianna Mclntire, 
daughter of Joseph and Ann (Mayberry) Mclntire, of Paw- 
tucket. They have three children : John Prescott, born 
February 19, 1860, who entered Harvard College in 1877, 
and will graduate in 1881 ; Claude Joseph, entered Brown 
University in 1880; Abby Mclntire, now in .school at Hei- 
delberg, Germany. 



S|^i2L.APP, Syi.v.^nus, M.D., a descendant from a dis- 
S^K linguished family in Western Massachusetts, was 
.T?^ born in Northampton, Massachusetts, November 
6«i 22, 1815. He pursued his medical studies with Dr. 
^v Benjamin I^arrett, of Novthampti'n. and attended 
lectures at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, and at 
Dartmouth College, taking his degree at the latter institu- 
tion in 1836. His father having moved to Chesterfield, 
Massachusetts, Dr. Clapp commenced the practice of his 
profession in that place. He remained here nearly five 
years, and in 1841 removed to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 
where he soon ac juired a large practice and attained a 
high rank in his profession, his reputation extending be- 
yond the bmits of his village home, and causing him to be 
sent for as a consultmg physician in all the neighborhood 
of Pawtucket and Providence. Such were the (piali ies of 
his character, and so hapjiily combined were they, that they 
won both the confidence and the affection of the medical 
profession and the large number of families who availed 
themselves of his professional skill. .Soon after he came 
to Rhode Island he joined the Rhode Island Medical .So- 
ciety, and prepared for it several valuable papers. He was 
chosen to fill important offices in the Society, and was its 
President m 1864-66. Upon the opening of the Rhode 
Island Hospit.rl, he was appointed one of the consult- 
ing physicians. No man was more faithful in his at- 
tendance upon his duties at this institutiftn, and none 
whose operations were more respected than his. Espe- 
cially worthy of note was his attention to the duties of the 
responsible position which he filled as Visiting .Surgeon, 
through the last quarter of the year 1874, when, day after 
day, he left his large practice that he might minister to the 
relief and comfort of pati.-nts gathered within the walls of 
an institution distant five miles from his home. A course 
of Conduct .so unselfish is worthy of all commendation. He 
was one of the consulting physicians at the Butler Hos- 
pital, talking the place of Dr. Collins, made \acant by his 
death. Afterwards he was appointed Attending Surgeon 



of this hospital, ami made a member of its Boar<l of Trus- 
tees. He was President of the Board of Managers of the 
Pawtucket Dispensary, in the origin of which he took a 
leading part. Brown University conferred upon him, in 
1870, the honorary degree of Master of Arts. He died 
in Pawtucket, June 15, 1879. His wife, Lucy M. Clapp, 
whom he married in 1S38, died in August, 1877. He 
left two daughters and one son, the latter, Dr. L. W. 
Clapp, now jiractices medicine and surgery in the town 
of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 



'night, Benjamin' Br.wton, manufacturer, son 
^jtVi of Stephen and Welthan (Brayton) Knight, was 
born in ('ranston, Rhode Island, October 3, 1S13. 
j-S'- His early life was devoted to agricultural and manu- 
n facturing pursuits. His educational advantages were 
limited to an attendance of a few- terms at the district 
schools, during intervals of labor, until he was sixteen 
years of age. He remained at home until his twelfth 
year, assisting his father on the farm, and was soon after- 
wards apprenticed for four years to Samuel Lowe, a farmer 
in Old Warwick, with whom he remained for that time. 
He was subsetpieuily employed in a similar capacity by 
Gorton Burlingame, in Cranston, and from 1831 to 1833 
served as an operative in the Sjirague Print Works, at 
Cranston, and then resumed farming for two years. In 
1835 he purchased a small building and opened a general 
grocery near the Sprague Print Works, which he carried 
on successfully for some time, together « ith the butch- 
ering and marketing business. In 1838 he removed to 
Providence, where he engaged in the wholesale and ret; il 
grocery business \\\\\\ Olney Wiiisor and L. I"'. Bowcn, 
under the style of Winsor, Knight & Co. This partner- 
ship continued for one year, when Mr. Winsor sold his in- 
terest to his ]iartners, and the firm-name was changed to 
Bowen & Knight. Mr. Knight purchased Mr. Bowen's 
interest in 1842, and continued the business alone until 
1847, under the name of B. B. Knight, when his brother 
Jeremiah Knight became associated with him, under the 
style of B. B. Knight & Co. This firm continued until 
1847. ^''- R'li.ght then formed a partnership with D. T. 
Penniman, under the firm name of I'enniman, Knight & Co., 
in the flour and grain trade, their place of l>iisiiicss lieing 
on Dyer Street. Providence, in the Amasa Mason Block. 
One year thereafter, Mr. Knight purchased Mr. Penni- 
man's interest and continued alone for aliout four years, 
under the name of B. B. Knight, doing a large and suc- 
cessful business in flour and grain. In the spring of 1852, 
having some three years previous sold his interest in the 
High Street store to his brother Jeremiah, he sold one-half 
interest of his liu-iness to his brother Robert, at the same 
time purchasing of the latter one-half interest in the Pon- 
tiac Mill and lileachery. when the firm of B. B. & R. 
Knight was formed. Mr. Knight soon after n tired from the 



4o6 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OFEPIA. 



flinir nihl L^i'iiii luisliie^s. ami has siiuc (lc\""lc(I his entire 
time to the m.inufaetiire of coiton t;oncK. Messrs. B. P.. & 
R. Kni_L;ht liaxe ac'|uirr(! an immense Im-iness, and are 
known tlirouylioiu ihe coinitiv. They own mne mills, lo- 
cated indifferent |iartsi.f Rhode Island and Massaehiisetls. 
A detailed account of their \aried inanul.ietinaiit; interests 
is contained in the skcleli of Roheit Ivnigjit, whiih wUl lie 
fonnd in this voUnne. Mr. Kniijht has done niueli to inn- 
mote the fjenoral Commercial and niaiuiraclnriii;.,' interests 
of his native State, and has seived the pulilie clficiently 
as a lei^islator and a memlier of the eitv i^rivernment rif 
Providence. lie was eh-c led to the (ieneral Assembly in 
IS:^.:. on the I)ianoeratic ticket, and was chosen a Repre- 
sentative liy the Ke|iulilican Jiarly in 1S7.!, the latter term be- 
iny Chairman of the I'inanee ('ommittee. He served as Al- 
deinian from the Si\tli W'.ird in iS6s. iSbti, and 1S67. and 
wliile a member of ih.it bod\' oeeuiaed the position of 
t_h.iirm.in of the I'lnaiue ( 'oinmiitee. He has l>een I'resi- 
deiit of the lUit'hers' and 1 trovers' Pan!^ since its ori^ani- 
zation. liil\- J. 1N5 ^, w ith the e\ee] tion of about one year, 
and is also a director in dilli-rent iiisur.ince companies. 
He has been twice married; tiist. in iS|j, to .Mice \V. 
Collins, dau'^liter of I-di/icr W. t'ollins. of John-ton, 
Rhode Isl.md, who died hebiuary X, iS:;o, and sceond, in 
December, 1S51, to Ph.br .\. .Sh.iuin, .1 iui;hter of .\bel 
.Slocum.of PawluMl. Kliode Maud, d'liere wi le three chil- 
dren by the hi-t m.irii.i.^e : llciiiy.Miry W.. and Walter, 
none of whom are IniiiL^. IIm' children b\ the second mar- ; 
riage were: .Mice Shu uiii, w Iio nKuried lb-ward t t. Stur- 
ges; Henry, deceased L and .\del.iide. M r. K iiicht and his 
family attend the L'nion l.'iii;;reL;ation il Chureh. to the 
buildin.L^ and suj'port of which he has been a lart^i.- con- 
tributor. 

'liPKINS. P\K]iii\.son of Major I, avion and I'diz- 

'^Mi4^ abi'th iWhilfor.li Hopkins, was born in West 

V'iJ'f (ireenwich. Rhode l-J.uid, I'ebiiiaiy u, 1S15. 

&^-% His father, a man of sound iuduimeiit. a farmer, 
%n . . . 

^^- liviuL; in the eastern p.tit ol the town, was widely 

krnuMi and lii^;lily esteemed. His ^i aridl.ithrr, Kulus 
Hoiikins, w as one of the earliest manulaetiiiers of eotton 
i;oods in that part of the .State. His t;ieat-.i;r.ind hither was 
Samuel Hopkins, and his L^i-eat-i;reat-.L;randf.ither w.is ludije 
Samuel Hopicins. who occiipii'd several oificial positions, 
represented the town in the (ieiiei.il .\ss.;iiib!\ in I74.>, 
I7so. I76(). and I 7i>7, and w ,rs |ndL;c of the ( 'oiirt of Com- 
mon I'le.is from IT'\ to 1760. His i;reat -threat-great- 
er. indf.idii.r wMs lo.i-ph lloplviits. first ai^i'iearing in Rhode 
I-land histi)r\- near Idoia. who lor his sei'iml wife inirried 
Martha Whale, daughter of the lamoiis •nn-ophihis Whale. 
and fin illy sridcd ,it Hopkins Hill, in Wesi Cnanwiih. 
ludge S.imiul was the son .,1 M.iilhi- d'he Hopklllses 
ha\e b. ell eoiis|.ienou-. and hiUioiibK- .ulor- in Rhode 
Iskind iiisioiw I'.iidoii Hopkins !( eei\ ed -mil educ.itioii 
as the eomnion si hool- fill iiished, ami his t-ailv \a.irs were 



s]i-.mt on the f.irni in summer, and teaching school in 
A\intM'. Later in life he learned and practiced house- 
building. His stering trails of character, and f'ldelity to 
the trusts committi-<i to him, gave him a gooil ]flace in 
society. He w.ts Postmaster at West Greenwich from 
lS.|.2 to 1.S5J, and Idled the office of Town Clerk from 
18^7 to 1S7N, w Ith the exception of two years. Being also 
Public Not 11)*. he de\oted much of his time to the town's 
interests, which were always safe in his hands. He has 
also been u director of the Coventry Savings Bank >ince 
its organi/ation in 1X72. i\lr. Hopkins has been closely 
identified with the lla| list l.'hmch in his neighborhoorl, 
serving as ile.ieon ami ofllcialing as clerk for nearly 
twenty-live years. He is a man of generous impulses, 
strong con\tc:ions. aiul inflexible in what he regards as 
right, yet coiiider.itc of others and fraternal towards all. 
He married ( 1 ). Pydia .\. Lillibridge, daughter of Cap- 
tain Reynolds Lillibridge, of Exeter, Rhode Island, .\pril 
2, lS?7, and had one son, Charles W'. Hopkins, now re- 
siding in Pio\ideiice, who li.is ilone much in ccillecting the 
Hopkins lii-tory; (2) Pliebe -\. Palmer, daughter of Noah 
Palmer, of I-'veter, Rhode Lland, September I, 1S44, and 
had one son, William P. Hopkins, now a mechanic and 
imenlor in Lawrence, .Massaclinsetts ; and (j| Hannah 
C. Padcy, daughter of Ciirnel C Bailey, of We-t (.deen- 
wicli, Rhode Island, I'cbiuaiy II, 1S58. 



LliRI'.l H ;]•:, [amis Hinky, M.Ii., was born in 
I':asi (dLeiiwiih, Rhode Island, May 27, iNio. 
His lather, Charles Iddredge, >L1>.. a native of 

Bio, iklvn. Connecticut, removed to East Circeiiw ic h 
*' in iSn), where he engaged successfully in the prac- 
tice of medicine and surgerv. and for lise \eais seiAed as 
Senator from tli.it place in llieCciui.d .Vssembly. He was 
an original iiKauber of the Rhode Isl.md Medical Society, 
and the Presidi nt > >f llie same from l8,!5 until his death, in 
tS;,S. Hew, Is the ninth of thiilecn children, whose father 
was a c.i]itaiti in the Re\o!utionary army tluring the hist 
three ye.irs of the war. The mother of Hr. J. IL KIdredge 
was Hannah, Cliild, whose filher was also a Revolutionary 
soldier. dlie siibjeil of this sketch early manifcsleil a 
predileciion for the siinly of medicine, and as it was the 
wish of his lather that he should become a physician he 
pursued Ins studies w ith that end in view. He received his 
preliminary education at Kent .'\eademy. East Clreenwich, 
and in a select s<lio,il al Jamaica Plain. .Massachusetts, 
under Charles W. C.recne ; then spent one year at Vale, 
and gr.iduated in inclicine at Jefferson College. }'liila- 
didphia, 111 I.Sj7. He at oirc entered ii|ion the ]iractice ol 
his [iiol'ession in eon|ilnclion with his lather, ami soon at- 
I. lined a repul.ilion as ,1 skilful surgeon and sueces-.ful 
ph\sieiaii. .\t the death of his latlur he sueceeiled to hi- 
proles-ional bu iness, ami h.is continued in active practice 
in Kent County until the present time, his oltice and resi- 



"ivr 



BIOGR.irillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



407 



dence being in the same house in Kast Greenwich where 
he was t)orn. Dr. KIdredge lias been an active ntember of 
the Rhode Island Medical Society for many years, havinij 
furnished various papers, including an aiticle on " Mysteri- 
ous Epidemic Influences, " and anotlier on " Diplitheria," 
which were printed in the transactions of the Society. For 
two years, 1858-59, he served as President of that body. 
He occupies a prominent position as a citizen, and takes an 
active interest in all matters jiertaining to the welfare of 
the town in which he resides. As Chairman of the Town 
School Committee for the past twenty-five years he has 
been greatly instrumental in advancing the cause of edu- 
cation, lie has devoted much time in aid of the Free Library, 
being a member of the Library Cor[)oralion. He has acted as 
trustee of several estates, and frequently served as guardian, 
which with the other important trusts committed to him 
indicate the confidence reposed in him by the community. 
For several years he has l:)een an inlluential memt'cr t>f St. 
Luke's (Episcopal) Church. He nianied, June 5, lS;9, 
Anna F. A. Ileiishaw, ilaughter of Charles Hcnshaw, a 
merchant of Boston, Massachusetts. They have two ilaugh- 
ters, Anna Henshaw Eldredge, and Emily Rolfe, wife of 
Edward H. Holbrook, formerly of Boston, but now a resi- 
dent of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 



k1<AVT<)N, IIoN. \Vii.i,i.\M U.^MEi., son of Hon. 
j3HK Charles and Rebecca (Havens) Brayton, was born 
'1 ^4. 1 at Apponaug Village, Warwick, Rhode Island, 
.|! November 6, 1S15. His father was town clerk of 
* Warwick from 1804 until his death in 1834, and 
Justice of the Supreme Court from 1814 to 1817, and again 
from 1827 until his death. William D. received excellent 
home instruction, and was trained to imUisiry and self-re- 
liance. After attending private schools he entered Kent 
Acatleniy, in East (_ireenwich, where he remamed from 
1S27 to 1830, and in 1831-2 pursued his studies at Kings- 
ton Academy under Hon. Elisha R. Potter. In 1S32 he 
entered Brown University in the class that included Pro- 
fessor J. L. Lincoln, Rev. A. N. Arnold, U.D., William 
H. Potter, S. L. Dunnell, S. P. Shepard, and Hon. J. P. 
Knowles; but in the autumn of 1S34 he left the Univer- 
sity on account of his father's death and his own impaired 
health. From 1S35 to 1838 he engaged in the lumber 
trade in the firm of G. A. & W. D. Brayton, acting also as 
deputy Town Clerk — his brother (ieorge A. having been 
elected Clerk on the death of his father. In 1S41 he was 
elected to the State Legislature, and re-elected in 1S42, but 
resigned, and was commissioned (Juartermaster of the 
Fourth Regiment of Militia. These were the troublous 
times of the " Dorr War," and Major Brayton stood by 
the standard of " law and order." In 1844 he became 
Town Clerk of Warwick, filling the place occupied by his 
brother, George A., who had been elected to the bench (jf 
the Supreme Court. Resigning the town clerkship in 1S45, 
he became a member of the Town Council, and for m.my 



years served as such, finally becoming President of that 
body. In 1S47 he was elected President of Warwick 
Bank. In 1S48 he was chosen Senator to the (General As- 
sembly, but resigned the following year. In 1851 he was 
elected Representative to the General Assemlily ; in 1855 
again chosen to the State Senate; and in 1856 was one of 
the Electors of President and Vice-President of the United 
States. In 1857 he was elected State Representative in the 
Thirty-fifth Congress. In 1859 he was chosen to the Thirty- 
sixth Congress, and served through the stormy opening of 
the Rebellion till 1S61. He has always been a co-laborer 
of the leading men in the State, such as Hon. H. B. An- 
thony and Hon. N. F. Di.\on. With strong heart and 
hand, he stood by the Union in the Civil War. For schol- 
arly ([ualities and public services. Brown University, in 
1S59, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master 
of Arts. At home during the war he ser\ed on a War 
Committee, and was unwearied in enli-ting, equipping, 
forwarding and paying soldiers, aiding them in procuring 
bounties and caring for their families. In 1S62 he was 
appointed, by President Lincoln, Collector of Internal 
Revenue for the .Second District of Rhode Islanil. He 
resigned his collectorship in 1S71 ; and in 1S72 he was a 
delegate to the National Republican Cim\ention in Phila- 
deljihia. Mr. Brayton was one of the Commissioners to 
direct the erection of the State Prison. At present, as for 
some years ])ast, he has had charge of the Money Order 
Department in the post-office of Providence. Religiously 
he is a Baptist. Politically he was a Whig until the for- 
mation of the Republican party, with which he has since 
been identified. His sympathies and efforts, in private 
and public, have greatly encouraged liberal learning and 
public improvements. He married, in Septeiidfer, 1839, 
Anna Ward Clarke (daughter of Ray Clarke, of East 
Greenwich), who died in 1858. In I$66 he marrietl Susan 
Josephine Baker, of \Vaiwick. She died in 1S74. Mr. 
Brayton has eight childr<.n n'»w living. l!i> son, Ihigatlier- 
(icneral Charles Ray Brayton, was born ui Waiwiek, 
Rhode Island, August l6, 1S40. He entered Broun Uni- 
versity in 1S59. Before completing his Sophomore year 
the Civil War began, and he left the University to enter 
the Union Army. After recruiting a company fiir the war 
in his native tow n, to serve in the Third Regiment of Rhode 
Island Volunteers (Heavy Artillery), he was commissioned 
as First Lieutenant of Company G, August 27, 1861, and 
proceeded with his regiment to Fort Hamilton, New York, 
thence to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and then to the De- 
partment of the South, in the expedition under t'onnnodtue 
Dupont and General T. W. Sherman, participating in the 
capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, November 7, 1S61. 
In that Department he served under (lenerals Sherman, 
Hunter, Gillmore and Foster, rising to the command of the 
Third Regiment, and to the position of Chief of Artillery 
of the Department. His bravery was consjucuous in the 
capture of Fort Pulaski, (Georgia, .\pril 11. |S()2, the battle 



4oS 



niOCRArillCAL C \ CL OI'EDIA. 



of laiiu-^ Nlami, Snuth ( 'aii'Iiii.i, liiiu- id, i.Sdj, ihe action 
iif I'oi-.ililii^n, ( Irtol.ci- 22. i.S(>2, lliL' lijIlK' (if l,ii;lit IIdusu 
Inlil. jiily lo. iSii;. iIh' assault^ lli.it ri-^iiltcil in tlie ca|i- 
tuir nf I'oit^ WaiMur ainl I lici;'^, anri iIil- Ih inili.ii i lnii.Til-. 
(if I'oit Siiiiitcr aii-l till- city of I'li.irle^lDn. He was pru- 
niMlr.i to the rank uf l'a|ilaiii Xi ivcinlicr 2S, 1S02, Lieu- 
li-naiit('iiliiiirl N>i\i-iiilirr 17, iSd;, ami Colonel April I, 
1S114. A-. \-.^ivtiiit (Tiiefof Artillery he commanded all 
the batteries on M1llli^ Island, and afterwards as Cliief of 
Ariillery of the I ie|iarlinent contrnlleil all the artillery 
operatiii;^ against ( 'liai leston. l''or t;allant conduct he was 
liie\etted Ihigadiei •(.lencral of Volunteers follow in^ the 
close of the war. .\fier his three years of service he was 
ap|ioinied I'.istinasier at Hilton Head. South ( 'arMlina, and 
rem uiied at that post till the adjustniem of alf.iirs m the 
spring; of 1.S07. l-'or a tune he coiitein|il.ited entering; the 
KeL;ular .\riny, and received a commission as (^'aj'tain in 
the Seventeenth Infanlry, but linally entered the Civil 
Service, lie was appointed To-tinasier of Providence in 
June, I.S74, wlliih olliee he held until I.S.Sil. He married, 
M.iich i;,. I.S05, .\iiloiiielte rcieival I'.elden, d.iui;liter of 
.Stanton lielden, A.M., of North I'lovidence, Rhode Isl- 
and, and has tuo ihildicn, Antoinette 1'. and Willi. ini S. 



af^.\Mriii:i,l. liK.,iii|.:i;s, Horatio Ncls,,n, Daniel 
™^^ (;ordon,Jolin Park, and James Monroe, merchants 
t_,«"'' and manufacturers, sons of \Vinthro|) and Susan 
I Ste\( art (( hirdon | C.imphell, were luuii in \'olun|own, 
J" Connecticut. They weie educated in the puMic 
schools and at academies, and early eni^aged in mercantile 
an 1 ni.inuf.ictnriiiL; puisuits. Horatio N., liorn March 13, 
I.S15, the eldest of the hrotheis, after an cli^a^clncnt of a 
few years as a clerk, in I'laiiil'ield, Connecticut, removed 
in 1S35 to Westerly, Rhode Island, and entered as clerk the 
store r. I Rowse U.ihco.d^, |un., who w.is also a maiuifac. 
tiller. Ill 1.S4U he was admitted as a paitiicr with Mr. 
lidicock, ami the fuin took the name 11. N. Cainpliell & 
Co.,l)eL;nininn luisiness in the store then just completed on 
the Coiner ol Water mow E.ist Iho.id 1 and M.iin streets, 
a st.md loiii; known ,rs Campliell's l_'oi ncr. Mr, (_'am|iliell 
liiiall)' hecainc iiileiested in mamifai tin in;^, the le.idinir 
husiness in the valley of the I'.iw catuck, and remained in 
Westerly more th.iii tlnily years. In ciunicction with his 
other iillerests, he de.ilt to some eslelit m colt iii ,ind wool. 
In I.S4I1 he marricil H. 11 net liahcock, sister of his husiness- 
IMitner and daughter of Kowse liahcock, .Sen. In 1N54, 
on the oin.iiii/.iti.m of the Xiantic Hank (now the Xational 
Rank), Mr. Campliell was elccteil to the presidency, a po- 
sition which he has continued to hll to the present time. 
In 1.S7; he removeil, with his family, to the i itv of Provi- 
dence, ictaiiiint; his s..n, Hor.itio .\. Cainpl.ell, |iiii.,in 
comp.my « itli him.aiiil cn;_;.n;ed in the wholesale wool 
tr.idc, iiiidcr the old liim name of 11. N. Cainpl-cll .V ( 'o. 
lleie he still resides, and is actively eni;aged in that luisi 



ness. He has a dauyhter and a son. The other brothers, 
Daniel (iordon, John P.irk, and James Monroe, each suc- 
cessively, as they closed their school studies and became 
ol propir a._;e, left the homestead and farm in Coimecticut, 
went to Westerly, and engaijcd in the store with their 
l.rMther, Horatio X. In 1S4.S Daniel (i. removed to the 
city of New York, where for many years he was a success- 
Uil drygoods cuminission merchant. In 1S55 |ohn P. and 
James M. left Westerly and settled in the city of Providence, 
enyagint; together as ilcalers in cotton and wool. In IiSos 
Daniel 1;. Icit New York ami joine.l his brothers, Jidm P. 
and James M., in Pr.nidence in their business. In 1X76 
Daniel (I. anel John I', purchased the f.ictory property in 
the northern pait of Westerly, know II us the Potter Hill 
Mills, but now called the Campbell Mills, wlii.h the\ have 

i so enlarged and improved as to make the establishment 
one of the best woollen manufactories in Rhode Island. 

1 Public spirit has been cinipled with the private enterprises 
of these four biothers, and they have done much to pro- 
mote the wellaic of society. 



H.\DSi;\'. Di-Ai ON .-\i.FK|..ri Hl.MK.sonof Jeremiah 

o < i. and .\\is I \\'ig!itnt.in ) (.'hadsev, was born in 

Newport, Rhode Island, September 13, 1.S15. His 

( ,;> grandfather, Jabe/, was a soldier in the Revolution. 

"* V He is a descend. int of William t.'hadsey, who was 
b.'in in \\'ales in i('nj2, and in 171s c.iine to this country, 
I. in. ling ill tile South, and 111 1710 coming to New pint, 
Rhode Island, but soon after ciossed the liay . purchased a 
bum, and settle. 1 in Noitli Kiiigsiow n, three miles north 
ol Wiekloid. In 17 to he man led Susannah, ikiughtei of 
)abe/ < irecne, and sister of the father of (Jcneral Nathan- 
acl (iiceiie. With her he li\ed si.\ty-eight years, having 
eight vhildrcn, .iiid both died \\ithin three months of e.tch 
other 111 17.^7. on the 1. 11 111 while tilev' tirst settled. 'Iheir 
children all ni.uried ami ii\ed to old .ige. and two of their 
grandchildren died in their one hiimlredtli year. 'Phe 
l.ither of .\llred P. was born December 2, I7.S0, and died 
.M.iy 20, 1S73. His mother was bom October 7, 17S0, 
and died Seplcniber 20, IS74. They lived together sixty- 
eight will's ami nine months, and h.id nine cliihlren, si.\ 
ol whom — three sons and three danghtcis — survived their 
f.ithei. His piarents having removed from Nev\j)ort to 
\\'ickford in l8l(), Alfred B. was educated in the schools 
of that village and at Washington Academy, securing a 
good education in the higher Fnglish branches. In I.S34 
he taught a district school, and in l.S3^ enured as book- 
keeper the store of his lather in Wickfoid, wlio was en- 
gaged in general incichandi/e and in initting out hanel- 
looni-weaving to about si.\ hundred families in North 
Kingstown, S.iutli Kingstown, P^scter, Richinond, .im.1 
P. It lirccnwich. In 1S37 he eiiteied into [lartiiership 
vMtli his father, undei the tirmnaine uf J. G. Chadsey ^^ 



B/0 GRA PIIICA L C J X'L OPEDIA . 



409 



Son, a business wliicli continued till 1S42. when his father 
purchased several tracts of lanfi in anil adjoining Wick- 
ford, in the cultivation of which he eni;aged successfully 
for many years, and largely benefited his fellow-tOHn^men 
by his scientific management and in giving new impulses 
to agriculture. In 1844, Alfred B. removed to Leicester, 
Massachusetts, and in company with Stephen Draper and 
John C. Brown engaged in the manulacture of scythes, 
under the company-nanie of Draper, Brown & Chadsey. 
The linn in 1S45, after erecting suitable buildings at the 
State dam, across the Hudson River, at Troy, New 
York, removed their business to that city. In iS^i, Mr. 
Chadsey .sold his interest to his partners, and with his fam- 
ily returned to Wickford, where, in 1S52, at the solicita- 
tion of his aged father, he undertook the management of 
the family farm, an occupation to which he became greatly 
attached, and in which, even while filling important public 
stations, he has had remarkable success, and has by his 
skill added to the agricultural knowledge and wealth of 
the State. For many years, \\\ addition to the raising of 
ordinary farm crops, he has made a specialty of growing 
field and garden-seeds of superior quality and in great 
variety for the benefit of farmers and gardeners. He is 
now (1S81) the President of the Rhode Island Society 
for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, of which he 
has been a valued member for many years. The papers 
prepared by him are always listened to with profit, and 
many of them have been published. In 1854 he was 
elected by North Kingstown as Representative to the < Gen- 
eral Assembly, and was I'resident of the Town Council in 
1858-59-60. During the Rebellion he was appointed by 
President Lincoln Provost Marsha! of the Second District 
of Rhode Island, and served with ability till the close f)f 
the war. Politically he was a Whig, and then a Repub- 
lican, and was a pronounced anti-slavery man. He has 
been prominently identified with reformatory movements, 
being now a Prohibition-Republican, and as such was on 
the ticket as candidate for Lieutenant-Governor in 1876. 
At present he is a member of the Board of State Charities 
and Corrections, appointed by the Governor in 1S77 to serve 
for si.x years. He united with the Baptist Church in May, 
1S32, and was ordained a deacon in September, 1836. 
As a Christian man and worker his name is held in pnjin- 
inent place throughout the State. He married (I), Sep- 
tember 14, 1835, .Susan, eldest daughter of Captain John 
and Lydia Nichols, of North Kingstown. .She was born 
October 18, 1813, and died August 18, 1879, having be- 
come the mother of three children — John A. (died young) ; 
Ellen A., who married James, son of Hon. J. J. Reynolds ; 
and Deodata. Mr. Chadsey married (2), October 27, iSSo, 
Annie E. Avery, of Providence. Mr. Chadsey had two 
brothers, Euclid and Henry F,, and three sisters: Emily, 
deceased, who married Henry H. Wightmau, Frances L., 
who married .Sheffield C. Reynolds, and Maria, who mar- 
ried Rev. C. L. Woodworth. 
52 



^pa^ORLlSS, Hii\. (;kc)R(;f. Henry, mechanical engi- 
,M^;!ofe neer and manufacturer, was born in Easton, Wash- 
'._jj'"" ington County, New York, June 2, 1817. His 
f''sj'> father. Dr. Hiram Corliss, a native of the same town, 
'v was born in 1793, and died in September, 1877. 
His mother, whose maiden name was Susan .Sheldon, 
was born in Easton, in 1794, and died in 1843. ''''• '-"''" 
liss was in the active practice of his profession at the 
advanced age of eighty in the atljoining town of Green- 
wich. The subject of this sketch, on leaving the village 
school at the age of fourteen, entered a country store in 
the last-n.iined town as a cleik. .'\fter about three years' 
service in that capacity, having a desire for a more liberal 
education, he entered an academy in Castleton, Vermont. 
On leaving the acailemy, early in 1838, he opened a store 
at Greenwich on his own account. At the age of twenty- 
four he had never seen the inside of a machine-shop, nor 
exhibited any special inclination for invention. When but 
eighteen, however, he had shown some engineering skill 
in devising and successfully carrying out a plan for a tem- 
porary bridge across Battenkill Creek. From 1840 to 1844 
he was occu]>ied with the invention and manufacture (jf a 
machine for sewing boots, shoes, and heavy leather. Al- 
though the original machine was completed, and its practical 
utility demonstrated, want of ca|)ital to introduce it obliged 
him to suspend his efforts in the development of his plans 
in this direction, and he entered upon the manufacture of 
steam-engines. In 1844 Mr. Corliss totjk \\\t his re-idence 
in I'rovidence, Rhode Is'and, where he has since livecl. 
He soon after became associated with John liarstovv and 
E. J. Nightingale, under the firm-name of Corliss, Night- 
ingale & Co. In 1846 he began the development of his 
inventions of improvements in steam-engines, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1848, completed and successfully set in operation 
an engine which embodied the essential features of what 
is known the world over as the *' Corliss engine." During 
the year lS48the erection of the present works of the Cor- 
liss Steam-engine Company was commenced. The grouiuls 
have an area of nine acres, while the buildings, which 
have been enlarged from time to time, as an increasing 
business required, now have a floor space of nearly five 
acres. The works have a capacity for employing one 
thousand men, a statement, however, which fails to show 
the magnitude of the estalilishment, so effective are the 
labor-saving appliances introduced, most of which were 
devised by Mr. Corliss himself. Mr. Corliss's letters- 
patent for improvements in steam-engines were granted 
March 10, 1849. The great service he has rendered the 
world through his inventions is recognized by the several 
awards made to him by the highest scientific authorities. 
At the Paris Exhibition in 1867, he carried away the high- 
est competitive prize, although there were in compeliti m 
more than one hundred engines — the masterpieces of build- 
ers in all parts of the world. Mr. J. Scott Russell, a dis- 
tinguished English engineer, and the builder of the steam- 



410 



BIOGRAI'IUCAL OCLOPED/A. 



sh:]t '• ( ;ri_-at KnsUTii," w a^ "Hc of ttu- IJi iIi•^h r<imniissiniiL-r^ 
t't llii> c\Iiil>Ui<>n. Ill .1 ii-[ii>il tu Ills ^(A (.■iniiicnt lie i^.uu 
hi> imiiit.-^^iu[is of tlic C'nrli^s (.iiLMnc in the lullowiiiL; 
tcnn- : "A mcLlKinisin as iR-aiililul as tlir liuniaii liaii'l. 
It releases or rclains its j^rasp nn the fuLtlini^-valve ami 
gives a t^rcalor or less dose (pf sti-ani in nice junporlion to 
each varying want. Tlie Atneiican enL;ine of Corliss every- 
where tells of wise furetlioii^ht, jiulieinus iiroportion, sound 
execution anil exquisite contrivance." The Rumford medals 
were awarded to Mr. Corliss January II, LSyo. On the 
occasion of the jiresentati'in of diesu nie<lals Dr. Asa ( Iray, 
the President nf the Aeaileniy, said that the founder of the 
trust re-juned that the in\enti'in should be *' real, original, 

and iinportant That the Academy rejoices when, 

as now, It can --iLMiaii/e an invention whi^h unecjuivocallv 
tends to ]ironujte that which ihe touuilei liail most at heait 
— the matciial good of mankind." L.M". Gray, in stating 
the grounds upon which ihe awartl had been made, said 
tliat Mr. Curliss " h ul shown con-.j(icuouslv his mastery of 
the resources of mechanism." and that " no invention since 
Watt's time has so enh^nced the elticiency of the steam- 
engine as this for winch the Kumford medal is now pre- 
sented." An interesting h;i,t wnithy of mention is, that 
when the medaK were voted to Mr. (."oiliss, it w.i^ pre- 
cisely a century since James Wall tiist patented his nn- 
provemencs of the steam-engine. The award (d* the (lioud 
Diploma of Honor from the \'ienna Kxlnhiticui of 1S73 
was a distinction exceptionally noteworthy, from the fact 
that Mr. Corliss -ent iieillier engine nor machinery there, 
nor had he any one to represent lum. F'jreign builders 
had sent engines claimed to be built on his sj sicin and 
placed his name on their productions. ileiice ihe jurois 
awarded to Mr. Coiliss "the I>iplMina ot Ibaior" as "a 
particular distinction for ennneni merits iti the domain of 
science, its application to the edui.ation of the jieople, and 
its conducement to the advaiKeiiu.nl of intellectual, moral, 
and material weltare of man." .Mr. Corliss was the only 
person who received a diploma without being an actual 
e.xhilitor. On tl;e 10th of ^Iarch, l-Syg, the Juslilute of 
France ^^e-^towe<l upon Mr. ("oiliss, by juiblic pioelania- 
tion, the ^b>nt^on pii/e, lor the \ear 1S7S, winch, in the 
Old World, is the liighest hon<jr known for mechanical 
achievements ; and il is a very remarkable cuiiicidence that 
the day fixed for this award was the thirtieth anniversary 
of the dale of Mr. Coiliss's original lelteis-patent. In 
February, 1S72, Mr. Corliss was appointed a Commis>doner 
for the State of Rhode Island at the Centennial Exhibi- 
tion in Philadelphia, and cllo^en one of the executive com- 
mittee of seven w ho were inirusteil with the preliminar)' 
wol-k. The orgaiii/alion of the "Centennial I'oard of 
Finance," a suggestion of Mr. ("orliss's. prove»l to be a 
most imporlanl measure for securing the success of the 
great enterprise. Mr. ('orliss's great ("enlennial engine 
increased his already world-w ide fame, .\fler submitting 
plan^ fur furnishing moave power fur ihe Machinery Hall 



for a steam engine of fourteen hundieil liorse power, he 
w.is induced to withdraw ihem lui finding that there was 
opposition. At his suggestion circulars were then issued 
to builtlers of steam-engines, In.iilers, and shafbng, invit- 
ing prf)posals for fuiiiishing ihe machinery required. After 
waiting for several months it was found that the conil)ined 
power of all the machinery ofl'ered fell short of the requi- 
site amount. The cunnnission now, by unanimous vote, 
requested Mr. Corliss lo renew his original ofifer to furnish 
the engine an<l its accompanying appurtenances; when, in 
view ol the exegencies t)f the situation, he came forward 
and assumed the burden "»f this great wc)rk. The enL;ine 
was Completed and in successful operation w ithin a very 
brief period. The cosi of this undei taking, over and above 
other aid furnished, amounted to over one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, niaking it ihe most j-rincely contribution ever 
made by 'iiie individual to an international exhibition. All 
this vast and conqdicated system was the result of Mr. 
Ctuliss's ji(,-rsonal labor. He oriL;inated and gave definite 
lines to every design, and h\ed the }"a'o[H)rtion of every 
detail. Professor Radinger. ni the Polytechnic Selir^ol of 
Vienna, in a work on the >Lichinery Itepartment of the 
Centennial Fxhibillon, jdaces Mr. Corlis-."> (.'entennial en- 
gine as one of the greatest works of the present day — 
*' sysic-inalical in greatness, beautiful in form, and without 
f.iult ; .... in every detail a masterpiece." The latest 
efforts of Mr. Corliss have been directed to the adajUation 
of his engine to the puni] ing machinery of water-works, 
and unpreeedenled practical resuhs have already been 
achieved by these effoits. In iSbS, 1.SU9, and 1870. yield- 
ing to the wishes of his townsmen, he represented Xoilh 
Providence in the .'senate of Rhode Island. In 1S70 he 
was chosen a I'lesideiitial Elector on the Haves ticket. In 
lanuary, iS^g, he married Phebe F. 1-rost.a nati\e of Can- 
terbury, Connecticut, who died in Providence, March 5, 
1859, Iea\inL; a daughter, Maria Louisa, and a son, (_ieorge 
Frosi, In iJecember, 1S66, he marrietl Emilv A. .^haw, a 
native of Newd)Uiyiiort, Massachu^ctt--. He is a member 
of ihe Charles Sireet Congregational Church, w inch he 
joined at its formation, and is a ]il)eral contributor to his 
own and other religious denominations. 

^I'K.Mil F, Sami'm. Stiarns. merchant, son of Fli- 
dt^^j sha l.eavens and Clarissa (Day) Sprague, was born 
"^"^■-y at South Killingly, Connecticut, July 3, 1S19, at 
'':' the old homestead of his ancestors. Elisha Leavens 
Q) Sprague was a well-to-do farmer, who had inherited 
the estate and learned the trade of his father, who was a 
blacksmith. The tu'st progenllor of the family in this 
country was Edw aid Sprague, of Cpway, county of l)or>et, 
Fiigl.ind. whose sons Ralph, Richard, and William landed 
in Salem, M.is^achu-etts, in 162S. and it aj^jiears from the 
genealo^^v of the family thai Ral|)h was the father of 
Samuel, of Maiden, Massachusetts, who was the father ol 




\'S5. 



(At / '/ 1 f f >' i^ h/ iZ/y'ry'^ 6 tc C_ 



BIOGRAPIIICAr. C\CLOPED/A. 



411 



Samuel, 2rl, of the same place, -.vlinse son lolin removed 
to Killiiigly, Connecticut, in 1 752. The latter was the 
father of John, 2(1, who was the father of Daniel, whose 
son Elisha Leavens was the father of the subject of this 
sketch. Clarissa Day was the daughter of the Rev. Israel 
Day, a prominent Congregational minister, who w.as for 
many years settled at South Killingly, Connecticut. She 
died November 2, 1831, leaving two sons, Elisha Rodolphus 
and Samuel Stearns, whose father married again, in No- 
vemlier, iS^^, his second wife being Bathsheba Bliss, of 
Warren, Massachusetts, who is now in the ninety-fourth 
year of her age, and resides with Samuel S. Sprague. 
Elisha L. Sprague died in 1834, leaving his .sons the farm 
and other property. Samuel S. received his early ec'.uca- 
tion in the common schools, and at the academy at Brook- 
lyn, Connecticut. His only brother having already begun 
to prepare for college, S.iniuol, who was tlicn fourteen 
years of age, took charge of the farm and afterwards 
bought out his l)rolher's interest in the estate. With the 
]iroceeds derived therefrom his brother was enabled to 
complete his collegiate education. The other property 
left them by their father was lost during the financial crisis 
of 1S37. On the 8th of November, 1842, Mr. Sprague 
married Esther Pierce Hutchins, daughter of Simon and 
Eydia Hutchins, of Killingly, Connecticut, who belonged 
to a large ami influential family. He continued to carry 
on the farm until the spring of 1852, when, desiring to 
change his business and l>etter his prosjiects in life, he sold 
the homestead, which had then been in possession of the 
family over one hundre<l years, and built a house at l)an- 
ielsonville, Connecticut, to which he removed his family, 
while he went to Providence, Rhotle Island, and the first 
of September entered into the flour and grain business, in 
company with Daniel E. Day, on Peck's wharf. Dyer 
.Street, near the fool of Clifford Street. In May, 185J, he 
removed his family to Providence. About two years 
thereafter the firm removed to the corner of South Water 
and Crawford streets, where they remained about twelve 
years, during which time they built up a large and |)niht- 
able business. Until 1866 they had occupied stores owned 
by others, but in that year they purchased the large brick 
store and lot on Dyer Street, formerly owned and occupied 
by Messrs. Spellman & Metcalf, who were engaged in the 
same business. To this store they soon after removed and 
continued to carry on business there until July, 1S76, when 
Mr. Sprague sold his undivided interest m the real estate 
to D. E. Day, the company dividing the stock in trade, 
and the partnership of Day, Sprague & Co. was dissolved. 
Mr. Sprague then lormed a copartnership with two of his 
sons, Charles H. and Henry S., and the firm is still known 
as S. S. Sprague & Co. This new firm temporarily occu- 
pied a store adjoining the one formerly occupied by Day, 
Sprague & Co., where they continued in the same line of 
business until (.)ctober, 1S77, wlien they removed to the 
Columl>ia Elevator and Mills, built for their use bv Alex- 



ander Duncan, which property they leased for a term of 
ten years, and now occupy. The business of this firm is 
more extensive than any in which Mr. Sprague has ever 
been interested. They have several grain elevators in 
Christian County, Illinois, where their agents purchase 
grain and ship to Providence and other markets. In all 
his business conn.ctions Mr. .Sprague has been from the 
first an active working partner, in buying, selling, and 
general management. In 1879 he became interested in 
valuable real estate investments in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
and other places. He is a director of the Rhode Island 
Hospit.al Trust Company; also one of the directors of the 
Rhode Island National Bank, and for five years has been 
one of the Board of Commissioners of the State Sinking 
Fund. Mr. Sprague has been closely devoted to the in- 
terests of his business, and although he has consented to 
fill official po^itions, has never sought, and has often de- 
clined such positions, h'rom 1S6S to 1870 he served as a 
member of the Common Council of Providence, from the 
Sixth Ward, and was also one of the Board of Aldermen 
from 1S71 to 1873. ^'^ '^ 0"^ of the original members of 
the Union Congregational Church, from the Richmond 
.Street Society; was an active member of the Building 
Committee, and is now chairman of the Society Committee. 
He manifests a general interest in the public enterprises 
and benevolent institutions of the day, and is a generous 
supporter of all good works. His successful career is at- 
tributable to his rare busine:,s capacity, industry, perseve- 
rance, and prudence, combined with that uprightness of 
character upon which all true success is based. He has 
been twice married. His first wife, already mentioned, 
died June 2g. 1865, and on the 22d of (Jctober, I.S66, he 
married Adeline M., daughter of Deacon Lucius F. and 
Lydia E. Thayer, of Westfield, Massachusetts. By the first 
marriage there were four children: Charles Hutchins, 
Henry Shepard, P'rank Elisha, and Alida Esther. 




;.\Rr\VELL, Dkaco.v John Bry.vnt, merchant, 
liij son of .Samuel and .Abigail (Holbrook) Hartwell, 
was born in Alstead, New Hampshire, October 
7, rSi6. His boyhood w.as spent upon his father's 
farm, the management of wdiich was intrusted to 
him when he was eighteen years of age. After acquiring 
a knowledge of the branches of study usually taught at a 
district school he pursued a preparatory course at Ludlow 
Academy, Vermont; and in 1839 entered the Freshman 
Class of Brown University, having his thoughts then directed 
towards the Christian ministry. He left his collegiate 
studies before graduation, and entered upon a liusiness 
career in Providence, engaging at first as a clerk with 
Deacon James H. Read. He afterward opened a store for 
himself in the third story of the Arcade, and accepted Mr. 
Benjamin Cragin as a partner. He next occupied the store 
No. II in the lower story of the .\rcade, where after the 



412 



B/OGR,l PUR A I. C } ■(•/, or ED I. A. 



(Icnlh of Mr. Crn^jin in rS^^. he iecei\e«l in 1S4S Mr. 
(.harks Du^lhy :is a |iailnci. ami m i.S|.) Mr, 11, V . 
RichariN lu-canic a nicnil'L-r ul the hrrn. In iS^i he rc- 
ni.iveil to Xiis. bfa anil OS nn the south side ,il Wevbosset 
Slii-( t, \\ liere lie openeti a wholesale (ir\goo(ls store that 
soon hec.inie widely known. In 1N49 tiie hrin-n inie was 
ll.utuell. Dudley & Co. (In tlie relirement uf Mr. Dud- 
ley m iSoi w.is lornied the w ell l<no\\ii and succes^^ul 
fnin o! llartucU, Richarils & Co. Mr. llartwell also l>e- 
caine iaieiested in nianufaituriiiLi woollen varus at '"oventry 
Centre, Rhode Island, and was I'resuknt ol the I'eckhani 
Manuhicturing Company, whieh ollice he held until his 
death. lie oecupied a prominent position in I>iisiness cir 
eles of the eity anil llie State, lie was one of tlie origina- 
tors 111 tlie I'hird National II. mk, and lieeominL; one of the 
fust ilireetors tilled that position during the rest of his life. 
He was also a director in the .\tlanlic Bank. In 1S53 he 
]nireliascil a rural home in North Providence, and for many 
years represented that town in the General .\ssenilily as a 
memlier of the House of Kepresentatives. In i.Soo he was 
elected a trustee of I'.rown University, and served in that 
relation during the rein.iinder of his life. For in. my years 
he was a deacon in the Central llaptist (/hurch in Provi- 
dence, and in matters spiritual and tem]ior,il served that 
liody with constant devotion and elliciency. To all Chris- 
tian and l>ene\olent c.uises he was a systematic ami large 
contrilaitor. In politics at tirst a Whig he became a Re- 
]iulilican, and manfully stood by the nation during the 
struggle with slavery and treason. He married, March 21, 
1842, Harriet Hall, a woman of rare excellencies, rlanghter 
of John and raticnce | l'ec\hain 1 11, ill. of Soul h Kingsiow n, 
Rhode Isl.uid. His children were .\nna l...who married 
Mr. Jefi'rey Ila^-aid, of Providence; John S.. who died at 
the age of seventeen ; Mortimer I lall, a graduate of llrow n 
University in the class of 1S70. and who succeeded his 
father in business; and ( ieorge .\nhur. who died at the age 
of three years and live months. Deacon Harlwell died 
December 9, 1S72. He was noted for his nobleness of 
nature and broad public spirit, and was greatly trusted and 
esteemed. Dr. E. ( i. Rohinson, President of Prown Uni- 
ver-ity, truly said of him, " It is the te-timonv of those wdio 
knew- him most intimately that he was a man of deep reli- 
gious Convictions, gentle in spirit, persistent m pairpose. 
active in hie, and readv for death." 



^^ERRN', JmiN (hum, son of John Robinson and 
Sally Itiould) Perry, w. I, born on the ( ioveruor 
Urovvn Farm in lio,ton Neck, in South Kingstown, 
♦ ■';'•♦ ''^'""''•' I^hiiid, June 2, iSl/. Hi, m.itenial allies. 
aw J tors came fioni Scotland. John Could, his grand- 
father, was one of the hrst ihrks of the First Ila| tist 
Church ill .South Kingstown, w Inch office he held from 
178210 181 1. Mr. Perry's paternal ancestors came from 
Kngland and settled in .Sandwich, Massachusetts. Thev 



had a son Samuel, w ho came to Rhode Island and settled 
in Perry V die (whieh place was named for him 1, in .South 
King-lovvn. He was the |>rogcnilor of the Rhode Nland 
Perrys, among wln.un were Commodore (.)li\er II., the 
hero of Lake Erie, and (_"ommodorc Matthew ("., renowned 
for (he Japan treaty. Samuel Perry lived and died in Per- 
ryville. He lelt to his tamily a large estate, including 
about two thousand acres of land, with Iniildings, he- 
sides personal property. He was the father of James Perry, 
vvho,e son, James, Jr., was the father of John, whose son, 
John R., was the father of the subject of this sketch. |ohii 
(i., when young, attended the best schools of his native 
tovvn,aiid then by self-application became proficient in the 
various hraiiehes of an F^nglish educatiim, including natu- 
ral |ihilosophy, chemistry, mechanics, and music, having a 
]ieculiar talent for the latter. Early develo|iing mechanical 
taste, he entered the woollen mill of William A. Robinson 
& Co., in Wakeheld, at the age of sivteen, to learn the 
Inisiness, and rlevnted twenty-live vears to that branch of 
industry, acting much of the time as superintendent of the 
finishing jirocess, and instructing others therein. He wrote 
a tre.itise entitled flu- \l\H'lltii Miiiiiifiirliin-r s Piaitical 
Ci-'}>:/'ii)n>^n, and though it has never vet been jiublished, 
he has given copies ot its j.iages of directions, which have 
proved of great value to beginners in the ait of finishing. 
Wdiile engaged in the mill his leisure hours were spent in 
some Useful study, and w hen the mill was stopped on ac- 
count of a crisis in the business he engaged in leaching, 
and thus became one of the teachers in the public schools 
in his luitive town under the present school system. While 
ill the manufacturing business his inventive genius was de- 
veloped, his fust invention being the power cloth-iolIing 
and measuring inachine, now generally used by manufac- 
turers in this and other countries. It took the place of the 
slow, dilfieult, and inaccurate mode of doing the wruk by 
hand. His next invention 1 for vvIulIi he secured a patent 
in 18501 was a meat-cut:iug nuKliiiie. which also came into 
general use. He has also invented and patentetl many 
valuable improvements in mow ing-machines. hay-tedders, 
feei-l-cutters, sausage-fillers, and other mechanical devices, 
upon which he has expendeil many thousand dollars, from 
which altogether he has received a lemuneration over and 
above .ill cost,. His inventions excel for simjilicity, durabil- 
ity, and easi; of operation. The"' Perry Mow er " has taken the 
pirize over all others at the great fairs and competitive trials 
for several years in succession in this country, and a medal 
over the " McCormick Mower" at the World's-Fair trial 
upon the Emperor's farm, at Vincennes, near Paris, in 
l-'rance, in 1S67. Mr. Perry's experience in procuring his 
own patents, and his connection with the patent bu-iness 
geiier.illy, has been such that he has become well versed 
in patent law and the rules ami practice of the Patent Of- 
fice, and familiar w idi the stale of the art of the various 
classes of inventions, so that he is able not only to conduct 
his^vvn cases before the Patent Office, but in connection 



BIOGRAPlirCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



413 



with his other business, acts as solicitor and attorney in 
p 1 tent cases for others. He has al--.o acted cnnspicuously 
in other affairs. He was elected a Justice of the Peace in 
1856, and Clerk of the Court of Common I'leas for Wash- 
ington County in i<S57. He served in both of the^e offices 
until 1S58, when he w-as chosen town clerk of his native 
town, which office he has held from that time until the 
present ( 1881). In 1867 he was appointed and commis- 
sioned, by Governor Burnside, Commissioner from Rhode 
Island to the World's E.x position, in Paris, France, and on 
his return made a valuable report to the Government, 
which was published by the State in 1868. He has served 
on the School Committee of South Kingstown for twenty- 
seven consecutive years, ami for twenly-five years of the 
time as clerk of the Committee. He has been associated 
with all the interests of the town and has done much to 
promote its welf.ire and prosperity. In the discharge of his 
official duties he has acted w'ith impartiality towards all. 
In i8Sl he was the Democratic nominee for the office of 
Secretary of State, and at the ensuing election stood for 
that office, running ahead of his ticket. He has been a 
member of the First Baptist Church of South Kingstown for 
the past forty-two years, and for fifteen years served as 
leader of the choir and instructor in vocal music. He 
compiled and published a manual of hymns entitled The 
BibU Hiirp, and composed several -of the hymns and tem- 
perance songs therein. For more than forty years he has 
been an active \^■orker in the temperance reform. His 
travels, mainly on business, have taken him extensively 
over lliis country and to Europe. He married, March 12, 
1S43, Harriet Theresa Hazard, daughter of Bovvdoin and 
Theresa Clarke Hazard. They have si.v children : 
Harriet E., who married Clarence E. Thomas, a merchant 
of Wickford ; S Emma, wdio married Herbert J. \Velis. 
now .Secretary of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Com- 
pany, of Pro\ idence ; Oliver H., now in the hardware trade 
in Providence; John E., a gr.aduate of the College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, of New York, who married Elnora 
Etheline Crawford, of East Douglass, Massachusetts, and 
is now practicing medicine in Wakefield ; Millard V ., now 
clerk in the bank at Kingston; and Howard B., who is 
deputy town clerk in his father's office in Wakefield. 



PjILBUR, William H.xle, M.D., was born in Hop- 
H™™|iy kinton, Rhode Island, March 10, 1816. He 
-'*"' -' was the .son of John and Lydia (Collins) Wil- 
bur. In this volume will be found a sketch of 
his father, who was a celebrated minister of the 
Society of Friends. Dr. Wilbur received his rudimentary 
education in the common schools of his iiau\'e town and 
in the Friends' School in Providence, and was in part a 
self-educated man. In the early part of hi^ life his time 
was spent in assisting his father on his farm, in teaching, 
and in pro.->eculing the study of Latin ami the higher 



mathematics. In both these branches he was a proficient, 
and continued the pursuit of the lalter with zeal and de- 
light throughout his whole life. He studied medicine with 
his brother, Thomas Wilbur, M.D., in Fall River, Massa- 
chusetts, after which he entered the Meilical College of 
the University of New York, graduating in 1847; he then 
went abroad, and perfected himself in the knowledge of 
water-cure at Priessnitz's establishment in Germany, and 
on his return conducted a hydropathic institution in Paw- 
tucket two years. He married, April 20, 1849, Eli/a S., 
daughter of Major T. S. and Eliza S. Mann, and a niece 
of Hon. Horace Mann, the distinguished educator. They 
had three children : John Wilbur, M.D., a sketch of whom 
appears in this volume; Sarah Mann; and Caroline Eliza, 
deceased. Dr. Wilbur commenced the practice of his 
profession in Westerly, Rhode Island, in which he con- 
tinued with marked success until the fall of 1862, when 
he entered the Union army as Surgeon of the First Rhode 
Island Cavalry, joining the regiment December 16, imme- 
diately after the battle of Fredericksburg, and performing 
his duties with such skill, promptness, and fidelity as to 
win the confidence of all. At the battle of Kelly's Ford, 
in the spring of 1863, he remained on the field under fire 
of the enemy, performing surgical operations, and proved 
himself an intrepid soldier as well as a skilful surgeon. 
At this time he assumed the duties of Brigade Surgeon, 
and rendered invaluable service. He was with his regi- 
ment at Chancellorsville and Middleburg, where he was 
constantly in the saddle ; and although his horse was hit 
by a piece of shell, yet no danger drove him from the spot 
where duty calle<l. On the re-enlistment of the regiment 
in 1864, he returned to the active service of camp, hos- 
pital, and battle. Of Dr. Wilbur's character nothing more 
fitting can be said than the following tribute of a friend, 
called forth by his sudden death, which occurred October 
12, 1879: "At the close of his service in the war Dr. Wil- 
bur returned to Westerly and resumed his practice ; and 
here, after all, must be said his life-work was done. Deeply 
absorbed in his profession, and having a ju.st estimate of 
its high mission, he gave to it the full wealth of his knowl- 
edge, his experience, and his life. He was exact in his 
habits of thought, methodical in his inve--tigalions, studious 
in keeping pace with the progress made in the science of 
medicine, holding his opinions tenaciously w hen matured ; 
and being thus critical and thorough in his own culture, 
he w'as intolerant of pretence and sham in others. Dr. 
Wilbur was a man of rare purity of character. He never 
patiently listened to the voice of scandal, and was disposed 
to in.ake charitable allowance for the errors and frailties 
of his fellow-men. On all the great ([ue^tions of life he 
thought for himself, and w Idle firm in adhering to his con- 
victions, he never olitruded his views upon others. He w as 
too human to be faultless, yet where sickness and sorrow 
dwelt, there could his ministering hand be found. Such 
was the sympathy and tenderness of his nature, that he 



4H 



BlOGRAl'IUCAL t YC LOPED I A. 



allowcil 111' ]">fcun!.ir\' convIili.T.ili(in-. to ^U'crvc hiiii fi'nni 
lliL' iKTfornianL't.' kA what he dcciiu-il a ])roffs^iona! diUy. 
Holiliiii; liii^li rank a^ a ^u^l4l■lln as well a^ ]ihv^iciaii, iic 
has ^peiit liis life in ilii> coinmunitv VL'spon-lin!^ Id the call 
fur help w itiiout rc_L;ar<l tu the sDurce from whence it came, 
and hy his skill resturiii;^ lile anil Ii^ht Id many a '^t^icke^ 
home. Spieailini^ his heart <iiit to emlnace all that was 
Juiman, thrnugli t'ul an-l self-sacrilice tlav an^l iiiL^hl, he 
souijlu tn lirini; the ministries of his prnfessinn wlieie hu- 
man sutVerinL; most nco'ldl them; an-l hein;^ simimcneil to 
the 'undiscovered country' in the midst of his usefulness, 
the record of his life has left the injunction, ' Write me as 
one who lo\ed his fellow men.' " 



rank, and w.is i-e_L;arded as authority in matters to w Iijeh 
he hid iltreeted his special attention. From Brown L'ni- 
veTsiiy lie received the honorary det^ree of Doctor of Laws 
in 1S7 ^ He married, in June, 1S42. Mary J^ne. daui^hter 
■ )f /ehiies Kuller. of Atllehoroui^li, Massachusetts. Their 
children were four (laughters and one son. He tlied in 
(.'muherland. Xo\emI.>er 4, 1S75. 



-EXCKES. Hon. ■rii..M\s Ai.iiN. I.L.D.. \vas horn 
^: in (."umhei land, Khoih- Nland, No\cml)er 2. iSiS. 
He was the sun ot Thomas H. and Ahii^ail \V. 
f'?*^ (.Mleiil Jencke-, a name found auioni^' the earliest 
'^h settlers of Rhode Island. He was htted f.)r college 
by Rev. Adin P-ilhai. of ( 'umherland, and ,^M"aduated at 
Brown L'ni\er^ily in iS^S. He studied law with the Hon. 
Samuel V. Atwell. at the sjnie time aetitiL;. for one year, 
as tutor x^{ Mailiematic- in T-rown L'nivei-ity. Haviu'^ 
been admitted to tlie bar. Sept .niber 24. 1S40. he Com- 
nieneed the practice of Ins prole-sion in rro\ ideiice, his 
law partner bein^ I'Mwanl H. lia/ard. K-ip .\t once he 
entered iii)on a nm-t su, cesd'id care., r. and rose to the high- 
est distinction amiuii^ the lawyers of Rhode Inland. His 
commandinj^ talents were called into re'|uIsition in i:i\inL; 
shape to the legislation of the State, and lor several vear- 
he was a RejMesentative in the (.eueial Assembly. In 
iS^y, he was ,1 member ot tin.' i_'intmis-.i( .11 which revised 
tlie statutes (if the State, ami in i.S()2 w ,is rjio-cn to repre- 
sent his native State m I 'orn^res-,, servitiL^ in this cajiaeitv 
ei;^ht years. ,\sa Representati\ e in ( 'on^ress. he occupied 
prominent po-.itn.ns. He was a member of the Com mi; tee 
on the judiciary and Chairm.in of the Committee on Pat- 
ents. His efforts in behalf of the f'lvil Service Reform, 
and in carrying throULi:h the iSankrupt I.iw. have made his 
name famous throughout the counliy. Although for three 
sessions he kiboied most untiringl\" to secure the passage 
of bills basing relerence (o a reloini in the civil service. 
Ins expectations of securing all llial he aimed to accom- 
plish in this direction were not realized. He succeeded so 
far as to obtain the passage of a bill which made the ap- 
pointment of cadets to the Military School at West lYiint 
dependent, not on the favor cd" Rejiresentatives whose in- 
terest the friends of the candidates might desire to secure, 
but upon competitive examinations. .\t the close of his 
connection with C-mgress, he resumed the juaclice of law 
in l'io\idence .md New \'ork, where Ids ->er\ ires were in 
con-tant demand in -ome of tin- mo^i important eases that 
were tiied in both the Slate and Cnited States courts. 
Among the able kiwvers (,t the eounliv he took the first 



I.A'ri'.R. Hon. Wiiiiwi SMiTtr, son of John and 
Ruth (lUicUlin) .Slater, was born in Slatersville, 
N'uth Smithtield, Rhode Island, March 7, 1817. 
I His father, the brother and Imsiness partner of Sam- 
v uel Slater — "the father 'jf American manufactures,'' 
— is elsewhere sketched in this volume. Well educated, 
ami thoroughly trained bv his father in the mechanical 
piiiuiples and ojjerations of manut'acturiug sta])le fabrics, 
he, with his brother. lohn K., earlv engaged in business. 
( Ml the death of tluir father, in 1S43. the brothers ctni- 
tinueil to o[ierate the mills in Jewett City and Hopeville. 
(_'onne(_ticut, umler the tirm-name of (7. tS: W. Slater. In 
March ihe\ suld the Hrjpeville property. In 1S49, already 
owning their father's interest in the .Slatersville projierty, 
they puichasL-<I the rights of the heir^ of Samuel Slater, 
and, in iS:^^, on the expiration i}{ the lease held by Amos 
H. anil .Mo-.es I'.. Lockwt.od, put the whole property in ex- 
cellent condition, w ith new maidiinerv. In 1S62 the v. with 
I-Ntus Lamb. Iknry S. Mans'ield. and George W. Holt, 
formed a special company, and leasing a mill lielow Slaters- 
ville, carried on business under the style of the Forestdale 
Manufacturing ( 'oinpanv until 1S72, when G. A: W. Slater 
bought out the o|lu-r p-irtiuax and managed the jiropeity 
themscU es. In ( K tober. 1N72. by mutual consent, they dis- 
solved their long and successfid i)ar[nership an<l divided 
their company property. John K. received the mills aiv.l 
estates in Connecticut, whi^h he has continued to manage 
with remarkable success, his place of residence being in 
the city of Norwich, Connecticut. William S. received 
the factories and estates in Rhode Island, the chief of 
which is the .Slatersville pro]ierJy. The village of Slaters- 
ville. with its large mills, neat tenement houses, commodi- 
ous church edifice, and puk and shaded trees, testify to 
the enterprise, taste and benevolence of the chief proprie- 
tor of the p'ace. Mr. Slater also owns a portion of the 
mills and e^tates al Forestdale, where the same public 
spiiit and thrift are manifest. His residence proper is in 
Slatersville, North Smithtield, but for many years he has 
also had a house in Providence, — the well-known Whipple 
homestead on C'»llege Street. He is prominently identilied 
with various business enterprises in Providence and in dif- 
ferent parts uf the State and of New Fngland. He suc- 
ceeded his father in the presidency of the Slatersville 
Bank, and stdl tilK that pr>sition. For six years he was 
the President of the I*ro\iilence and Worcester Railroad 
("omjianv, in whuh he is still a director. He 1^ now both 



BIOGKAnilCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



4"5 



Presiik'iU ami Treasurtr of the Rhuilc Islaml Locomotivu 
Works. As stock-owner ami liirector lie is iclontified w ith 
the American Ship W'intUass Company, and several other 
thriving; business interests of Rhode Island. Polilically 
of the old Wliiy school, he is now a Republican. He was 
a State Senator from Smithlield in 1801-62, and w;is a 
Presidential Elector both for Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Hayes. 
Of the Congre;;alional Chuicli in Sl.iter^ville he is a constant 
and liberal supporter. For business purposes, and occa- 
sionally for relaxation, he has travelled extensively. He 
was with his cousin, John Slater, in the West Indies when 
he died. He married, December 7, 1842, Harriet Morris 
Whipple, daughter of Hon. John Whipple, of Providence, 
and has had four children : John Whipple, who married 
Elizabeth Hope Gammell ; Harriet Whipple, who married 
George W. Hall; Elizabeth Ives, who married Alfred \. 
Reed; and Helen Morris, who married Rufus Waterman, 
Jr. 

S^^HEP.'\RD, TnoM.\s Perkins, M.D., son of Michael 
sl^P) and Harriet (Clarke) Shepard, was born in Salem, 
^^ M.assachusetts, March 16, 1S17. His studies, ])re- 
T paratory to entering college, were pursued at Sa- 
T* km, ami he was a graduate of Brown University, 
in the class of lSj6. Among his classmates were Judge 
J. P. Knowles, Professor J. L. Lincoln, and W. H. Pot- 
ter, Esrp Immediately on graduating he was appointed 
tutor in Latin. One year only was devoted to the duties 
of this office. He commenced the study of medicine in 
l8j7, and received his medical degree from the Harvard 
Medical School in 1840. The same year he went abroad 
to perfect himself in his profession.d studies, and w,as ab- 
sent four years (1840-44). Durin^' his absence he travel- 
led extensively in the Old World. Chemistry was his 
favorite study, and w hen he returned, instead of devoting 
himself to the duties of a medical jiractitioner, he engaged 
in the business of manu'acturing chemical agents, with 
special reference to meeting the wants of the manfacturing 
institutions of New England. In the enterprise in which 
he embarked, and to the prosecution of which he gave his 
best energies, he was eminently successful. In 1848, after 
he had for some time the sole management of his manu- 
factory, he formed a partnership with the Hon. Edward 
D. l^earce, and the business continues to be carrietl on 
under the style of T. P. Shepard & Co. A man of such 
marked ability as was Dr. Shepard was sure to be pressed 
into the public service. P"or three years (1S4S-51) he 
was a member of the Common Council of Providence, and 
one of these years its President. He represented the city 
one year, 1S53, in the State .Senate. In 1S51 he was chcjsen 
a trustee of Brown University, and in everything which 
had reference to the de|iartment of science in that institu- 
tion he was greatly interesttd. 'I'he excellent results 
reached in the erection of the chenucal laboratory are 
largely due to his good taste, and his appreciation of the 



wants of students of chemistry. The Rhode Island Hos- 
pital found in him one of its warmest friends. He con- 
tributed generously to its funds, and superintended the 
erection of its building, in every part of which may be 
traced the evidences of his good judgment and knowledge 
of the needs of such an institution. He was one of its 
trustees, and was chosen to fill the vacancy occasioned 
by the death of its President, r)r. Caswell. How deep 
and abiding was his concern for its prosperity is indicated 
by the fact that by his will he bequeathed to its funds a 
legacy of eight thousand dollars. His experience in the 
erection of the buildings to which we have referred, led to 
his appointment by the General Assembly as a member of 
the commission for the erection of the new court-house for 
the county of Providence. The completed work will, so 
hmg as it stands, be a monument of his taste and minute 
aci|uaintaiue w ith the tietails of architecture, which are 
everywhere seen in the new structure. Dr. Shejiard's 
death, which occuirerl in Pro\idence, May 5, 1S77, was 
sudden, and occasioned by inllammation of the brain. In 
June, 1S56 he married Elizabeth Anne, the second daugh- 
ter of Professor William (I. Goddard. 



SiifENNETT, M1'.ss.\dorf. Toscwn, son of Martin 
.^jjSi and Eli/a T. (Butts) Bennett, was born in Xew- 
%'i\ port, Rhode Island, November 20, 1815. His 
"'j',''" great-grandfather, Stephen Bennett, was born in 
J L Mitldleborough. Massachusetts, about the year 1742, 
anil died on the Island of Nantucket, in 1817. His 
grandfather, Cornelius Bennett, was sailing master in the 
United States Navy, and with Commodores Bainbridge 
and Perry was engaged in some of the most memorable 
naval battles of the war of 1812. Mr. Bennett's father 
was a very successful shiji-master, and died of yellow 
fe\'er on a voyage from .Sa\aiinali to Liverpool, in .Sep- 
tember, 1835. Mr. Bennett recei\ed his education in the 
schools of Bristol, Rhode Island, and in 1833 entered 
the store of Monro & Gifford of that town. In 1834 he 
went to Mobile, Alabama, where he remained until the 
death of his father, when he returned to Rhode Island. 
He soon after removed to North Dighlon, Massachusetts, 
where he carried on the manufaLture of cotton cloth, until 
1840, when he returned to llri^tol and engaged in the 
grocery bu-.iness. In 1S43 he was elected Clerk of the 
Court of Common Pleas for the County of Bristol, and 
served in that capacity for sixteen years. As an evidence 
of his efficiency and popularity it may be stated that during 
his connection with the court, while Hon. Philip .Mien was 
governor, the Democr.ats removed every State and county 
official except Mr. Bennett. In 1S49 he was elected Clerk 
of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island for Bristol County, 
and held that office together with the office of Clerk of the 
Court of Common Pleas for twelve years. In April, 1861, 
he was appointed Survc\or of Customs for the port of Biis- 



411) 



BIOGRAPHICAL C \CLOPEDIA. 



tol, whicli oriKt; 1r- liclil until iSj.o, wlu-n it was aholi--licil. 
Ill lSc;S lu' liccniiie •.upL-riiitrinli iit ami ai;riit ol tlic lliis- 
tdl Sti-aui Mill, wliiL-li |.o,iliMti liL- Ik-1'I until i Sii ;. ^iiicc 
which time thi- L'.imL-iil lias luall uihlta- llu- iliijLtiuii ..I tlu- 
Kiohmoii.l Manulatturin,' (;..in|.any of I'mviilciiCL-, and hf 
ha> Lcintiiuu-<1 Id act as its ■.U|iciintciiilcnt. having been 
Coniu-clcd with thai mill lor mon- than thiltv-siM years. 
I-oi niaiiv vrais he was Colonel of the Uri-tol Train of 
Artillery, ami duriiig the ('ivil \V,ir. thouL;li not in the 
f'lehl, dul much for the comfort of the Rhode Island tnii>|)S. 
I le wa^ cliaii man of the building committee for the Rogers 
Fiee Library of Bristol, ami lias lieeii President of its Board 
of Tru-tees since its completion, 1S77. In 1S5S he repre- 
sented the town of Bristol in the (ieiieral Assembly. lie 
has been Moderator of the Bristol Town Meeting for twen- 
ty four year-., w hich olTice he --till lioldv. Mr. Bennett has 
been a niemiier of the Congregational ( hiirch of Bristol 
fiu- thirlv-eight years, and had the pnincip.d management 
in building the beautibil Imuse of wordiip now occu]"iied 
In' that society. I'li the Nth of .\pril. iSjS. he marrieil 
Martha F. Maxwell, daughter of lia\id Maxwell, of Bris- 
tol. Their eldest mhi, Me^sadorc T. Bennett, Jr., married 
Anna I )unn, daughter of 1". C. Dunn, M.D., of New- 
]iiut, Rhode Island, and now (iSSCl resides in Hoboken, 
i\ew Jersey. Rosina b.. the eldest daughter, married 
^Valter Pierce, Cencral lickel .\gent of the Western Con- 
necticut Railroad, Hartford, Connecticut, lamina P., the 
youngest daughter, married Philip P). Ihounell of P'royi- 
ilence. 

°I.\C(IPX, Pkiiiiss.ik JmiN I..\i;kin, LL.D., son 
of En>ign and Sophia Oliver iP.irkin) Lincoln, 
was born in Bo-toii, Kebruary 23, 1S17. He was 
^•:>. lilted for college chielly in the I.alin School of Bos- 
j^ ton, and was a graduate of Brown L'niver-ity in the 
class of I.S;0. Immediately after he graduated, he was 
elected a tiit<u in Columbian College, Washington, where 
he remained during the academic year I.S56-37. In the 
fall (jf 1837, he entered tlie Newton dhecdogical Institu- 
tion, ami continued his relation with the institution two 
years. In 1S30, he was elected tutor in Brown Inivcr^ity, 
and was in office two ycar>. Wishing to perfect himself in his 
studies, by availing him-elf of the Mi]>eriol adv antages of the 
tlcrman uiiiv er^llie^, he went abro.id in company with Pro- 
fessor H. IS. Hackctt, in the kill of l.S4l,and w.is absent 
from the country three year-., dlie lir~t year, 1841-42, he 
spent at Halle, as a student of theology and philology, 
taking lectures in the one of 'i'holuck and Julius Muller, 
and of the other, in Hebrew, of (iesenius, and in the clas- 
sics, of Pkirnhardy. The two months vacation of Iiily ami 
August, at the close of this academic year, were ^pciil with 
'Pholuck in an cxcur-ion thr.iugh Swit/erkuid and \oriliern 
Italv. 'Idle second academic year, 1S42-43, was spent in 
Ileilin, where he studied Church History with Neandcr, 
Old Testament Plistorywith Hengstcnberg, and the clas- 



sics with P.oeckh. The summer vacaticm of this year was 
also spent in jileasant travel. In the early fall of 1S43, 
Professor Lincoln went to (ieneva, where he sjtent sonie 
time in the study of French, and then went to Rome, where 
he passed the winter of 1843-44, and a large part of the 
s|iring of 1S44, studying the classics and archaology. He 
enjoyed the rare privilege of attending every week the 
meetings of the Archx'ological Society on the Capitoline 
Hill, liaMiig among his fellow-students llrote, I'reller, of 
(kitha. Professor (L W. Greene, then American consul at 
Rome, Theodore Parker, William M. Hunt, h'rancis Park- 
man, and many other eminent scholars, lie left Rome in 
May, 1844, and came to Paris, where he remained several 
weeks, then came to London, and thence to the United 
States, He entered upon his duties as Assistant Professor 
of the Latin Language and Literature in Brown University, 
in 1844, and was appointed full Professor in 1845. In 
consetiuence of ill health. Professor Lincoln went abrtjad 
in 1857, and was absent from his duties six mcmths. He 
extended liis trip as far east as .Athens, where he remained 
six weeks, enjoving what that classic city furnishes in such 
rich abundance to gratify tastes which, for so many years, 
he had been cultivating. In the summer of 1878 he again 
went abroad solely lor rest and recreation, and returned to 
his duties w illi new strength in the fall. l'rore.s..r 1 iiicoln 
has found time, amid tlie }U"essuie of his work, to prepare 
tw o w ell kn<-iw n Milumes, connected with his special de- 
Iiaitment, his /./>■!' .iiid his lA'in.c-. He has alsov\ritten 
ariicles of v.ilue ami interest for the \:'rf/i .Uii<ii,iiii A\-- 
?•/<;>', the Cinhlnm /v'crvV;,', the l<,i<-tisl Q!{ait,rly,Mv\ 
the Hililiolht-iit Satia. He has wrilteii. also, much for 
several weekly p.ipeis, anil j^repared lectures, etc., which 
have been dcli\ered be fore literary societies and oiher or- 
ganisations. He was married, July 29, I.S46, to Laura 
Eloise Pearce, of Providence. They have live children 
now living: William K,, Arthur, John P., Jr., Laura, and 
James (jranger. 




'^ESPCol r, Hon. Am.vs.v SMiiti, Judge of the 
y .Munici|ial Court of the City of Providence, was 
'X*': 'A' born in North Scituate. Rhode Islanil, September 
.' i 21, 181S. His parents were John and Cecilia 

X ((Iweni Wcstcott. He is a lineal descendant of 

Stukly Wcstcott, one of the hrst settlers of Providence and 
Warwick, who, with Roger Williams, was expelled from 
the chuicll of Salem, and became one of the distinguished 
founders of the Rhode Islanil Colony. Judge Westcott's 
grandfather served in the Reyolutionary War, and received 
an honorable discharge. The suliject of this sketch s])ent 
his e.irly years in Scituate, where he pursued the ordinary 
studies of the public schools, and afterward attended the 
ac.idemies at Brooklyn and Plainfield, Connecticut. He 
linished his |ircparatory studies with the late Judge Bos- 
worth, of Warren, Rhode Island, and in 1S3S entered 




/// ^/y^-' 



://-// 



:> 



BIOGRA run ■. / /, CYCL OPED I A. 



417 



Brown University, where he graduated in 1S42. He studied 
law with Judge Uosworth ; was admitted to the bar in 1S44, 
and for one year thereafter remained in the office of his 
preceptor. In 1845 he removed to Proxidence, wliere he 
engaged in the practice of his profession until 1S52. In 
this year he was elected Clerk of the Court of Common 
Pleas of Providence County, to which position he was re- 
elected annually, with the exception of one year, until 1867. 
He was then elected to the office of Judge of the Municipal 
Court of the City of Providence, being ex-ojfficio Judge of 
Probate, in which position he still continues. In the dis- 
charge of his official duties Judge Westcott has secured a 
well-earned reputation for judicial al)ility. geniality of dis- 
position, and urbanity. In 1S54 he was elected a member 
of the Common Council of Providence from the First Ward. 
He is an active member of the Republican ]iarty, and prior 
to its organization was a Whig. Judge W'e^tcott, man led, 
April 7, 1845, Susan C. Bosworth, daughter of Daniel Bos- 
worth, of Warren, and sister of the late Judge Bosworth. 
They have had three children, all of whom died in infancy. 



gTOCKBRIDGE, Rev. John C.\lvin, D.D., second 
|Jffl| son of Calvin and Rachel (Wales Rogers) Stock- 
^j bridge, was born in Yarmouth, Maine, June 14, 
T 1818. His ancestors on both his fatlier's and his 
•l mother's side came from England, and were among 
the earliest settlers of the old colony, Massachusetts. The 
name originally was Stokebridge or Stokebraegh. His 
paternal ance-tor, John Stockbridge, being then twenty- 
seven years of age, with his wife Anne, then twenty- 
one, and his son Charles, aged one, came from England in 
the " Blessing," John Leicester master, in June, 1635. His 
father was a lineal descendant from " Elder " William 
Brewster, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and his mother, 
from John Rogers, the famous Smithfield martyr. The 
home of the early ancestors of the subject of this sketch 
was .Scituate, Massachusetts. In 1656 Mr. .Stockbridge 
buill what was known as the " .Stockbridge Mansion 
House," which in King Philip's War v\'as a garrison. 
When, some years since, the venerable building was torn 
down, there were found in some of its timbers bullets 
which had been fired at the inmates by the Indians. 
Benjamin, the great-grandson of John Stockbriilge, suc- 
ceeded to the .Stockbridge Mansion in .Scituate on the 
death of his father, who reached the great age of one 
hundred years. His son, also named from his father, 
Benjamin, was the second regularly bred physician set- 
tled in Scituate, having been educated by Dr. Bulfinch, 
of Boston, and having a practice extending all over the 
Old Colony, and even to Worcester and Ipswich He 
had one si.n, Dr. Charles Stockbridge, who received the 
honorary degree of M.D. from Harvard College in 1793. 
He was a physician of hii^h reputation, and a gentleman of 
pleasing manners, and accomplished in literature. The 
53 



grandfather of [ohn t'. was William Stockbridge. In 179S 
he was the greatest landholder in the town of Hanover, 
Massachusetts, his re-idenco. He is represented as having 
been " a man of ready wit, lively and sociable in his habits, 
an agreeable comijanion. and an industrious and upright citi- 
zen." His two sons, William Reed and Calvin Stockbridge, 
were for many years merchants in Yarmouth, Maine, car- 
rying on shijibuilding and the manufacture of paper, and 
largely concerned in navigation. The oldest- son of Wil- 
liam R. was Rev. Joseph Stockbridge, D.D., United States 
Navy, at this time ( iSSi \ the Senior Chaplain inthe United 
States Navy. The subject of this sketch was fitted for 
college in the academy in his native place under the tuition 
of Joseph Sherman, an eminent educator of his day. He 
entered Bowdoin College when but fifteen years of age, in 
the fall of 1S33. Among his classmates were Hon. John 
Albion Andrew, the "War (lovernor " of Massachusetts, 
who was fitted for college in the Yarmouth ."Vcademy; Hon. 
John R. Shapley, of St. Louis; Hun. Charles Pike, of 
Calais, Maine ; and Rev. John Orr Fiske, D.D., for many 
years the Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Bath, 
Maine. Leaving Bowdoin College he joined the Junior 
Class of Brown University in 1836, and was graduated in 
183S. The class held a high rank among the classes that 
have gone from the University. After graduating from col- 
lege he had charge for a few months of an academy in Cum- 
mington, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the poet William 
C. Bryant. Among his pupils was Governor Thomas Tal- 
bot, of Massachusetts. In the spring of 1839 he became 
the Principal of the Warren Ladies' .Seminary, which office 
he hehLuntil the fall of 1841, when he entered the Newton 
Theological Seminary, pursuing his studies under Drs. 
Barnas Sears, H. B. Hackett, I. Chace, and H. J. Ripley, 
and graduating in the fall of 1844. He immediately ac- 
cepted a call to become the I'astor of the First Baptist 
Church in Waterville, Maine, a church which holds inti- 
mate relations with what is now "Colby University," and 
was ordained January 8, 1845. He remained here for three 
years, and then became Pastor of the Baptist Church in 
Woburn, Massachusetts. His ministiy here was eminently 
successful, not far fiom une hundred persons connecting 
themselves with the church while he was its p.astor. At 
the end of five years' pleasant pastorate he was invited to 
take charge of the First Baptist Church in Providence dur- 
ing the absence of Rev. Dr. Granger, who had been ap- 
pointed as one of a deputation to visit the stations of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union in the East (see sketch 
of J. N. (iranger). Before his term of service expired he re- 
ceived, inthe fall of 1852, an invitation to become the Pa.stor 
of the Charles Street Baptist Church, Boston, whose pulpit 
had been made vacant by the death of Rev. Daniel Sharp, 
D.D. He accepted the call and was publicly recognized 
as pastor of ihe Church October 23, 1853. During his 
mini-try extensive repairs were made on the place of wor- 
ship, involving an outlay of between $20,000 and $30,000, 



4i8 



lUOCKAI'HIC. ILL) VL OPEDIA. 



ri-ii'K-rinL; it at tlie time uiic of iIr- most ,itliacti\ c- climxlus 
ill Ho^loii. ik- iciiiaiiK-d :^^|la^t(ll c.r ihis lIhimIi until June, 
iSui, nearly ciijlil yen-.. 'I'lic next tlirrc ..r toui xcar^ were 
spent eliielly as ac;ini; pa^t' ir ut the ll.ililwin I'lace Church . 
liii-ton, and at the l ary Avenue (liiULh, (. lieKea. Early 
in 1S65 he lel"t hcuneon an extemle.l tcuu- in I'ancipe, visit- 
wvf, Kn^'land, Smihui'l, France, Swit/erlan'l, Germany, 
Ital)-, and t ircece. and rcturniiiL; in the t.dl <jl tlrat year, 
(Jn his return he acee|iteil a)i invitalinn to become the 
I'astoriil the Free Stieet liaptist I luirch in Portland, Maine, 
where he rem.dned until the fall of i<S;)7, when he removc<l 
to Providence to take charge of the Young Ladies' School, 
established by FIoii. John Kingslniry, and for eight years 
conducted by Professor J. L. Lincoln. This school he kept 
for ten years, 1807-77. In the sunmiei of 1S74 he again 
visited Furope, also in 1S7.S. While in * hari;e nl his school 
he uas occupied (or most ,if the time in fulhlling engage- 
ments to preach, liavmg ciraige of the [lulpit ol the Thinl 
Haptist C'lunch in Providence between t\\ o and three years, 
of ihat of the F'iist Haptist Church in Hartford several 
months, and preaching in other churches lor peiiods of a 
longer or shorter duration. Harvard ('oUcge conferred 
on liiin the degree of ])oclor of Diviniiy July 20, 1S59. 
He has been a 'Prustee of Prown L"ui\ersUy since lS5(>. 
Jlesiiles preparing a large amount ol matter forthe religious 
and secular press 1 ir. Stockbiidge has been an occasional 
coiiiributnr to the Bil'lh<lli,\,i Suiia and tlie C/instiini 
/wTv'.T.'. He is also the .iiithor ol the " Memoiis ol P.aion 
Slow, 1 1. 1 1." He was mariied Noveinber 14. I.'s44, to 
M.iry lyler, eldest daughter of ('.iptain Suchct M.uu.in, 
then of W.irren, in later ye.irs a resident of Pro\idence, the 
tirst President of the .Atlantic liisui.ime I'omp.iny. d'heir 
children are Mai'\ Sucliet, .\iiiiie Wales, .md William ^Lul- 
r.in, a graduate ed Prow n L'ni\el-il\' in the class ol 187S, 
and now (^iSSi) pursuing his studies at the IJoston Law 
S. hool. 



Iwti^AVNE, nf)X. .Villi \li.\M, eldest son of Solomon 
SK^t a"fl Hannah (Bishop) Payne, w.is burn in Canter- 
*~ .,,s. bury, Windham County, Connecticut, November 
'F 11^, iSl.S. His gr.indiather was I'disha P.i\ne, .t 
J" gradu.iie of V'. lie College, and a lawyer. His great- 
greatgrandt.itlur was I\e\'. Soliunon P.iine (now spelled 
Payne), one of the disdnguished New Light or .Separate 
preachers, of Connecticut, \\ ho, with his brother Elisha, 
an eminent lawyer of his day, were very active and in- 
lluential in the " (ireat /\ wakening " that wrought such 
religious changes in C^onnecticiit and nil Xew England. 
l%lisha's iniprisonnieiit and .Sidomon's pieaihing and writ- 
ings are matters of history. -Mr. Payne piejtared for col- 
lege at Worcester, NLlssaehusetts. Phiinliehl .iiid Prookl)n, 
Connecticut, and entered IJrown l'ni\ersity in iS^b, under 
Hr. Francis Wayland, from which institution he gi.iduated 
in the class of 1840. He pursued the study ot law with 



(ieiR-i.d dliomas Y. Carpenter in Piovulcnce; was ad- 
mitt -d to the bar of Rhode Island September 14, 1S42, 
since wliiih time he has lieell engaged in the practice of 
his piolession in Providence. His interest in jaiblic atlairs, 
liist strongly aioiised by the Llorr Keliellion, has always 
been e.iniesi, and his ability and devotion to his i.rofession 
have iii.ide him a successful counsellor and an alile advo- 
cate. He has liekl \aiious jiositicms in the city govern- 
ment. In l8(j; he was elected Attorney-Ceiieial of the 
State, .mil in 1872 was ap]iointed one of the commis- 
sioners to revise the State laws. In 187S, and again in 
1879, he was elected from Providence a member of the 
General Assembly. His orations and public addresses 
have l-iecn numerous. He delivered the oration before 
the autlioiities and citizens of Providence July 4, 1844, 
and subseijueiitly an oration before the literary societies of 
liiown Lniveisity. Mr. Payne is now the Presiilent of 
the ■Muiiini .\ssociation of the Universiiy. In 1S78 he 
delivered the oration at the iledicalion of the new City 
H.ill. Wuious and valuable have been his addresses be- 
fore the Khoile Island Historical .Society, the last being in 
reference to Jonathan Edwards and his times. He is a 
ready, forcible, and instructive extemporaneous or.itor. 
He maiiicd. Septend'cr I_^, 1847, Anne Wlie.itoii (,'o//ens, 
d.iugliter of Pen^.imin and Mary S. C^'/zciis, of Providence, 
and has h.id four iliildren: Catharine I), (deceased) ; .-\r- 
tliui I)., who gr.idualed from P.row n I'niversiiy in 1872, 
and is now a couiisell<:ir-at-law 111 business with his (atlier; 
(.'h.iiles IL, now a sophomore in Piowii I iiiv ersitv ; Anne 
W. (decease. 1). 

lO.MxS, pKuii-.ssrR John Wiiifi'i.i porrri;, Profes- 
sor of .Vgricultural Zoology and Ciir.itor ot the 
Museum of Prown University, son ol I )r. Nicholas 
' ; and P.ctsiy (Potter) Jenks, was bom in West Povls- 
.l* ton, M.issachusetts, May I, 1819, He is ol the fifth 
generation fiom Hon Joseph Jenks, Jr. (sometimes spelled 
[eiieks, and Jenckes, but in the old English records Jenks), 
the founder of Pawtucket, r<hode Island, who settled there 
about 1(145, having come from ICngland after the arrival of 
his father, Joseph Jenks, Sr., who came over in 1643, and 
settled ill Lynn, M.issachusetts. Hon. Joseph Jenks, who 
rlieil at the age of eighty live, was an iron-worker (forger 
and shapcr). a man of piubiic spirit .md highl)' esteemed 
for his (.'liristian viitues. He served ,is .Vssisi.mt or Lieu- 
tenant tiovernor. He had a son William, who h.ul a son 
JoiKithaii, who mariieil l-'reelove Wiiisor, the granddaughter 
of Roger Williams, jon.ithan had a son Nicholas, who 
married Ailah .■\iigell, a descendant of d'homas .\ngell, 
one of the company lianished with Roger Williams. Nich- 
olas h.id a son, I)r. Nicholas, the f.iiher of the subject of 
this skelili. Professor Jenks enjoyed the ad vantages ol ex- 
cellent home training. At the age of thirteen he came to an 
understanding with his father that he should act for himself 
in obtaining a libera! education. Willi this end in view he 



BIO CRA PIIK ■.-//, C I CL O TED I A. 



419 



coninience<i Iiis preparnlir.n for collet^e lindtT the prisate 
tuition of his pastor, suppoiting himself Ity work upon a 
ntighl)or's farm, and as general errand l)oy for the village. 
At the end of three months Rev. J. W. Parker, D.L)., then 
a young man, offered to take him to Virginia, at his own 
expense, and enable him to continue his studies there. 
In twelve months circumstances made it necessary for both 
teacher and pupil to return to New England, and his la-t 
year of preparation was spent at Peirce Academy. Middle- 
boro, Massachusetts, from which he enteretl IJro\\'n llni- 
versity, in 1834, at the age of fifteen, and griduated with 
distinction in the class of 1S38, with Dr. A. N. Arnold, 
Dr. C. M. Bowers, Dr. A. Burgess, Hon. C. S. Bradley, 
Hon. T. A. Jenckes, Hon. M. Morton, and President E. 
Cj. Robinson. He earned his way through college, as he 
had done during the last year of his preparation at the 
academy. fVom 1S3S lo 1S42 he was engaged in leaching 
in the St.ite of ( leorgia. Returning North, he became the 
Principal of Peirce Academy, and filled that position with 
remarkable success, from 1842 to 1871, in these thirty years 
doing an amount of work that could l)e presented only in 
a volume. In lS72he was elected Curator of the Museum 
of Brown University, and subsequently was chosen Pro- 
fessor of Agricultural Zoology, ^vhich positions he still oc- 
cupies (1881 ). By his wise planning and perseverance he 
secured for Peirce Academy its new edifice, costing ten 
thousand dollars, and subsequently, as his personal gift, its 
valuable cabinets and apparatus, costing at least five thou- 
sand dollars, which with its library ami reading-room 
afforded such rare facilities as caused an increase in the 
number of students, from twenty in 1842, to more than 
two hundred annually, giving it rank among the first 
academies in New England. By the efficient discharge of 
his duties here he attracted the attention of educators 
throughout New England, and prepared the way for his 
permanent association with the managers and instructors 
of Brown University. The nuiseum of Brown University, 
which was in a chaotic state when he came to its con- 
trol, immediately exhibited evidences of his enei'gy and 
executive abdity, and has steadily and rapidly risen in 
value as an educating force, till it occupies a commanding 
place in the University, and is a great attraction in the city 
and the .State. His love of nature, and his proficiency in 
agricultural philosophy and chemistry qualify him for his 
chair of instruction, and give to his lectures the merit of 
genuine enthusiasm. From 1857 to 1862 he served as 
Professor of Zoology to the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 
ciety, in whose published reports may be found the results 
of his investigations on the food of birds, that gave him 
great credit with naturalists both at home and abroa<l. 
Professor L. Agassiz, in liis contrilHiti<:)n to the Natural 
History of the United .States, refers to his invaluable aid 
in furnishing him rare material for his investigations, as 
does also Professor Henry, in his .Smithsonian Reports. 
His love of nature is in^licated in the following extract 



from a series of articles, entitle*! " A Natiir;ilisl in hlnrida," 
written by him, and published in the Xn/iuiuil Tcailurs' 
Monthly, in 1S74. " Though a native of Massachusetts, it 
was my fortune, at the age of thirteen, to enjoy stjuirrel, 
opossum, and fox hunting in interior Virginia ; at nine- 
teen, deer, coon, and bear chasing in Southwestern Geor- 
gia; at twenty-five, plover, duck, and hawk shooting in 
Southeastern New England; at forty, a sight of wild cha- 
mois in the high Alps; and at forty-five, a camp life of 
fifty consecutive days in the miasmatic swamps and ever- 
glades around Lake Okechobee, in Southern Florida." In 
iSjJ he Ijecame a member of the Baptist Church, in which 
he has effectively served as a teacher, licensed preacher, 
and deacon. In the ]>rosecution of his varied studies he 
has travelled largely in the United States, and made 
im|iortant explorations, especially in Florida. He has 
als ) visited l-'iirope, extending his travels to Athens and 
Constanlinnjile. but giving attention ]>aiticularly to the 
higher .-Mjis. His writings on natural science, archrenlogy, 
and works of art, for ]ieriodicals, monthlies, and quarter- 
lies, have been extensive and useful. His anonymous 
connection with the preparation of a popular school of 
zoology will appear by the following extract from the 
preface of the work: "The author would hereby acknowl- 
edge the vital assistance rendered in the preparation of this 
work hy ( i. \V. P. Jenks, A.M., Professor of Agricultural 
Zoology and Curator of the Museum of Brown University. 
His life-long experience and remarkable success in teach- 
ing zoology, together with the wide range of his observa- 
tions, have alone rendered this book i:)ossibIe." He 
married, Octolier 30, 1S42, Sarah Peirce Tucker, daughter 
of Major Elisha Tucker, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, and 
granddaughter of Deacon Levi Peirce, the founder, in 
180S, of Peirce Academy, and donor, in 182S, of the house 
of worship of the Central Baptist Church in Middleboro. 
The children of Professor Jenks are: Elisha Tucker, ma- 
chinist and inventiir of museum locks anti adjustable racks 
and brackets for shelving ; Abbie L., who married, in 1874, 
Joseph B. Simmons; and .Sadie 1!. As a scholar, teacher, 
lecturer, writer, and Christian laborer. Professor Jenks 
holds an honored place among the leading spirits of our 
time. 



ji^|UTLER, Samuki. W., M.D., son of Samuel and 
^j^^ Mary (Pease) Butler, was born in Farmington, 
iTsMB Maine, F'ebruarj' 22, 1816. His parents were of 
HaJ* English descent, and natives of Edgartown, Massa- 
1 chusetts. Dr. Butler graduated at Harvard Univers- 
ity, and pursued his medical studies at the Tremont Med- 
ical School. In 1842 he entered upon the |)ractice of his 
profession in Newport, where he continued until his death, 
excepting two years spent in Providence. In 1S44 he was 
elected a member of the Rhode Island Medical Society, 
and of the .\nierican Medical Association about the vear 



420 



BIO CKA rillCA L C J CL OPED /A. 



lSs2. lie iK'C.Tnie n im-nilicr of tlie l^ro\iiUnce Moilical 
So.ictv in iSfo. I''nr t<piirltcii \i;irs he w a^ a nienilier nf 
the Nfviuut TuMic SchiKi! ( "utiiiiiittcL-, in wliicli he served 
with efTicienev. I)iiiin^ the ('i\il War he was appointed 
Suri;eon by tlie ('Hivernur of KhuiK- Inland, ami reported 
for duty at Fortress Monroe at tlie lime of the battle of the 
Wdderness, ( )n reliiinL^ from the tenipoiary sei \ ice to 
vhich lie had thus been called, he resumed the practice of 
medicine iit Newport. His j^irofessional career was emi- 
nently successful, and he w.as hii;hly esteemed by his fel- 
low-citizens, lie was 'Treasvirer of the Clif^* .\venue Cot- | 
tage .'Vssocialiou at New|)orI. ,tnd for twenty vears a director 
in the First National Hank of Xewpoil. He married, in 
184J, Emilie .\iit;usta Ilackus, daUL;hter of Nathan and 
Huldah Backus, cf FarminL^ton, Maine, one child, F.niilie 
.Aui^usta, beiiiL; the issue of tiiis marriage. [ »r. Liutler dieii 
.■\pril 7, I.SS1. 

?Vry;II '1 ii;X. lliNKV .XiKiNs, mercliant. son of |anies 
yj^Jji and Marv \V. iCIiffordi llid.len. uas born in 
"^"'^f Providence. Rlioile Island, Ilecember 10, I.Sltj. 
I'.. I His father resided for several years at \Val|iole, 
It 1 Massachusetts, and sniiseipiently reino\ ed to Provi- 
dence, w liere he lived until his de.ith, w Inch occurred when 
his son Ilenrv was less than two years of aL'e. Mr. Hid- 
den's mother was a cousin of Betsey Williams, who gave i 
Roger Williams Park to the city of Providence, and was 
a lineal descendant, in the hfth generaiion, of Roger Wil- 
liams. She died May 29, lS6l=i, aged eighty-seven. Mr. 
Huldcn was educateil at private schools in Providence, and 
at an academy at Leicester. Massaehusells. .\fler leaving 
school lie was for some time emplo\'L-d as clerk in a store 
in Providence, and sulisec|Uently. at the a.;e of twenty-one. 
engaged in tlie engraving and copper-plate iirinling busi- 
ness, with i;;eneral Thrjmas F. Carpenter, his half-brother, 
under the firm-name of II. A. Hidden & Co., their place 
of business being in Whitman's Block, at the junction of | 
Weybossetand Westminster streets. In iSjy Mr. Hidden's 
brother, James C, bought (Jeneral (Carpenter's interest, and 
continued a member of the firm uniil 1.S411. when he sold 
out to Hemy .\., who continued the business alone for 
many years. During the early years of the linn they en- 
graved steel and co])|ier ))lates. and tlid an e\tensi\e fnisi- 
ness in printing bank notes fiu the Sate banks. They also 
did general copper ]il,ite printing for manufacturers and 
bleachers throughout New I'.iigland. Previous to 1S4; 
they had become dealers in cotton and cotton goods, and 
in order to devote more attention to this business, which 
had rapidly increased, Mr. Hidden ceased to engage in 
engraving and printing in iSoo. .About that time he be- 
gan business as a private banker. ad\ancing money on 
manufactured goods, and dealing largely in comnureial 
paper. For many years he was the large-t dealer 111 piiiit 
goods in the State, ami having been successful in his in- 
vestments, has accumulated a handsome fortune. In iSo.S 



he received his sons Charles H. and Wilkins \J , as part- 
ners, and the business has since been carried on under the 
lirm-naine of II. .V. Hidden & Sons. At the time last 
nieiUioiied lliey remo\ed to jy Weybosset Sireet, " here 
they Continued uniil .April, l.S.So. when they removed to 
the old (City Buihbng. .Mr. Hidden's other son. Waller, 
has recently ben adnnHed as a member of the hrm. Al- 
though often urged to accept public office, and other pr(*mi- 
neiit positions, Mr. Hidden has usually declined. He has, 
however, served two years as a Representati\ e in the ( Gen- 
eral .Assembly, and from i860 to 1S61 was a member of 
the Pro\idence Board of Aldemien, from the hith ward. 
He was a eorjioiate member anel President of ihe What 
tjheer Bank, and is now a director in several insurance 
companies. He was a charter member of the Providence 
P.o.ird «d" 'I'r.ide, has sersed as director, and is now \'icc- 
I'le-idiiu ol the s.inie. F'or two years he has been an 
acti\e member tjf the Piovi'Jence Commercial Club, com- 
posed of the ino-t piomineiit business men of the .'^tate, 
associ.iteii lor the purpose of ad\ancing the commercial 
interests of the conrmunity. Mr. Flidden is also a member 
c)f the Rhode Island Historical Societ\', in wldch he has 
taken a deep interest. I le married. Clcioliei 14, 1830, .\bby 
A. Lpdike. daughter of Hon. \\ilkins and Abby (Watson) 
Updike. They have had four children, (.'liarles Henry, 
Wilkins Updike, Irank ,Augu-tus, who died in infancy, 
and Walter. The three sons graduated at Brown Univers- 
ity, and, as before stated, are associated in business with 
their father. Mr. Flidden visited Europe with his family 
in 1.S67-68, and travelled extensively in Great Britain and 
on the t'oiituieiit. In 1.S61 he jiurchasetl the estate of 
Walter Upilike.oii Beiielit Street, where he and his family 
have since re-ided. 



F>OPKINS, Wll.l.l.vM Hl'NRY, coal merchant, was 
born at Jamestown, Rhode Island, April 7, 1S17. 
He was the son of C)liver and Rhoby ( Ilathaw ay) 
Hopkins, the former a native of East Greenwich, 
Vr and the latter of E.\eter, Rhode Island. Ilisfather 
was a descendant of Joseph Hopkins, who removctl from 
Kingston to East Greenwich in lyij, and was a successful 
farmer, owning eighty acres of what is now Conanieut 
Park, where he lived from tile age of seventeen until his 
death, ill 1S52, at the age of eighty-seven. He was a 
licensed preacher of the Baptist Church, in Jamestown. 
Mr. Hopkins received such an education as was afforded 
by a good country school. In the fall of 1S31 he removed 
to Providence, where he learned the jewelry business, 
which he followed until I.S40, carrying on the business for 
himsi If bum i>Sj5- In the spring of 1S40, in conseipience 
of his lather's ill health, he gave up his shop and took 
charge of his father's farm in Jamestown, poinding out- 
d.ior work so healthful, he returned to Providence and en- 
gaged in the teaming business, in which he continued. 



Ilf' 





/// 




BIO GRAPHICAL C YCL OF ED I A. 



421 



selling an occa-iinnal cargo of coal from vessels, until 1S49, 
when he entered into prirtnershiji with Jacob Manchester, 
under the firm-name of Manchester& Hopkins, for the sale 
of masons' building material, curbstone, and coal, in con- 
nection with general team work. Being obliged to re- 
move from Dorrance Street wharf, where they w:ere first 
located, they purchased, 1856, fifty-two thousand feet of 
land in what at that time appeared to be an out-of-the-way 
place of business on Eddy Street, corner of Tallman's 
Lane, being about two-fifths of the square running to Elm 
Street, sufjsequently purchased by them to accommodate 
their increasing business. With the superior facilities for 
handling coal thus secured, their sales advanced froiti 2000 
to 200,000 tons jier year, being at one time the largest re- 
tail business in that line transactctl by any firm in New 
England. They also continued to carry on the other 
branches of their business. In 1S64 Mr. Gorham Park 
Pomroy and Mr. John H. Hopkins, both clerks in the es- 
tablishment, were admitted as partners, and the firm became 
Manchester, Hopkins & Co. Mr. Manchester died June 30, 
1871, after which the business was continued under the 
name of Hopkins, Pomroy & Co., Mr. Edgar Arnold Hop- 
kins being subse[|uently admitted as a partner. In 1878 
their brick and lime business was disposed of to Messrs. 
Manchester & Hudson, their former clerks. During the 
business career of Mr. Hopkins he has exhibited an enter- 
prising and progressive spirit, being ever ready to adopt 
new methods and inventions which had been proved of 
practical value. While in the jesvelry business he was the 
first person in Providence to use steam-power in the manu- 
facture of jewelry. Upon the wharfs of his firm commenced 
the improved methods of handling coal. At his suggestion 
the best coal tub then in use was improved, manufactured, 
and patented I)y Focht & Warren, of Keading, Pennsylvania, 
and which is now universally usetl witliout improvement 
or change from his original design. He built, it is believed, 
the first " pockets " ever erected for the storing of coal for 
delivery into carts without labor, which .secured great advan- 
tage in handling coal. These plans became widely known 
and were copied or improved upon by persons coming from 
all the New England .States and New York. Messrs. Hop- 
kins, Pomroy cS: ("o. now occupy two extensive wharves, 
covering an area of nearly four acres; own nine engines, 
nearly one hundred horses, with carts, wagons, etc., to- 
gether with blacksmith and wheelwright shops for doing 
their own wofk. In 1865, Mr. Hopkins's health being im- 
paired from long-continued and close attention to business, 
from which he desired some relief, he purchased a hand- 
some residence and about sixty acres of land in the town 
of Seekonk, Massachusetts, about two and a quarter miles 
east of the city of Providence, iijion which he has since 
spent his summers. He has added to his farm by various 
purchases until it now embraces 125 acres, which, under 
his practical skill, has been transformed and enriched until 
its dense swamps and worn-out pastures have become 



beautiful meadows. He has four houses for his farmers, 
and large horse, carriage, and cattle l)arns, each provitled 
with a windmill for pumping water for use at the barns and 
upon the lawns, a constant supply being kept before his 
stock. He has fifty head of cattle, comprising thorough- 
bred Jerseys and Ayreshires, young and old, which have 
taken a large share of the premiums wherever exhibited, 
and will compare favorably with any of the best herds in 
the country. He has a large steam-engine for cutiing 
and steaming fodder, and a large refrigerator in the barn 
for cooling milk. In the improvement of his land a 
great expenditure has been made for underdraining, 4000 
feet of vitrified pipe having been laid, besides a large 
amount of tile and stone drains. The farm is well fenced, 
mostly with substantial stone wall, and is under a high state 
of cultivation, producing good crops. In 1856 Mr. Hop- 
kins was elected Councilman from the Fifth Ward of the 
city of Providence, which office he held until 1S64. He 
was Chairman of the Committee of Highways, a position in- 
volving a great tax upon his time, and much prudence in 
management. In 1866 he was chosen Alderman for the 
Fifth Ward, which place he held until 1871, when he was 
elected to the General .\ssemlily, to which he was re-elected 
in 1S72 and 1S73, In the Legislature he was Chairman 
of the Committee on Charities and Corrections In M.iy, 

1874, he was appointed by Governor Howard a member of 
the Board of State Charities and Corrections, which has in 
charge all the State eleemosynary and reformatory institu- 
tions, and was reappointed by Governor Lipiiitt in June, 

1875, for six years. Acting in this capacity without com- 
pensation, he has rendered important service to the State 
an 1 humanity. Mr. Hopkins was active in the formation 
of the Board of Trade of Providence, of which he w.as 
Vice-President for two years, being also a member of the 
Committee of Council for several years. In his official life 
he wannly espoused the cause of public improvemments, 
urging forward the introduction of the fire alarm and the 
building of the Point Street bridge. He has been a di- 
rector of the Charitable Fuel Associatinn, and the Provi- 
dence Aid Society, and is now a member of the Mechanics' 
Association, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the 
Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic 
Industry, and the Providence Horticultural Society, in 
several of which he has held office. He is also a director 
of the Bristol County .Agricultural Society. In 1836 he 
joined the " Six-Principle " Baptist Church, of Providence, 
called the Roger Williams Church, which has since passed 
out of existence. He now attends the Broad Street Chris- 
tian Church, and for several years has been President of the 
society. He was one of the first in Providence to aid in 
the organization of the F"ree-Soil party, and afterwards of 
the Republican parly. As may be inferred from the his- 
tory of his career, Mr. Hopkins has executive ability of a 
high order and indomitable perseverance in the conduct 

! of his affairs. He is a man of generous sympathies, ready 



JtnUiKAPllICAL VVCLOPEDIA. 



to 1k'I|i llio unfortuink-, yet cxliil'ititiL,' a cnul jiul^nicnt in 
I he- administration of the cliaiilaMc tru^t^ coniniittcl In hini. 
He niarrieil. June 211. IS^I), Su^.m Arnolil Ellis, of War- 
wick. Rho.le Mana. (lanL;liter ..f llajsey Ellis. 'Ihey 
ha\e liatl seven ehildreii : jolni ileni\-, who niaiiieil. hrst, 
Minnie I.aw i\-nce. and soeonil. l-'Ila lioiis; Khohv Hatha- 
way, who niairied [ohn Adams; Edi;ar Arnold, who mar- 
ried Anna Millen; Amy Eli/abeth, wdio married Earl H. 
Potter; Susan Adelaide, died yuuntj; I'!lla Arrazine, de- 
ceased ; Hatlie Leverne. wdio married Frank Chaflee, and 
died December 2ii, 1S79. 



•HERMAN', RoMKRT, son of Rcihert and Rebecca 
(Fish) .Shentiaii, was born in Nc\\*i"'rt, Rhode 
"Jp"' Island, .Vuiiust ^I, 1S16. His iiarents were both 
f-^T natives of Khotle Island. For some time he nttendeil 
• ■? the |iruate school of Jose|ili Healy. in I'awtucket, 
and at an early at;e seivid .ni a]iiirent;ceshi|> at the ]irint- 
er's trade in the otTice of the /Vrc/«c/(v/ C7/'i"//, /<■, then 
owned and conducted by Messrs. Randall Meacham and 
Samuel H. Fowler. In lS;.S he started the /\r7.'tiii/;,f 
OiiZ'ff,', and was |iros[iered in the nnderlakinj;. In 1S39 
Mr. Sherman ]nirchased the /',}whi.-l\-t C/ironu/f. and the 
two papers were consolidated under the name of ihe Faw- 
tuikel Gazette ami Chroiiitle, Mr. .Sherman having entire 
charge of the bu-iness management, and Mr. Kinnicut be- 
ing the editor. The pa|ier was enlarged and greatly im- 
proved both in its etliiorial character and t\ pogra|'hical 
ap]iearance. The enterprising sj.irit of iis |iidilisher w.is 
at once apjireciated by the public and awarded a lilieral 
|iatronage. In 1S41 the oflice was removed to the corner 
of M.dn and Mill streets, and in lS50totlie .Amos Read 
Hlock, additioiral enlargement aird iniprcjveirient being 
made. In 1S66 it was removed to the large and com- 
moilious Manchester lilock. In 1,^70, after a succes-ful 
career in this branch of bn-iness, Mr. Sherman sold his 
interest in the pajter and j-rinting-olhce to .\nsel I>. \ick- 
erson and John S. Sibley, and devoted his time chiefly to 
the management of real est.ite interests intrusted to him by 
his townsnren. From 1S55 to 1S55 he was Sheriff of 
Tirist<d County, Massachusetts, of whiih State he was a 
resident until the change of bouiiflaiy line; from lS()4 to 
1S71, United Slates Marshal l.ir the District of Rhode Isl- 
and. He was one ol the originators of the I'awtucket 
(las Company, and for several years one of its directors; 
a trustee of the Paw tucket Institution for Savings for 
about twenty-h\e years ; for the same lime a director in 
the New England ami I'acilic t no\\' the I'aeiric N.itiima! ) 
liank, of which he is now I'resiilent ; and for many years 
a director in the I'awtucket .Miilu.d lire Insurance Com- 
pany, ot w liiili he is now I'residc'iit. His sound judg- 
ment, sagacity, and integrity have caused hiin to bel.ogely 
and widely consulted m matters pertaining to tlie value and 
settlement rii est.ites. Since I.S:;o he has been a nieniber 



of the rawtucket Congregational Church, and for four 
years was the .Superintendent of the .Sabb.ath-school, He 
married, in i,S40, Louisa N'ickerson, daughter of Mulford 
and Esther Nickerson, of I'awtucket. They have two 
children: Frederick, who graduated from Brown I'niver- 
sity 111 the class of iS(i2. and Louise, who graduated at the 
N'oung Ladies' .School, under the direction of Professor 
Lincoln. 




;HimPS(>N, Thomas D.vwes, D.D.S., son of 
Moses and Mary ( I-'theridge) Thompson, was 
^j born in Boston, Massachusetts, December 6, 1816. 

r-^ His f.ither was a builder, and ser\ ed as a soldier in 
"»■ the War of 1.S12. His grandlather was one of the 
sturdy \eomani\' of Wobuin, Massachusetts, and one of 
the first to resist the British at Lexington, where he recei\'ed 
three bullets in his clothing without any serious injury to 
his person. His maternal great-grandfather Etheridge 
was killed in the battle of Bunker Hill, and his house, on 
Common .Street, w.is occupied for a time as a barracks for 
British soldiers. The .\nreiican ancestors of the Thomp- 
scm famib' were among the earliest settlers of Massachu- 
setts, and Th(mi|ison l-land,iii Bostim Harlior, was named 
in honor of a man of that name who settled there in 1603. 
It IS saiil that Count Rumford, who leceived his title from 
the British government on account of his scientific discov- 
eries and iinentioiis as applied to the preparation of food, 
was one of the \\'oburn branch of the fanrilv. Thom.as 
Dawes Thompson attended the public schools of Boston 
uritil he was fourteen years of age, when he entereil a drv- 
gonds store of that city and was employed as clerk for 
abrnit two \-ears, after which he ser\e<l an ap[ renticeship 
of fi\e years with a cabinet-nraker in Boston. He was 
then enrjiloyed lor live years in the ] iano manufactory of 
Timothy (Gilbert, in the same city, but finding the work 
too fatiguing, (Ui account of his failing health, he relin- 
C|uished it. and, in I.S40. entered into the drvgoods busi- 
ness in Salem, Massachusetts, in company with G. E. 
Dennison. He continued there for three years, and in 
1843 removeil to Providence. RlK.>de Islan-.l. where he en- 
gaged in the same business with his luother. Having 
indorsed heavily f<u- a friend who failed in business, he 
soon after gavi' up all his property to satisfy the demands 
against him. In i.S44he learned the art of daguerreotyp- 
ing, and opened a gallery in the city of Newburyport, Mas- 
sachusetts, w here he remained about two years, and during 
that perioti pursued the study of rientistry in the office of 
M. It. Smilh. In ( iciober. 1.S4S, he entered the Baltimore 
College of Denial .Surgerv. the first institution of the kind 
in the wiuld. where he gr.iduated in March, 1.S40. He 
then oj>ened an ojfiie in Westminster Street. Providence, 
wheu he has since continued in the successful p'ractice of 
his jirolessiiui. He was tlie fust regular graduate of any 
ileiital college in the State. In 1S74 he received as a 



BIOGRAPHICAL C J CL VPEDJA. 



423 



partner G. H. Ames, D.M.I)., willi whom he «as associ- 
ated for about three and a half years. In 1S54 lie pub- 
lished a book entitled Denial Facts for tlir Pcoj^le, which 
was highly commended by his professional brethren ami 
the public press. In 187 1 he patented the " Dentist's Uni- 
versal Head Rest," a very ingenious contrivance by which 
any desired position of the head can be instantly secured 
and retained, both to the convenience of the ojierator and 
the comfort of the patient. Dr. Thompson claims that he 
was the first person to administer chloroform in New Eng- 
land in the practice of dental surgery, having received 
knowdedge of its use from a student in the Baltimore Col- 
lege of Dental Surgery, Dillwyn (i. Varney, who, in De- 
cember, 1847, made the first use of it in America, having 
volunteered to inhale it as an experiment under the direc- 
tion of Professor Harris. For several years Dr. Thomp- 
son was a regular contributor to the Aniciiiaii yoiiinal of 
Dental Science, and has written occasiijnal articles for 
other dental publications. In 1870 he was elected Asso- 
ciate Fellow of the American Academy of Dental .Science, 
and having resigned in 1879, was elected Honorary Fel- 
low of the same. In 1S57 he received a money prize, and 
in 1858 a diploma for "beautiful and very perfect speci- 
mens of dental art," from the Rhode Island Society for 
the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, at the Rhode 
Island Industrial E.shibition in I'rovidence. He is a mem- 
ber of the Union Congregational Church in Providence, 
antl in his earlier years was an earnest Sunday-school 
worker. Dr. Thompson married, June 2, 1845, Sarah 
Jane, daughter of William and Mary W. (Robinson) Bovv-- 
ers, of Somerset, Massachusetts. They have four chil- 
dren : George Edward, who served about two years in the 
Union Army during the War of the Rebellion, having vol- 
unteered before he was fourteen years of age, and is now 
Commissioner of Highways of I'rovidence; William Bow- 
ers, who is engaged in business in Providence; Ella J., 
who married F. W. Redwood, a banker of Macon, Mis- 
sissippi ; and .\nna A. 



II. had common-school advantages. For a time, Henry 
N. attended the Greenwich Academy and then taught 
school. About 1S43, he began to study what little was 
then to be known of the daguerrean art, with Mr. Plumb, 
in Boston, Massichusetts, after wdiich he began business 
in Newport, Rhode Island. Here Edwin H. joined him 
and studied the daguerrean art. After remaining in New- 
])ort one season, the brothers removed to Providence. 
About this time Henry N., with Samuel Masury, opened 
rooms both in Providence and Woonsocket, continuing 
one season at the latter place; meanwhile, Edwin H. con- 
ducted the business in Providence for the firm. Henry N. 
now sold out lii^, interest to Mr. Masury, and spent one 
season in Pennsylvania. On returning to Rhode Island, 
he united with Edwin H. in business, and the brothers, as 
partners, settled in Providence, where they have continued 
successfully, to the present time (1881), to carry on the art 

I to which their lives have been devoted,— the making of 
daguerrean, crystallotype, and photographic pictures. F'or 
several years, during the watering season, they also main- 
tained rooms for their art in Newport. They were for a 

' long time the foremost artists in their line of work in 
Providence, and their superior pictures are found through- 
out the State, and indeed in all parts of the world. The 
first light-portrayed pictures were shown to the scientific 
world in Paris, in 1 839, by Daguerre, a Frenchman, who, 
though assisted by J. N. Niepce, was the discoverer of the 
process, and so had the honor of having his name attached 
to the pictures. Near the same time the first photographs 
were invented by Talbot, an Englishman, who patented 
the process, arud so prevented it from widely spreading for 
several years. These last pictures were introduced into this 
country about 1850, the negatives being paper rendered 
transparent by wax. .'\t first they were called crystallo- 
types, and afterwards jihotographs. Soon after making 
their appearance in New York and Boston, they were 
introduced by the Manchester Brothers into Pro\iilence 
under their first name, crystallotypes. 



§w|ip.\NCHESTER, Henry Niles .\nd Edwin 
Sjf^^S H.\RTWEI.L, photographers, are the sons of 
'?^^3'' Earl and Lucy (Stone) Manchester. Henry 
OT N. was born in Coventry, Rhode Island, October 
i 30, 1815, and Edwin H. was born in Abington, 

Pennsylvania, .August 17, 1820. Their father was born in 
Warwick, Rhode Island, and afterwards moved to Coven- 
try, where he was engaged in the .■\rkwright Mill for sev- 
eral years. In 1813, he w-as induced to remove to Penn- 
sylvania, where he engaged successfully in the manufacture 
of cotton machinery. He was a typical Rhode Island 
mechanic of the old school, and pursued mechanical arts 
until hi^ death. His grandfather came to this country from 
England. Earl's wife was of the old Stone family, long in the 
State, but originally from England. Henry N. and Edwin 



^S|^?,-\RDEN, Hon. Jihin IIii.i,, manufacturer, son of 
IwSi John and Priscilla (Hill) Kanlen, was born in 
'^^^ Scituate, Rhode Island, August 7, 1816. His 
fir'-i father was a fanner, and his grandfather was a skil- 
>% ful worker of iron ore, which he smelted from ore 
brought from the Cranston mine. Mr. Barden spent the 
first years of his life on a farm, and at the age of sixteen 
went to work in the cotton mill at Ponagansett, Rhode 
Island, where he continued about eight years. He then 
attended school one year at Smithville Seminary, North 
Scituate, after w hich he was employed for four years in a 
store in Ponagansett. In 1S44, he began to manufacture 
cotton goods at the Remington Mill, in Rockland, where 
he continued in successful business for nine years, pait of 
the time in company w ith Joseph S. Manchester, who died 



4^4 



BIOCRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



af'UT a partner-hip of aluait ■^ix niunllis, tlic intercut lie Ictt 
bcini^ [Hircliasc'd Uv Mr. Kar'U-ii. In 1.S5J lie -j^.wn up the 
Inisincr*-^ lit Ritvkhmil. and lniUL;Iil hall ul the null privi- 
lc;4e at I'unag insetl, in L-itnipan\ with iJcnjaniin A. I'uUcr. 
'Iltc mill ha\in^ liccii hutned. they rel'Uilt it in lSs3. anil 
coiitiiiueil In earrv it mi to^etlier until 1 Soo. wliea Mr. 
I'tiller wKliing tu retire, a new eomjianv was fornietl, Mr. 
Harden retaininj; onedialf ihc prujierty and interest. In 
i860 the ca[Kicity '>i the mill w.is rlniihjr.l, and has since 
been increased to six thousand spindles. 'Ihe liltle villaL;e 
of I'onagansett is all under Mr. liarden's control, except 
one house, i le has always taken a deep interest in the 
welfare of Ids operatives; has taken i;real pains to provide 
good hoUscs for them; to encourai;e tlieni to save their 
earninL^s, and to impr()\e their ci.nditiun in life in e\ery 
way. In 1S67. a hall wa> laiilt fur Sunday -school au'l 
church pur[ioses. and during the past ftmr years an even- 
in^^ schoul has been carried on for the benelit of his mdl 
operali\ es who could not attend the public school-.. For 
many years Mr. liarden has l.»een connected with the edu- 
Citional interests of the town and of the Stale, and was one 
of the ardent supporters of the Stale .\..riiial School at the 
time of iti re-establishnient. lie has been Justice of the 
Peace, Town Moderator, and ha> held various other town 
ofhces. In 1S69, he was c-lecled tu the Ibnise of Rejiresen- 
tatives of the Cieneral Assembly t)f Rhode NIand from his 
native town, and in 1S70 and 1S71 ti> llie State Senate. 
He is a ntenibei of Ilaniiliun l.tidi^e of h'reemasi ms, of 
the Scituate Royal (/hapter. of the State (band Chapter, 
and has held various oltice^ in tlie fraternity. In 1836, he 
became actively interested in the cause of temperanLe, and 
has I)een connected with several tem]ierance societies. lie 
became a member iif the ('hri^ian ('hiirdi at h^istcr Cen're 
in 1S34, and is now idcnlilicd with the church of the same 
denoniiiiali )n at Roeklaml. Mr. Harden mairied, hinuary 
5, 1S43, Ann Kli/a, dau;^hler of Siine'-n and Wait Har- 
rin^ton, of Scituate. They have had four childien. all <)f 
whom died while quite ytiun^. 



^KXI)RI<'K. John, manufaelurer. sou of Joseph 
and iVrmeba { Smith ) Krndrick, was born in 
Win Chester, New I lamp^liire. September 2^, I Si 7. 
I His great grandfather, with two bothers, came b'-m 

% England to tliis country, and siitled at Hedliam, 

Massachusetts. His grandlalher, ( )hver Ken.lii.k, at the 
age of sixteen, enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary 
army, and served thri.nghout the struggle for indepen- 
dince, participating in the battles of Lexington. Hunker 
Hill. Saratoga, White rianis, and ^".l^klu\\^. p.hn Ken- 
drick was eiiij'k'ye<l on his father's tann. a tending a di^- 
tiiet school j.art ot ihe time, until the age of eighteen, 
when he bought his time of his father, and served an ap- 



prenticeship of two years with WiUon .Iv: I'ierce, foundry- 
men, at tjreenllel i, Massachusetts, learning the trade of 
me Iter and moulder. After conipletin^^ his api>renHce- 
ship he wurked at his trade in Peterboro', New Hamp- 
shire. Tenipleton, and Worcester, Massachusetts, until 
I )eeeniber. 1S4O, when he remo\ed to Woonsocket, Rhode 
Island, and began the manufacture of loom harness, 
the work at that time being done by hand. In the 
s[»ring of 1S49 he started a branch of the business at 
Worcester, the management of which was intrusted to 
his brother. Joseph H. K end rick. In 1S51 he sold 
the Worcester bramh of the business and renu)ved to 
Providence, where he established his main factory. In 
1S62 he bought the patent-right and the machine for tlie 
manufacture of double- knotted machine loom harness. 
His business increased until sixty hands were emi)loyed in 
his fact<.>ry, and the value of the pr(.iducts amounted to 
Si 50,000 per annum. In October, 1S66, in company with 
his brother, he started another branch of the same business 
in Pall River, Massachusetts, under the firm-name of J. tS; 
J. H. Kendrick, of which his brother had charge. The 
several branches of the business were consolidated in 1872, 
and a stock company formetl, with $i :;o,ooo capital, known 
as the Keiuhiek Room Harness Company, of which Mr. 
Keiidiuk was elected trea-,urer, which ],osiiion he has 
since continued tt" ImM. He served most acceptably for 
three years as a member of the Common Conned <:^{ i'rov- 
idenee. -awA has exerted an influeULe whudi has contributed 
largel)' to the general welfare ol tlie community. Since 
i8tI he has been a member of the Mathew >on Street 
Methodist Kjiiscopal Church in Providence, of whiLh he is 
a tru-lee and steward, and was for many years superin- 
tendent of it-. Sunday-school. For several years he has 
been a trustee o| the Pru\idence C(.)nference Seminarv at 
Past (ireenwich, Rhode Nlan 1, and als{.> a trustee of the 
P<)sion L'lhvLrsity. He wa-. one ot the original organizers 
ol tlie \''iung Men's (Christian Assuci.ition of Providence, 
of whieli he wa^ fnr two years President. P)uring the long 
period ^.A hi-> e<»nneclioii with tlie Methodist denomination 
he has been noted for his zeal and earnestness in religious 
work, and his hosjutalily in entertaining the clergy has for 
many years caused his home to be known as "a ministers' 
holeb" He married, September 20, 1841, Louisa, daugh- 
ter of I )eacon IIe.e!aah Conant, of Winchester New 
Hampshire. ^She died in Much, 1842. ( )u the Ilth eif 
JiiK. 1844, Mr. Kendrick married Laurana I)., daughter 
ol Libbeus and Mary (Ager} Cook, of Maiiboro. .\Lissa- 
chusctls. They have one son, John Edmund, who was 
cducateii at Mi'u ry \: Goffs English and Classical School 
in l'r'i\ ideiiee, and al Wesleyan L'niversity, Middletown. 
Cnnncclicut ; travelled e\tensi\ely with his niotlier in 
haiHtpe in 1873. and is now in the emplcy (»f the Ken- 
drick Immiii Harness Company. He married Phebe E., 
daughter ol |olin R. and Phebe (Raker) Champlin, of 
Westeily, Rhode Island. 




-^ *= 



iSj^ ^ = =^ — 




^'7^2J^/r'^ i^^ 



BlOGRAnnCAL CYCLOPEDrA. 



425 



^l^feVER, Captain William IlrNRV, *on of Deacon 
^^p Daniel P. and Abby (Willi ims) Dyer, was born 
■fa&l in Cranston, Rhode Island, August 12, 1817. He 
4!» is a descendant in the sixth geni.Tatioii from Wil 
'* liam Dyer (at lir-t spelled Dvre), who probably 
came from Wales, and settled in Rhode Island in 163S, 
being one of the nineteen that purchased Aiiuidneck (the 
inland of Rhode Island) of the aborigines, and who became 
the Secretary of the settlers, and finally Solicitor of the 
colony, and whose wife, Mary, being a Quakeress, having 
ventured into M.assachusetts, was put to death, in 1660, for 
her religious principles. Charles, the son of William and 
Mary, settled on Aushuntick Neck, now known as Pocasset 
Neck, north of the present Cranston Print Works, in Crans- 
ton. From him have descended the Dyers who have 
distinguished themselves in Providence and its vicinity, 
among them being Governor Elisha Dyer. The parents 
of William H. were both descendants from Roger Williams 
by marriage, his father on the female and bis mother on 
the male side. William H. was educated in the common 
schools, in private schools in Providence, ami at Kingston 
Academy. At home he was trained as a farmer and in 
the management of the widely known Dyer Nursery, con- 
ducted by his father, which supplied orn.amental and fruit 
trees to a large part of New England and New York. In 
1856 he began the growing of mulljerry trees and the 
manufacturing of silk, carrjing on the business one year in 
Providence and three years in Fredericksburg, Virginia. 
He linally returned to Rhode Island and devoted himself 
to the business of a nurseryman and farmer on the ances- 
tral estate on Pocasset Neck, being associated w ith his father 
from 1840 to his father's death, in 1S75, when he became 
sole proprietor of the nursery and farm. In 1874 he or- 
ganised the Pocasset Cemetery Corporation, of which he 
is the chief manager, it being situated in part upon his 
farm. In 1840 he became a captain in the militia of the 
State. In the " Dorr Rebellion " he was on the side of 
" law and order." In the slaveholders' rebellion he served 
the Federal army and the Union tw o years, the most of the 
time as a recruiting officer, while his age exempted him 
from service. For nine years he was a member of the 
Town Council of Cranston ; for seven years one of the Board 
of Assessors, and a member of the Town Committee for 
public schools six years. In 1S42 he united with the Free 
Will Baptist Church in Olneyville, of w hich his father was 
an honored deacon, and has long served as one of its com- 
mittee to manage its property and other aftairs. He mar- 
ried, May I, 1836, Mary Gorton Tanner, of Cranston, 
d.iughter of Christopher and Sarah (Williams) Tanner. 
She was of the sixth generation from Roger Williams, and 
was born and lived, till her marriage, in the house, on 
the west side of Roger Williams Park, which was built 
by Roger Williams for his son. Captain Dyer has four 
children: (I) William S., who served in the Union army 
during the Rebellion, and is now in an Indian agency 
54 



in Dakota Territory ; (2) Maria Elizabeth, for several years 
a teacher in Providence, now the wife of Albert F. 
Davis; (3) Daniel Peaice, who was in the army for a time 
during the Civil War, and is now with his father in busi- 
ness; (4) Eilvvard Tanner, for six years with the Gorham 
Manufacturing Company, now in business with his father, 
on the ancestral lands known as Mulberry Grove. Cap- 
tain Dyer is widely known as a man of ability, integrity, 
fidelity, kindness, and public spirit. 



ODM.\N, RoiiERT, manufacturer, was born Octo- 

^ ber 18, iSlS. at Tower Hill, South Kingstown, 

'p..':!^.' Rhode Island, where he spent most of his boy- 

' T hood and youth. His parents were Clarke and Mary 

J" (Gardner) Rodman. The former was born in 17S1, 

and died April 12, 1859 ; and the latter was born January 

19, 17S1, and died Juuc 4, 1870. Robert Rodman was 
empIoyed_ in a woollen factory for several years, and at 
the age of twenty-two commenced the manu'"acture of 
kerseys, with a paitner, in Exeter, Rhode Island, where 
he remained for one year. At the end of that time he re- 
moved to Silver Spring, Rhode Island, where he continued 
the same branch of industry until the spring of 1845. ^^ 
then sold Iii^ factory, and for a few years thereafter en- 
gaged in farming and in attending to the interests which 
he had acquired in coasting-vessels. In the spring of 1848 
he resumed business at Eafayette, Rhode Island, where he 
has since been engaged in the manufacture of '* Kentucky 
jeans." He commenced with one set of machinery and 
twelve looms, and gradually increased his facilities until 
his looms number four hundred and fourteen, including 
those in his factories at .Silver Spring and Wakefield. In 
addition to the manufacture of woollen goods, he also 
makes the warps used in the jeans manufactured by him 
at his factory know n as " Shady Lea Mills." Mr. Rod- 
man's success has given him a prominent place among 
New England manufacturers. He served for one term as 
a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly, and 
has otherwise devoted much of his time to public interests. 
He married, April 3, 1S41, Almira, daughter of Colonel 
William and Mary (.Sanford) Taylor, of North Kingstown. 
They have had nine children : Franklin, born January 29, 
1842, married .Sarah R. .'VUcn, August 16, 1863; Hortense, 
burn August 29, 1843, married George O. Allen, January, 
1865 ; Albert, born May 23, 1S45, married Mary Allen, De- 
cember, 186S ; Charles, born March 16, 1848, married, first, 
Mary E. Money, January I, 1S68, second, Ezadore Kings- 
ley, November, 1S78 ; Walter, born March 11, 1850, died 
March 9, 1859 ; Emily, born January 15, 1S52; Walter, 
born February 3, 1853, married Carrie E. Taber, August 

20, 1879; Thomas F., born Feliruary 24, 1857, died Au- 
gust iS, 185S; Almira T., born January 8, 1861, died 
January 30, 1864. Mrs. Ro(.Inian's father was born Octo- 



426 



lUOURAl'UlCAL LVCLOPEDIA. 



iicr I4,17()2. an<l ilifl in Xcitli Kiii'^'^Iuw n I'cliiuan,' 27. 
1845. Ilcr iiifitluf %\ .Is liurii lamiaiN' 21), ly'in. niiti tliuil 
Miuh 20, iSij(i. Mr. i\.nliii..ii's mlf-^ritv and tntLTj'risiii^ 
spirit have caused hini to occupy an inlUicnlial ii(»-iti»Mi in 
the ccMnniunity, and he is highly esieenietl I>y a large cncle 
of aC'iuaintances. 

iVTy^lIEKI.ICR, ('ol.nNI.I. JiiNAIIIAN MARIIN.son of 

Kj/\r''f] Jonathan M.and liaibara ( Mason ) \\'heeler, was 
iv'-i-'^aV horn in W.inrn, Kliodc Islam!. September 8, 
Sy'l. 1S17. I )uiing his childhood liis |iarents removed 
el to New ( )rleanN. Louisiana, where, three years 

afterwardN. hi-- lallur died. \i hen the family returned to 
Warren. His maternal graniU.ithcr. Judge Alexander Ma- 
son, was a native and j'totnineiit citi/en of Warren, who 
held various tow 11 oliices and str\ed as fudge <}\ tliu L'oni- 
mon Pleas (.'(airl of llri-tol ('.)unty. lie occupied the 
homestead which had de^ciauh d Irom Joseph M,i-on. an 
early settler of the to»n of Waireii. The suhject of this 
sketcli received a common-school education, and at the 
age ol I'ourteiii w.is ap])renticed to l)a\id Melvdle, a jew- 
eller I J I'rovnknce, with whom he remained ahout six 
years. At the end of that lime he engaged with li. \- .S, 
(.)wen. as a jouineN man. and w .i^ eiiijiIo\ed 1>\ them .-nd 
other la-nis until I.S4I1. when he liegaii manuf.ictuiing jew- 
elry on l-iKndshi|. Siicet, I'rovidcnce. undci the tirm-name 
of Wheeler, Knight & Co. That linn contiiuied until 
1S54, and Colonel Wheeler cariied on the same hu iness 
for four years thereafter. In 1S5S he went to California, 
where he remained until the h.llowing \ear. In 1S59 he 
returned to I'l-ovidence, and retimed the jeweli.\' fius.ness, 
in which he continued nniil the f.dl of i.Soo, when he re- 
move*! to Warwick, Rhode Island, and there engaged in 
farming. ( )n the hreahing out ofilu- w.vrofthe Rehellion, 
in iSliI, he was elected Colonel of the Mechanic^ Rifles, 
and engaged m recruuing nu-n hn- the .univ. liis ofhee 
being in l'ro\ideiKe. < )n the jjth of 1 leceinliei , iSoi, he 
was commissioned Captain of Comi)any .\, 1- 1 tli Regiment 
Rhode Island VoUmleers, and ]iaiticip ited in the battles 
of Roanoke Island, \ewliern, lort M.ic .11, Kiiist.ui, and 
White Hall. ( in the jd of August, 1S02. he resigneil Ins 
commission, returned home, anil was afterw.irds commis- 
sioned C"aptain ot (.'onijiaiiy (1, same regiment, witli wliieli 
he served until January 20, I.S63, when lie w .is honMiahlv 
discharged. June I. iSiij, he was commissioned Colonel 
of the Third Regiment Rhode Isl.ind Militia. In 1S64 he 
removed to Cranston, wljcie he was elected Tow 11 Clerk in 
I.S66. and Judge of I'robate in 1S70, which offices he has held 
by annual election unlil tin- |. resent time ( I.S.St |. ( oh,nel 
Wlieeler re|iresentcd tlie town of Warwick in the ( .ener.d 
Assembly in I.Sor and 1862. being elected by acclamation 
tile second year, while in the army. Hew. is one of the 
chaiter menihirsof Hope l,o.lge,No 4, liulepeiidem 1 irder 
of ( idd l-'ellows, m 181 i, and has lu-ld v.inous ollices in 
that Iraternity, incliuling tliose of Id.uid Masier of tlie 



Stale, and I itand l'.ilri,irch of the tlranrl Encanrpmeut of 
Riiode Isl.md. h'or four years he was (_irand Repiresenta- 
tive to the tirand Lodge of the United States. He is a 
incmbcr of .Si. John's bodge, Xo. I, of Proviilence, of 
.Ancient I'lie ,iiid .\ccepled .Masons. He married, April 3, 
1S4;, .\deline .Matilda Lawrence, daughter of Walter and 
Jane 1 Stewart) Lawrence, of rrovidence. They have had 
three children: 1-aiiiiia Louise, Oscar Mason, deceased, 
and Line Stew.irt, deceased. 



.\11:RM.\N. Rt Its, son of Henry and Sarah 
y (Thurlicri W.itcrman, was born in Providence, 
'V'*, ?•■ Rhode Isl.md. May 20, 1S17. He is a lineal 
'y'i 'descendant of Ricliaid Watermn, who was an 
XI assocl.Ue of Roger Williams in the settlement of 

Rhode Island. He had one brother, Edward Thurber, 
who died at the age of seventeen. Mr. W.itcrman was 
educated in private schools in his native town, and for 
about four years attended Charles W. Greene's Academy 
at Jamaica I'l.iin. Massachusetts. He next sened as clerk 
for three years in tlie counting-room of Cdinnell Ov Sons, 
de.ders in hardware, ]'aints. and oils, and for one year w ith 
lon.ithati ("oiigdon \ .Son^ iion nieichants. In 1S38 lie 
engaged in [he iron business with Charles H. Mason, on 
Canal .Stiect, i'io\ uh rice, under the hrm-name of Mason 
& Waterman. He subsei|ueiitly carried on business alone 
for some time, and then associ.ited with him Henry T. Cor- 
nett, with whom he continued as Rufus Waterman iV Co., 
until he retired, in 1848, to take a prominent part in the 
business of the Pro\nleiice Tool Compaii)-. This business 
was lirst oig,iiii.'ed in Pautucket by William Licld, Rufus 
Waicrm.in. and others. ( )n the joth of ( ictoUer, i,S40, 
Willi, nil lield, I'reeman Rosier, Rul'us Waterman, and 
Henry r. Col netl organi/eil the Rhode Lland Tool and 
Machine Comiiany, and removed to Pro\idence, the name 
being changed to the Providence loo! Company, .\piril 2, 
1847, and a charter obtained July 12, of the same year, 
Mr. Waterman was one of the directors, and the next year 
he was elected tre.isurer of the company, both of which 
posiiions he coiiiinued to lill until he resigned, March 5, 
i8i;3. .Soon altcrwards, with ,S. A. Nightingale, George 
H. Corliss, .111.1 others, he oigaiii.ed the Providence P'orge 
and Nut Comii.iny, and built the works near the Corliss 
Steam lingine Company, now owned by the Providence 
Tool Company. He served as director and treasurer of 
the same until tlie consolidation of these two corporations, 
April ^, 1856, under the name of tlie Providence Tool 
Compaiiv, when he was elected a director of the latter, 
and continued to Id! tliat position until iJecember 28, 1875. 
Resides their regular business, they mamifaciuied twenty- 
li\e thousand Spiiiigheld musket-, for the L'nited .States 
go\Miimeiit,and tided other conlracts uitli foreign govern- 
ments, and subseiiuently made six hundrei! thousand " Mar- 
tini Henry rilles " for the Turkish government, being one 



BIOCRAPIJICAL CVCL OTEDI. I. 



427 



of the largest contracts for fire-arms ever e-iecuted liy a 
single corporation in this country. Mr. Waterman was 
one of the original stockholders of the Union Oil Company, 
of Providence, among the first to engage in the pressing 
and refining of oil from cotton seed, and served as I'resi- 
nent and Treasurer of the same for nearly tiventy years 
from its organization, in 1856. This company was fir^t 
organized with a capital of Si 50.000, and is now a llonr- 
ishing corporation with two mills, one being located in 
Providence, and the other near New Orleans, Louisiana. 
Mr. Waterman was also connected with many other manu- 
facturing and commercial enterprises. He was elected a 
director of the ENchangc Bank, Providence, February 25, 
iSjI, in which cap.icily he served for thirty-four years, ami 
was President of tin- s.ime from 1S6S until 1.S75. He was 
an original stockholder .nnd director of the Rhode Island 
Hospital Trust Company from its organization in 1867 until 
1875; also a director of the Providence Institution for 
.Savings since October 5, 1S63; was Vice-President and a 
member of the Standing Committee of the same for three 
year>; and has served as a director of several insurance 
companies. Since lS58he has been a trustee of the Putler 
Hospital for the Insane; is a trustee of the Swan Point 
Cemetery, and for more than thirty years has been a trustee 
of various estates, including those of Sally Thompson, Par- 
don Mouen, Richard Waterman, and others. Mr. W.iter- 
man has been prominently identified with many public en- 
terprises, especially the laying out and widening of streets 
and the erection of business blocks. It was maiidy through 
his exertions that Waterman .Street w.as straightened from 
Prospect to Governor streets, about 1839. and North Main 
Street widened and straightened from Mirket Si|uare to 
Smith .Street, in 1S69 and 1S70, involving the removal of 
several brick tjuildings. He was also prominent in secur- 
ing the improvement of Governor, Angell, Brook, and other 
streets. Among the buildings which he w.as instrumental 
in erecting were those of the Providence Tool Company, 
on Wickenden and West River streets, the Elizabeth Build- 
ing and Waterman Building, on North Main .Street, dwell- 
ing-houses on Waterman and Benefit Street, and the lirick 
business block on Exchange Place and Exchange Street. 
He took an active part in politics during the political 
troubles of 1842, which ended in the Dorr War, and served 
on the staff of the Quartermaster-General of the Law and 
Order party. When the new Constitution was adopted, he 
was elected a member of the House of Representatives 
from Providence, and re-elected for a second term. He 
was afterwards identified with the Whig party, and has 
since been a Republican. Mr. Waterman has been twice 
married. C)n the 13th of August, 183S, he married Eliza- 
beth Bowen Greene, daughter of Franklin and Anna E. 
(Bowen) Greene, of Providence. She died July 9, 1S4S, 
in the thirtieth year of her age. By this marriage there 
were six children, four sons and two daughters, two of 
whom died in infamy. Of tlie other-, Henry is a manu- 



facturer, Richard a lawyer in Chicago, Illinois, Rufus, Jr., 
who was educated at the United States Naval .-Vcatlemy, 
and served ten years in the United States Navy, resigning 
his commission as lieutenant December 8, 1871, has since 
been engaged in business as a manufacturer, and Anna B., 
wdio resides at home. On the 27th of October, 1852, Mr. 
Waterman married Emily Greene, sister of his fir>t wife. 
They lived in Providence, on Benefit Street, until 1S78, 
since which time they have resided .at their beautiful coun- 
try seat, "The (Srange," at Potowomut, near E.ast (Irccn- 
wicli, Khoile I-laud. 




VUGH.VN, Syria H., son of .Ambrose and Robey 
} ( Bravt<ni) V'aughan, was born in Coventry, Rhode 
Island, March 30, 1S17. His father was a dea- 
con in the Baptist Church, and highly esteemed for 
his integrity and religious character. Mr. Vaughan 
received a common-school eilucation, and at the age of six- 
teen went to New])ort to learn the business of manufictur- 
ing cotton goods. He remained there eight years, and sub- 
seipiently spent about three years at Paterson, New Jer- 
sey, wdiere he was one of the first in the country to engage 
in the manufacture of niuslin-delanies. From Paterson 
he went to Birmingham, and thence to Xew Haven and 
An-.onia, Connecticut, to introduce into tho^e places the 
manufacture of cotton goods, being thus employed about 
three year~. In 1S47 he begin the same bu>iness in com- 
pany with Christopher .Mien, at Potowomut, Rhode Island, 
in the old Forge Mill wdiere (ieneral Greene worked when 
a boy. Here he remained until 1S49, and then comnienced 
the same business at Hamilton, Rhode Island. In 1875 
he removed to Wickford, where he h.is since lieeii eu- 
g.aged in the coal business. He introduced the manufac- 
ture of narrow fabrics at Hamilton, where it is now ex- 
tensively carried cm by the Hamilton Web Company. In 
iS-JO he took the lead in establishing the Newport and 
Wickford Steamboat Line, and is still a member of the 
Executive Committee of the same. He fitted up " Vaugh- 
an Hall," in 1870, the fir-t place for public entertainments 
established in Wickford. ami in 1868 took an active part in 
founding the Wickford Public Library. Mr. Vaughan was 
for one term a member of the Rhode Island House of 
Representatives, and has served the public in other capac- 
ities. He married, July 3, 1.843, Loisa Hamilton, daugh- 
ter of Anthony and Elizabeth F. Hamilton, of Warwick. 
They have had three children, Willie, deceased, Loisa, 
deceased, and Hattie, wdio marrieil William (begory, of 
Wickford. 



PpTEERE, Gener.m, Wn,l.i.-\M H. P., son of Enoch 
and Rhoda (I'eck) Steere, was born in Providence, 
"^•;T;.J May 5, 1817. His early education was obtained 
*!«' $ in the private schools of his native place. For fifteen 
G 1 a years previous to the ('ivil War he was in the employ 



42S 



BlOCRAPIflCAL CYCLOrKDIA. 



t'f the r>i>^t"n aii'l Tn ividcncL" Rallroal Cnnipanv. lie 
clischarij;i.-il the duties of lii-. olficc with liilciity, nntl to the 
satisfaition oC tht- cmnpanv. Wlien the ("i\il War Ijioke 
out Mr. Stecre olfeicti his senicc^ to the l;o\ einnient. 
Soon aft'-T General, tlicn Culi.'iiel, Uuinsiilc Kft f-ir the 
Scat ol war in eimnn.uul ol tiie I-"ir-t Kh.uU- Uhnul Kcji- 
ment, it wa,^ ]'roiiosetl to raise a seeon.l rei;inient. In this 
regiment Mr. Steere received a captain's commission. The 
coni|>nny of w hu h he h.nl the cninmanil was one of his 
own raising. Iiom the day ol the opening of the armory 
of the National Cadets he was con^t.iiitly luisy in driding 
from five hundred to a thou-and men. among whom were 
not a few welhknown cili/ens of rio\ idunee, including 
several cK rgynu n, w lio w ere re.idy u.) set vc their country 
in such ways as thuv niight make l!iLni--elvcs useful. The 
Second Rhode Island RL-gimeut. in which (';.pt.iin Stetre 
was an oftieer, wa^ mustered inln the I'nit. d St.iles service 
June 5th, iSoi. CidoiicI Siociim heing iIs Lommandiiig 
officer, and left Providence for Washington on the Igtii of 
jane. ' )n arri\ing al the Capitol, it pitched its camp near 
that of the Fir-t Regiment. A few weeks passed an-1 then 
came the fn-^t Mull Run h.ittle wi:h its di--asirous defeat. 
For Ills bravery on ih.il memor,d>le nccasii.tn ('aj't.un Steere 
was promotetl to the rank of heutenant-uiionel. In Sep- 
temlier. w hile in eanip in the old eamping-ground, (.Vilonel 
Steere was ]>ro-lrJted hv a severe all.uk of w hat pr'")yed to 
be chronic dianha-a. and was so reduced that he was not 
expected to live. lie rallied, however, >uflieienily to lie 
.able to return to Rhode Island, M\y\ in a few months had 
so far recovered that he nturn.d to hi-, post of duty. I )ur- 
ing the early m<inth> of iS()j, he saw very hard mili'arv 
service. " T!ie hardship, of one of it^ m.rches," s.iys one 
of its ofiicers, "were among the most severe the regiment 
had ever exjierienced ; for days and iiight-^ luitlnr inrn 
nor hor^e^ had rest; they were olim Wittiotit food, and the 
constant skirmi>liing with (lie enemy told severely on them." 
Colonel Steere, on the iJth of June, 1S62, was ])ri inote<l 
t() the colonelcy of the Fourth Rhode Kl.ind Regiment of 
\'oIunteers. I)uring this year he took pait in se\iral im- 
portant engagmcnts^ especially the famous b.iltle of Antie- 
lam, where he showed the most undaunted bravery, re- 
cci\ing a severe w ound, w hich so disabled him thai he w a^ 
removed to I'liilidetphia. and found a lioinr in t!ie resi- 
dence of Coloiud I'elef krit/. line he lein. lined untd his 
wound was so far liealed as to re-nrler it ])os-ible for him 
to return, in April, lN()j, to his regiment, althougii again-t 
the ailvice of Ins jihysieian. From luly, lS6^, to March. 
1S64, his headquarter-, were near I'ort>moutli. \'irgin:a. 
The brigade with w hieli lie was coniiect'-d saw nun h hard 
service during this period. Fiom ihe time itf In-, return 
tei the front, until hi-, lin.il return home, he was in com- 
mand of either si l<rigade. dui-ion, or pust. He relieved 
(leneral Smith at \oiklo\\ n. in Mareh. 1X114, and was 
I'laced in command of tiia: post, consisting of \'oikltiwn, 
(iloucester Point, ami Williamsbuig. Tins was a position 



of grave responsibility, and his app linlmcnt to wdiieh w a^ 
an indication of the place which he held in the esteem of 
hi- supeiior (iliicers. Subsequently he took jiait in the 
bailies in front of l'eter^burg, X'irgima. While thus en- 
gaged he was attacked by his old complaint, and once 
more so comphteiy pro^tiated that the only hope of saving 
hi- life was to remove him to his home in Providence. 
While coiil'med iiy his siekne>s, his term of service ex- 
pired, and he was mustered out of the service Oitober 
15, |.Si)4. " ( )f no officer," says Hon. J. R. liartKtt, 
"sent by Rhode Nlauil lo the tield, has she reason to be 
nioie proud tli.iii ol t olonel Steere. Tlirough the entire 
three years of service, duiing w 1 ich he hlleti tiie various 
jiO'itions of captain, heulenant-colonel. Colonel, brigadier- 
general and dej artment Commander, he made llie record 
id' a bra\e and elLciuiit ollicer." Colonel Steere re- 
moved lo Ioluisii,n in I,S(.S. lie was apjiointed Post- 
master ol th.t ]ihn_e several )ears since, which position 
he now ( iSNl ) holds. 



ARKIN, IbiN. I'AMll. Frankiin. son of lianiel 
and Riiod.i M.ina ( Sheltield ) Parkin, was bom in 
Westerly. Rhotle Fkmd, June lo. 1S17. Ili^ hither 
i was a latiiiLr; and hi-- grandkidier, .Vbel F.iikin. was 
Te a inoniinent cin/en id Westerly. He worked on a 
fai m and .iitended school until sixteen years of age, when 
he went lo .Mystic, Connecticut, an<l ser\ed an apjM-entice- 
sliip with Creenm,in Prothers, prominent ship-builders of 
that place. Alter ac |uiiing a thorough knowledge of his 
tiade he began to work as a journeyman, and was thu^ ein- 
ploved h>r about thirty year>. In iSm he was app'.KiUed 
keeper of tiie Watch Hill 1 aghlhoiisL-. wdiich positi.m he held 
until iSoS. In that year he built a hotel at Watch Hill 
point, called the I,Lirkiu Hou-'e. winch he Conducted for 
sever. d years in iiannerslup with Harvey and William 
Chajiman, of Westerly. Mr. I.arkin and Harvey Chapman 
linally purchasetl the interest of their partner, William 
Chapman, and have since carried on the business. The 
hotel having been enlarged is now capable of aci. oniinoda- 
ling two hundred and sixty guests. In 1S74 Mr. Parkin 
wiiit lo Palatka. Monda. on the St. Jolm's River, and 
bought a half niierest in the I'utnani Hotel there, which he 
sold in the spring of 1^7^, and the following year built in 
that vicinity a new hott 1. called the Parkin H(»use, wdiich 
he stdl owns, ji, lit <.l his time Iteing spent there and the 
remainder at Waich IIiU. Ftir several years he was inter- 
esied in coast lisiieiies at Watch Hill, being a meml'cr of 
t!ie W.itcli Hill l-i-'hing (.'oinpanv. He was for sometime 
a member ol the 'Pown Counal, and represented Westerly 
in the Ceneral Assembly in iS^y, iS^S, iSvi. iS >o. and 
1S75-74, serving two years in the lower House and three 
years as St;:te Senator. He is a member of tlie .Seventh- 
1 )av Raj list Church in Wi-steilv, and lia> been prominently 
identilied with the Masonic iraternity and the Independent 







W'' 



H 







'^.l.^i 



•#-; 



/■ ; ^ 




^ rr / iC 



BlOGRArillCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



429 



Ortlor of OiM Fellows. lie manicd, Oclnbcr 19, 1S43, 
Martha Hiscock, daughter of Clark an 1 Mary ( White 1 
Hiscock. They have had five children, KraTiklin, Martha 
Jane, Sarah E,, Albert Clark, deceased, and Daniel Way- 
land. 



^^LOCUM, Stephen P., Mayor of Newport, was born 
in rortsmonth, Rhode Island, March 16, iSlS. 
In childhood he received an ordinary conimon- 
f school education, and in early boyhood bejan to 
J' provide for himself by hnne>t industry. At the 
age of nineteen he learned the trade of a tinsmith, which 
he followed for .several years. Being diligent in business 
and pronift in the discharge of all his obli.;ati"ns, he early 
won the respect of the community, and has been called to 
fill important offices of trust and honor. His prominence 
■as a citizen, and his political influence, secured for him in 
1S52 the appointment, by President Pierce, of Custom- 
House inspector of Newport, which po-ition he filled with 
efficiency for four years. In 1S58 he began the market 
business in Newport, in which he has continued success- 
fully to the present time. In 1872 his townsmen elected 
him a member of the Board of Aldermen, and in 1873 ^'* 
was chosen Mayor of Newport, which office he filled three 
terms in succession. In 18S0 he w-as the Democratic can- 
didate for Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island, when 
the Republican party elected all of the State olTicers. In 
the .same year, soon after his party's defeat, he was again 
elected Mayor of Newport, which office he still holds. In 
February, 1851 he married P'rances D. Lautun, daughter 
of J'ames and Ann Lawton, of Newport. 



fe^^PENCER, AVii,i,i.\M, merchant, clde .t son of Christo- 
Sj^ji pher and Cclia (Westcott) .Spencer, was born in 
^^ Warwick, Rhode Island, March 20, 1S17. He was 
['.! employed on his father's farm and in his store until 
he was nearly fifteen years of age, wdien he went to 
Providence and served for five years as clerk in the store of 
P. W. Gardiner, grocer. Subsei|Uently for a year and a half 
he was employed in the same capacity witli J. !•". I'ond, and 
then commenced the grocery bu>incss on his own account 
May I, 1S38, buying the store of William L. I'leld, on 
Weybosset Street, where the Equitable In-urance lUidding 
now stands. In 1866 he removed to \o. 63 Dorrance 
Street, w-here he has since been engaged in the wholesale 
grocery business. Mr. .Spencer's mercantile career through- 
out has been attended with success. He has been called 
upon to fill prominent official positions. He was a member 
of the Common Council of Providence from 1S56 until 
1S62, and from 1869 until 1871, serving most of that time 
as chairman of the Finance Committee. He was elected a 
member of the Board of Aldermen in iSyi.and servetl 
until 1S73, when he declined to be a camiidale. In 1874 



he was again chosen a member of the Common Council, 
and re-elected until 1S77, when he was elected to the Board 
of Aldermen, of which he was a member until iSSo. In 
the latter year he was a candidate for the office of Mayor 
of Providence, having been nominated by the Citizen's Con- 
vention and the Democratic party, but was defeated by the 
Republican nominee, Hon. 'Phomas A. Doyle. Mr. Spencer 
received 2635 votes. Wliile a member of the Common 
Council and of the Board of .\ldermen he served on many 
imjiorlant committees, and his public service throughout 
was marked by a pronijit and faidd'ulilischarge of his duties. 



^^^KREENE, .'\I.IKN', was born in Gloccster, Rhode 
ILCiR Isl''ii"'> ^i-^y -■• 1818. He is a descendant, in the 
V??i| eighth generation, of lohn Cireenejwdio came from 
£■[•& Salisbury, England, to Providence in 1642; settled 
k- in Warwick in 1643; and whose eldest son, John, 
was a Deputy-Governor of Rhode Island. Mr. Greene's 
parents' were William and Phebe (Brown) Greene. His 
father was a thrifty farmer and a member of the Society of 
Friends. Hi-- mother died when he was an infant. At 
the age of fifteen he went to Providence and was appren- 
ticed to Charles Smith, a carriage-maker, with whom he 
served five years and three months. Before entering upon 
his apprenticeship he resolved to abstain from the use of 
intoxicating drinks, which he regards as the turning-point 
of his life, as the temptations to which he was then sub- 
jected were very great. Having ac<[uired a thorough 
knowledge of his traile, he bought a small shop, and in 
1S38 connnencet.! the business of carriage making on his 
own account, which he has carrieil on successfully until 
the present lime. He eaily established a reputation for 
good work, w hit h he still maint.iins, and has liuilt uji a 
large ami profitable business. .Specimens of his work may 
be seen in \arious parts of the country. .About the year 
1S59, the Khedive of Egypt having orilered a representa- 
tive carriage from the dilTerent nations of the world, Mr. 
(ireene w.is .selected to build the representative American 
carriage, and chose the New ICngkind chaise. There be- 
ing no limit to the jirice, it was finished in the most elab- 
orate mnniier. Besides being a successful Inisiness man, 
he has lieen prominent and efficient as a ]"iublic official. 
He was a member of the Common Council of Pro\idence 
from 1863 to 1S64, from 1S66 to 1S67, from 1S73 to 1S75, 
and re-elected in 1879. In this branch of the city govern- 
ment he has served on the Committees of Ivlucation, Police, 
and Highways. He is now a member of the Committees 
on Claims and Waier. While on the Committee of Edu- 
cation, the school-houses on Jackson .Avenue, Messer Street, 
and Summer Street were buill. He was also appointed a 
member of the Joint .Sjiecial Committee to build the Doyle 
.A\eniie scluxil house, r.nd \\ as chiefly instrumental in its 
successful and i-conoinical completion. .Ml of these buiUl- 



4.)0 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCI. OPED I A. 



in^-^ are modcK in tlicir con'-tnunion. lie w.is i-lccteil to 
iIk- (iL-ncral AsscniMy of Klimk- Muid in 1872, 1875, 
1871). nixl 1S77. Wliilr :i menil'rr of that hixly lie -^ervcl 
on ininuTDU^ uii]^'>r'ant committees, nu'i was chainnan of 
the I'lint Sju-eial ('omniittee lo revise the prison laws of 
the State relatiiii^ I'l eharilies and corrections. These laws 
were all chaii^e'l. and the nianaf^ement placed under the 
direction of one board instead of two, as formerly. Kelt- 
ruary 2S, 1S77, he was appointetl by Governor I.ippltt to 
fill a vacancy on the lioard of Commissioners, to build the 
new Rhode Island State Prison, and was selected by the 
Board as Apent to manaj^e the entire financial dejiartment, 
incbi'lin;^ the ]>aymcnt of workmen (the pay roll then 
amountinL; to nrarly six thousand dollars jier niontii), and 
was intrusted with the ])urchasinij; of material and a i;en- 
eral oversij^ht of tlie whole business. In Tuly. 1S44, he 
married Miss Nbiria 11. (on'v. of Jloston. Their children 
are 1 .ewis A.. Forrest, Kmma R., and Josephine. Mr. 
(oeene is a menilier of the Westminster I'nitauan Society. 
Soon after his arrival in !'ro\ id'iice, in c irly life, he joined 
tile Vouni^ Men's Ly(euni. This society resolved itself 
into the ]-"rankiin Lvceuni. of winch he was a mjinber for 
more llian twenty-tive years, and to which he i^ larijjely in- 
del>ied for his education, as it affotded very superior means 
for nitellectual improvement. Mr. * Ireeiie is a man of 
stron*^ convictions, and an earnest advocate ijf ri^ht. 



vice is not alwav^ secured. Mr. Howard, as was sai<l of 
him, " was one of llio^e men who do a vast deal of work 
for others' benefit, and are greatly esteemed and relied 
upon in the circles of jirivale life in wdiich lliev move; the 
noi^y world hears little of lliem, but ihey are well known 
anions; the p<ior and the unfortunate, in the associations of 
active benevolence, and in the Christian Church." He 
died in Providence, Decemiier 9, iSOrj. In lS:;7 he mar* 
ried Elizabeth Styvesanl Neilson, of New York, w iio with 
two sons and a tlau;/liter survived him. 



■^OWARI), EzKA WiiiiAMs, son of Thomas and 
^iJP^'] Mary ( I lumphrey ) I low .nd, was bom in i'to\i- 
.-. ^-rr - dence, Marcli 1 '^, iSiS. Hi> pret^iratmn fi-r Li-b 
^ lei;e was made, lirst, al the Mt. Pleasant Aca<lein\', 
9 .\iiiherst. M.issacluiselt--. wdieie his in^tiuclor was 
Thalchei Thavei. now Rev. I >i . Tii.iyer, of Newport, and 
was completed iin<ler the tuition t.>f Profi^ssor ( ieor<;;e W. 
(ireeiu-, at the l'nivei-.ilv ( bannnar ScIio.jI in Providence. 
He was a i^raduale of Piown L'niver^itv in tin- elass of 
I S^^S. ( )n Ieavin|4 Co]|ei;e he commenced the study of law 
in I'loMilence, in the olfice of Peter Pratt. Ks[. He pui- 
surd his studies for tliree years, and was admitted to the 
bar -if Rhode Island in 1S4I. The state of his health and 
his di^ta.te for the clelails of his prr.fession, led him to de- 
ci'Ie not to enUr ii[ion the [uaclice of law. In Ids ]>ecu- 
niary circumstances he was independent, and able to folhuv 
his own inclinations. Accordini^lv. he devoted some time 
to such ini])roveni<nt as is gained bv tia\el, and when at 
home he was enL;a;^'ed in various employments by which he 
nii^ht make himself Useful to others. When yr>un;^, he 
became a communicant in M. b ilm's ( 'hiin h. I*"or fifteen 
years he was the siipi-iinlendent of the Suinlay -school of 
that parish, and \-'X nine ve.irs one of the wardens of tiie 
church. For the lon^ ]'eiiod of nearlv tu mtv-eii^h! )eais 
he was the treasurer of the di iscesan convention. In all 
the oHaes whnh iir ludd he was sin miI.hI v t^a hfiil, and 
ruideied essintial ser\ ice m direi tioiis wiieie liie best m r- 



^|^jj|;]^ILLFR, WiiiiAM JnNKs, son of James and Ro- 
^yAI ^""-'^^'^ Smith ( Monro) Mdler, was born in Rri tol, 
'"'i^-'T^'f Rhode Island, lanuary 10. iSlS. His i;r,,nd- 
gj'ls father, Nelson Miller, served six years in the 
2I Ke\olutionary army; was in the battle <if Hunker 

FIill; was uniler Washinj;ton at Trenton and Princeton, 
andduiini; his memorable retreat from New York; expe- 
rienced the terrible hartlship-. with the army at Valley ForLje; 
was jMCsent at the surrender of Cornwallis, anil in midwin- 
ter wall^ed home fn)m the army, then at Yorktown, \'ir- 
ginia, to Riiode Islanil. He received a pension iox his 
service^. At the time of liis (leath he was in his ei.^hty 
sixth year. Mr. Miller's father and mother were descend- 
ants ot Richard Smiih. tlie (ir-t town-clerk <d" Piistol, whft 
entered upon the duties of that o!fice in 1084. In Mr. Mil- 
ler's possession is an ancestral tiee, from wdiich it appears 
that he is connected with a large number of the old and 
respected families of Bristol. Some of his ancestors occu- 
pied pnimincnt public po-itioiis and serve<l as re|>resenla- 
ti\es in the ( ieneral Asseml.'ly. < >ne verv memoi.ible ch.ir- 
actcr among them was Hope Nelson, wliodied in I/Sj, 
at the remarkable age of one hundred and five years, and 
]>robablv knew personally one or more of the li:tle com- 
pan\ that c.iine o\ er in the ^bn■flo\\ er. Mr. M iller recei\'eil 
his ediic.itioii in the HiTtol schools. At the age of hiteen 
he began to learn the printer's trade in the olfice of the 
P>ristol (i<izi-!t,\ where lie remained one year. In 1S36 he 
commenced work as a compositor in the office of the Pro7-- 
it/cn.c yoN I'll 111, w heie he 1 euiained about three years. 
In I.S42 he became associate<l witli l.ow lV Miller in the 
publication of the Piovii/nn-c Pal/y Pxprr^s and AVu' Ax^<\ 
the organs of the suftVage and con^ittutiona! party, and took 
an active j^arl in the poblical excitement of that year, 
known as the '* Dorr War." Soon after the State election 
in ihe spiing of 184^^, the publication of these papers was 
disconlinind. In the fall of 1S43 he entered into a con- 
tract I" pruit the J'ro:-iJri!i-,- Cizctic aii.i CJtroiii.L' for 
b-si-ph M. I liiMi h, and continued tlie same until the year 
lS|,3. when he was ap]iointed <_'o||eLtor ol ('u^loiiis for til e 
Port of Bristol and Warren, by i'resideiit Polk, w hicli posi- 
tion \\r lirld lor f )ur years, the slupping ol the port in ihe 
West India trade l^ing (piile e\tensi\e at tluil time. Kaily 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCL OPEDIA. 



451 



in 1S50 he returned to Providence, and, \\ itli \Vclcome B. 
Sayles, started the Providence Daily a>td UWl:/)' Post, 
under the tirni-name of Sa\les & Miller. Sulisequently the 
Kepiiblican Hcralil, the old organ of the Democratic ])avty, 
was purchased, and the puhlication of these papers was 
continued under the firm-name of Sayles, MiUer & Simons, 
and Bradford, Miller & Simons (Bradfoul representing 
Sayles's interest), until 1S61, when there was a sale and 
transfer of the establishment to other parties. Mr. Miller's 
connection with the paper, however, did not cease until after 
the close of the Civil War. The first vote Mr. Miller cast 
for President was for Polk in 1S44. He has been a firm and 
consistent advocate of Democratic men and measures to the 
present time ( 1S81 ). He was a delegate from the -State to 
the National Democratic Conventions in 1S56, '64, and '72. 
For several years he was the Democratic nominee for 
Secretary of State for Rlnxle Island. In 1S5!; the (ja-. 
Works of Bristol were started, since which time he has 
acted as secretary and superintendent of the company, and 
in Inniiary, 1869, was appointed treasurer, which offices 
he still holds. He has also been a director of the company 
since its organization. In 1859 he was elected Presiilent 
of the Town Council of Bri>tol, which office he held one 
year, and in 1S70 was re-elected, and servetl for two years 
in the same capacity. He is at j^resent, and has been for 
about twenty years, a member of the .School Board of Bristol. 
In 1853 he served as First Clerk in the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the Rhode Island General Assembly, and in 
1S63 occupied the same position. In 1S73 and '74 he 
represented the town of Bristol in the Lower House of the 
General Assembly. In 1S61 he became a member of the 
Congregational Church of Bri>tol, of which society he was 
President for seven years. In 1S44 he united with Eagle 
Lodge, No. 2, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and 
passed through the chairs of that lodge. In 1S70 he re- 
newed his interest in that order and became the First Noble 
(Jrand of United Brothers Lodge of Bristol, passing through 
the chairs a second time. He at once became a member 
of the Grand Lodge of the Grand Encampment of the 
State, and in 1873 was elected a member of the Grand 
Lodge of the United States, representing the Grand En- 
campment of Rhode Island, and served si.\ years. In 1S57, 
in company with George H. Norman, Est]., of Newport, 
he built the Gas Works at Willimantic, Connecticut, and 
has ever since been the treasurer and superintendent of 
the company. Since retiring from journalism he has de- 
voted much of his time to the study of history, especially 
the history of the Rhode Island Indians. In 1S74, at the 
request of the Rhode Island Historical Society, he read a 
paper on the Wampanoag Indians, which was received 
with so much favor that two others were pre|-.ared and read 
in 1875 and '76, and published in book form by Sidney S. 
Rider, of Providence. They created a deep interest in the 
society, and led to the commemoration of the two hun- 
dredth anniversary of the death of King Philip, by placing 



a stone to mark the place of his death. Mr. Miller has 
been a member of the society since 1S73. In December, 
184.4, he married Lydia Mason Bushee, daughter of Luther 
Bushce, of Providence. ,She died in i860. In the fall of 
1S61 Mr. Miller married Abby Frances Luther, of Bristol, 
dau;.;hter of Captain Hiram Luther. There were three 
children by the second marriage, the first of whom died 
in infancy, and the names of the others being William 
Nelson and Charles Luther. 



I^^^NOW, GeiiRCF. W.vsiIINCTiiN, merchant, son of Ben- 
sSS! jamin and Ansti^s (Gladding) Snow, was born in 
^■jb^i Providence, Feljruary 27, 181S. The first ancestor 
AA of his family in this country settled near Taunton, 
* Massachusetts, about 1650. Mr. Snow's father, 
grandfather, and great-grandfather were house carpenters, 
and the latter. Deacon James .Snow, of the Beneficent Con- 
gregational Church, in Providence, assisted in the erection 
of the first church edifice on Broad .Street, while the first 
pastor of the Society, Rev. Josejih Snow, was a brother of 
the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Mr. .Snow 
was educated in the public schools of Providence, and at 
the age of fouiteen was employed fur a short time by New- 
ton Carpenter, a merchant tailor. In 1833, he entered the 
wholesale and retail drug house of John H. Mason »& Co., 
in Providence, ami was subsequently in the employ of Earl 
P. Mason and Earl P. Mason & Co., Benjamin M. Jackson 
being a member of the latter firm. In 1S56 Mr. Jackson 
retired, and Mr. Snow and (ieorge L. Clatlin, a fellow-clerk, 
became associated with Earl P. Mason, and continued 
under the old firm-name of Earl P. Mason & Co. Other 
changes occurred in 1859 and 1S65, ami in 1S66 a new 
firm was organized, consi-ling of Messrs. .Snow, Clatlin and 
Mason, under the style of .Snow, Claflin & Co., Mr. Mason 
being special partner. In 1872 the partnership expired by 
limitatitm, and a new firm was ftinned, but Mr. Snow was 
obliged to retire on account of ill health, and has not en- 
gaged in business since that time. His experience in the 
drug trade extended over a period of forty years, and the 
business of his firm became the largest of the kind in the 
.State. The house is now known as Mason, Chajjin & Co. 
Mr. Snow was fretpieiitly requested to become a candidate 
for public office, but invariably declined. He has been a 
director of the Third National Bank in Providence since 
1878, and is also a stockholder and director in the Slater 
Cotton Company, of Pawtucket. In 1839 he joined the 
First Light Infantry Company of Providence, and is now 
a member of the Veteran Association of the same. Though 
not a church member, he is a regular attendant at the West- 
tninster Congregational (Unitarian) Church. He married, 
Se|«ember 16, 1844, Lucinda M. Le Valley, daughter of 
Stephen J. and Charlotte T. (Crumb) Le Valley, of Provi- 
dence. They have had five children, but one of whom, 
Louis Franklin, is living. 



432 



JIIOCRAPIIICAL C\ CLOriiDIA. 



^AM IS. I Ion. Ui ni \MIN Tl'cKTK, ■mhi cif Jamc^ ami 
.'Tjf Sarali I .\lumfu|-.l 1 KallK■^. wa^ lioiii in Dodliam, 
'.;,, '7 ,;.' Mas^acluKi-lt-;, luiio .), iSiS. I)i iSjo lil-, parciiN 
'■■[ ^' / I'ciiKivrti to riDvuKnce, \\ Iiuic lil^ latiicr icsitlcd 
L"J until lii> (Ic itli, ill lS'>;,aii'i w lici\' liis niiitlier iiuw 
re^iiU-^ ill licr iiiiu;tv-tir^t \i.-ar. In uaily lite Mr. E.uiics 
liail the ai-lvaiita;4es of tlie scliool^ in Pixivideiice and of 
sijinc of the leadin^j aca<Ieniies of Massachusetts and Cun- 
iK'Cticiit. At the ai;e of si.\tecn lie was jil.ieed in tlie 
countin^iooiii of Martin SlOiUl.nd ^; L'o., where he le- 
mamed for a year or two. and i\w\\ as booklvceper entered 
the eni|)loy of Messrs. Uates & Ilutchins, wliolesale dry- 
goods nierch.ilits, and sul)se([UeiUh' the ellipiov' a\ Messrs. 
IJoiden iN: IJowcn. who were aetin^; as the ai^enls of the 
l;i ickstone Manufacturing Cirmpany, and olhtr mills, 
.Tn 1 the finimi.il agenis of the .American I'lint Works .md 
other manuf.ieturing estaljlishmenis in lall Koer. In these 
.situations he ac'|uired a general knowledge of the modes 
of Irans.icting Imsiness, which w.is of csjieci.d ser\ice to 
Ilim in the l)rofes..^ion wdii. h hecainc the occu]iation of the 
greater pait of his life. In the fall of lS;S he entered 
upon a prc[iaratojy course of studv. with a \iew to adopt- 
ing the jiiacticc of law as his peini.inent occup.itirin, and 
under the ilistiuction of I'lofessor S. S. (jleene, now of 
Ihown L'ni^ersit}', lucpared for, and in tlie fdl of iS^g 
entered the I'leslinian lI.is> of \'.ile College. He gr.ulu- 
aled at N'ale in 1S41, wi:h a f.iir standiig in his class. 
Inning hi, collcgiite course he availed hiinsell of the ad- 
vant.iges ol the debating and literary societies of the Uni- 
verity, in which he took a s]:eci d interest. Immediately 
upon the clo-e of his Senior year, .ind during the vaealion 
hetore grailu.uion. he entered hi^ n.inie as a law student in 
the olt'ice of the late Chiel justice .Ames, with whum was 
a-sociated Uollin Mathcwson, Ksip, of I'rixidence. .\t 
the same time he was engaged as tcaiher in the .\c.ulemv 
at North .Attleliorongh. for alxiut si.\ nmnths. emploving 
his leisure time in pursuing the sturly of law . In the spring 
of iS.p^ he went to Cincinnati. ()liio, and entered the law 
ollice oi tlie late Hellamy Storer, where he rcmainctl until 
the lollouing winter, when he was admitted to jnactice in 
the courts of Kt ntncky. U|ion his return to Khoile Island, 
in iN.ls, he was admiUed to practice in llie couits of that 
Sl.itc, .iiid since then, except lor the la.t ten year-, has keen 
actively engaged m hi- I'lolession. With a h.ird stiuggle 
in the early pait of his proles ion. il i areer. he succeeded 
gr.idually in ohtaining a reniuner.uue pr.ietice and a ]ir tini- 
nent position at the bar. hrom iSS^s lo i.Sjo lie seivcd as 
Recording and Reading Clerk of the House ol Re|-resent- 
atives of Rhode Island, and during a part ol tli.it lime was 
the reiiorter of the jiroceedings of the tlenci.il .As-emblv 
fiH- the J'l r'ri.i, ii.r /hii/y Jiniinal- In 1X5.1 he was elected 
.Senator liom the city of Providence to the (leneral .As- 
sembly, and was re-elected to this ollicc in I.S55, I.S50, I.~>59, 
and lS(\;, He was a member of the Slate House of Rep- 
resentatives in 1859, I,S6S, and lS6y, serving the la;.t year 



as .Speaker. He was one of the commissioners on the re- 
vision, in lS;7, of the public laws of the .State of Rhode Isl- 
and. In iS )0 he was a deleg.ite to tile Republican Conven- 
tion at Chicago which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the 
Presidency. In iSyohe was elect d a Representative to the 
I'l-Mty second Congress from the hirst Histiict of the .State, 
and w.as re-elected to the Forty-third, Forty-fourth, and 
I'"orly-lli'th Congresses. In the Forty-second Congress he 
served on the Committee on Elections, and Revolutionary 
Claims .ind the War of 1S12; in the Forty-third Con- 
gress, on the Committee on Patents and the Committee on 
Private Land Claims ; in the Forty-fourth Congress, on the 
Committee on Hanking and Currency; ami in the Forty- 
lil'tli (_'ongress, on the same committee (being the only rep- 
resentative on that committee from the New p'.ngland 
.St.ites), and on the CommiUee on Expenditures in the W.ir 
I )ei>aitment. .Among his speeches in Congre-s w Inch have 
been jiubh-hed aird circnl.ded, are those on the presentation 
of the statue of Roger Williams by the .Stale of Rhode 
I-lai.d, Currency and Free Ranking, Counting the Electoral 
Votes, Repical of the Rcsumpti m Clause, Coinage of the 
Silver Iiolkir, Treasury .N..tes as a Sub-tilute h.r N.ition.d 
Rank .Nole^, ihe I\iritf, Letter Carriers, Rediiclion of Let- 
ter Po-t.ige, Silv'.r Certilicates for the Silver Coin and liul- 
hon of the World, and Postal Savings Ranks. Mr. Ikimes 
liecame ideiitiheil with the Reiniblican party at its liist or- 
gaiii/..t!on ; lie stood by it through the struggle for the 
nation's life, and has since been a lirm supporter of its 
|iiiiici| les anil policy. In the fall of lS7.S he declined to 
be a candidate for re election to Congress, ami ujion his 
return to Providence was elected a Member til the House 
of RLpicscnl.tivcs of the Ccneral .As^eniblv, whuh oliice 
he now holds. He was married, in Warwick, Rhode Isl- 
and, .May g. lS_;9. to Laura S. Chapin, daughter of Jo-iah 
anil .Asenath (Capronl Cha| in. His wife died ( )ctober I, 
1872. He has two children living, a son, W.ildo, and a 
tlaughtcr, I.atiia. 



hli\'. I'HIN' II. , merchant, son of Jarvis and Mary 
(Hill) I'Mdy, was born in the town of I-\j-ler, 
Rhode Isl.ind, June 1, i,Si.S. He is di-scended in 
,. two distaiit lines fiom Rev. William Fddv, \'icar of 
•'■',' Ciainbrook, I-higi.ind, whose sons John and Samuel 
came to .\iiu-i ica, die latter settling in Plyinoiitli in the 
year iii;i-'- H's grandi\,ther, I 'ai-tain John F.ddy. wasin 
the Revolution.iiy army. He is descemled also fiom two 
di-iinct lines ol the Hill family, aiul frt.nn Hugh I-Ntone. lite 
first settler, whose nronuinent is near the Providence Wattr 
Works, at Pettacon-el. Mr. Eddy's mother having died 
when he w.is >.ight vears of age. his e.irlv tiaiiiiiig devolved 
u| on Ills f.ither. a kind. Christian paieii!,who nurlttred 
hiiii with tender solicilude. His eleiii'nt.irv educalion was 
leceived at a common school, which he attended both in 
winter .md summer. He vii-[da)ed an eager elcsiie for 



BlOGRAnriCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



433 



learninc^. aii-I when Imt ten or twelve years of age showed 
much determination and self-discipline in his jjerseveiing 
study of the various common-school branches, pursuing 
them by early candlelight for months in succession, in his 
endeavors to add to his stock of knowledge. He became 
a clerk in the stores at Ponagansett and Richmond, Rhorie 
Island. While .it the former place he taught for two win- 
ters, in the evening hours, a school of operatives. At the 
age of sixteen he commenced teaching a small school in 
his own neighborhood, and at twenty, passed several terms 
at Smithville Seminary, North Scituate, Rhode Island, 
where he mastered several of the higher English branches. 
He then taught one continuous year at Rockland, and soon 
commenced trading at Mount Vernon, in the southern part 
of Foster. After his marriage he removed to Providence, 
where he became a clerk for the Providence and Worcester 
Railroad Company. A few years sul)s^queutl)', in 1S49, 
he commenced the wholesale wooden-ware trade, which 
has become an extensive and successful business. He has 
exhibited much perseverance and energy in all his under- 
takings, and his integrity has Ireen unas-^ailed. In the year 
1841 he was elected Colonel of the Seventh Regiment of 
Rhode Island militia. He was a member of the conven- 
tion which secured the adop'.ion of the present Constitution 
of the State, and an extension of the elective franchise, of 
which he has been an ardent advocate. In 1S5S he became 
a member of the Westminster Congregational (Unitarian) 
Church, of which he has been a liberal supporter. Signing 
the temperance pledge at the age of sixteen, he has re- 
mained a tirm friend and defender of the principles of 
total abstinence. During the CivU War he earnestly advo- 
cated the sentiments of loyalty and liberty in every circle 
in which he moved. He married, March I, 1844, widow 
Mary P. Horton, daughter of Pardon Holden, a prominent 
merchant of Foster. Her maternal grandfather. Captain 
Benjamin Boss, was a brave soldier, who commanded a 
company and served during the entire Revolutionary W.ir. 
Mr. Eddy's children are John H., who married Isadore F. 
Barden, and Mary E. 



Ben'J.^min Hil.L, merchant, son of 
g^fe George W. and Rebecca (Hill) Gladding, was 

jp" born in Providence, August 17, 1818. His father 
-sJf was for many years engaged in the drygoods business, 

1 on North Main .Street, Providence, under the firm- 
name of Watson & Gladding, and afterward continued in 
business alone until his death, which occurred in .August, 
1839. Mr. Cladding's grandfather, Timothy Gladding, 
was a merchant-tador in Providence, and resided in the old 
homestead estate, corner of Westminster and Orange streets. 
Benjamin H. Gladding attended the common schools until 
he was twelve years of age, and for two years thereafter 
was employed in the office of the Providt-iic yniiinal. At 
fourteen he entered the drug store of John II. Mason & 
55 



Co., on Piroad Street, .tnd served as clerk for three years, 
when he went to New York, where he was employed for 
two years as clerk for Halleck & Bates, wdiolesale drygoods 
dealers, corner of Broad Street and Burling .Slip. .At the 
end of the lime last mentioned his employers became em- 
barrassed and closed out their business, and Mr. Gladding 
was obliged to seek other employment. He then returned 
to Providence, and soon afterward went South, with other 
young men of that city, intending to engage in the cotton 
trade at Mobile, Alabama. A partial failure of the cotton 
cro]) induced him to go to Galveston, Texas, where he re- 
mained a short time and then returned to Providence, 
arriving there in .April, 1839. In August of that year, on 
the death of his father, he and his brother George bought 
the stock and fixtures and continued the drygoods business 
at their father's old stanil, under the firm-name of George 
F. Gladding & Co. Their trade rapidly increased, and on 
the death of George F., Benjamin H. continued alone. On 
the 9th of October, 1878, he removed to No. 93 Westmin- 
ster Street, the business having been canied on at the old 
stand for more than thirty-nine years. On the 19th of Jan- 
uary, 18S0, he received his son-in law, Jo.seph H. Corn- 
stock, into partnership with him, and the firm-name became 
B. II. Gladding & Co. During the forty-one years of his 
busHiess experience Mr. Gladding never failed, and ever 
maintained a high standing as a merchant. In 1839 he 
joined the Marine Artillery Company, of Providence, in 
which for two years he held a lieiiten mt's commission, 
an<l in 1S42 \\as a gunner, and took an active ]:)art in the 
attack on Acote's Hill. He was an honorary memiier of 
the Veteran Association of that organisation. He was for 
some time an officer of the Proviilence Aid Society, 
foundeil for the purpose of relieving the distress of the suf- 
fering poor. In politics he was originally a Whig and 
afterward a Republican. In 1855 he united with the Cen- 
tral Congregational Church, in Providence, of which he 
continued an active member, and held the office of Treas- 
urer, until 1865. In the following year he organized the 
Charles Street Sunday-school, and was its first .Superinten- 
dent, which office he held for twenty-three years. In 1865 
he and others formed the Charles Street Congregational 
Society (now the North Congregational Church). He was 
the first deacon of the church, and continued in office until 
his death, which occurred in Providence, December 30, 
18S0. Mr. Cdadding nianic'l, March I, 1S42, Sarah Rhodes 
Taft, daughter of Otis and M.iry A. Taft, of Uxbridge, 
Massachusetts. They had three children, Jane Hill, who 
married Edward C. Clark; Mary Aborn, wdio married 
Joseph H. Comstock, afterward associated in business with 
her father; and Harrietta Louisa. A religious service in 
memory of Mr. Gladding was held in the North Congrega- 
tional Church, on Charles Street. Providence, on Sunday, 
January 30, 1881, wdien a memorial sermon was preached 
by Rev. A. F. Keith, pastor of the Society, who made tit- 
ting mention of Mr. Cladding's honorable business career. 



4j4 



fi/OGA: I rillCAL C i CI. OrKDlA. 



liis iinlu^trw puil'itw anil lionc\c.lc-nce, ami icnicwcil at 
SOUR- Kn_L;tli liis L-\ciii]'lary <.'lii*i^lian life. 



^VTJf< iRIIAM. J.ilIN, M.n of Jabez an.l Aiiu-y {'rinirlKi) 
i»(rv (Jiirhaiii. ua^ liuiii in I'mviilcnCL-, Rlniilc Kland, 
"■■■' :• XoVLnilici iS. iSjo. TIr- gi_-iR-aliii;y iif the Gor- 
I '^ f ham family \\\\\ I'c fijnnil in the sketch of his 
J » father, lalie/ (i'uliam. Mr. t^irhani attended 
sehniil nnlil 1r- wa^ almut eighteen years uf at;e, frum 
whieli tinR' nntil he was nearly twenty ime he was in 
elerieal enii'hiyment in rrii\idence, lio^tnn, and New 
^^lrI;, retul niiii; tn rrinidenee in the siuiii;^ ol 1S41. TIk' 
hilhiuinL; .\ui;ust liis father, to meet the dei.ided nieehan- 
ieal ta-le of his son |ohn, re|nn-chased the silver depart- 
ment in his fornR-r lui-iiRss, and estal>lislR-d the firm of J. 
(iorhant iS; Son, which continued for li\e or six years, 
when Mr. (".orhaiii, Senior, retired. At this time they 
wcTc eiiiiflo\ing .iliout fourteen workmen in the manufac- 
ture of silver spoons, forks, thimliles. and a small variety 
of other articles. Mr. lohn ( iorhain continued the lui-i- 
ness alone under the same name, and soon after eretted 
the ti\e-siorv litick laiilihnj^ on C.inal Street, since occu- 
I'i.d !)\' the (ioihani Manufai. luring fompany. Tn I.S47 
he niailc a radical ihan.;e in his manufactory liy iiilroduc- 
ing st,.am ]iower, whuh is lielie\ed to have hecn its tii'st 
ap'plication to the nianufai tare of siUerware. He al-o at 
this period commenced the introduction of those labor- 
sa\ing machines and ap]>liances which have ever been a 
distinguidiiug feature of his c ■tahlislimcni, thus laying the 
foundation of the tomp.iny w liicli has e.iu-id the name of 
(hjrham to he ua 11 kiiou n throughout the « orld. In the 
spring of iSsO he associ.itcd with him Mr. t iorliam Tluir- 
ber, and Continued the luisiuess under the name of ( ior 
li.im lV 'Ihurber, and in i1r' spring of 1.S52, .Mr. Lewis 
I)e\ler, Jr.. became a jiartner, wdien the firm name was 
changed to ( hirh.im A: l_'ompaiiy. Mr. d'hinber was the 
l.iookkeeper, Mr. IlcMcr had charge of llie w orkslio|i, and 
Mr, (loihamwas the geneial manager of llie business. In 
M.iv, lS^2, .Mr. ( ioih.im viMted I'",uro|ie in order lo aci[uaint 
himself with the manuiacture of silverware in other coun- 
tiies, relurning the lollowing autumn, luniug engaged sev- 
eral skilled Workmen in blanches not well understood 
here. The business i.ipidly increased from ye.ir to vear, 
and in i.Siio he went to [•auoj.e on a siiuiku eirand, re- 
turning with oilier operatives, smne of whom were design- 
ers and modellers. In the meantime adjoining buildings 
on Cinal Strci.-t were bought and oicnpied, ,ind the num- 
ber of workmen increased to three hundred. In i.St'>s the 
conipany was incoriioiated as thetiorham .Manufatluruig 
( 'oniiiany, Mr. ( iorham electeil rresident, and se\eral of 
the employe, wiie .idmitled as stockholders. In 1807, 
Mr. I iorham visited llie hreiich K.\hibition, paying especial 
attention lo the depailmeiil of silverware ; aiul again, in 



I.Soo, he travelled more extensively in Kurojie, searching 
for llie best means of .idvatRing the productions of his 
Company in excellence and beauty. In iSii.S the company 
luiri based the properly known as ihe I'^.arle House, corner 
of North Main and Stee]>le streets, and the old Providence 
Museum adjoining, on North Main Street, u liich buildings 
were altered and occupied for manufacturing purposes. 
LIntler Mr. Ciorham's management the business continued 
to increase, and the com]>any became eminent for the ex- 
cellent quality and artistic fini-h of its productions. Dur- 
ing the long ccuiiiuuance ol the panic, commencing in 1 87 3, 
Mr. (iorham met with re\ eises, which, however, rlid not 
allect the hnancial condition of the company, and his 
conneclKin with tli.it corporation ceased in I'eluuarv, 1S7S, 
since which time he has been engaged in other pursuits. 
His management of the silver business covered a period 
of nearly thirty. seven years, during which lime the one- 
hoise power had been changed for an engine of one hundred 
horse-power, the number of workmen had gradually in- 
creased from fourteen lo four hundred ami fifty skilled arti- 
sans, and the small shop had grown to the large manufaclor)', 
with its numerous de|iarlmenls hlled with ingenious nia- 
chiiies, there constructed and brought lo perfection for the 
working of the pieci'Uis nicial in iN beautiful and almos 
endless variety of hunis. In the early ye.tis of the business 
Mr. tiorhain acfpiainled himself with the process of manu- 
facturing every aiticle thai was made, thereby becoming 
capable of directing in an)' department, from the melting 
of the silver bullan to the ]>hotographing of the hnished 
work, or the running of the ste.nii-cngine, if emergency 
rc'|uired. He also at an early jieiiod made ihe standard 
of Ills siber to be th.it of haiglish sleiling, gi\illg the 
strongest guarantees that the variation should not be moie 
lli.in ih.tl allowed by gmernmenl in the manufacture of 
com. He never penniUed any article to pass as second 
i|uality or below ihe highest standard which it was cajiable 
of being made, and adojited in the beginning the one |irice 
s\stcm. Ills aim w.is so lo have the confidence of his 
cusiomers thai ihey could order new styles wiilioul the 
nece-sily of visiting the manufactory. In early life Mr. 
(iorham took an acti\e interest in milit.n)' mailers, ser\ing 
from 1.S41 to 1S40 in ^arious oflicial posiii.in,. attaining 
the r.ink of Lieuteii.inl-( "oloncl in the Providence Horse- 
( iiiards, w hich he was jiailly instrumental in organi/ing. 
He was a member of the General Assembly of Rhode 
I-l.ind for one year, elected on the Whig ticket. .Vt the 
formation by Congress of the C'enlennial J:{oard of Finance, 
he was one of the two members appointed for New Eng- 
land, and was perhaps as con^l.inlan atleiid.ini at the meet- 
ings of the board as any member oul-ide of those residing 
in Philadelphia. Mr. tiorham mariied, Seplember 4, I,S4S, 
.\iiiey '1 hurlicr, daughter of Isa.ic and Lucy ( Prow n 1 Thur- 
ber. 'Ihey have had six children : Lucv, niained lo Ld- 
ward \'. liogman, .M.I )., .April 2, 1S79; llerbeil 'rhnrber, 
Aniey Thuiber, John Henry, Charles Isaac, and Jabez. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



435 



Herbert Thiirber died July l6, 1866; J.liii Ikiiry, J:in- j 
uary 17, 1878; and Aniey Thurber, March 14, iSSl. Mr. 
Gorham possesses in nn eminent decree those qualities 
which injure success in the formation of large enterprises. 
He is a practical mechanic of artistic taste, with an un- 
usual ability to organize and construct, observing order 
and system in the smallest details, having broad and hon- 
orable views of conducting business, with a ]>owcr of en- 
durance, self-control, patience, and perseveiance capable 
of overcoming all obstacles and discouragements. 



^^HEFFIEI.l), Hon. John G., son of Hon. Nathaniel 
^KfOh L. Sheffield and Maiy Ann Gorton, was horn on 
"^ Block Island, April 26, 1819. <-ln lii> mother's 
side, he is descended from the Hulls, .'^ands, and 
Gortons. His mother was the daughter of John 
Gorton, Esq., a prominent citizen of the Island during the 
last war with Great Britain, and sulisefpient to it. He was 
always alluded to by the people of the Island, and by the 
British, as Governor Gorton. His wife, Alice Hull, was 
the daughter of Roherl Hull and Thankful Ball, of Block 
Island. Robert Hull, w.ts the son of Teddeman Hull, 
and .^arah, daughter of [ames Sands, of Block Island. 
Teddeman Hull was the great-grandson of Rev. James 
Hull, an Episcopal clergyman of Boston, who came over 
from England in the early days of the Colony, and is sup- 
posed to have been the progenitor of the entire Hull fam- 
ily in this country. Ca|)tain James Sands, above alluded 
to, was born in Reading, England, in 1622. He was de- 
scended from tlie family of Sands, or Sandys, which can 
be distinctly traced back to the time of Edward the Con- 
fessor. Sir William Sandys, who li\ed during the reigns 
of Henry VH. and VIII. had great share in the victory 
over the rebels in Kent in 14S5. In 1524 he was created 
Lord Sandys, and Lord Chamberlain of the household. 
He was succeeded by his son Thomas, and he by his son 
William, who was one of the peers that sat upon the trial 
of Mary Queen of Scots in 1586. The family has always 
been distinguished in English history, and in the early his- 
tory of the Colonies. Some of the sons of this Captain 
James Sands settled on Long Island, and from them Sands's 
Point takes its name. Mr. .Sheffield was elected to the 
General Assembly from Block Island when only twenty- 
three years of age, and has since held nearly every office 
of trust that his fellow-townsmen could confer upon him. 
He was largely instrumental in procuring the initial appro- 
priation for a Breakwater at Block Island, and was one of 
the early contractors on the work. He has been a success- 
ful farmer and trader, and his residence, formerly the resi- 
dence of his grandfather, Governor (lorton, is located on 
one of the most attractive sites on the Island. He was 
married, in 1850, to Coridon, daughter of Nathaniel Payne, 
Esq. Their children are: Mary A., Alice L., John G., 
Ella C;., Leila T., Homer \., and Arthur N. Mr. Shef- 



fuld has inherited many of the characteri-tics of his an- 
cestors, — energy, perseverance, pru'^icnce, and executive 
ability. 

ffWi,My< , ls.\.\c FooTK, Superintendent of the Public 
i\jS Schools of Harrington, Rhode Island, son of Henry 
"ilS" Green and Margaret Parsons (Foote) Cady, was 

j born in Munson, Massachusetts, October lo, 181S. 

T. His parents were both teachers in public schools, and 
his father for many years held the offices of selectman and 
assessor in the town of Munson. Mr. Cady prepared for 
college at the Munson Academy, then under the direction 
of Mr. Hammond, a celebr.ated teacher. He entered 
Brown University in 1841, ami during the course took 
prizes for three successive year^, and the fil■^t prize ever 
awarded liy the college for English composition was 
equally divi<led between him and another student. After 
graduating he taught at the Academy in Wethersfield, 
Connecticut, during the school year of 1845-46. The 
next two years were spent as teacher in the Proviilence, 
Rhode Island, High School, at the end of which time he 
organized the first High School in Warren, Rhode Island, 
and was its Principal from that time until 1S70, with the 
exception of the year 1853-54, which he spent as teacher 
of the classical department of Chatham .Vcademy in .Sa- 
vannah, C.'rXir^ia. In 1S70 he resigned his position as 
Principal of the Warren High School and established a 
priv.ale school of his own in the town of Barrington, 
Rhode Island, which he carried on successfully until the 
beginning of the present year (18S0) when ill health com- 
pelled him to give up teaching. He is at present, and has 
been since 1S72, Superinteiulent of the Public Schools of 
Barrington. He was also for many years a member of the 
School Committee of Warren. Mr. Cady has been a fre- 
quent contributor lo educational journals, and has lectured 
on educational subjects before the American Institute of 
Instruction, and the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction. 
Of the latter he was for many years Vice-President, and 
in 1874 and 1S75 President. In 1843 he united with the 
Union Congregational Church of Providence, and for sev- 
eral years has been a prominent member of the Congrega- 
tional Church of Barrington. In August, 1848, he mar- 
ried Clementine S. Lee, daughter of Newell Lee, of Paw- 
tuxet, Rhode Island. They have had eight children, all 
born in Warren, and three of whom died in infancy. Those 
now living are Henry Newell, Mary Kellogg, Hamilton 
L. , Margaret A., and Caroline. Henry Newell Cady, 
born July 8, 1S49, graduated from Brown University in 
the class of 1869. After graduating he served an appren- 
ticeship in the office of A .S. Morse, an architect in Provi- 
dence, and has since acquired considerable celebrity as an 
artist, many of his pictures having brought good prices at 
the best picture stores in the country. Mary Kellogg Cady 
pursued a thorough course of study at her father's school, 
graduated from the Rhoile Island State Normal School, 



4;6 



nnn;K.ir/ncAL cvclo fed/a. 



nnil h:i^ t.iii'^lu fiiur ye ir^ MU-rc^-fully in tlic |inlilic ^clionU 
i»f Nfw IciNov. Iliil iVw iii'-ii in tin; c iucili'Hi.i I liclil ha\L' 
f\citL-il i.'rc.Ui-r iiil'u.p-L- for L',n "I in llic ^ei t 'Hi where lie 
lia^ lueil tli.m Mr < '.nly, there lieini; lii-:l,iy prnmin^iit 
re|lve^entati^e^ m all the | I'.ifeH^mn^ uho^e eharaeter he 
has been lartrelv in-ULiiiienlal in hnniinL;. 



I'AX, H<iN. Sidney, wa^ Imrn at ("ila^tenbnry, 

llarif..ra Comity, tonnecticiit, November Id, iSlS. 

■-3' lli^ narents were Anio, and N'lnev Rnbinson 

,, I ' 

i- ;■ iKeni]ton) ] )ean, of !'I\ iiionih, NLi-saehn-etIs, 

*' V wlio leniovc'l to ( llastenluirv in !Si2. in whieh year 
Mr. Dean'^ father built the ■-eeoiel eotion mill in (.'onnecli- 
tul, of whieh lie wa-- pait <i«nir ami inaliaLjer liutil 1840. 
Mr. Hean was cfliuateil at the aeailemies in Wilbrahaiii, 
?.bis.aelui-etls, anil Suffiehl. Conneelii lit. In 1S4;, he be- 
cinie a niiiii-ter in tlie Melhoilist I-'piseop.il ( 'Iniieh. ami 
eonliiuuil his labors thurein until iSy^. w lu n he was 
ob!ii;eil to r;ive nj> jireaehiiiL,' ami stmlv on aewmnt oi ini- 
p.iireil lie.iUh. I.e.ivin;.^ the niiih-ti)'. lie eiiL;ai;eil in a lar^e 
ni iiuifactiiriiiL; bii-iness m I'ntii.iin. ("oirneetieut, and served 
one Near in the Conneelieiit I,e|^islatnre. In 1S55 he was 
eleeteil to Congress from his di-trict.on the .\nieiiian Ke- 
puliliean ticket, an 1 at the ehisc of hi- term, in 1.S57, was 
re-eleeted on the Republican ticket. iHiiiii;.; both iLriiis 
he sL-rvCfl <ui impiirtant comniitt^-es. and his congressional 
career w as marked by gnat ability and devotion to the pub- 
lic iiitere-t-. He subst:-'[nently spL-iit a ycir in tr.i\el, \i>- 
itilig \ .irunis pi Kxs of inlere-t in the I'liited St.ites. Canada, 
anil I 'iiba, and tfien entered upon the acti\-e dutie- of the 
niini-trv, liLin.^ hr-t a-si_'ii.'d bv hi- Conference to a Meth- 
odi-t church at I'awHuket. Rhode I-L.tiil. One year there- 
after he recei\ed the a]»pi 'intment of pa -tor of the Mathew- 
Min Street Methodist Church, of rnividence, where he soon 
attracted great attenti m by his eloi|uence and exposition of 
Ciospcl truths. His church was largely attended, and he 
became widely know 11 as a pul|ii orator. ( )n lea\ing tlii- 
cluirch he s|)ent nearly two years as pastor in Warren, 
after which he retired from the active work of the niinisiiy 
to engage in journalism. In i.S()4 he became ediioiially 
connected with the J^r, >:•/'</' nr,- />,7/7i* /'>v>v, and in 18:15 
was elected agent and manager of the I'lin idiiice Press 
Com|ianv, v\liich position he held until * tctober 25, 18.S0. 
In 1870 he was elected .Si.ite Sen.itor from Warren, and 
during tlieteim w as tire aeknow ledged leader of the brairch 
of the Legislature of whieh he w .is a membi.r. He de- 
clined a renomination, in order to de\ote hiiiisLdl" to his 
editorial clulies. :\s an editor he i- known as a bold. \ ig- 
orous writer, firm in vindicating the right, and I'eailess m 
the deninii.i.uion cd wrong. He wMsatiiaml M.i-ter of 
the (.b.nid Lodge, 1. (J. ( ). L.,ol the State of Rhode Maud, 
for the year 187S, and is now | i8So| Craiid I'.tlri.ucli of 
the liraild Kncam|imelit of that order in the .Stale. Ill lN-i| 
he m.irried Miss .Martha A. Holli-ter, of South (d.isttii- 



bur\', Connecticut, who rlied in 1841, their children being 
I'ridi ric!; Woodward Hean, mw rcsi ling at Cilastenbury ; 
and .Martha I-dlen, w ho m.trried Ca]it dn Hennison H, bin- 
ley, firmerly of Connecticut, but now a resident of Lrovi- 
ihnce, w ho served in the late war, in the Tliitteenth Ivegi- 
inriit of Connecticut \'oluntcers. In I.Sfi^ Mr. I le.m 
married ■Annie I'ddy, daughter of |ames M. Eddy, of 
Warren, Rhode I-l.ind. His children hy his second mar- 
riage are Walter Sidney, and Arthur Kenipton Dean. Mr. 
Hean rt sides in Warren, where he has a pleasant home, 
well stored with fine-art treasures and a choice library, such 
as a man of literary tastes would naturally acquire during 
a long life. 



M-;( iW\, Rr\'. S.\.\n:'r;i. Cartir, H.D., son of Sain- 
ui I and 1 >orcas (Jordan) r.rown, was 1-orn in 
Wistbrook, Maine, July 12, 1S18. His father was 
: a native of N'erniont, of good family, and was the 

i, son of LiMiieis and Abigail iCaiter) Ihown. His 

molher was a naliie of .Maine, and a lineal de-cendant, in 
the third geiier.'.tion, of Rev. Robeit Jordan, an English 
clcrgMnan.and one of tlie liist that settled in Maine. .Sam- 
uel C. reci ived C-VCellent home training, and was educated 
at the )iul be sehooK, in the Thatcher (Iramniar School, 
and inlhe Maine Wesleyan .Seminary. His principal studies 
were l.at n. Creek, and mental and moral philosophy. 
After leaxing the seminary he devoted himself to theologi- 
cal stndii s, and at the same time engaged in teaching 
moral -cii nee and IhlLi-lrHici in the seminary in East 
fheenwich, Rhode Island. In Ea-t Cireenwich he was 
licensed to pre.ich, and w as appcinted to the pa-tmal charge 
of the Millmdi-t I-:pisi.opaI Church in that place. .At the 
CNpiratl 111 of a two yeais' pastorate he was admitted, July 
7, 1844, to the order of a deacon in the Methodist Episco- 
]ial Church at Newport, Rliode Island, by Hi-hop Edmund 
S. I.ines. I>.L).,and at the same time was received into the 
I'ro\idenee Conference. He was then re appointed to 
E..1SI ( Ireeiiw icli, Rhode Island, and remained two years. 
Having p.is-ed an examination in the theological and 
eccle-ia-tii ,il studies of a four years' cour-e, he was ad- 
vanced to the orderofan E:ider by Bishoji P.everly Waugh, 
at Norwich, Connecticut, .April 12, 1S46. Dr. brown has 
been a ]ia-tor in New ISeilford, E'airhaven, 'launtnn, Wey- 
mouth, and I .ill Ki\ei, .Massachusetts; in St. Raul's Church, 
in the hitter jilace two terms ; also in Warren and I'rovi- 
deuce, Rhode Isl.ind; in the latter place at bolh Chestnut 
Street and Mathewson Street cluirclies. In all these pas- 
lor.iles he remained the full time allowed by the rules of 
the .Methodist Episcopal Church, save in one case, when 
ill health Compelled him to rest for erne year. He was 
lin.dlj a] poiiiied Presiding Elder, and held that ollice. w iih 
the highest resject and success, for eight consecutive years. 
( )ii II tiling from this position he received both in the 
PioMilence and ball Ri\er Uistiicts the amplest te-tinioni.ils 
of his ability and fidelity, and was elected treasurer of the 



BIOGRAPHICAL C\CLOPEDIA. 



437 



Conference Mini-.teri,il Ai<l Society and of (lie Church 
Extension Board, both of which responsible otiTices he still 
holds. During his pastorate of the Chestnut Street Church, 
in Providence, he received the honorary degree of A.M. 
from Genesee College, now Syracuse University, New VorU. 
While pastor of St. Paul's Church, in Fall River, he was 
honored with the tlegree of D.L). by the State University 
of Indiana. He received three successive elections to the 
Quadrennial Sessions of the General Conference, viz., in 
lS6o, 1S64, and 1868, and was a reserve delegate in 1872. 
In 186S he was elected by the General Conference to 
represent the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United 
•States at the General Conference of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church in Canada, and he visited Canada for that 
purpose in 1870, being the only official representative from 
the Church in the United Stales. He married, in Septem- 
ber, 1850, Maria Russell, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, 
daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Howland) Russell. 
Mr. Russell was of the widely-known business house of 
Seth Russell & Sons, in their day largely engaged in the 
■whaling business. Having a taste for draw ing and painting, 
Mr. Russell made a voyage around the world, making 
sketches which he afterwards put on canvas and exhibited 
in the principal cities of our country, receiving great praise. 
Dr. Brown has one child, a son, R. F. C. Brown, M.D., 
born in Warren, Rhode Island, where he is now a practicing 
physician. In this town the subject of this sketch now 
resides, filling his denominational offices, being also man- 
aging agent of the Martha's Vineyard Camp-Meeting 
Association, at Cottage City, and writing for various peri- 
odicals. He has resided in Warren for the last sixteen 
years, and is regarded as one of the ablest and worthiest 
representatives of his denomination. 



'HITTEMORE, Rev. D.wid Rich.vrds, was born 
r<jj|i|»i; in Salisbury, New Hampshire, July 31, 1819. 

rarf He was the sixteenth child of Eleazer and Lydia 
Richards Whittemore, of a well-known New Hamp- 
•^ shire family. The residence of the father was in 

that part of the town which became Franklin in 182S. In 
1835 Mr. Whittemore left the employment of the farm, to 
which his earlier years were devoted, and went to Lowell, 
Massachusetts, where he was successively a mechanic's 
apprentice, a student in Dracut Academy, and the publish- 
ing agent of Zion's Banner, a weekly religious newspaper. 
During this period he was especi.illy active in religious 
work. Early in 1842 he removed to Rhode Island, and 
m October of that year was ordained to the gospel ministry, 
and became pastor of the Free Baptist Church in North 
Providence. Rev. Martin Cheney and Rev. James A. 
McKenzie were members of the council. In 1S46 he be- 
came pastor of the South Free Baptist Church in Newport. 
Since 1849 he has resided in the western part of Provi- 
dence. He has been v\idelv known as a member of the 



F'ree Baptist denomination ; has aided many of its churches 
in supplying pulpils, securing pastors, and in other ways. 
He was an outspoken Abolitionist, when it cost something 
to be one; has always been an advocate of total absti- 
nence and prohibition ; and, for many years, has been 
an officer in the Rhode Island Peace Society, lie has 
been connected with many benevolent enterprises in the 
State. At the same time he has been successfully engaged 
in insurance and other business; and while he has com- 
bined the work of both a clergyman and a layman, he has 
sustained a character which honors both. Ineisiveness of 
intellect, correctness of judgment, and positiveness of opin- 
ion are traits for which he is distinguished, which make 
him a wise counsellor and a bold leader. Mr. Whitlemore 
married, in November, 1842, Eli/a Jane Gilbert, of Fran- 
cistown. New Hampshire, and has four children, of whom 
one is a member of the School Committee of Providence, 
two are the editors, publishers, and printers of the Htirrill- 
■ville Gazette, and one is the wi''e of the editor and pub- 
lisher of a weekly paper in Iowa. 



|i|r!»|;TTER, Rf.v. George Bkn'j.vmin, of Westerly, 
^^'4lP Rhode Island, son of William and Dolly (Wil- 
%"% cox) Utter, was born in Plainlield, Otsego County, 
i g New York, February 4, 1S19. He was educated in 
§ 6 the common school of his n.ative village at Unadilla 
Forks, and at the academy of Whitesboro, unlil he was 
thirteen years of age, and then learned the trade of a 
printer, working two years in Homer and two in .Schenec- 
tady, New York. At the latter place he became a member 
of the .i^pprentices Library Association, read many of its 
books, took an active part in its literary exercises and 
debates, aiifl here formed the purpose to pursue a course 
of classical study. In 1S36 he entered the Oneiila Insti- 
tute, at Whitesboro, gradu.Tting therefrom in 1840, when 
he entered the Union Theological Seminary in the city of 
New York, from which he graduated in June, 1843. Three 
weeks prior to his graduntion from the latter institution he 
was ordained as a minister of the gospel at a meeting of the 
Seventh Day Baptist Eastern Association, and soon after- 
wartls, at the recjuest of that association, sailed for Eng- 
land for the purpose of establishing closer fraternal rela- 
tions with churches of kindred faith in that country, and 
also of studying in the libraries of London and Oxford the 
history of .Sabbath discussions, in the meantime collecting 
books which should form tiie nucleus of a Sabbath library 
in this country. Returning to ihe city of New York in 
the spring of 1S44, he joined with others in establishing in 
that city the weekly religious newspaper, the first of the 
kind in this country, and which is still published (though 
elsewdiere) the Sahlntlh Pecordey. This soon became the 
recognized organ of the Sevenih-Day Baptist denomination. 
He gave himself to the management of this paper, and to 
occasional preaching. For alxmt twcnty-hve \e;irs he 



43S 



BiocRA rnic. II. c \ ci. otedia. 



i-'ilitcil ami |iul'li>lK-il llii- ]H-rinilic,il. ami iii llie mcaiitinie 
had an c)\fr--ii;lu of the monthly, (juaitcrl\-, and annual 
jndflirations, ami tlu' books and re]iorts of \aui»us kinds 
issued I>y his denomination. After the opening of the 
('i\il War. in lS6l,as he had become interested in a print- 
in:,' ami puMidiinv; establishment in Wesi, riy. Rhode 
Island, he renmved to that place, taUiiiL; « ith him the pub- 
lic.ilions issued in New York, arxl continued to publidi 
them in NN'esierly, in connntion with the publication of a 
locd secular newspaper, the Xurrii^tni^rf/ U\\-/:/\'. In 
I.S72 he sold the denominational periodicals to a society, 
wishini; to make tliem the nucleus of a publishing estab- 
lishment located near the university at .-\lfred Centre, Alle- 
j^hany County. New York. Since th.it time his attention 
has been yiven to the editing of the X<ii>i:^;iiiir/I U\;/:/v, 
at Westerly, the piddishing of books, ]iami)hlet^, and re- 
ports, to occasional preaching, and the discharge of official 
duties connccteil with various benevolent soeieiies. Me 
also devotes much of his time to public enterprises and 
allairs (jf the T-.iw n Council. <if w liich for \ ears he has been 
a niemlicr, and to the interests of the Ilr^t School District 
of Westerly, of w Inch he was one of the trustees, taking 
,an active part in the gr.iding of the scho ds and in all edu- 
cational movements. As a writer and |HiMi,her he has 
issued twenly-hve volumes of the .S:i/i/>,ifi A'ci e;,/,;, twelve 
vobnnes of a Sabb.uh school jiaper, three volumes of a 
Se\entli-I)ay Bajitisl nu-mori.d, one Innin book, one hymn 
and tune book, one Scvcnlhliay I'.,i]ili-t niami.d, and 
twenty two volumes of the .\',!iyii,;,!iis,// U\ri-/v. He 
married ( I i in 1S45, Catharine C. Slillman. ( 2 ) m 1S47, 
Mary S. .Maxson, and |;) in 1S71, Harriet ( Wells ) Stdl- 
man, widow of Welcome .Stillnian. He has a son, (George 
H., who graduated at .Amherst College in 1S77. Mr. L'tter 
is a representative man in his denomination, ami a leading 
cili/i'U in the soulhern i>art of the State, though he has 
avoitled jiublic pcditical positions. llis hands have been 
full of good work, "liich has been done thoroughly and 
conscientiouslv. 



■VRMER, Prokksscir Mose.s Gerrisii, scientist, 
%j^i eldest child of Colonel John and Sally ((lerrish) 
ti^ i'.irmer. w .1^ born in IJ iscawen. New Hampshire, 
' ! Febru.uy q, iSjo. In early life he attended the 
J- district school of hi, native tow n, and the .\cademy 
on Roscawen I'lain, entered rhilbps .\cademy, Andover, 
Massacluisetls. in tlie aulumn of 1S37, and liartmouth Col- 
lege in 1840, where he remained three years, and then was 
obliged to le.ive on account of ill-heallh. The degree of 
A.M. was conferred upon him by the faculty of Dartmouth 
in 1S53. .V few nionihs after leaving college he became 
the preceptor of the academy .at Eliot. Maine, and was 
in.irried in that town, December 25, 1S44, to .Miss Hannah 
'l"ol)ey, ilaughter of Richard Shapleigh, of lierwick. .Maine. 
He lemoved immedi.iti ly lo Dover, New Hampshire, and 
look ih.ngc of the Relknap S( liool there, in w lin li he taught 



until the summer of 1S47, when he turned his attention 
wholly to scientific pursuits. During these years he found 
his recreations in the study of music, which was with him 
from childhood an all-absorbing passiiui, and in conse- 
quence of which other studies were often neglected. His 
fiuidness lor mathematics aiul his love for music made hini 
a thorough harmonist. He began his experiments in elec- 
tricity in I,S45, invenling at that time an electro-magnetic 
engine. '1 he next V'ear he constructed a small railroad 
track, anrl evhil ited it and a small electro-magnetic engine 
in various towns and cities, lecturing upon the subject of 
electro-m.agnelisni and its a|iplications, showing also how 
it Could Ix" adapted lo the use of torjiedoes and submarine 
blasting. In December, 1S47, he left Dover and opened 
a telegr.ijih office in .South Kramingham, Massachuselts, 
and also had charge of the line between liosion. Worcester, 
and Springfield. While here he tried ihe experiment of 
telegr.iphing by the use of the current from an induction 
coil, using a common medical machine for the jnirpose. 
Soon afterwards, at the reipiest of Hon, F. (). J. Smith, he 
ilevised a machine to give an alarm of fire over the tele- 
) graph. He took the striking part of an old. clock, and in- 
vented the electrical part necessary to construct a minkatuie 
machine. He exhibited it in Uoston in 1.S40. and it worked 
|)erfeclly, and was the hist machine in the world for giving 
j an alarm of lire by electricity. Later, he brought to perfec- 
\ tion in llo ton. Mas,achu-ctls, the system of hre-alarm tele- 
i graph nou in use in almot every large cityaiid town in the 
L'nited .States and Canada. Having conscientious scruples 
about the w ork reipiired of him on the Sabbath by the New 
N'(uk Telegraph Company, he was released by them, and 
in Jul)', I''^4S. removed to .Salem, Massachusetts, wdiere he 
resided until 1S72. He had ch.irge of the telegraph office 
ill that city until 184*), when he left it to open some new 
otiices (ui the Wriiionl and Roston line, comincnciug with 
Manchester, New Hanii)shire. Whi'e there he invented 
the open-circuit automatic repeater. 1 his line was worked 
on the Rain, or chemical, system. In May, 1S50, he was 
apjiointed .Supeiintendent of the line from Rostoii to Rur- 
lingtcui, and continued in this position until he left to enter 
upon the work connected with the Boston Fire ,-\larm, in 
iS^l. Rctweell 1S52 and tSs5 he de\ iscd and constructed 
an ai>|iaratus by which he was enablei,! to transmit four 
messages simultaneously iiver a single wire, .\bout this 
time he devised a printing telegrajih, and was the lust to 
make Use of the "unison stop." He was also ihe tir^t to 
suggest the use of the continuity-preserving key in the du- 
plex telegraph. In 1S52-53 he constructed a chronograph 
for determining the velocity of sound. The same year he 
received a patent on an improved porous cell for galvanic 
batteries. In I.S54 he experimented largely (Ui magneto- 
elccliic machines, ami dei'osi:ed copper in several cells 
arranged in scries, and eude.ivored lo ascertain the me- 
chanical power required to accomplish il. He also eni- 
ploved electro ni,igne[ic machines to strike the bells ol ihe 



BIOGRArillCAL CYCL OPEDl.-t. 



439 



fire-alavm tcle.^raph ; applied water-power to raise the bell 
hammers; contrived and constructed a resistance-coil with 
electrostatic capacity, produced by winding sheets of tin- 
foil between each layer ol wire, and made improvements 
in diaphragm water-meters. In 1855 he invented improve- 
ments in fire-alarm signal apparatus; experimented on dial 
telegraphs, on telegr.aphs for double transmission in the 
same direction, and on electric signals for railroads. This 
year he was elected a member of the .\merican Association 
for the Advancement of .Science. In 1S56 he commenced 
the business of electrotyping. and produced the first under- 
cut electrotype in this country, from a gutta-percha mould ; 
made a sheet of copper one-eighth of an inch thick brittle 
as glass, and devoted much attention to electric repeaters, 
electric clocks, and printing telegraphs, and constructed 
for the Dudley Observatory, at Albany, New York, a chro- 
nograph and system of electric clocks. In 1S57-5S he 
made a great many experiments with double trans. nitters, 
and constructed a duplex printing telegraph, driven by an 
electro-magnetic motor. In 1858 he devised clectro-mag- 
netic apparatus to show the height of water in steam- 
boilers, and invented an automatic regulator for controlling 
the distribution of electricity to numerous electric lamps. 
In this year he began investigating the production of light 
by electricity, which investigations have never been relin- 
quished ; and invented an automatic regulator by which the 
light can be kept at a uniform intensity for any length of 
time. In July, 1859, his parlor, in Salem, Massachusetts, 
was beaulifully lighted every evening by this subtle agent. 
The cost of the light was the only hindrance to its coming 
into general use. In i860 '61, '62, '6j, he bestowed much 
attention upon the manufacture of alloys of aluminum with 
copper and other metals. Between 1864 and 1868, he de- 
voted a good deal of time to perfecting a thermo-electric 
battery, and in 1868 constructed the largest one ever built. 
It was used for the deposition of copper upon steel in the 
production of the American Compound Telegra]>h Wire — 
a joint invention of Professor Farmer and Mr. G. F. Mil- 
liken, of Boston. In the latter part of 1869 he was em- 
ployed to examine and report upon the condition of the 
land lines and cables of the New York, Newfoundland, 
and London Telegraph Com]>any, and as a result of tliese 
investigations, he invented a new insulator, of wliich he 
furnished over thirty thousand to thai company. In 1871 
he manufactured a large number of electro-magnetic ma- 
chines for depositing copper anil for other purposes. He 
has in.ade valuable improvements in the construction of 
these machines, especially in the one contrived for firing 
torpedoes. These machines are now supplied to every 
.ship in our navy. In October, 1872, he accepted the posi- 
tion of electrician at the United States Naval Torpedo 
Station, established in 1S69, at Newport, Rhode Island, for 
the instruction of the ofiicers of the Navy in electiicity and 
chemistry, as applied to the arts of war, and here he now 
resides. Professor Farmer stands in the foremost rank of 



scientific men, and among the scientists of Great Britain, 
France, and Germany, his opinions are quoted as author- 
ity. He has taken out a great many patents, of which the 
world has now the benefit. As a man and a citizen his 
influence has ever been on the side of right. To the poor 
he has been a friend, to the weak a helper. Unlike some 
scientists of the day, whose speculations lead them to doubt 
the existence of a Deiiy and of a revelation, he sees in all 
the works and laws of nature a divine mind. Each new 
discoveiy is to him one of God's thoughts, and with him 
religion and science go hand in hand. His is a Christian 
household, and a very happy one. He has had two chil- 
dren, a son, Edwin Clarence, who died in infancy, and a 
daughter, Sarah J., who is still living, and is a valuable 
assistant to her father in his labors. 



DDY, John, counsellor, and President of the Black- 
stone Mutual Fire Insurance Company and of the 
Merchants' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of 
Hg)i Providence, son of Nathaniel and Abby (Andros) 
H Eddy, was born in East Middleboro, Massachu- 
setts, September 12, 1819. He is a descendant of William 
Eddy, Vicar of Cranbrook, in the county of Kent, Eng- 
land, whose sons, .Samuel and John, emigrated to this 
country in 1629, and arrived at Plymouth in November 
of that year. In 1662, Sannicl Edily, in company with 
twenty-five others, purchased of the Indian sachem Wam- 
patuck a portion of the land comprised in the old town of 
Middleborough, and soon afterwanl he built one of the 
first houses erected tliere by the whites, on that portion of 
land which fell to him in the division, situated in the east 
part of the town, where some of his descendants still re- 
side. The Eddy family in England is in possession of the 
old estate from which Samuel and John emigrated in 1629. 
John Eddy's father was an iron manufacturer in East 
Middleboro, which was also his native place, and he and 
his brother, under the firm name of N. & W. S. Eddy, 
carried on the business which their father, Joshua Eddy, 
established about the time of the Revolution. Mr. Eddy 
received his elementary educatinn at the Bridgewater 
Academy, under Hon. John A. Shaw, and graduated from 
Brown University in 1840. .-Vmong his classmates were 
Governor Wdliam Gaston, Hon. Abraham Payne, Hon. 
George H. Brown, Hon. Edwin C. Earned, of Chicago, 
Rev. Ebenezer Dodge, D.D., President of Hamilton Uni- 
versity, and other persons who have since attainetl distinc- 
tion. After leaving college he studied law for three years 
in the office of his uncle, Hon. Zachariah Eddy, in Mid- 
dleboro, and immediately thereafter, in 1S43, entered 
upon the practice of his profession at Matta|ioisctt, Massa- 
chusetts, where he remained for five years, and then re- 
moved to Providence, where he has since been engaged 
in his profession. Although his law business has not been 
confined to any special branch, a considerable portion of 
his practice has consisted of insurance cases, in which 



440 



BIOGRAnilCAL C 1 CI. OPEDIA. 



specialty he lia^ i'^l,ilili-.l]i'cl .1 wide ir|nit.ition. nml i^ re- 
fjardcil a^ i>iu- of tin- nio-t suc'■c^^^lll iiiMiijiicc lawyers in 
the State. 1)11 the loiination nf the I'lieiiian'-. Mutual In- 
stiiaiiee (■iun|)any i)f I'loviilLiiee in 1.S54. Mr. I'Mily was 
eleete.l Secretary and Treasiiri 1, and serveil in Ijuth pnsi- 
tioiis for about tilteen years, when he re^igncil to take the 
general charge of the I'rovidence Machine Company. In 
iSdS he was active in cslahlishing the Dlackstone Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company, of wliiih he was chosen Presi- 
dent, and has served in that jKisitiiui, atul also as Treas- 
urer, since I.Sy^). In 1S74 he was chosen President of the 
Merchants' Mutual hire Insurance Company on its forma- 
tion, and in iS/c) was elected d're.isurei", which positions 
he stdl occupies, lie was Secretary and Treasiu-er of the 
Union Insurance ("omp.my lor nearly five years, from its 
formation in iSiJj, and has also acted as a;..;enl for several 
other comjianies. The companies with which he has heeii 
offici.dly connected have bcoi eniiuently successful, paying 
an average of si\ty-li\e per cent, divulend annually. Mr. 
Edtly served for some Inne as i. h.iii iii.ui of the Retard of 
Railroail Commissioners of Rlmde Islanil. He was a 
memlier of the Comnion Ci.uuiil of Poieidence in I.S57 
and l,S59, Irom the Se\enlh Waid, seizing as chairman of 
the Ordinance ConunUlee ,uid on the Committee of Edu- 
cation. In the year 1.S52-5 ; he was Clerk of the House 
of Represeiitat'vcs of Rhode Island. He has been a di- 
rector in the Liberty Hank since its organi.'ation in 1S54, 
.ami is a director iri the Iliiiil .\,Ui(nial Hank, having also 
ser\ed as trustee of the Merchants' S.ivings Pank since 
its (ULj.ini/ation in 1S71. In politics he has Iteen [.irom- 
inently identilied with the Republican party since its organ- 
ization, having stumped the .State for John (.'. h'renuuit 
during the Presidential campaii,'n of 1N50, and for .Vbra- 
ham Lincoln in iSiiO. In iSiio, Mr. Lincoln spent a short 
time at Mr. Lddj 's home in I'rovidence. In 1S46, .Mr. 
Eddy united with the Ciuigregational I lunch at Matta- 
poisett, Massachusetts, from which, in I,'s57, he took a 
letter to the Central Ciuigregati'Ui.d I "lunch ol l'ro\idence, 
of which he has smce been an acti\e and intluenlial mem- 
ber, having taught the senior Pible-class in the Salib.uh- 
.school for more than twenty years, ami taken a deep in- 
terest in other departments of church work. For more 
than five years he has been a trustee of the Rhode Islaiul 
Bible Society. He has been twice married. Ili^ first wife 
was Juliet H. Honney, daughter of (leorge and Idvira 
(Thompson) I5onney,of Rochester, Massachusetts, to whom 
he was married .\o\endier jS, 1S4S. She died .M.irch ;i, 
1S50. ( >n the Kth of (litobcr, 1S55. Mi. Eddy married 
Caroline M. Updike, daughter of ll.ui. Wdkiiis C|.like, of 
South Kingstown, Rhode Isl.uid. The is,uc of the first 
niarri.ige was a daughler, liiliet P., who m.irri^'d Edward 
P. IL^skeil, ..r New Pedf.u-d. Massa> husett-. Slie died 
A]iril 10, I.S79, le.niiig twu chililreii. lly llie second 
marriage there were four chiMiLn: .\llrcd Updike, Mary 
Andros, Isabel, ami Walter. 1 he lirst named graduated 



foun I'.rown Uni\ersity in 1S70, and is now studying law 
in the oltice of 1 Ion. Penjamin \. Lajiham. .-^mid his active 
business career Mr. faldy has found time to de\ote con- 
siderable attention to literary work, and has written articles 
for the Atlanlic- Monthly and other publications, which 
have l)ecii highly commended for their superior merit. 



1 



^DIF.S, TIdsj. TlIiiM.\s, was born in Northampton, 
15 Massachusetts, December 24, 1819. His father's 
?\ «;"^iii,? name was John Moies, and his mother's maiden 
XJ'L name .\niia Robinson. He spent most of his boy- 
id 111 his ii,iti\e town, where he attended the 
di^trict and |irivate schools. Two of his brothers having 
reimned to Rhode Island, he followed them in lSj5, being 
then si.Ntcen years of age, and was employed by them in 
the mauufacture of cotton thread at Central Falls. His 
brother Charles afterward engaged in the manufacture of 
Cotton cloth, and he worked with him in that branch of 
the business for about seven years. In iS46he removed 
to ( »\|ord, Massachusetts, where he was employed in the 
same kind of wiuk. After residing there until 1S50, he 
returned to I'enii.il Falls, and for two years was in the 
employ of the Providence t\: Worcester Railroad Cmn- 
pany. In 1.S52 he went to .St. Louis, where he was em- 
ployed lor some tune by the lirm of Plant & Co , of that 
city, dealers in seeds and agricultural implements. He 
returned to (_'ential F.ills in I.S54, and the following year 
accepted the position of treasurer of the Pawtucket Insti- 
tution for Savings, which he has since held, with the ex- 
ception of aliout three years. In 1S70, he was chosen 
cashier of the P.icilic Natiiuial Pank, and still holds that 
posiuon. l-'.ver since the organi/.itton of Lincoln, about 
ten years ago, he has been treasurer of that town. For 
about twelve )ears he has been treasurer of the Pawtucket 
Cias Company, and has luld v.iiious ottlcial trusts in the 
school and hre districts id the town wherein he resides. 
For twii years he represented the t"wn of Lincoln in the 
lower branch of the I ieiieial .\ssemlily, and at the election 
in i.S.So was chosen .Senator. Ituring the Civil War, in 
response to the call for troops in 1S62, he enlisted in the 
Eleventh Reginient of Rhode Island Volunteers, with 
which he served for nine months, the term of enlistment, 
holding the ofliie of I'irst Lieutenant. By the prompt and 
faithbil discharge of his duties as a military officer, he won 
the coiilldeiice of his comrades-in-arms, and the respect of 
his towinnien. -Mr. Moies married, in 1S42, Susan Sey- 
mour, daughlcr of fieorge and Cecilia B. Seymour, ol 
Providence. Her grandfather was a Frenchman, who, 
inspired by the example of Lafayette, came to this country 
and assistcil the .\meriean Colonics in the struggle lor 
freedom, ddiey have had live -ous, three of whom, Charles 
P., riiomas C, and Herbeil 11., are living. Their eldest 
son, I'rcderic, enlisted early in the Union army during the 
late war, and fell at the battle of Chancellor^viUe. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



441 



KONGDON, Henry Remington, inercliant, 



of 



Peleg and Mar)' (Remington) Congdon, was born 
»_'?■" at Apponaug, in Warwick, Rhode Island, February 
I 28, 1819. His father, who died at rrovidcnce. May 
J 8, 1862, at the age of seventy-seven years, was for a 
long time an East India sea-captain, and from 1819 to 
1832 kept a hotel at Apponaug, after which he removed 
to East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and later in life was in 
the employ of the United States Government, directing the 
building of vessels of various kinds. His mother was the 
daughter of Hon. Henry Remington, of A]iponaug. She 
died November 14, 1S20, at the age of twenty-eight years, 
leaving two sons, Henry R. and John R. The latter was 
a sea-captain from the age of twenty-one years, and was 
lost overboard from the ship " Caroline Tucker," off Cape 
Horn, February 28, 1863, at which time he was forty-two 
years of age. Henry R. Congdon attended the common 
school at Apponaug, his instructor being Festus L. Thomp- 
son, and for a short time was a student in a private academy 
at Kingston, Rhode Island. At the age of fourteen he 
went to Providence, and there found employment in the 
store of George Rice, wdio was engaged in the wholesale 
and retail boot and shoe business, at 16 North Main Street. 
After serving as clerk for nine years, Mr. Congdon was 
received as a partner by Mr. Rice, on the Sth of February, 
1842, and the business was carried on under the name of 
Rice & Congdon until February 8, 1848, when George F. 
Rice bought his father's interest; and later, William H. 
Rice, brother of George F. Rice, was admitted as partner. 
On the 8ih of February, 1857, H. H. Aylsworlh, who hail 
been employed as clerk by the firm since 1S50, bought the 
interest of William H. Rice, wdien the firm-name was 
changed to Rice, Congdon & Co., and continued thus until 
February S, i860. At that time James Rolhwell bought 
the interest of G. F. Rice, and for two years the firm was 
Congdon, Aylsworth & Co., after which Mr. Rothwell dis- 
posed of his interest to his partner^, and the firm style has 
since been Congdon & Aylsworth, though in 1S76 Frank 
H. Congdon, son of the senior partner, was admitted as a 
member of the firm. This business was first established 
by Daniel Cobb, who in 1820 was succeeded by Charles 
Hadwin, and after other changes George Rice became sole 
proprietor in 1830. Mr. Rice's successors have the repu- 
tation of having retained more of their customers for a 
longer period than is usual for an old-established house, 
several having continued their patronage for twenty or 
thirty years. Their business has steadily increased until 
their annual sales now amount to nearly half a million dol- 
lars. Mr. Congdon began to sell goods by sample in 1S40, 
and travelled extensively through the Eastern States in the 
interest of his business. For nearly thirty years he did the 
buying for the firm. Throughout his mercantile career, 
which extends over a period of forty-seven years, he has 
been noted for his close application to business, his enter- 
prising spirit, and promptness in fuililling all of his obliga- 
56 



tions. He married, Novcndier I2, 1841, Sabra E.Wilson, 
daughter of John and Sabra E. (Dexter) Wilson, of Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island. They have four children, Mary 
Willard, .\nna Isabel, wife of Henry Tilden, Jr., Frank 
Harris, who married Cora E. Rice, and Clara Adele. A 
son, Henry Stanton, died March 23, 1S4S, aged five years. 



IS^iREWER, Rev. Darius Richmond, rector of 
^fep Christ Church, Westerly, Rhode Island, from 
^^^^ 1S73 until his death, was the son of Darius 
i Brewer, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and was 
born in that town, June 23, 1S19. He was fitted 
for college at Milton Academy, under Rev. Thomas 
Snow, and graduated at Harvard Univer>ity in the class 
of 183S. He pursued his theological studies at Andover 
and New Haven, and was ordained a deacon of the 
Episcopal Church in 1842 by Bishop Griswold, and a 
priest in 1S44 by Bishop Eastburn. He began his min- 
istry at St. Peter's Church in Cambridgeport in 1S42, and 
two years later became rector of St. Paul's Church in 
Concord, New Hampshire. In December, 1846, he be- 
came rector of Trinity Church in Newport, Rhode Island, 
and continued as such nearly nine years. In 1855 he or- 
ganized Immanuel Church of that town, and was its rector 
until 1S58, when he removed to Yonkers, New York, by 
invitation of the Young Men's Missionary Association of 
St. [uhn's Church. After three moiUhs of earnest effort, 
St. Paul's Church was organized by him, and he became 
its rector. February 18, 1867, he organized the Church of 
the Reformation, in Brooklyn, New York, and was its rec- 
tor for over six years. In October, 1N73. he became rector 
of Christ Church, in Westerly. Mr. Brewer was a preacher 
of rare ability, his sermons being marked by great clear- 
ness of style, aptness of illuMration and fervor of spirit. 
He was in full sympathy with all of Christ's disciples of 
every denomination, and his occasional sermons in the 
Congregational and other ]iul])its of his native town are 
s]iecially remembered. His deep missionary feeling was 
n.it only apparent in his findness for organizing new 
churches, but w.as eNhilnted als,; in a very striking manner 
by his voluntary withdrawal from the influential parish of 
Trinity, in Newport, solely in order to establish a church 
among the factory operatives in another part of the town. 
Here he laid aside his manuscript sermons, and began his 
method of extemporaneous preaching, preceded by the 
most thorough study, which he never afterward abandoned. 
He belonged to what is known as the Broad Church, and 
was in entire accord with such preachers as Dean Stanley, 
Phillips Brooks, and the late Edward A. Washburn. He 
was a very intimate friend of the latter, with whom he had 
made pedestrian journeys in Europe and elsewhere. Mr. 
Brewer died March iS, 1881. His wife and one son, a 
student in Brown University, survive him, his only other 
near relative being a brotlicr, Mr. Cyrus Brewer, of Boston. 



442 



/!/OGA\ir///C.!L C]T/. OTEDIA. 



,,1:NIS(>\, Kiv. l-KlMKir, ■-'■n (jf Isaac aii.l I.exiin 
(I''i-,ht Ili-nis.in, was Imm in Stuniiigioii, t'oimec- 
ticiit, SLptL-mlicr 2.S, iSni. i k- is a ilcsCL-ndanl 
iif (.'iiloiu-l (iei'igc lIcnisDii, ili4ini;uis|icil as an 
officer iimlcr (■idimvcll, ami in ihc early Ciilimial 
wars wiili llic Iiiilians. 'I lie family coal-uf-nrms is traced 
hack tu the period of the i 'rusades. His father was en- 
gaged in the last war w ith Ijii^land. and for a time was a 
prisoner of war. 1 1 is uncle, lor w lioni he was named, was 
mortally wounded in the ilefence of .Stonington, August 
lo, 1S14. His maternal grandfather was Deacon Sands 
Fish, of Cioton, Connecticut, lieing fond of study, anti 
ticsirousof enjoying the liest opportunities therefor, he was 
sent to liacon Academy, in rolchester. Connecticut, then 
under the direction of Charles P. ( itis. I'ossessing a sturdy, 
independent spirit, and great hodd)' \ igor, he determined 
to earn a li\ing hy the labor of his hands, and accordingly 
learned the carpenter's trade of Colonel Amos Clift, of 
Ciroton. Here he hecame a subject of Divine grace, and 
in February, iSji). united with the Uaptist Church. His 
attention was at once turned to the ministry, and after 
teaching auliile in llic .s^tonington .-\cademy and the public 
scliool, he entered the Connecticut Literary Institution at 
Sulfield. where he lilted for college under Rev. C. C. Bur- 
nett. Ha\iiig been licensed b)' his cIiui'lIi meanwhile to 
jire.ich, he exercised his gifts with gie.it acccjilance, his 
eloquence and zeal seeming for him large autiiences and 
attentive hearers. In 1843 he entered lirown University, 
and gradu.ited under President Wayland in 1S47. He was 
distinguished in college for his prolicicnc)' in mathematical 
studies, for his original c.ist ot mind, and readiness ol 
speech. His genial lemiier and nalural flow of spiirits 
rendered liim a fa\i;)iiti- with piolessors and students alike. 
\Vhile in college lie delivered two l*"ouilh-of July oralicuis. 
Immei-liately upon gradualing he coinnienced preaching in 
Westerly, Rhode Island, and on the loth of November, 
1S47, was ordained as pastor of the First liaptist ( 'liiirch. 
Here he continued until 1S54. In November of this year 
he was installed as |iastov of the Central P.apti-t Church in 
Norwich, Connecticut, where lie reniaiiud uiilil the sum- 
mer of 185^, when he became pastor of the church in 
Central Falls, Rhode Island. L'pon the breaking out of 
the Rebellion, his enthusiastic nature was Ined with patri- 
otic ardor and zeal. He relin<|uished his church, enlered 
the army, and served as (.'liaplain of the I'lrst Rhode Isl- 
and Cavalry in Maryland .ind \'irginia. He was afterward 
Chaplain of the Third Rhode Islaml He.ny .\rlillery, and 
served in South Carolina, Ceorgia, and Flo'ida. Ha\ing 
had a military etlucation, and possessing a natur.il turn for 
arms, which he inherited from his ancestors, he also ser\ed 
in the ainiy as aid de cam]i. He w.is thus as an otiicer 
brought to the front, and took part in numerous battles 
and engagements. ( )n one oe casioii, riding unexpectedly 
into the imeni)'s lines, .iccomiiaiiied only by his loloied 
servant, he disarmed and captured six men, giving ihein 



o\er to the provt)st guartl as prisoners of war. His mili- 
tary services received wide recognition, and gaineil him 
deserved honor. He was for some time an Assistant .\llot- 
ment Commissioner of Khode Islaml. During the entire war 
he kc] t a diary, in which he recorded passing events, with 
his rellcetioiis thereon. 'Phis lie has since incorimrated 
into his published volumes, thus giving them a freshness 
and vivacity which make them exceedingly valuable, and 
]ireserving those incidents and details which add so much 
to all historical statements. In 1S65 he resumed the charge 
of the cliuich in Westerly, wdiere he reinained until 1871. 
In 1S72-73 he was settled in New Haven. Connecticut ; 
in iS74-7() in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and afterw ard 
as pastor of the Roger Williams P.apti-t Church in Wans- 
kuk, Providence. Dining his niiiii-teiial career he has 
bapti/ed upwards of four hundred persiins, and married 
three hundred and tvventy-hve couples. He has also writ- 
ten the loUowing piulilished works : 'Jlie SabbatJi hntittt- 
tii'i! : fhe Sitppfi- Inililittion : Ilisioiiiul NoU-s of the 
Bitp/is/s luul [luir PriHiiplt-s, in XorioiiJi, CotniicliiHt : 
Tlu- E\;in-(liil, or Li/,- ntid I.abon of A\v. Jain-: S. 
Su;iii ; Sn/'i-.-i and Spins, A llnLn-y of the I-'int A'/i,',/c- 
hhnul CitTitiry ; U\-i/t'/ /]• (tiiJ lis ll't/m'ssts : Piiiui'tsi/iie 
i\',in;i:;,iniCt/. /TA . .• ll!uitr,iU'd .Wzc' Bcdfind, Mdrllias 
I ill, yard, and Xnnliukct : Shot and She//, A I/is/ory </ 
Iho Third Rhodr /-d,nid //,u7y ArtiZ/oiy. Hehaswiitteii 
and published numerous pamphlets, iriemorial discourses, 
historical sketclies, army hymns, miscellaneous hymns, 
poems, and newspa}>er and inaga/ine articles almost 
without number. He is a member of the Phi Beta 
Kappa Soeicty of Prowii L'niveisity ; the Rhode Island 
and Wisconsin lli-torical Societies; the Soldiers' and 
Sailors' Historical Society of Rhode Island, and is the 
Historical Registrar f)f tlie Rhode Islaml Baptist State 
Convention. lie has luinisheil many of the biographies 
for this I'v.ii'pidia, and is alsei an associate editor ol the 
ilai tist l:n,y,/opcdia. He mariied, January 12, 1S4S, 
Amey K. .Manton, elaughter of Dr. Shailrach Manton, 
of Proviilence. Cue daughter is the issue of this niar- 
li.ige. lie IS now ( iSSi ) rcsiiling in Providence. 



^i£!ir;^l )NU( >F, KvA'.l. Cm. I. INS, a recorded minister of 
|||i^V| the Society of Friends, was born in Plainliehl, 
^3;:'"?iw Connecticut, November 11, 1S19. He is the 
^t^ eldest son of the late Job and Phebe (Collins) 



^ 



Monroe, both members of the same societv, whose 



other children were Hon. James Monroe, of Obeidin, Ohio, 
nicinlu 1 of Congress, and also a minister, Rev. Thomas K. 
M.mioe, of .\kron, ( ihio, and Mary E., wife of James N. 
Frve. of Worcester. Massachusetts, who liied in 1856. His 
niateinal grandlallicr was .\bel ('ollius, also a minister of 
the I'licnds. His father stuilied law with the late Judge 



fx-^ 




/ 






■'/'/ 



/. h'.n 



.7,/ 



BIOGRArniCAL C YCL OPED f A. 



443 



Judson, of Canterbury, Connecticut, practiced his profes- 
sion for awhile, and then engaged in farming. .Abel C. 
Monroe was educated in the public schools of his native 
town, and at the Friends' Boarding School in Providence. 
In 1845 he removed to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and for 
about six years engaged in mercantile pursuits, which he 
finally relinquished, on account of impaired health occa- 
sioned by close confinement to business. For neaidy thirty 
years he lias been engaged in probate and real estate bu^i 
ness. During the past fourteen years he has been a minis- 
ter of the .Society of Friends, and for five years acknowl- 
edged as such. The Friends' meeting-house, destroyed by 
fire in iSSr, was an intere-.ting relic of coloni.al days. It 
was erected in 1755, enlarged in 1775, and remodelled in 
1846. This society was established in that vicinity in 1719, 
the first meeting-house having been erected soon afterwards, 
under the superintendence of John Arnold, a pioneer 
settler. For about a hundred years the Friends' meeting- 
house was the only place of public worship in that neigh- 
borhood, and the services were therefore largely attended 
by people of various religious views, until other denomina- 
tions were established there. According to the records of 
the society, the first acknowledged minister who officiated 
in this meeting-house was Elisha Thornton. He was born 
December 30, 1747, and died in New Bedford, Massachu- 
setts, December 31, 1816. He united with the society 
when twenty-four years of age ; became an elder at the 
age of twenty-seven, and subsequently an acknowledged 
minister. Besides preaching acceptably, he kept a board- 
ing school, and was celebrated as a teacher. He was 
succeeded by the following sanctioned miui.sters : Alice 
Rathbun, wife of Rowland R.ithbun, Maiy (Barker) Allen, 
wife of Walter Allen, and Lydia B. Coc, wife of Jonathan 
Coe, the ministry of each of whom gre.atly contributed to the 
growth and prosperity of the society. The successor of the 
latter was Abel C. Monroe, who is now the only acknowl- 
edged minister of the society in that vicinity. Mr. Monroe 
married, February 6, 1845, Rebecca, daughter of the late 
Ephraim and Deborah (Mowry) Coe. Her maternal grand- 
father was Jonathan Mowry, of Smithfield, who preached 
among the Friends, and " by virtue of being the seventh son, 
practiced the art of healing." Two children were the issue 
of this marriage; Mary Rebecca, who died in infancy, and 
William Coe Monroe, M.D., who was born February 21, 
1850; educated in the Woonsocket High School, and at 
the Friends' School in Providence; studied medicine in 
Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, from which 
he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine February 21, 
1876, and is now engaged in the practice of his profession 
in Woonsocket. He is a member of the School Board of 
Woonsocket, and also of the Friends' School. During Mr. 
Monroe's ministry there has been an increasing attendance 
at the meetings, and the affairs of the society are now in a 
prosperous condition. He occasionally occupies the pul- 
pits of other churches, and has been a zealous advocate of 



the temperance cause. I le has also taken an active interest 
in educational matters, and in various movements designed 
to promote the general welfare of the community. 



S.AVIS, James M., of Davisville, North Kingstown, 
''■ Rhode Inland, son of Ezra D. and Mehitable 
(Reynolds) Davis, was born in Davisville, Febru- 
fey i«i) ary 2, 1 82 1. His father, wdio was born in Davis- 
J L ville, April 5. '779, •'""1 ^''<-''l there June 21, 1863, 
was one of the earliest manufacturers of woollen goods in 
the State, which business, in connection with farming, he 
followed for many years, in company with his brother Jef- 
fery, under the firm-name of E. & J. Davis.. At first they 
had a wool-carding and cloth-dressing establishment, which 
thev conducted in connection with hand-weaving from the 
year iSii to 1S24, when they commenced to operate 
wuollen loom^ by water-power, at the locality where they 
and their ancestors hail had a grist-mill for over a century, 
and from this mill the place was known as " Davis's Mills." 
Joshua Davis, the father of Ezra D. Davis, a n.ative of Da- 
visville, was born November 10, 1742, and died there Sep- 
tember 12, 1829, his occujiation having been that of a 
farmer and miller. His mill, erected by his grandfather, 
Joshua Davis, was the fir->t in the region of Davisville, and 
one of the first in the State. It ground and bolted wheat 
in addition to grinding corn. Jeffery Davis, the father of 
Joshua, born within half a mile of Davisville, in i7oS,was 
engaged in the milling business from an early age until his 
death, which occurred July 3, 1782. Joshua Davis, father of 
Jeffery Davis, was probably the original settler of Davisville, 
and was the builder of its first mill, which was erected about 
the year 1 700. He owned an extensive tract of land, which 
embraced Davisville, and he is supposed to have been of 
Welsh descent. James M. Davis, the subject of this sketch, 
received a good common-school education, and at the age of 
sLxteen began mercantile business at Davisville, in which 
he continued until 1849, when he eng.aged in the manu- 
facture of " Kentucky jeans," in company with his brother- 
in-law, Henry Sweet, and cousin, Albert S. Reynolds, 
under the firm-name of Davis, Reynolds cS: Co., until 1S63, 
when Mr. Reynolds went out, and the firm-name was changed 
to Davis & Sweet. He carrie^l on that branch of industry 
successfully until the fall of 1873, when he rented his factory 
and retired from business. In 1852 he was instrumental in 
securing the establishment of a Post-office at Davis's Mills, 
and in having the name of the place changed to Davisville, 
as it is now known. He was appointed its first Postmaster, 
which position he held for fourteen years. In 1 866 and 
1S67 he served acceptably as a member of the Rhode 
Island Genera! Assembly. He married, October 22, 1840, 
Mary- Ann Allen, daughter of James and Freelove (Pearce) 
Allen, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Their children 
are : Hettie ; Hannah J., who married Fayette B. Bennett, 
of Phenix, Rhode Island ; Mary D. ; Ida G., who married 



444 



BIO GRA P///C. IL C) '(. 'L OPEjJIA. 



Wiiliam 11. Coii-'lnn, nf W.irwi.k. KIkmIc Mnn.I ; ami 
Emma A., wlin iimituiI ( 'In i-t<>iihfi Aliiii.nl WaU^, Mas- 
saclui'-etts. Mr. I)a\i^ ha^ liLcn a m<*nil><.i <•! tlic Oiinl- 
iK"'SLtt Ilapti'-t ChuiLli siii.x- it^ ur;_;aiii/aliitii. in iS^t), and 
IS liij^hlv c-tccmcil in tlie community Ittr bis inlci^rity and 
rclij;ious tharaclur. He is now livnij^ in rcuicmcnt, cn- 
joyiuL; his well earned conipctcnco. 



^^^t)I,I INS, (Ik.oki;!-: Lkwis. M,|) . nn eminent jiliysi- 
\w/j^j eian ui I'l" '\ kIl-ikc, w as the sun ul a Luniui' in Hop- 
t- * -■! " kintnn, Rliudc Island, wlieie lie was 1m. in, Decem- 
'""/'^ ^^^'" 31.1S20. lie jnirsued his advance studies in the 



U 



Frit-nd^' New I-'iiL^laiid ^\■a^]y Mt-iiitij^ ScIh.iliI, of 
which he « a'' a pupil fur four years. Ik- liei^an his medical 
studies as a student of I)r. IleiuyW. Rivers, of rrii\idcnce. 
For two seasons he ntlelided medical lectures at the L'ni\er- 
sity of tlie ("ity of New \'ork, and received his dci^ree in 
March, 1846. Soon after his j^raduation he estalilislied 
himself m i'ro\-ideiic<;, ■ipeiiiuL; an ottice at lirst on Soutli 
Main Street. Shnrtl)' alter comniencinL^ pr.ictice he was 
appointed one of the city iihysician>, and was in the service 
of the city for tweiit)- )ear^. '1 he experience thus gained 
was invalud)le 10 hiin. espeLi.d!\' in the department of sur- 
gery, in which he acipiiretl gnat skill, for twenty years, 
1S50-1870, he was the physician of the Reform School. 
His advancement in ids ptofession wa^ sluw hut sure, ami 
the result of real nuiit. While he excelled in suiL^er)-, to 
which he gave special attention in the earlier years of his 
practice, as he a])proached mature life he devoted himself 
more completely to the general practice of his prctfession, 
in which he finally look his wi 11-carned place, in the front 
rank of physician^ in I'rmidence. '• h'or several years," 
savs Professor (_'. \V. I'arsons, '* no pli\->ician had more fuUv 
the confidence of intelligent families and of the whole 
communitN'. He was \ery much sought lor in eonsultatiiui. 
He was a man of sound, cool, sagacious judgment, acute in 
perception, learning more from (ihservalinii than from hooks, 
careful in ftirming opinions and linn in holding them wlieir 
formed and in following the line of conduct tn whiili thev 
jiointed ; conscienliously de\<ileil to his ]>aticnts; .liways 
rather reservetl in casual iiiteretniise. hut in the sick-room 
expressing great kindness and tendeiiuss of feeling.'' In 
October, 1S68, he w.is ajipointeil Inst on the list of attend- 
ing physicians of the new Rhode Island Hospital. He 
was also one of the consulting physicians of the Butler Asy- 
lum for the Insane. As a member of the Rhoile Island 
Medical Association, which he joined in 1847. ^"^ was often 
.sent to represent it at the meetings of the Ameiican Medical 
Association. .Some of the journeys he took to the-,e meet- 
ings were to places at a great distance from his In. me. He 
went as a deleg.Ue from the Stite association to the Inter- 
national Medical Congress, held in I'aris in 1S67; t^i New- 
Orleans in 1869-, ami to .San li.uul-io in 1S71. From 
1S5S until his death he was a trustee of lirown University, 



.ind for a h'lig time was connected with the inanagenu-nt 
111 the Fiieiids' Schi'ol. 'I hrough life he was a inemberof 
tlie .Society of Iii.nds. In January, 1877, he visited 
Euro|)e for the third time, with the hope that relaxation 
from the cares of his pri)fession might recuperate his wasted 
strength. He retuineii in the summer, as he thought, im- 
proved in health. In August he had a stroke of ajtojilexy, 
and died, with but little warning of his fate, on the 2Ist 
of the imiiiili. ill. t'oUins marrietl, in 184S, Lydia S. Ca- 
pion, who, with a son and tw-o daughters, survive him, 
with their re-idence at this date ( 18S1 ) in Providence. 



5/^.\LI)\Vl-:i.I,, SAMfFI. I.fNT, P).r)., the oldest son of 
W^K .Stephen and Mary (Lunt) Caldwell, was bom in 
I ^"7 New bui-yport, Massachusetts, November 13, i8jo. 
'X C On his father's side he was descended from John 
s) J Caldwell, who came to Ipswich in 1654, and on 
his mother's from IIem\ Lunt, who came to Xew-bury in 
1055. lie was jirepared hir cidlege in the grammar school 
of his nati\ e t"w n, his earliest teachers lieing Oeorge I>unt, 
a kinsman, and Albert Pike, both having celebrity among 
American poets. He was a graduate of \Vater\ ille College, 
Maine, taking high rank as a scholar in the class of 1S39. 
Soon after his graduation he was appointed Principal of the 
Academy in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. In May, 
1840, he took charge of the West Grammar School in 
Newburyport, continuing there till, in Noveiriber, 1S4:!, he 
entered the New ton Theological Institution, taking the full 
three years' course, and gr.uhiating in 1845. Among his 
classmates were President Kendall IJrooks, of Kalamazoo 
College, Michigan ; Presi.leiit I-ibcne/er llodge, of Madi- 
s.in I'niversiiy ; Professor Henian Lincoln, of Newton, 
and others who lia\e reached disiinctii;)n in the clerical 
profession. The winter after his graduation he spent in 
Alexandiia, \"irginia, sup]ilying the pulpit of the Baptist 
church in that city. In NLry, 1846. he accepted a call to 
the jiastorate of the First liajtist Chui-ch in Bangor, 
Maine, where he was oriiained the following August. 
He was married, Seiileniher 17, 1846, to Mary Leonard 
Richards, of New bur\ port, granddaughter of Hon. Jo- 
siali Smith, M 1 1., a graduate of Harvard College in the 
class of 1774, with whom she had livetl from her in- 
lancy. His pastorate ol the church in Bangor continued a 
little over twelve years — 1846-5S. In June, 1S58, he be- 
came pastor of the First Baptist Church in Providence, 
where he remainetl over fifteen yeai-s — 1858-73. In Sep- 
tember, 1873, he resigned to take the professorship of 
Church History in the Xewton Theological Institution. 
Here he remained hve years — 1S73-78. In September, 
1S78, he was elected President of Nas^ar College, Pough- 
keepsie. New Nork. Waterville College, of which he was 
a trustee for thirteen years — 1850-03 — conferred on him 
the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 185S. He was chosen 



BIOGRAFIIICAL C\ CI. OPEDIA. 



445 



a trustee of Brown University in 1859, and a fellow in 
1S62. In 1874 he was elected secretary of the corpora 
tion, to succeed Hon. John Kingsbury. He has visited 
the Old World three times, in 1854, 1S63, and 1S72. 
Among the publi>hed writings of Dr. Caldwell are the 
following : In the Baptist Qitartoly, articles on " Tlie 
Science of History," " Subterranean Rome," " Roger 
Williams as an Author," " St. Ambrose and His Times," 
" Benedict and the Benedictines," " The Mendicant Or- 
ders," and "Comparative Religion." In llie C/iristiuii 
Revimi, on " The Debt of Literature to Life." Also 
" Oration for Fourth of July," 1861, at Providence; "Ser- 
mon before Second Regiment of Rhode Island Volun- 
teers," Providence, June 9, 1861 ; sermon on " The 
Missionary Resources of the Kingdom of Christ," in Phila- 
delphia, at the fiftieth anniversary of the American Bap- 
tist Missionary Union; discourse in the lirst Baptist 
Meeting-House, Providence, ninety years after its dedica- 
tion ; discourse at the completion of the first century of 
the Warren Association, September II, 1867; sermon in 
memory of Mrs. Frances Rogers Arimhl, October, 1865; 
" The Parting Benediction," sermon in the First Baptist 
Meeting-House, Providence, September 7, 1873; bacca- 
laureate sermon, Vassar College, June, 1878. He wrote 
the memorial sketch and edited the memorial of Pro- 
fessor Dunn, and also edited vols. iii. and iv. of Piihli- 
cations of Narragansett Club. 



pKM^OPPIN, Judge Fr.\ncis Edwin, son of Thomas C. 
|1m|k| and Harriet (Jones) Hoppin, was born in I'rovi- 
^ES" dence, November 26, 1S19. He prepared for 
!* college in his native city, under the instruction of 
Thomas C. Hartshorn and Professor Asa Drury, of 



I 



the University Grammar School, and was a graduate of 
Brown University, with the highest honors, in the class of 
1839. On leaving college he began the study of law in 
the office of his brother, William Jones Hoppin, of New 
York, and continued it in the ofl'ice of Hon, C. F. Tilling- 
hast, of Providence, and at the Cambridge Law .School. 
In 1842 he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar, and 
entered upon the practice of his profession in his native 
city, in which he achieved marked success. The resigna- 
tion of Judge Thomas Burgess in I 853 had made a vacancy 
in the judgeship of the Municipal Court uf Providence. 
This vacancy Mr. Hoppin was chosen to fill. For five 
years he discharged the duties of the office with satisfaction 
to his fellow-citizens. At the end of this period he returned 
to the duties of his chosen profession. Failing health in- 
duced him to lay aside his professional labors, and by travel 
at the .South to endeavor to recover his wasted energies. 
In i860 the insidious malady which had attacked him as- 
sumed a singular character. One after another of his senses 
failed hnii, until only the sense of touch was left. P"or 



eight years he remained excluded from the outward world, 
except as he held communication wiih it through this 
sense alone. Under the severe discipline through which 
he was called to pass he exhibited the sweet and gentle 
spirit which had always been a marked trait of his beauti- 
ful character. After this long period of comparative isola- 
tion from the world, he died, June 20, 1868. He married, 
in May, 1843, Eliza Harris, daughter of William Anthony, 
of Coventry. Their children were William .Anthony, now 
in the Providence Institution for .Savings ; Mary, wife of 
R. S. Howland, of New Bedford; Katharine, wife of 
Davis Richmond, of New York; and Eliza A., wife of 
Robert Ives Gammell, of Providence. 



!OPPIN, Proi.-kssor J.\mi--.s Mason, D.D., the 
fifth and voungest son of Benjamin Hoppin and 
Esther Phillips (Warner) Hoppin, was born in 
Providence, January 17, 1S20. At the age of twelve 
he was sent to New Haven, Connecticut, to be pre- 
pared for college at Mr. Aaron N. Skinner's school, and 
at sixteen entered Yale College, where he was graduated 
in the class of 1840. He studied law at Harvard College 
for two years, and received the degree of LL.B. He en- 
tered a lawyer's office in Providence, but did not remain 
there long, having decided to change his profession to that 
of the ministry. He was two years at the Union Theo- 
logical Seminary in New York, and one year at .\ndover, 
Massachusetts. He then went to Europe and became a 
student of theology in the University of Berlin, especially 
under the instruction of Neander, the Church historian. 
He travelled a year in Italy, Greece, and the Holy Land, 
writing many letters, which were published in the Provi- 
dence Journal, and returning home in 1848. In 1S49 he 
v\as settled as pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, and con- 
tinued in the p.astorate nine years. He married, in 1849, 
Mary Deming Perkins, of Litchfield, Connecticut. After 
his return from a second visit to Euro]3e, he was appointed, 
in 1S61, Professor of Honiiletics and Pastoral Theology at 
Yale College, as successor of Dr. Chauncey A. Goodrich. 
He remained in this professorship for nearly twenty years, 
doing his share in building up the Yale Theological School 
to its present enlarged and influential estate. While carry- 
ing on this professorship he was also, from 1861 to 1863, 
the acting pastor of the Church in Yale College, and for 
three years, from 1872, he was Lecturer on Forensic Elo- 
quence in the Law School. In 1S79 he was made Profes- 
sor of the History of Art in the Yale School of the Fine 
Arts, which position he now holds. In 1880 he accepted 
the temporary charge of the Department of Homiletics in 
Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York, 
made vacant by the death of Dr. William Adams. Pro- 
fessor Hoppin is a member of the American Oriental So- 
ciety, the Victoria Philosophical Institute in London, 
England, and other societies. He has published several 



446 



BIO GRA ririCA L C ) r/. OPED /A. 



books: \,<tes of a r/uv/oxntt/ S/u, /run iS^Si : 0!J F.nx'- 
hiiJ, its Art, S,eii,-iy. <uui I'cofU- ( 1 85; ) ; Ofli.r ,iii,/ Il'.^r/.- 
of the C/iristiiiii Ministry, lieini; a Textbook of liomilelics 
( 1S69) ; /.//;■ ,>/■ A'.-.ir A,/mii;i/ Ai!,/ir:c //.■/// F.'otc \ 1S74) ; 
Mt-tiu>ii- of ILiiry Ainiill Broion ( iSSol. He \\&=. aUo 
writun much for tlie Xt-.o Eiv^lanilcr, tlic Bibliothcca 
Si!<rii, and other reviews ami journals. In I.Syo, KnoN 
College Conferred on him the dei^ree of I )oclor of L)i\ inily. 
Professor Hoppin has two sons, Benjamin, lately tutor of 
Mathematics at \*ale ; and James Mason, a grailuate ( iSSo) 
of Christ Churcli (.'ollei^e. O\ford, l-jigl.iii.l. 



■■LV, James WiNcma.i. CiUkman, M.I)., was bom 
in Windsor, Vermont, ( itiober 2, 1S20. IIis pa- 
rents were Ke\-. Riciiard M. an<l I.ora (.Skinner) 
J Ely. His fatlier, also a nati\e of Wind^iir, was a 
T* Baptist clergvman. and a liiie.d descendant of Xa- 
tlianiel Ely, who came Irom l-ingLuid to ihi^ countr}" in 
1633, and settled at ('ambridge. Massachusetts, where he 
resided for awhile, and then became one of the original 
settlers of West S[-iring!ield, Massachusetts. I)r. El)' pre- 
pared for College at Tow iislu-nd, \'ermonl, under Professor 
Wlieeler, ami in 1S3S entered Hrouii L'nii ersity. where he 
graduated in 1S42. He studied medicine in iloston. and 
attended two courses of lectures in tlie Medical L)epart 
nient of Harvard I'liiversity, from which iiisiiiution he re- 
ceived the degree of Iioitor of .Medicine in .M.uch, 1S46. 
The following April he ojiened an office and commenced 
the practice of his profession in Providence, on North 
Main Street, sul)set|uenlly removing to Henelit Street, 
where he remained about twentyfive years, ami. in 1S72, 
removed to his present lesidence, corner of Prospect and 
Waterman Streets. ] )r. Ely early acipiireil a large practice, 
and his professional cirecr throU'.;hMUt has been eminently 
successful. In June, 1S47, he was elected a member of the 
Rhode Islaird Medical .Societs', of whiih he has ser\ed as 
secretary, treasurer, and president, and is now a censor. 
He was one of the original mendiers, and the Hrst secre- 
tary of the I'rovidence Medical Association, of wliich he 
served as president for one year. He was elected (uie of 
the physicians t'l the I'r. .\idence I lispeiis.iry, fi. mi the 
Eastern District, and served as Attending Pliysici.in for 
four years from June, 1N47. Several years thereafter, he 
served as consulting jihysician. In .August, i,S50, he was 
elected city physician, and medical allendant at the Dex- 
ter Asylum, and served in both of these cajiacilies until 
February, I.S66, when he was elected consulting physician 
at the Dexter Asylum, which jiosition he now holds. He 
was elected attending physician at the Rh<.de Island Hos- 
]iital at its organization m October, I SOS, and served until 
1S74, when he was chosen consulting physiuan. in which 
capacity he stdl continues to serve. Since |anii.u\, i.so.X, 
lie has also been consulting pliysiii.ui in llie I'lUtlrr llos. 
j.ilal for the Insane. He is a member of the Rhode Island 



Historic.il Society, the Providence Franklin Society, in 
which he has served as secretary and president, and of 
the Providence Athenxnim, of which he has been a direc- 
tor, l-'or two ye.irs he was a member of the Pro\idence 
School (.'ommillee. and was obliged to resign before the 
expiration of his term of office, on account of pressing ])ro- 
fession.il duties. In July, 1S70, he went to Europe and 
travelled tlirough England. Ireland, Scotland, Holland, 
lielgium, (jerniany, Switzerland, and Italy, and has also 
travelled extensively in this country. On the 6th of June, 
1S48, he married Susan Backus, daughter of Lieutenant- 
Governor Thomas Backus, of Killingly, Connecticut. Her 
father was a graduate of Brow n University and a lawyer 
by professi.ui. Her mother was Almira Cady, daughter 
of Josepih C.uly. of Providence. They have two sons. 
The eldest, Joseph Cady Ely, graduated at Brown Univer- 
sity in 1S70; received the degree of Bachelor of Laws from 
Harvard University in I.S72, and is now a member of the 
law lirm of Tillinghast & Ely, of Providence. He married, 
November (>, 1S77, .Mice Peck, of Norwich, Connecticut. 
The other son, Edward Francis Ely, graduated at Brown 
University in 1S79, and is now studying .architecture, with 
Stone & Carpenter, of Providence. 



\BC(iCK, I'.nwiN ^11 Hi 'RACE, widely known 
under the lirm-name of " E. cS: H. B.ibcock," the 
younger sons of Rowse 2d and Hannah (Brown) 
• ta ji) ]',abcock, are treated together in this sketch, as 
IsJ they were educated together and have long been 
associ.ited in business relations. After attending private 
schools and ac.idemies they spent several vears in the ser- 
vice of mercantile houses in the citv of New \'ork, ac- 
i]uiring a business e\|'erience of great siibscijuent value 
to them. .At nearly the same time both decided to 
return to their n.itive town. In 1S43 they purchased the 
mills and water-power at Potter Hill, pre\iou-sly owned 
by Thomas W. and Joseph Potter & Co., and during the 
next lilteen years carried on an extensive and profit- 
able manufacturing business. Then came one of those 
pcriodsoflinaiici.il embarrassment against which the best 
skill and loiesight are inadeiiuate safeguards, antl, like 
thousands ol others, the subjects of this sketch were coni- 
]ielled to succumb to the monetary revulsion. All that 
remained of their hard and honestly earned wealth was 
ciinscieutioiisly handed over to their creditors, by whom it 
was promptly accepted as payment in full of an indebt- 
edness of twice its amount. Starling afresh in busi- 
ness with no capital, except their integrity and unsullied 
reiiutation. which remained after the storm, they were nret 
b\ the conlnlence of all who had known them, and were 
so pro>]ieied ill their business that at the enil of iwc^ or 
three years, by the practice of strict economy, they were 
alile to surprise their former creditors by presenting them 
] Willi the lull .imouiii, piiiKip:il anil interest, c>f all the cild 



BIOGRA PIIICA L CYCL OP ED I A . 



447 



unpaid babnces. On the death of their lirother Rowse, in 
1872, Edwin .succeeded him in the presidency of the Na- 
tional I'henix Bank, in wliich he had loni; been a director, 
and still presides over the institution. Horace has been a 
director in the National Niantic Bank froin its organiza- 
tion in 1854. Early in life both became communicants of 
the Episcopal Church, and have always been active and 
libera! promoters of the religious and educational interests 
of Westerly and of the State. Edwin was born in Westerly, 
Rhode Island, April 8, 1819, married, April 21, 1845, 
Olivia S. Cady, and has two children, Elizabeth and Al- 
bert. Horace was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, August 
4, 1822, married, first, September II, 1843, Abby J.Cross, 
second, December 18, 1S60, Harriet B. Cross, and has six 
children, Rowse, Abby, Martha, Hannah, Huljert, and 
Mary. 



SS^S?OPKINS, LlEUTENANT-COLONIvI. J,\MES NOYES, 

^Kt| son of Noyes and Patience Greene (Brayton) 
^^^ Hopkins, was born in Foster, Rhode Island, 
-^■«^ September 30, 1S20. His father, born May 25, 
S^^ '793. died September 29, 1S29. His grand- 
father. Judge Robert Hopkins, is elsewhere sketched in this 
work. Mr. Hopkins was educated in the common schools 
and in a select school at South Scituate, taught by Mr. John 
H. Willard. At an early age he went to the city of Provi- 
dence, and learned the jeweller's trade of Joseph B. Chase. 
After working a few years as a journeyman, saving his 
earnings, he bought out his employer, Mr. Thomas A. 
Richardson, and commenced business as a jeweller on his 
own account, a business which, in its varied forms, he has 
pursued till the present time (18S1). His work at first 
was all done by hand, while now it is done largely by 
machinery. In 1837 he joined the United Train of Artil- 
lery in Providence. At the first election thereafter he was 
chosen corporal, and by gradual promotion attained the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel of the conmiand, in which po- 
sition he served with success and honor for eight years, 
resigning in 1854. That organization, of which he is still 
an honored member, owes very much to his liberality and 
energy. During his active military career he sympathized 
with ** Governor Dorr" in his political movements, and 
was present with him at Acote's Hill. He aided with the 
United Train of Artillery in escorting the would-be gov- 
ernor from the depot on his return from Washington. 
Colonel Hopkins rejoiced in due time in the adoption of 
the more liberal State Constitution. For four years he rep- 
resented the Sixth Ward in the City Council, and refused 
to be nominated as an alderman. He was on the select 
committee that bought the site of the new City Hall, As 
a director of the Rhode Island Exchange Bank, of East 
Greenwich, he did what he could to prevent the catastrophe 
that finally befell that institution. For several years he was 
an active member of the order of Odd Fellows, from which 



he finally withdrew. In 1S51 he joined the Providence 
Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, and has ever 
maintained a deep interest in the objects of that society. 
His religious connections, as those of his family, are with 
the church of the Mediator (Universalists) in Providence. 
In 1847 he built a residence on Prairie Avenue, where he 
now resides. He married, December 26, 1841, Sarah 
Corey, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, daughter of Ben- 
jamin Clarke and Mehitabel (Reynolds) Corey, who traces 
her descent from Sir Francis Drake. Colonel Hopkins's 
children have been, Mary E. (married Dr. Joseph Clifford 
Moore, of Take Village, New Hampshire) , James F. (died 
young); Felicia H. (died young) ; Sarah E. (died young); 
Celeste (mariied Dr. Frederic Whittier Bradbury); and 
Florine B. (died young). Colonel Hopkins has added much 
to the wealth, intelligence, and character of Providence. 



SlTjilflOPKlNS, Hon. Horatio Lawson, .son of Augustus 
^^M and Lydia (Harris) Hopkins, was born in the 
*!^^^ town of Scituate, Rhode Island, February 9, 
■T^ 1820. In his childhood the family removed to 
Is Burrillville. He was educated in the common 
schools and in a private academy. At an early age he 
entered his father's shop, where he learned the business 
of manufacturing spindles, and soon became a member of 
the firm of A. Hopkins & Co., spindle-makers and ma- 
chinists, at Laurel Ridge, Rhode Island. Gradually the 
supervision of the outside interests of the factory devolved 
upon him, while his father devoted himself to the inside 
management, and for more than twenty years he had the 
general management of the entire business, his brother-in- 
law, James A. Potter, being associated with him as a part- 
ner. At the time of his death, which occurred January 
21, 1876, the capacity of their factory was two hundred 
thousand spindles per annum, employing generally about 
sixty operatives. In the later years of his life he became 
largely interested in the banking business of the town, and 
for a long time was Presitleiit of the Pascoag Savings Bank, 
and one of the directors of the Pascoag National Bank, 
which positions gave him a wide circle of business ac- 
quaintances and made him many firm friends. He served 
as a member of the Town Council in 1866. From 1867 
to 1869 he represented his town in the .State Senate, and 
rendered valuable service as a member of that body, his 
public career, like his conduct in all the afl'airs of life, 
being marked by the exercise of sound judgment and the 
exhibition of those genial cpialities of character which gave 
I him great personal popularity. lie was one of the original 
1 movers in projecting the Providence and Springfield Rail- 
road, of which corporation he was a large stockholder. 
j For many years he was a deacon of the Free Will Baptist 
Church at Pascoag, in the .Sunday-school of which he was 
an earnest worker, and was a warm supporter of true re- 



448 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



li<;iinis mill hrntvolrnt entei'pri-.es. IK- wns a ]ii>\vcr for 
g(^iKl not rml\ in ihc town whoic Ik- lived. Imt tliroUL^liout 
tlie St.iU', aiul u^jici. Lilly so in the t -niiiciancc reform, in 
aiil of whicli he i;a\e niueh of both lime and money. lie 
was lieartily inleie^led in the tause of eiUication, uhieh he 
di'l niucli t't promote while ser\inL; as chairman of the 
School Committee, and \vhate\er commended itself to him 
as a public beiiefil always received his earnest sLii")|)ort. He 
married, A|)ril 7, 1.S42, Amey Ann, dauj;hter of Mial and 
Amey (Irons) Smith, of Sciluate. They had three chil- 
dren, of wdiom but (me, Addison Sidney, is now ]i\inL;. 
Mr. Hopkins possessed in an eminent de;.;ree tlu'se ele- 
ments of character \\hich distini.;iiish the trulv useful and 
noble man. and the memory of his ([uiet, i^ende spiiit is 
cherished with ie\erence and lo\e by man)' friends. 



gtriSBABtJR, Dk.\con .STF.rHEN Hll.i.s, son of Samuel 
P|K and Lucretia (Hills) Tabor, was born at Whites. 
«!3, l.ioro, ( )neida County, New \'ork, .September 
1 9, i.S:!o. His father was a cotton manufacturer, 
J" formerly froTu I'awtuckct, Rhode Island. Deacon 
Tabor reeei\'ed a common-school education, and when 
eighteen )'ears of age was einphjyed as clerk in the Hope 
Factory \'aricty Store, near Coojiersiow n. New York, 
whi:re he remained until I.S4I, when he removed to 
•Slatersvdle, Rhode Island, where he was employed for a 
few months in a similar capacity in the store of Benjamin 
P. Tabor. In the spring of I.S42 he engaged .as book- 
keeper in the counting room of the IJIackstone Manufac- 
turing Comjiany at Blackstone, Massachusetts. (In the 1st 
of April, 1S49, he became station agent of the I'roviileiice 
and Wfneester Railroad Conipan}', retaining his position 
as bookkeeper of the company belore mciuioned. In .Sep- 
tember, 1S49, he went to Providence and accc|.ted a posi- 
tion as ticket clerk, and finally that of General Ticket 
Agent of the Pro\idence and Worcester Railroad Com- 
pany. In .August, 1S55, he was appointed Master of 
Transportatu>n, and in February, I,S56, was elected (ien- 
eral Su]ierialendent of that road. lie entereil upon the 
duties of the last-named position in March, iS^O. succeed- 
ing John II. Winslow. He served as .Superintendent of 
the Providence and Worcester Railroad nntd p'ebruary 5, 
1S66, when he resigned the position, his resignation taking 
effect .April I, l.Sob. While occupying ihat jiosition he 
exhibited great acli\ity ami efficiency, and was instru- 
mental in advancing the interests of the road in various 
ways. During his superintendency there was for some 
time sharp competition between the Norwich and Worces- 
ter and the Providence and Worcester Railroad companies 
for transportation of freight from Nashua, Lawrence, Man- 
chester, Lowell, Filchburg, and other important freight 
Centres, to New York. Mainly through lleaci^n T.ibor's 
efforts the right of the I'ro\idence and Worcester Ciun- 
paiiy to sh.ire in tians|;iortation of freight between New 



\'ork and the points al)ove mentioned was established, not- 
withstanding the combined o]'iiosiiion of other lines, which 
had so far enjoyed a monopoly of the business. He did 
not engage in acti\e business again for two years succeed- 
ing his resignation as Suj'ierintendent. In the spring of 
iSoS he purchased a laini at Long Meadow, near .Sjiring- 
tield, Massachusetts, where he intendeil to pass the re- 
mainder of his life quietly in agricultural pursuits. In 
August, 186S, he w.as induced to go to Webster, Massa- 
chusetts, to act for a short time as agent for the manu- 
facturing company of Samuel Slater & Sons during the ab- 
sence of the principal of the firm in Europe. He continued 
there until January, 1871, when he was invited to Provi- 
dence, Rhode Islantl, to organize the Mechanics' Mutual 
1 ire Insurance Company, which was chartered in May, 
1S71, the ofticers elected in July following being .Amos C. 
Parst.iw, President, and Stephen H. Tabor, Secretary and 
Treasurer. In January, 1S72, he was elected Cashier of 
the Rhode Island National Bank, and Treasurer of the 
Rhode Island Institution for Savings, which positions he 
still occupies. In noticing his election to the fomier posi- 
tion, the Providence Priiitii^' Bulletin said, " S. H. 
T.ibor, for many years the highly esteemed Superinteinleiit 
of tile i'lovidence and Worcester Railroatl, has lieen elected 
Cashier of the Rlioile Islanil National Bank, in the place 
of Manton E. Hoard. Mr. Tabor's upright, high-toned, 
and conscientious character is calculated to inspire the 
fullest respect and confidence of the community, and the 
choice of such a man at this juncture was a propitious 
event." From iSOj to 1S6S. when he left Providence, he 
was a member of the .Schoid Committee, and still continues 
to manifest a deep interest in educational matters. In 
lSj7, at the age of seventeen, he united with the Presby- 
terian Church at Fly Creek, near Cooperstown, New York, 
it being the nearest chinch of that demiminatitui to his 
home at that time. .Mter removing to Providence he 
uniteil with the High .Street Congregational Church in 
1S49, and was soon after\\ar<l elected deacon, which office 
he held until his rcmov.il to Long Meatlow, Massachusetts, 
in I.S6.S, when he resigneil, and took a letter to the First 
Congregational Church. In 187 1, after his return to Prov- 
idence, he joined the L'nioii Congregational Chuich, and 
was soon alterward elected deacon, which office he still 
retains. He is a member ol tlie Rhode Island Home 
Missionary Society, and has served as its treasurer since 
1S77. He has been treasurer of the Congregational Club 
since its organization, .March 22, 1875. He has been twice 
married. His first wife was Nancy Cole, daughter of 
Lyman and Nancy Cole, of Worcester, Massachusetts, to 
whom he was married October 21, 1S44. .She died No- 
vember 29, 1S74. Ileeember 29, 1875, he marrieil Sarah 
.A. (iilmoie, daughter of Joseph F. and Sally Page Cil- 
more, of Providence. Her father was a mason antl con- 
tractor, and served as a member of the ( jcneral .Assembly 
1 of Rhode Island, member of the Providence Common 




r v.-;,nr:;^i->: r ■ 



A -A' 



BIOGKAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



449 



Council and of the Board of Aldcniien. There were three 
children by the first marriage : Edward Payson, Samuel 
W., and lennie. The last named died in infancy. To 
his eldest son he gave the farm at Long Meadow, where 
he now resides. His other .son is a clerk in the Rhode 
Island National Bank. 



5ISHER, Hon. Charles H.\rris, M.D., son of 
George Clinton and Harriet (Cady) Fisher, was 
TO? born in Killingly, Connecticut, June 30, 1822. His 
fflffl ancestry in the different lines of genealogy were 
* nearly all in easy pecuniary circumstances, the result 
of personal industry; they also occupied very respectable 
social positions, and in several instances, civil positions of 
distinction. His grandfather, Barzillai Fisher, was an 
active participant in the War of 1812. His great-grand- 
father, Barzillai Fisher, Sr., and five sons, were connected 
either with the army or navy during nearly the whole of 
the Revolutionary struggle. Nearly all held official posi- 
tions ; one was a member of Washington's body guard for 
three years, and another commanded a vessel in the navy. 
Among those connected « ith his ancestry who adpiired 
distinction were, Fisher Ames, the eloquent orator and 
professor of law. Professor John D. Fisher, M.D., of Har- 
vard University, an author of some note, Judge Fisher of 
the Supreme Court, and Hon. Samuel S. Fisher, United 
States Commissioner of Patents. The maternal grand- 
father of George C. Fisher (James Aldrich, of Scituate, 
Rhode Island) was for nineteen years a member of the 
General Assembly of Rhode Island, and is said to have 
drawn lots, in a rude way, with Hon. Elisha Mathewson 
to decide between them as friends which should be the 
candidate for the United States Senator.ship with the cer- 
tainty of an election, and which resulted in favor of Math- 
ewson, who received the cordial support of Aldrich. Gov- 
ernors Arthur and James Fenner, and Governor Jones, were 
intimate personal friends of Mr. Aldrich, and spent many 
days every year in social intercourse at their several resi- 
dences. Mr. Aldrich was one or more times a presidential 
elector. A great-grandson of Mr. Aldrich, James B. Angell, 
LL.D., President of the University of Michigan, is Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary to tlie Court of the Emperor of China, 
1S80. Dr. Fisher lost his father at eight years of age, and 
was thenceforward dependent on his own labor. His early 
educational advantages from schools were quite limited, 
but by private study he acquired a very fair knowledge of 
the higher mathematics, the natural sciences, and the Latin 
language. The expenses of his education, general and 
professional, were defrayed wholly by his personal exer- 
tions. His professional education was acquired at Dart- 
mouth. Harvard, and the University of New York. He 
was also a student in the office of Professor Alfred C. Post, 
M.D., LL.D., of New York. He commenced the practice 
of medicine at North Scituate, Rhode Island, where he still 
57 



resides, although his duties and professional engagements 
require a considerable portion of his time in the city of Prov- 
idence, where he has an oirice. Dr. Fisher has had a very 
large and varied practice, including many important surgical 
operations, and a large part of the consultation business of 
the surrounding towns. He early became identified with 
the educational interests of the town of Scituate, and suc- 
cessively occupied all the positions of oversight and super- 
intendence of the public schools of that town; was active 
in the formation of the Public Library, holding the position 
of director and president of the same for many years ; and 
was also a trustee of Lapham Institute. During the W'ar 
of the Rebellion he served, under a commission from the 
Governor, as Surgeon on the Board of Exemption frnm 
Draft, and was also one of the Inspectors of Recruits. 
In 1869 he was elected to the State Senate, where he 
served on the Committee on Corporations, and also on 
several joint and special committees, including a commis- 
sion, of which he was chairman, to inquire into the expe- 
diency of stocking the inland waters of the .State with more 
esculent fish. In 1870, upon the establishment of the State 
Board of Education, he was appointed a member by the 
General Assembly, and has by successive appointments con- 
tinued a member to the present time, 18S0. He was active 
in procuring the establishment of the State Normal School, 
and with Governor Seth Padelford, and Commissioner T. 
W. Bicknell, visited the Normal Schools of other States 
to ascertain their plans of organization and methods of in- 
struction. He has been a trustee of the Normal School 
continuously from 1871 . In 1877 he was returned to the State 
Senate, serving two years on the Judiciary Connniltee, the 
Committee on Executive Communications, and other joint 
and special committees. Upon the establishmeTit of the 
State Board of Health, in 1878, he was appointed a mem- 
ber, and having been elected secretary of the Boanl, was, 
in 1880, by legislative enactment, in order to define his 
duties more clearly, made State Registrar of Vital Statistics, 
and Commissioner of Public Health. He was also a Pres- 
idential Elector for Rhode Islaml in 1876. Early inter- 
ested in the establishment of railway facilities between his 
adopted town and the city of Providence, he was active in 
the organization of the Providence and Springfield Railway 
Company. He occupied the position of director of the 
Citizens' Union Bank for fifteen years, and was for two 
years President of the same. He was, also, for eleven 
years, President of the Scituate National Bank. The vari- 
ous religious, benevolent, and literary associations have 
had his warm support, and with many of them he has sus- 
tained active official relations. He has been an active 
member of the Masonic Fraternity, having been the Master 
of a Lodge of Master Masons, presiding officer of a Chapter 
of Royal Arch Masons, and an officer in the Grand Chapter 
of Royal Arch Masons. He is now a member of the State 
Grand Lodge of Master Masons, and is also a Knight 
Templar. In his professional relatiims, he has been the 



45° 



PlOGRAPinCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



prt'^iiient, nn'i Ii.i^ 1k-Ii! sf\rt.i] iitlier otlux-^ in the Rhrxle 
Klniiil Stall- Mi.-ilic.ll Soi irty ; is a im-mlicr of the American 
Mcilical A-^sociatiiin anil the American Social Science Asso- 
ciatinn, tin- Aniciican A^^miatmn loi' the Ailvancemenl uf 
Scienci'. an-l tlie Aiiuiican I'liMic Health A^sciciation. 
lie marrieii, l''el>ruary 22, I<S49, Scpliii K., <lauL;hter of 
Russell Smith. <tf Sciluale, Ixhude Klanil. who was the 
gramlson of (ieneral Willi, un West, I )epiily ( io\ernor, 
under the chaiter. an active coadjutor witli tlie revolting 
ColiMiist^ in the siriiL;i;le hir inile|>entlence. 1 >v. h'isher has 
four clnldren, ( ieorye Kussell, .Mary .Sophia, kiithie Rem- 
ington, anil Kli;'aheth Harriet. (Jeorge R. graduated at 
Lajfhani Institute, in iStiS, at Rrown l'ni\*er^ity in 1S72, 
and aftirr ) ur^iiing medical studies at home, at \'ale College, 
and at liellevue Hospital Medical College, graduated at the 
latter institution in 1S74, at twenty-cuie )-ears of age. He 
spent a year in [iraclice with hi-, father, .iml then settled in 
C)lney\il!e, adjoining rro\ii!ence, where he is iiinv engaged 
in a large practice. He is A5sistant Surgeon-General of 
the State, and a member of the general staff of the Gover- 
nor. .M.iry S. married, in 1S77, Franklin P. C")wen, assist- 
ant L'lerk of the Cotut of Common Pleas, Providence. 
Lizzie II. married, in iSyy, Albert W. Chapman, of Provi- 
dence, who is connected in business with hi-, father as con- 
tr.iclor. Ruthie -M. married, in 1S79, Walter J. .Smith, 
M.I)., at the time a resident of .Scituate. I ir. Smith is the 
grandson of Professor Nathan Smith, M.I)., lir-t President 
of the Medical Faculty of Ii.utmouth College, and al"tcr- 
waids of \'ale College. I)r. X.ithan Smith was one of the 
tw<.i mo..t eminent surgeon^ and practitioners of medicine in 
New England. Professor Nathan R. Smith, M.I)., of the 
University of Maryland, an uncle of I )r. Waller 1. Sniiih. 
was for forty year^ the leading surgeon of that Stale. Rev. 
John D. Smith, M.D., the father of r)r. Walter J, Smith, 
was in early life a Congregational minister, but for many 
years lia> been in the ser\ice of the L'nited .Stales govern- 
ment in the capacity ot Surgeon. A cousin. I ia\id P. 
Smith, Is Profe-sor of Surgeiy in the Medical liepaitment 
of Vale College. I >r. I-isher's life ha^ been one cjf in. 
ces^aiil .iclivitv, and from youtli he has been almost coniin- 
uously intrusied widi l.uge responsibilities. 



the I-'ree Paptist ('hiirch in ( Jcorgia\ ille, and continued in 
this relation until 1S64. He then became the p.astor of 
the Free B.aptist Church in Pascoag. After ten years of 
elticietit ser\ice he w.is cmiipelled by failing health to re- 
lire from this lield to a small farm in (Jlocester, near the 
\'iIlageof Harmony. In connection with his labors on the 
farm he acted as pastor. of the Free Bajitist Church in West 
Scituate from 1S75 to iS.Sl. This outline statement is 
barely suggestive of the character and usefulness of his 
work. Thriugh his early ojiyiorlunities for culture were 
not e\tensi-\e, he was a thiu-oiigh and lifelong stutlent. 
As a religious teacher he was Io\-al to his convictions of 
truth, and evinceil great independence and vigor of 
thought. His long pastorates speak of his e.\alted ideas 
of the pastoral relation, the extent of his resources, and 
of his CNCellent administrative aljility. He was genial and 
digniticd ; cautious, but neN'er C(jwardl\-, and alwa\s detested 
shams. He was a firm and boh.l ads ocate of moral reforms, 
such as peace, ami slaven', and temperance, and w as greatly 
interested in popular education, which he tlid much to jiro- 
mote as a school officer in the tou 11 in which he resided. 
His intellectual, moral, and religious views w-ere such as 
to render him a man of high personal character, command- 
ing marked respect, and exei-ting a tlecideti influence. He 
was married in I.S46 to Sally Sargent, of Millville, Massa- 
chusetts. He died July 4, iSSi, after a long and painful 
illness, in the si.xty Inst year of his age. Mrs. Phillips and 
six children — two sons and four daughters — survive him. 



it 



jHII MPS, Rt-;v. M.r\vi;v, was born in New Merlin, 
now Lancaster, New \'ork, .\ugusi 20, I.S20. His 
p.irents, Augnsius ami Asenath Phillips, had re- 
s- ■ -moved from ( docester, Rhode Island, to th.it 
Is place. In I.S40 he united with a .Methodist 
church. In 1.S42 he came to Rhode IslamI, and en- 
gaged in teaching. He aPo united with the Free Baptist 
Church in Pdackstone, Massachusetts, of which Rev. M. 
W. Burlingame was then jiastor. He received license to 
j-ireacli in 1.^4^, .uid oidiiKiticm in 1S45. From 1S44 lo 
I.S.pi he was ]iasior of an Inde]ienilent Mclhodi-i church 
ill \IillvilU-, M.issacluisetts. In 1S46 he became juistor of 



RNOT.ri. HnN. SvML-F.L Grei-:ne, LL.D., the his- 
t'uian of Rhode Island, son C)f .Samuel Greencan<I 
I-'ranees (Rogers) Arnold, and grandson of Wel- 
come AriKiliI, w-as born in Pro\-idence, April 12, 
I.S2f. The Inimestead, corner of .South Main ami 
Planet streets, was the house in which was jilanned the 
c.i} ture and burning of the (_las]ie in 1772. Plis father's 
sister, Mary .\rnohI, was the wife of the famous orator, 
lion, liistam Purges. Samuel ( i. prepared for college in 
the schools of Pio\ideiice and also under the tutelage of 
the celebrated I ir. W. .\. Muhlenberg, at Flushing, Long 
Islaiul, New- York, in the school known as St. Paul's Col- 
^ lege, which for a time had a w-ide fame. In 1S36 he en- 
tereil Brown PJniversity, and soon afterward, for the bene- 
fit of his health, accompanied Rev. William Hague, D.L)., 
to F.ngland, and visiud ]ior:ioiisof ihe Continent. Re- 
turning he resumed his L'liisersit) course, and graduated 
in the class of I.S41. .Vfter graduation he entered the 
cotinting-roont of James T. Rhodes, in !*rovidence, and sub- 
set luently went as supercargo of a merchantman to St. 
Petersburg, Russia. There hearing of the '• Dorr War," 
he U-fl the vessel and returneil home to find the rebellion 
ended. Pursuing a course of law study at the Harvard 
Law .Sihool, he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws 
in 1.S45, .md was admitted to the bar of Rhode Islnad. I lis 



BIO GRArilICA L C 3 XL OPED 1.4. 



451 



passion for historical study and writing }iad already pos- 
sessed him. Having the means at his command and an 
ardent desire to know more of the life and history of other 
nations, he travelled in Europe, to the North Cape, in Rus- 
sia, in classical regions, in Egypt, in Syria, and in South 
America. In England and France he spent nnich time 
and means in examining ami copying records and slate 
papers relative to the colonial history of our country, as he 
had previously, while a law student, j^rojected the histori- 
cal work that finally gave reputation both to himself and to 
his native State. He prepared and delivered valuable pop- 
ular lectures on South America and Northern Europe. In 
1850 he delivered the Annual Address before the Ameri- 
can Institute in New York. In 1S52 he w.as chosen Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of Rhode Island. In 1861 he was a del- 
egate to the Peace Convention, in the hope of averting the 
Civil War. An ardent champion of freedom and the Union, 
he served as an aid-de-camp to Oovernor William .Sprague, 
with the rank of colonel, and commanded a battery of 
light artillery. In 1S61 he was again elected Lieutenant- 
Governor and re-elected in 1S62. On the resignation of 
Hon. James F. Simmons, he was elected United .States 
Senator, and served in 1862-3. Everywhere his talents, 
scholarship, and character gave him social and public 
prominence. In 1848 he was chosen a trustee of Brown 
University, and in 1878 received from the University the 
degree of Doctor of Laws. His chief work, T/ie Hislo?y 
of the Stale of Rhode Island and Prorndence Plautalions, 
the first volume published in 1859, the second in i860, was 
highly commendetl by scholars at home and abroad. Of a 
high order also are his published addresses, amcjng which 
may be mentioned A Historical Address, pidilished in the 
North American Rci'icw in 185 1 ; The Spirit of Rhode 
Island History ; memorial papers on Albert (!. (Jreeue, 
William R. Staples, and Usher Parsons, read before the 
Rhode Island Historical Society ; his Centennial discourses 
in 1876; the History of Prmridence, amX the History of 
Middletown. All his literary productions are models of 
method, clearness of view, and felicity of statement. In 
1S68 he was elected President of the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society, on account of his thorough knowdedge of 
the .State and of his important contributions to its literature. 
This position he filled until his death. As President of the 
Charitable Baptist Society of the First Baptist Church, in 
Providence, he performed valuable service, writing its Cen- 
tennial History, in 1875, and contributing largely to its 
treasury. For many years he served on the Providence 
School Committee; for eleven years he was a trustee of 
the Reform School ; and for a like period a trustee of the 
Butler Hospital. In 1876 he was a Republican Presiden- 
tial Elector. In 1848 he married Louisa Gindrat Arnold, 
daughter of Richard J. Arnold, of Providence, and had 
three daughters, one of whom, Mrs. Louisa C. (.\.) Apple- 
ton, resides near Savannah, Georgia. He died in Provi- 
dence, February i j, 1880, at the age of fifty-nine. Funeral 



addresses were made in the First Baptist Church by Rev. 
I)rs, E. G. Robinson, S. L. Caldwell, and William Hague. 
Dr. Robinson appropriately observed : " He abhorred 
shams of every description ; every species of cant, and 
especially religious cant, to him was hateful. He had his 
long-settled and deep-seated religious convictions. Of 
these convictions, which were manifest in all his acts, he 
rarely spoke — never obtrusively — but without reserve when 
there was due occasion. . . . Among all the men whom 
it has been my lot to know, I have met with no one who 
has equalled him in unwillingness to ajipear, or to be ac- 
counted, anything else than oiactly what he was." 



^^HEFFIELD, II..N. Wiii.HM Paine, was born in 
S^ffll New .Shoreham, Rhode Island, August 30, 1820. 
i|> His parents were George (\. and Eliza (Paine) 
■ fi Sheffield, both descendants of early settlers of Rhode 
(s Island. After completing his acadenncal studies he 
entered Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 
1S44, and the same year was admitted to the Rhode Island 
bar. In 1 841 he was a delegate from New Shoreham to 
the " Landholders' Convention," to frame a new State Con- 
stitution, and in 1S42 was a member of the General As- 
sembly, standing firmly for "law and order" as against 
" Dorrism." He was returned to t!ie (ieneral Assembly by 
New Shoreham in 1S43 and 1844 while pursuing his legal 
studies. He commenced the practice of his profession in 
Tiverton, where he was brought into intimate friendly and 
professional relations with Hon. Job Durfee. In 1S49 he 
was elected to represent Tiverton in the General Assembly, 
and re-elected in 1S51 and 1S52. He soon afterward re- 
moved to Newport, where his talents and legal aliilities 
were at cjnce recognized, and in 1857 he was returned to 
the General Assembly by that city. He continuetl to ser\e 
as a Representative to that body until 1S61, when he was 
chosen a Representative from Rhode Islam! to the Thirty- 
seventh Congress as a Republican, and ser\ed the nation in 
that capacity from July 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863. In 1863 
he was again elected to the General Assembly by the city 
of Newport, and with the eNcei>tion of the years 1873 and 
1874, he has been annually re-elected until the present time 
(1881). He has long been a memberof the .Standing Com- 
mittee of the House on the Judiciary. In 1869 he served 
on the Select Committee to revise the laws of Rhode Island, 
and has had more to do with shaping the statutes as they 
now stand than any other person. Having become so 
thoroughly familiar with the legislation of the State from 
its beginning, he is generally regarded as the best interpreter 
of Rhode Island law. Mr. Sheffield is a ready and forcible 
speaker in court-rooms and legislative halls, and an able 
writer, especially on historical subjects. In 1876 was pub- 
lished his " Historical Sketch of Rhode Island," and the 
same year an " Historical Address on the City of Newport," 
besides the publication at different times of various papers, 



45^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 




rt'poit-^, and sjieoclics lic-fuvc the ( icncral A^^cinhly. He 
has \'fry v.ilnaltle w liliiiL;^ and notes, the pirnluct of his 
iiiiw eatieil lii^tmical le^careh. that nia\- )et be i;iven to the 
|Hihhe. He marrieil, in I.S47, Lillias White Sanf.inl, 
(lanj;hter of Sanuiel Sanfunl, iif Iioston, a ilescendant of 
John Sanfoid, one of the fir^t settlers of Rhode Ishind, the 
issue of tlie marriai^e beini; three ehiltlren. His son, Wil- 
liam 1'. Slu'llield, Jr., jjradnateil with honor from Hrown 
I'niversity, and is engage'.) in the practice of law in the city 
of Xew'piirt. 

^.\S(iX, r,i:(iRi;i.: C'H.wtPilN, is descended from 
\A some of the ohl Rhode Island f.imihes — the 
'li'*>^Sf Ayraults, Champlins, and (iranls. The Ay- 
J.'^ ranlls were Huguenots, tlie Champlins settled 

et in Kiiode Isl,\nd in Il'v*^; tbe Masons came 

to America in i<»;5, and the (ir.tnts in 1725. Henjamin 
Mason mariied Mary Ayr.iult, J.muary 24, 1754. Iheir 
eldest sini, Henjamin, married, Xoveiidier .S. 17.N.S, Mar- 
garet Champlin, ilaughter of (dinsti.pher C'liamplin. and 
granddaughter of Sucton (ir.int, and had foin- children. 
tieorge Champlin Mason, who was the \('ungest, married, 
October 28, I.SiS, .\bhy .Maria Mumlord. daughter of 15en- 
jamin I!. Mumfor.l, and their eldest son, (ieoige Champlin 
Mason, born July 17, 1S20, is the subject of this sketch. 
< )f a delicate constitution, and frequently an invalid, he 
could give but little attention to study in his youth. At 
the age of fifteen he enterei.1 a drygoods lunise, as clerk, 
in .\ew \'ork, where he was eliqiloyed for si.\ years. \\ 
the enil of that lime his health was such tliat he had to 
gi\'e 111) the calling; but in the meantime he acipiircl a 
giioil bu>ine-.s training. l''ioin childhood he has cuhi\,itcd 
a taste for drawing, and, in lS.(4, h.iving att.iiiieil to scune 
lirollciency, he s.-iiled for Europe, where he studied nearly 
two years, in Kome, I'lorence, and Paris. ( )n his reliiin 
to tile I'nited States he entered uiion his ])rofession as a 
landscape painter, chiedy of archilcclural subjects. At 
that time there was no resident architect in Newimrt, and 
he was frequently called ui«ui for aid in perfecting and 
getting up architectural drawings, which led him, in iSjcS, 
tci gi\e his whole attention to this branch of ait. Since 
then he has made arciiiteilure his profession. At limes 
Ills pen has been employed in various ways. In 1S51 he 
became the editor of the .W-w/'iirt Mtriiiiy, from which 
position lie retired in 1S58. From 1S54 forward, for a 
miniber of years, he w as a corres|Kindeut of the Pi o-'itl,iiiC 
yiwrwc;/, over the signature of " .Aquidneck." .Since the 
summer of iS76he has lieen a regular corresijondent of the 
jW-v Yoik ET<:iiiiii; Post. The liooks that he has written 
are, /V« <;;;(//V«i'//.S'.<v/<7/,-.s e/" AV;./>fi77, ilhisirated ; I vol. 
121110., pp. 127. Charles E. Hammett, Jr., Newpoii. i.Sj.p 
A\i(iiii'ii of the Sons ami Diur.;htcrs of -Wr, /■<>//, i vol. 
12mo., ]>p. 297, 185S. Tlu- Afllinition of Art to Mniiiifu- 
Inrts, I vol. I2mo., pp. 344; 150 illustrations. tJeorgu P. 
rutnain, New York, 1858. .Wufoit ,iii</ its Cottm;,!, i vol. 



quarto, p]i. 109, 1S75; illustrated. Edition limited to one 
hundred cojiies; subscription [irice, 550. James R. Os- 
good & Co., llo^ton. T/u- OIJ House AlteroJ. i v.)l., 
small quarto, pp. 171); illustrated. Ceoi'ge P. Putnam's 
Sons, Ne\v \'ork. I'lir Lif- aiitl Works of C^ilhcrt Stuart, 
1 vol. small quarto, pji. 2S3; illustrated, 1879. Charles 
Scribner's .Sons, New York. 



jy^l'lT.ER, Hon. Cii.\rt,f,s Rissi-;t,i,, manufacturer, 
jtiij^ was born in liallston, .Saratoga County, Xew York, 
^^\!f" Hecember 10, 1S22, and is the son of Eli ami 
y':"f Abary (Harlan) Cutler. His father's ancestors were 
"•!> t^nglish. and his mother's French. He was educated 
ill a country school and also pursued a course of study in 
the Chicago High School. In 1839 he removed to War- 
ren, Rhode Island, where he engaged as a seaman. He 
rose rapidly in the scr\ice, and for twel\*e years w.is a 
successful ship-ni.ister. iJuring this period he cruised in 
nearly all the waters i.»f the globe, and twice sailed around 
the world. .Vt the close of 18^8 he ga\'e up going to sea 
and Itegan the niamificture of cotton cordage at Warren, 
in mills built by himself, known as the Cutler Cordage 
Mills. This business he carried on successfully until after 
the commeiicemeiit of the Ci\il War, w hen his estal.tlish- 
ment was converted into a manufactory of cotton yarns 
used in the manufacture of a great variety of fabrics, such 
as silk gooils, hose, suspenders and other articles. In 1869 
he associated with him as partner Mr. George Hail, and a 
stock company was incorporated, styled the Cutler Manu- 
facturing Compan)', of w liich Mr. t'utler is at present ( 1881 ) 
treasurer and agent. The Inisiness has steadily increased 
fiom the start, and has an invested capital of over 5400,000. 
Since the formation of the coiii|)any one large mill has 
lieen built, and another is now being erected, each having 
a capacil)' equal to a iirint-cloth mill of 30,000 spindles. 
In 1S72, Mr. Cutler was elected I.ieutenant-Ciovernor of 
Rhode Island, which ollice he Idled for one term. He has 
served as a member of the Tow n Council of W.nren since 
1S62, and is nciw its President, \\hich office he has liehl 
since 1S70. He has also served tlie town acceptably in 
\arious other positions. Inning been for twelve years Chief 
Engineer of the hire 1 teiiartment, and for several years 
Superintendent cif Eights. He has taken a deep interest 
in educational matters, and was a member of the com- 
mittee which built the Miller Street school-house of War- 
ren. On the 3d of .Voveniber, 1862, he was initiated into 
Freemasonry, in Washington Eodge Xo. 3 of Warren, 
and was Master of that lodge for the year 1863. In 1S77 
\ he w as elected Grand Master of the (irand Lodge of Rhode 
Island, which office he held lor two years, during which 
time, at the invitation of the City of Pro\ idence, he had the 
honor to deilicate, in behalf of the Grand Lodge, the large 
and beautiful inonumeiil erectetl to the memory of Roger 
Williams. Mr. Cutler is a zealous worker in the Masonic 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



453 



order, antl is recognized as one of its most efficient and 
influential members. He has been a member of the order 
of Odd Fellows since 1S45, and for several terms held the 
office of Xoble Grand. He married. May 4, 1845, Celinda 
Carpenter, daughter of Nathaniel Carpenter, of Seekoidi, 
Massachusetts. Her father was a lineal descendant of one 
of the celebrated Carpenter brothers, who came from Eng- 
land, and whose descendants are now very numerous in 
this country. She died in Warren, Augu.st 27, 1S70. On 
the 15th of November, 1871, Mr. Cutler married L. Lydia 
Gushee, daughter of Dr. Almond Gushee, a prominent 
physician of Warren, to v\hich place he removed from 
Dighton, Massachusetts. Her grandfather was an eminent 
Congregational divine, and preached in one church in 
Dighton, Massachusetts, for fifty-seven years. The chil- 
dren by the first marriage were Charles R. and Mary Dar- 
ling. The former died at sea, of yellow fever, in 1874. 
The children by the second marriage are Edward Russell 
and Charles Williams. Mr. Cutler ranks among the most 
prominent and successful business men of Warren, and is 
noted for his readiness and liberality in contributing to the 
advancement of every good cause. 



Sj^i|OOKE, General George Lewis, the si.sth son of 
M^K Joseph S. and Mary (Welch) Cooke, was born in 
'">Ty Providence, September 16, 1821. On leaving 
T school he entered the house of Cooke, Angell & 
J* Co., drygoods merchants, and a few years after- 
ward became a partner in the firm of Cooke, Anthony & 
Mahony, the successors of the first-named house. His 
connection with this firm was dissolved in 1S46. A few 
months later he formed a copartnership with the late Wil- 
liam L. Baker, Es(i. {who married a sister of his wife), in 
the shipping and commission business in New York, which 
continued nearly to his embarkation for California as part- 
ner of his brother Joseph, February i, 1849. Upon the 
retirement of the firm of Cooke Brothers c& Co., of San 
Francisco, in 1 854, he returned to his native State, having 
purchased a home in Warren, in which he still resides. 
Soon after, upon the organization of the Sowamset Bank, 
Warren, he was chosen its President, retaining the position 
while it existed. The passage of the National Banking 
Law led to the supersedure of that institution by the First 
National Bank of Warren, whose stockholders were mostly 
identical with those of its predecessor, and he has been 
its President from the commencement. Early in i860 the 
growing excitement upon national issues called him to 
political life for the first time. He was elected State Sen- 
ator from Warren to fill a vacancy. He jfresided over the 
"Young Men's State Convention" held at that time, and 
was elected to the .Senate for the year 1S60, being re- 
elected in 1 86 1 and 1862, when he declined another re- 
election, having been chosen Quartermaster-General, an 
office whose duties during the years of his incumbency 



were exceptionally arduous and iiniHirlant. He was 
chairman of the Finance Committee of tlie Senate for the 
entire period of his membership of that body. In the sec- 
ond year of the W^ar of the Rebellion, on the formation of 
the Ninth Rhode Island Regiment, he was appointed its 
Quartermaster, but was soon after appointed to the Major- 
ity. W'hen the Twelfth Rhode Island Regiment was en- 
listed for nine months' service, he served temporarily as 
its Major, and was shortly advanced to the Lieutenant- 
Colonelcy. This corps was stationed in tlie vicinity of 
the National Capital, which was threatened by the enemy. 
While thus engaged he was ordered home by Governor 
Sprague, ndth a view to his acceptance of the position of 
Quartermaster-General. In 1873, he complied with the 
wish of his fellow-citizens, irrespective of party, to serve 
the town as Represen'ative in the Lower House of the 
Legislature; an<l under varying political circumstances 
was re-chosen in each of the five succeeding years, declin- 
ing further candidacy in 1879. He had from the first 
taken a conspicuous part in current legislation, especially 
while continued from year to year as chairman of the 
Finance Committee of the Lower House, although the 
Democratic party, with which he acted, was in a constant 
minority. Perhaps the efforts of no man during his long 
memljership were more reflected in the legislation of the 
State. Through his exertions a salutary measure was at 
last accomplished, which his constituents, with certain of 
their neighbors, had for a full generation vainly striven to 
effect. This was the annexation to Warren of a strip of 
territory naturally forming a portion of the compact part of 
Warren, but included within the town lines of Bristol, 
which town vehemently resisted the change. In the local 
affairs of his town, especially those of an educational char- 
acter. General Cooke has borne a prominent share from the 
day of his citizenship, as also in those of St. Mark's Church 
of that place, whose delegate in the Protestant Episcopal 
Slate Convention he has been during the entire period ; 
and besides being once delegated by that body to the Tri- 
ennial General Convention of the Church, has for upwards 
of twenty years (a single year excepteil) been annually 
chosen one of the Standing Committee of the diocese. 
From 1865 to 1875 '^^ ^^'^^ ''^^ secretary, treasurer, 
and manager of the American Horse-Nail Company, of 
Providence; and since 1S73 he has been agent of the 
.Sprague Sewing- Machine Company, Providence. He 
married, at Warren, Rhode Island, December 14, 1842, 
Laura Frances Wheaton, daughter of the late Nathan 
Miller and Content B. (Maxwell) Wheaton. They have 
had seven children : Annie Burrows Cooke, deceased ; Ella 
Cooke, deceased ; George Lewis Cooke, Jr. ; Leonora 
Cooke, Evelina Cooke, Marietta Cooke, and Frederica 
Cooke. George Lewis Cooke, Jr., graduated from Trinity 
College, Hartford, Connecticut, July, 1870; studied law in 
the office of the Lite John A. (Jardner, Esq., District .At- 
torney for Rhode Island, 1S70-71 ; entered Harvard Law 



454 



PIO GRA PI lie A L C \ "c Y. OPEDIA. 



Schn(jl. S^i IcnilitT, 1S71, nuil Ljiadiiated ia June, 1S72 ; 
^va^ ailinittcil In the Kliode Inland bar in N.ivemlifr of the 
same year, aii'l to practice in the I'nited States (/irciiit and 
1 district L'ourlN, No\cnilier, 1^75; iiia<ie "Trial lusiice " 
of Warren in 1S75, ajid still lioKK that office. — Oi/uu/flxy 
of tin- RiisSill I-aiiiily. by llartlett. 



■^T-WELI., TlM..iHv,MTl..M,nofSte|.henand Polly 
I Howard Ma_\' ) Xcwcll, was born in Sturbiidge, 
Massachusetts, March 29, 1S20. lie is of an old 
•4-;->V:.;- Massachusetts family. His grandfather was the 
i'te' second town clerk of Sturbridge in 1739. His 
father entered the Continental army at the age of sixteen, 
and during a service of eighteen months rose from the rank 
of orderly sergeant to that of lieutenant, ami was at the 
surrender of IJurgoyne. He was one of the veterans to 
greet Lafayette on his last visit to ,jur country in 1S24, 
when the Marquis eagerly grasped him liy the hand, and 
then stooping grasped the hand of his son Timothy, who 
well remembers the event. Stephen Newell was ainan of 
firmness and decision of character, and was fre'|Uently 
elected to take part in the management of afl'airs of the 
town, 'rinioth}- inherited bodily vigor, and his carlv farm 
laliorsmatureil a sturdy constitutirm. His educatiiui besides 
his gnoil home training was obtained by an attendance of 
three months each year at the distiict school. At the .age 
of sixteen he had earncil, by extra work, sufficient money 
to pay for a (|uarter's study at an academy. Thus self- 
reliant, without aid from others, he advanced, alternating 
between working, stiidynig, and teaching. His academical 
studies were pursued at the Worcester Manual Labor High 
Sclioi.l and at the Wilbraliam .\cadcniy. These were fob 
lowed by Ills collegiate studies at lirown Lniversitv with 
the class of 1S47. His medical studies were pursued with 
Ilr. Sylvanus ( lap]!, of Pawtueket, Rhode Island, and at 
the Vermont Medical College, from wliicli he graduated 
w itli the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1S50. He sub- 
seijuently spent one w inter at the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons in New York city. His hist settlement in pro- 
fessional life was in the town of Cranston, Rhode Island, 
wdiere he iciiiaine<l thlrc ye.irs, when he established him- 
self in Pro\ idence, w here he still continues his studious, 
hiborious, ami successful career. At the outbreak of the 
Rebellion in i.Sdi he iinmedlately volunteered for the de- 
lence of the country, and was cominissiuned as .Surgeon of 
the hirst .\e\v luigland Cavalry, afterwards the Lirsl Rhode 
Island Cavalry, and was mustered in with the command 
November 4, iSoi. In this position, especially arduous, 
with iriounted troops, lu- served in the camps in Rhode 
Island, in W'.ishingioii, and m the advances arul exposures 
in I^astern Virginia, .\fier leaving this command in I.S62 
he was engaged in geneial hosjutal duty with the .-Vrniy of 
the Potomac, lieu- he bc( .uiie acquainted withtieiiei.il 
I'rim, of the .Spanish .iriny, on his visit to ( icneral Met lel- 



lan, and was invited to join his staff, w hich he refused, much 
to his subsequent regret. For a time he was a voluntary 
prisoner in the enemy's lines to care for the wounded of 
the L'liion Army. He fell into the hands of the rebels at 
.Savage .Station during the seven days' battles, and was car- 
ried to Libby Prison, where he remained several weeks. 
His army ex]ieriences have been of great benefit to hiiri in 
his profession. He is a member of the Proviilence Medical 
.Association and of the Rhode Island Medical .Society, of 
which for two years he was the treasurer. In Decemlier, 
I.S74, he called the attention of this society to the need of 
a rational system of school hygiene, and afterwards as 
chairman of a committee presented a report, a portion of 
which was w idely pulilished and commented upon in the 
periodicals of the country. Resides membershiji in several 
local associations he is a member of the American .Medical 
.■\ssociation, the .\merican Health .Association, and the 
.American .Social Science Association. Before the latter at 
Sarati.iga, in 1876, he read a paper on " The Changes De- 
manded by Physiology in our School System," that excited 
much interest, and was published in the j\(7t' York Sani- 
tariuni in the following .April. His discussions of sanitary 
subjects have found their way into pojiular journals, ami 
some of his ])lans have been recommended for adoption in 
other .States. He has projected an admirable plan for a 
libran- of the State Medical Society, which is likely to be 
successful. His professional duties h.ive not preveiiteil the 
indulgence of his taste for history and poetry. He has 
made special studies of some of the great characters of 
Shakespeare. For several years he was a frequent and 
welcome visitor to the home of the giftetl Mrs. Sarah Helen 
Whitman. .As a member of the Rhode Island Horticultural 
Society and a sharer in its discussions he has added jiar- 
ticularly in the culture of plums to the wealth of Rhode 
Island gardens. He married, September 19, 18(17. -Anna 
P. Smith I Rates I, daughter of James \V. Rates, late of South 
Kingstown, Rhotle Island, and has one son, t laude Potter 
Newell. 

;^^^3E^I'SI1M.W, Rom R I , manufacturer, was born on the 
M»K old homestead 111 the western part of Attleboro, 
IJT" Massachusetts, September 12, 1S21. He is a lineal 
I descendant and namesake of Robert Cushman, one 
■t of the founders of Plymouth Colony. His parents 
were Captain Samuel and Sophia (George) Cushman, both 
of whom died in 18(14, at an advanced age. Mis father 
served as Ca|ilain of the militia, and part of the time as 
M.ajor, in the War of 1812, and for eleven consecutive years 
was one of the selectmen of Attleboro. Robert Cushman 
was educated in the country district schools and at the 
academies of .Attleboro and Pawtueket. .At the age of 
eighteen he commencetl teaching a district school in his 
native tow n, and was thus employed for several years dur- 
ing the winter, the rest of his time being occupied in farm- 
ing. Having a natural ajititude for mechanics, he entered 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



455 



a turning-shop in 1844, and after working for others in 
Central Falls, Woonsocket, and I'awtucket. commenced, 
in 1847, in a very small way, the main business of his 
life, — the manufacture of spools for win<ling cotton, linen, 
and silk thread. At this time there were not more than 
three or four shops in the world (and those were very small) 
where such spools were made by machinery. Not being 
able to purchase such machines as were then in use, he 
and his workman invented and constructed machines which 
soon superseded all others, and were of such superior char- 
acter that, with later improvements, they are now in general 
use, although the business has increased several hundred- 
fold in this country. In 1850 he removed to Central Falls, 
and in 1857, across the river to Pleasant View, in Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island, where, with his brother George, he 
built the spool factory, afterward enlarged, in which others 
still continue the business. He early established an envi- 
able reputation for superior work, and for many years was 
at the head of that branch of industry in this country. He 
invented the adjustable features of the pivot-hanger for 
shafting, now in general use. For some time he was also 
engaged in knitting by machinery, antl invented valuable 
improvements in knitting machines, one of which was pat- 
ented. He has realized but little from his inventions, 
however, while others have derived a large profit there- 
from. In 1874, his health being impaired, he sold out 
the business, retaining his factory, and some years after- 
ward, by losses sustained in the coal liusincss (managed 
by others), in which he had previously invested extensively, 
the savings of his lifetime were swept away. But this mis- 
fortune did not impair his influence in the community, and 
to-day he is regarded one of the most useful citizens of the 
town in which he resides. Having no ambition for public 
honors, he has served the public but little in an official 
capacity, but endeavored to exert an influence for the en- 
actment of good laws and the election of good men to 
execute them. He served for two years as town council- 
man in Pawtucket before the consolidation tif the two 
towns ; and for the past two years has again served as a 
member of the School Committee. For two years he has 
been Vice-President of the Providence County Savings 
Bank. He has been an active worker in the temperance 
cause most of his life, especially in behalf of prohibition 
since the Maine Law first passed, and for several years has 
been a member of the board of managers of the Rhode 
Island Temperance Union, of which, I'or t\so years, he has 
been one of the Vice-Presidents. In 1841 he became a 
member of the First Congregational Church in Attleboro, 
and was elected deacon in 1848, retaining his connection 
with that church until 1858, when he joined the Congre- 
gational Church in Central Falls, of which he was also 
elected deacon in 1866, succeeding his brother lieorge in that 
office after his death. In 1S62 he was chosen superintend- 
ent of the Sunday-school of that church, which position he 
filled for over ten years. His brother, Kichards Cushman, 



was a minister, and dictl while engaged in missionary work 
on the Island of Hayti in 1848. Mr. Cushman married, 
in 1847, Louisa Draper, daughter of Ebenezer and lieulah 
Draper, of Attleboro, Massachusetts, and a descendant of 
Governor Bradford. They have had four chiUlren, three 
of whom are living, Ellen, Louisa, antl Robert. 



I'id^NOW, Edwin Miller, M.D., son of Nathan and 
§^ffl| Rhoda (Miller) Snow, was born in Pomfret, Ver- 
(jfjsig mont, May 8, 1820. His father was a merchant, 
'^f'^? and a descendant of William Snow, w-ho was born 
J Is in England in 1624, emigrated to Plymouth, Massa- 
chusetts, and afterwards was among the early settlers of 
Duxbury and West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The name 
of the wife of this emigrant settler was Rebecca Barker. 
Dr. Snow's mother was a native of Granville, Massachu- 
setts, and of English descent. He received his early edu- 
cation in the common school in Pomfret, and also attended, 
for several terms, different academies in neighboring 
towns. In 183S he prepared for college at Kimball Union 
Academy, in Meriden, New Hampshire, and at the New 
Hampton Academic Institution, New Hampshire, from 
which he entered Brown University in September, 1840. 
An afl"ection of the eyes obliged him to be absent from 
college during the second year, after which he resumed 
his studies, and graduated in 1845. In 184S the degree 
of A.M. w'as conferred ujion him by his nliinj matc'r. 
After his graduation he spent two years in teaching and in 
pursuing a course of study with a view of entering the 
medical profession. In 1847 '"= continued his medical 
studies with Dr. W. D. Buck, in Manchester, New Hamp- 
shire, and graduated in medicine at the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons in New York city, March, 1S49. In 
June of that year he began the practice of medicine at 
Holyoke, Massachusetts, and in July, August, and Septem- 
ber following, treated many cases of Asiatic cholera, which 
then prevailed at Holyoke. In November, 1850, he re- 
moved to Proviilence, Rhode Island, where he continued 
the practice of medicine, and was soon afterwords ap- 
pointed Physician of the Eastern District of the Providence 
Dispensary. He served in this capacity for two or three 
years, during which time, in the .summer of 1854, he at- 
tended numerous cases of cholera, and became much inter- 
ested in tracing the connection of the disease with local 
conditions of filth. A communication from him upon this 
subject, addressed to the Mayor of Providence, was pub- 
lished by the City Council, in March, 1855, and resulted 
in important changes in the Health Department of the city. 
In May, 1855, he was elected a member of the Common 
Council of Providence, and was appointed City Registrar 
of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, July I, 1855, and also 
Health Physician and Health ( Itficer at Quarantine. The 
office of Superintendent of Health was established in June, 
1856, and he was chosen to fill that position. Since that 



456 



nioGRArmcAL cycl oprdia. 



time until llic iin-^ont i iSSi) lit.- li.t^ Uix-n clcctcil ;inmially 
as Citv Rii;iMr,)r an^i a^ Ilraltli i lliici i l'\ tin- Hoarfl of 
AliU-rmt-n, ami lia-^ conliiiUL-il to till tlic ..Iticc nf Supeiin- 
ten Uiit uf Health, liiM bciiit; a|i|iniiiii,-<l annually by that 
li.iilv, and lor nnnv years j.ast havin;^ l>een chuseii anmi- 
allv bv the Mite <.f the ]ieM]iU'. He was a])|iointeil to su- 
])erinten(l the censns of I'lovidente in July, I.S55 ; was 
Superinten.lent .if the State Census of Rhode Island in 
1S65 and in 1875; and was Su|)civisor of Census for the 
l)i>lrict of Rhode Island in the National Census of iSSo. 
He also sujierintended a ]iartial een^us of the city of Provi- 
dence ill 1.S74 and in 1S7.S. Iluring the War of the Re- 
belli'in, in the -jirinj; of iSO;. he was appointed Inspector 
of Hospitals, by the United States Sanitary Commission, 
and spent several weeks in examinini; the military hos[)i. 
tals in Pliiladelphia and vicinity, and in visiting the Army 
eif the riitomac opposite Frederiekslnirg. He was a mem- 
ber of and took a prominent part in the meetings of the 
nuarantine and Sanitary Convenlions, w hieh met first in 
riiiladelphia. May 13, 1S57, and in the following years in 
New York, Baltimore, ami liost.m, the conveniion in the 
latter city being held in 1S60. He was a member of the 
National Prison trongress which met in Cincinnati in 1S70; 
and a delegate from the Stale to the International Prison 
Congress in London, in July, 1S72. 1-fom May, 1866, to 
May, 1869, he wa- an Inspector of the Rhode Island State 
Prison ; and a member and Secretary of the Board of .Stale 
Charities and Corrections from the time it came into ope- 
ration, June I. 1S69, until December 6, 1872, when he re- 
signed. In 1850 he wa^ elected a member of the Rhode 
Island Medical Society; in iSjI.of the I'rovideiice Medi- 
cal Sncietv ; in 185^, of the .\merican .Medical As^^ieia- 
tion; was Secretary of the State Medical Society from 
June 30, 1S52, to June 6, 1855; President of the same So- 
' ciety from 187(110 1S77 ; and for several years Secretary 
of the Providence Medical Society. He was on the Com- 
mittee of Registration in that Society from 1S53 to 1S78, 
jiart of the time lieing chairman, and was author of sev- 
eral of the annual leports on that suliject. He has been 
a member of the staff of consulting physicians of the 
Rhode Island Hospital since its establishment ; and is also 
a member of the American .\cadeiiiy of Medicine. In De- 
cember, iStiS, he was sent as a delegate from the State to a 
convention held at that time in Spriiiglield, Illinois, in rela- 
tion to the Texas cattle ilise.ase ; and was a member and 
chairman of the Rhode Island Cattle Commission from 1S71 
to iS7J,and from May, 1875,10 May, 1S78. Irom 1S74 to 
187.S he was chairman of the Slate C..iiinii-si,.n which 
built ihe new Slate ])rison in (/ranstoii. He was sent as a 
delegate from the United Slates ( ioverimuait to the Inlerna- 
tioii.d Sta!i.-tical Congress, which met in St. Petersburg, 
Russia, in .August, 1.S73. I luring ihe same season he made 
an extended tour on the Coiiiinent and through the British 
Isles. Dr. Snow was one of the original founders of the 
American Public Heallh Associ.ilion, organi.'.ed inlS?^; 



Vice-President of the same, 1872-74, and Presiileiit in 
'875-76. In June, 1855, he was elected a trustee of the 
I'rovideiice Rel'orm School, and continued in this office, by 
an annual election, for twentv-tive years, declining a re- 
election in 18S0. In 1876 he was elected a trustee in 
Brown L'niversiiy, which ]josiiion he still holds, He is the 
author of numerous valuable pamphlets and re[)orts, antong 
which are those on Asialic ChoUra, Smivll-pox, and other 
municipal sairitary subjects, on which his views have the 
weight of large experience and sound judgment; twenty- 
four Annual Reports upon Rcgistiation of Bii-ths, Mtir- 
;•/<;;'<■.(, antl Dcillis, in Pro-iidcmc, beginning svith 1855 
and still continued; eight Anniuil Slate Reports on Reg- 
iilration, from 1862 to 1807, inclusive, and 1S76 and 1S77 ; 
reports on the Census of llie City of PruiiJenee, tSjj;, the 
Census of the State of Rliode Island, /StiJ. Census of the 
Stale of Rhode hland, /S'~j, and others. On the 30th of 
December, 1857, he read before the Rhode Island Histor- 
ical .Society a //islory of the Asiatie Cholera in Proi'i- 
denee. In politics, Dr. Snow has been a consistent Repub- 
lican. He is widely and favorably known at home and 
abroad for his extensive knowledge in his special depart- 
ments of study, and for his sterling qualities of chaiacler. 
On the 14th of luiie, 1840, he united with the Baptist 
Church, in New Hampton, New Hampshire, and on the 
2Isl of .Xovember, 1850, transferred his rekations to the 
First Baptist Church of Providence, which was then under 
the pastoral charge of Rev. James N. Granger, D.D. In 
September, 1S52, he became clerk of the church, which 
office he has since held. He married. May 2, 1850, 
Ann E, \V. Pike, daughter of Jonathan and Cynthia 
i (Hathaway I Pike, of Providence. They have two chil- 
dren li\ing, Eli,!abetli H., and Sylvester M. 



^^■1-:CKH.\M, Fenner H.\rris, M.D., son of Dr. 
Ha/ael ami .Susanna (Thornton) Peckham, was 
i 1 born in Killingly, Connecticut, January 27, 1S20. 
I'll His father was an able and noted physician of his 
I J day and had an extensive practice. Fenner II., after 
pursuing a course of acailemical studies, entered the office 
of Dr. liisiin llammoii.l, a w iilely-known [ihysician of 
Windham Countv, Conneclicu!, with whom, and finally 
with Professors Knight and Hooker of New Haven he 
studied medicine, and gradu,rleil from Yale Medical Col- 
lege in 1842. He commenced his medical practice in his 
native place. Fast Killingly, but soon after removed to 
North Killingly. now known as Putnam Heights, where 
he Continued with success till 1S52, when he settled in 
Providence, Rhode Island. While in his native State he 
became a member of the (Connecticut .State Medical So- 
cietv. Immediately after settling in Providence he secured 
a good piMclice, and became a member of the Rhode Isl- 
and Medical Society, of which he has twice had the honor 
j of being chosen president. In addition to addresses, and 



sSf--^^^ 





^>7// ^ J r 



^t 6 



^ 



-^ Z^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CWLOTEDIA. 



457 



roiiorts on special cases, he has contiibulod to literature a 
monograph " On Hydrophobia," first presented before the 
American Association, and " On the Topographical and 
Geological Condition of the Second District of Rhode 
Island," found in the report of Dr. Baxter in statistics of 
volunteer service. For a number of years he was Physi- 
cian and Surgeon of the Marine Hospital at Providence. 
On the opening of the Civil War he volunteered his serv- 
ices for the defence and preservation of the Union, and 
was commissioned, August 15, I S61, Surgeon of the Third 
Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment. He had first 
been assigned to duty with the Second Rhode Island Vol- 
unteers at Washington, and afterward had charge of the. 
medical department of Camp Sprague, both before and 
after the first battle of Bull Run. He joined the Third 
Regiment after the command had reached and taken pos- 
session of Port Royal, South Carolina ; but the enervating 
character of the climate, and his arduous duties compelled 
him to resign his position in Feljruary, 1.S62. , In April, 
1863, he was appointed Surgeon of the Board of Enrol- 
ment of the Second District of Rhode Island, and, at the 
request of Governor J. Y. Smith, officially visited Fort- 
ress Monroe, and continued his efiScient services in con- 
nection with the Board till the termination of the Rebel- 
lion. Beside these national services and his large practice 
in the city, he has otherwise served the public professional- 
ly, as in the Medical Board of the Economical Life In- 
surance Company in its days of success. To his son, Dr. 
F. H. Peckham, Jr., who also served during the Rebel- 
lion in the Hospital Department of the army with the 
Third Rhode Island Regiment, and who for several years 
has been associated with him in practice, he has relin- 
quished the more arduous duties of his profession, as en- 
feebled health will suffer him only to engage in consulta- 
tion and minor services. He married Catharine Torrey, 
daughter of William Torrey, of Killingly, Connecticut, 
and had six children : Catharine F., Rosa F., Fenner 
H., Jr., Ella L. T., Sarah G., and Mary D. Rosa F., 
well known as a portrait and landscape painter, married 
George W. Danielson. 



^I^kUDLONG, James Arnoi.p, eldest son of Joseph 
Pg|) Stone and Maiy Ann (Arnold) Budlong, was 
/„T"t born in Cranston, Rhode Island, March i, 182^, 
'', i 7 and is a lineal descendant of Francis Budlong, the 
J 9 J first settler of the name in the Colony of Rhode Isl- 
and. His father and grandfather were market gardeners in 
Cranston, and his father still lives on the old homestead, 
at the age of seventy-seven. From a genealogical table 
prepared by Joseph A. Budlong, of Providence, it appears 
that the family is of French extraction, the original French 
surname being " Budlon," and that Francis Budlong mar- 
ried Rebecca Howard, widow of Joseph How ard, on Fri- 
day, March 19, 1669; both of whom and all their chil- 
58 



drcn, except John, were massacred by the Indians at the 
outbreak of King Philip's War. John Budlong, who was 
tlien a child three or four years of age, was rescued by his 
mother's family, the IJpjiitts, who resided in Old War- 
wick, at what is now known as Horse Neck. John Bud- 
long finally becaine a large landowner in Warwick. The 
dwelling-house built and occupied by him is still standing, 
and is now owned by Henry W. Budlong. The following 
is the line of descent : Moses Budlong, Samuel, Samuel 
second, and Joseph, the father of James Arnold, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. Mr. Budlong was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native town, and at Smithville Seminary, 
North Scituate, his school attendance being confined to the 
winter terms, the rest of the year being devoted to farm 
work. When he was nineteen years of age he began to 
teacl\ school, and taught five winters in the public schools 
in Cranston and Johnston. During his minority he gave 
nearly all his earnings to his father, by whom he was sub- 
sequently employed at a stated salary until he was twenty- 
seven years of age, when he commenced farming on his 
own account. He hired the homestead farm from year to 
■year until 1856, when he bought a farm of sixty acres on 
the Pontiac road and turned his attention to gardenint^, in 
which he has ever since continued with great success. He 
has increased the size of his farm by subsequent purchases 
until it now- embraces two hundred acres, half of which is 
under the highest state of cultivation and so skilfully man- 
aged as to yield a large return for the capital and labor ex- 
pended on it. It is amply provided with hot-beds, green- 
houses, steam-pumps and hydrants, and every convenience 
for market gardening, some of the gardens being protected 
by groves. There are also thrifty orchards of apples and 
pears. He has a fine residence on the place, dwellings 
for laborers, and numerous well-arranged buildings for 
stock, farming implements, and other purposes. Mr. 
Budlong's son is associated with him in the business, 
the firm-name being J. A. Budlong & Son. It is esti- 
mated that their receipts for garden and orchard products 
during the past ten years have amounted to between 
830,000 and $40,000 per year, and that the receipts for 
the year 1880 exceed $50,000, with a clear profit of 
from Si2,ooo to $14,000. Their sales of produce are 
generally made in Providence, where they have a place of 
business on Canal Street. For the p.ist twenty years Mr. 
Budlong has also been extensively engaged in bringing 
Western apples to the Providence market, from the sale of 
which he has realized handsome profits. He is an ener- 
getic, enterprising business man, of a cheerful, social and 
benevolent disposition, and has attained success by con- 
stant industry, economy and upright dealing. For several 
years he has been a member of the Rhode Island Society 
for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, in which he 
takes an active interest. He has served as Justice of the 
Peace and held various town offices, but has generally 
avoided politics and declined public positions. He is a 



45S 



BIOGRAPHICAL CiCIOPF.D/A. 



im-iiiln-r of the Stewart Street ^..l|:ti^t Cluneh in Provi- 
ileiiec. Ml. liiuIlMiii; m.iiiieil. Au.l;ii-'1 :!,v 1S50, Euniec 
liiirliiii;aiiif, ilaUL;liler nl' Saimiel ami liaihary (Kandalll 
I'.\irliliL;aine. 'I'liey have had t«.. ehiMr.-ii, I'laiik 1.., and 
lulia M. 'I lie latter (hed at tlie ai;e el" eieht year*. Frank 
I., ha* had an interest in the huMlies* uf lii* hither since 
1X71, ami now .■wns irhoiit forty acres of the farm in his 
uwn right. He originated the liot heil and green liouse part 
of the hiisine^s, of uliich he has had almost entire charge, 
and has managed it with great success, lieing a prac- 
tical gardener, he superintend* the work in ]'er*on, making 
careful study of the latest and lie*t methods and jilans. He 
was hoiii in I 'ranston, August 23, lS5i,and educated prin- 
cipally at Mowiy & (hiff's Classical School in Providence. 
For several years he has been a member of the Rhode Isl- 
and Soiiety for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. 
He married, |anuary 3, 1869, Melissa 1'., daughter of Lo- 
renzo and Lucy A. (Sueet) Sherman. They have three 
children, James A., Florence M., and Harry A. 



Sj^fWAlX, Re\-. LecN.vkii, H.H., hr-t j.astor of the 
jJ^Si Central Congregational I lunch. Providence, was 
''X?^' horn in l/oiicord. New 1 1.niipdiire, February 26, 
"'"'' iS.'i. C(]iiceiniiig Ills i-hildhood , Old yoiuli weknow 
\ hut liule. At the caily .ige of sixteen he entered 
llailmoiith College, wlieie he « a* gradu.ileil w ith honor 
in the ilass of 1S41. Having resolved to preach the Cos- 
pel, he eiiteied upon a eoiiise of iheologic.d Ir.iinirig at 
.•\iido\er, Massacliuseti*, under the speei.d guidance of the 
Re\. Dr. Edwards A. Park. He w ,1-. graduated in 1S46, and 
atonce entered upon the work of the <_'liri*ti.in ininistry, in 
N,isliua, New Ham]isliire. Hi* r.ire n.itiir.d and intellec 
tual gifts, combined w ith great /e.d .iiid eiiiiiient -.pinlual 
attainments, soon made him a poueriritlie Chun h, and 
gave him a widespread reputation as a ]ireaelier, in the 
denomin.ilion especially to which lie was allathed. L'pon 
the hirrnaticui of the Central CcuigregatKuial (.'liiircli, 111 
Providence, he was chosen the ]iastor. Here for seven- 
teen years he laboreil with singular cIIk iemy in the M.is- 
ter's service, until he w a* obliged to succumb to the dread 
disease wlii^li, lor almost two years, had been consuming 
Ills life. lie died on the I4tli ot Inly, iSoii. at the age 
of lolly-eight. .-\s a pulpit oi.iloi he h.id h.irdly his 
eou.d in the churches around him. Hi-, style was bold 
and statel)'. He had a round, ringing voice, which, 
while it lacked, peril, ips, the gentler persuasive tones, con- 
veyed in Its accents c.irnestness .iiid ciuu'iction. His 
imagination was vigorous and his power of expression ah 
fluent. Though reserved in society, he had gnnal u il and 
a kindly temper. ( )n various occasions he li.id betii n. lined 
lor hiL;h academic posts, and in 1.S57 the degree of Doilor 
ol Dn iiiil\' w.is conferrc'l upon him by llie Po.iid of Fel 
low s ol Iliow n Ciiivei -it\-. P.iH.islioit lime bef ire discise 
attacked hini he hail been urgently pressed to take charge 



of an important cliurrh in Chicago. He was, ho\\-cvcr, 
permitted to close his honorable and useful life among his 
own people, to w lioin he had so long ministereil, and by 
whom he was lenderly loved. The following among <-i 
series of resolutions adopted by the church at the close of 
the afternoon services, July iS, 1S69, expresses in brief the 
character of Dr. .Swain and the estimation in which he was 
held : " AVjo/;-,-,/, That in his intellectual culture, in his 
moral sensibility, in his personal sense of religious obliga- 
tion, in his strong affinity for spiritual truths, in his clear 
perception of ilutv, seldom or never clouded by doubt, in 
his heioic discharge of such duty, in his (|uiek and res|i(in- 
sive sympathy hir the sick and the afflicted, in his diligent 
and devout |ireparation for the fuliilling of his professional 
obligation, in his earnest and unreserved consecration to 
Cliiist and his service, and in the simiilicily of a holy walk 
and conversation, he has left to us the memory of a life al- 
most faultless, and worthy the imitation of every (/hiistian 
minister and brother." Three children survive Dr. Swain, 
viz. : a son, who is a sturlent at Peloit (.'ollege; a daugh- 
ter, who also resides at lieloit ; and a second son, who is 
a student in Prown University. His wife died several 
years before his death. 



.MPnP, ki\-. Mii-AH JciNEs, r>.D., Presiding Elder 
of I'rovidence North District, Methodist F^iiscopal 
Cliuich, s.m of Hon. Micah J. and llelsey (Rich) 
'i i^ t Talbot, was born at East Machias, Maine, Febru- 
11 I ary 25, 1S21. He is a descendant of the Talbots, 
of haiglaiid, the ancestor of the American branch of the 
family being Peter Talbot, who came from Lancashire to 
this Country about the year 1670. While attending a 
boarding-school in F'dinburgh, Peter Talbot was seized by 
a press-gang and tahen on board a man-of-war which soon 
after sailed for the American coast. The ship came into 
Narragaiisett P.ay and anchored above Newport, when 
young Talbot, who had no hmdness fm' the kind of life 
into \vhirli he li.id been hireed, made his escape by swim- 
ming to the shore in file night. Making his way over the 
island of Rhode Dkind, he sought shelter in Massaclnisetls, 
and after a series of .id\ entures and esca]ies, reached Dor- 
chester, near I'.osfon. It was his purpose to return to 
I'higland, but, his pi. ins having been repeatedly Iruslrated, 
he stifled in tli.il jiarl of Dorchester which is now called 
Sfoughfon, where many of his descendenfs continue to re- 
side. From this town, in 1771, Peter Talbot, grandfather 
of Rev. M. |. Talbot, emigrated to the easiern portion of 
Maine, .iiid assisted in building a tow 11 wdiere was only a 
wildeiness. There were no roads, the place was only ac- 
cessible by sea, and the pioneers there, as elsewhcle, en- 
dured liarilslii|is, and were rewarded by the development of 
eharaeteis which make prosperous commonwealths. The 
.Massachusetts form of faith and worship was retained in 
the offshoot transplanted from the Hay Colony, and in the 



BrOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



459 



faith of the puritanic ';clioi)l the subject of tliis sketch was 
trained ; but when he came to independence of thought 
was led by his earliest convictions to embrace the more 
liberal theology held by the Methodists. Mr. Talbot pur- 
sued his course of preparatory studies at Washington Acad- 
emy in his native town, and entered Wesleyan University, 
where he graduated in 1843. After pursuing a course of 
private study he entered the ministry in the Providence 
Conference, receiving his first appointment to Centreville, 
Rhode Island. In Aj^i'il, 1847, ^^^ '^^"'^^ ordained deacon 
at Fall Rivei', Massachusetts, by Bishop Hedding, and in 
regular course, in April, 1849, was ordained Elder by 
Bishop Hamline, at Princetown, Massachusetts. After a 
ministry of six years in Massachusetts, he was returned to 
Providence, where he was pastor of Mathewson Street 
Church, and afterwards to Fall River (St. Paul's Church), 
and Marlboro Street Church, Newport. In 1858, having 
been elected Principal of Providence Conference Seminary, 
at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, he removed thither and 
took charge of that institution, which position he held until 
his resignation, in 1S62. Two years were now passed in 
freedom from public labors except in supplying such occa- 
sional vacancies as occurred in various pulpits, and regu- 
larly officiating for three months for the Power Street 
Church, while its pastor was absent in the field, serving as 
chaplain of Rhode Island Volunteers. Having been ap- 
pointed, in 1864, to the pastoral care of the church at Bris- 
tol, he retained that charge until August, 1865, when he 
was elected the first .Superintendent of Public Schools in 
Newport. To this work he gave diligent and assiduous 
attention, and under his direction was initiated the excel- 
lent system of gradation which has char.acterized the schools 
of that city, and given them the high rank which they hold. 
He continued to reside in Newport until April, 1S68, when 
he became pastor of the First Church in Pawtucket. At 
the close of one year the office of Presiding Elder of New 
Bedford District was given him, and the next year the same 
relation to Providence District, in the superintendency of 
which he continued for four years — the limit fixed by the 
law of the Church. Three years in the pastorate at War- 
ren, and two at Phenix, were succeeded, in April, 1879, by 
a reappointment to the superintendency of Providence 
North District. He has been much concerned with public 
schools, having been chairman of school committees 
while residing at East Machias, Newport, East Green- 
wich, and Bristol, and a member of the School Committee 
of Warren, has been thrice elected to represent Providence 
Conference in the General Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, viz., in 186S, 1S72, and iSSo. In 1872 
he was elected by the General Conference, for a term of 
four years, a member of the committee under whose super- 
vision the publishing interests of the Church are conducted ; 
was chairman of the Eastern Section of the Committee, 
and Secretary of the whole body, and has been for 
twenty-one years Secretary of the Providence Conference. 



He has l)eon inviteil to professorships in various literary 
institutions, and declined. In the spring and summer of 
iS/j he was acting Principal of the Seminary at East 
Greenwich, in addition to the duties of the Presiding El- 
der's office. In 1S72 his Alma Mater conferred on him 
the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. While resid- 
ing at Newport he was editor of the Daily A'nos, and from 
1856 to 1868 was a regular editorial contributor to two 
periodicals. He has been twice married, first, in August, 
1847, 'o Eliza D., daughter of Edward Slade, of Somerset, 
Massachusetts, who died in Providence, in August 1S63; 
and, second, in November, 1871, to Martha A., daughter 
of William Gardiner, of Providence. Of four sons and two 
daughters, two sons and one daughter survive, — Emory H., 
a journalist by profession, George P., an agriculturist, and 
Anna M. 



Kiji^.'VVIS, Coi.oxKi, Jamf.s, son <)f James and Asenath 
(Byam) Davis, was born in Western, Oneida 
'£/3 County, New York, May 6, 1821. His father 
*i^ was born in Johnston, New York, November 8, 
L 1769, and was of Welsh and -.Scotch descent. His 
mother, of Puritan descent, was born in Templeton, Mas- 
sachusetts, A|iril 12, rySo. They had nine children : Abra- 
ham, Catharine, .Sarah, Jacob, Elizabeth, David, Benjamin, 
James, and George W. James, at the age of nine, was 
put to work on a farm, ami at thirteen was Ijound to a 
farmer till his majority. C>n account of tlie hardships to 
which he was subjected, he ran away, in 1S40, and on lie- 
ing arrested by his old master, compromised the account, 
and entered the service of a new employer, devoting all 
his earnings to the payment of the old one, which left him 
in a destitute condition. In 1S41 he began to learn tan- 
ning and currying, and after mastering his trade, he removed 
to Providence, in 1S44, where he worked as a journeyman 
till December 15, 1846, when he commenced business for 
himself on leased land in Pawtucket, upon Pleasant Street, 
having a small shop for tanning picker antl lace leather for 
factories, In 1849 he bought the land and tannery of 
Smith Wilkinson, of Pomfrcl, Connecticut, being the last 
deed executed by Mr. Wilkinson, and in the fall of 1849 
enlarged his works about threefold. In 1850, foreseeing 
that belt-making for machinery would be a large branch of 
industry, and as only three parties were then engaged in it, 
Mr. Davis decided to enlarge his business in this direction. 
In 1853 he doubled his works and put in the first steam- 
engine to drive his m.ichinery that had ever been used for 
such purpose. He soon a<Uled improvements that Iiave 
been adopted throughout the country. In 1S63, by experi- 
ments, he discovered a process of tanning leather quicker 
and better than by the old processes, and obtained for his 
method letters-patent of our government. He now en- 
larged his works tenfold, and so prospered that jealous 
eyes were ujion him. Some allemiited to use his patent 



460 



lUOCKAPHICAL CYCLOrEDl.l. 



witliout liis con~L-nt, ami ?.(mic liupL-cl tii R-acli liK secret liy 
luriii,' his help, lieini; eminently successful in his Imsi- 
ness, in.uiy of his fiien'Is api'lieil lo him fur .liii. Tly freely 
lemlint; and imlorsint;, ami i-nteiiny uimn some outsiile 
enterprises, he lost large sums ol money. Prohting by his 
experience, he sug;.^csts tile follow in..; : •• Pursue steadily the 
business that you best nnderstaml ; always have control of 
your own money; bel|) such as will help themselves ; do 
not refuse to assist when you are ]irospereil. nor assist with 
reluctance, but only so far as not to injure yourself, or your 
fanul)', in' your creditors; never live e\c]usi\ely for tliil- 
lars, but to do right." Colonel I lav is united with the F'irst 
Methodist Church, of Pawtuckct. \\\ ;\|iril, I.Sr,o, and a\ as 
soon elected Chairman of the Hoard of Trustees, which 
position he has held for thirty years, lie was Superintend- 
ent of the Sabbath-school for seventeen years. For the 
past twenty-six years he has been a Trustee of the East 
Creenwich .Seminary. For four year- was a d'rustee of the 
Frankliir Savings Bank of Pawtuckct. He was a charter 
member of the Pawtuckct l.iglit (iuard, in 1.S57. and soon 
after held the rank tif .Major on ( 'olonel Stephen Hucklm's 
st.itl". For three \ears he was a Major on Brigadier-Gen- 
eral (Jlney Arnold's slaif, ,ind from i.So^ to iSoS was As- 
sistant (Quartermaster on .Major i lener.d .VrnohPs staff. 
During the rebellion he lent his purse and inlluence to the 
Union cause. He was ('olonel of the Nineteenth Regi- 
ment of Rhoile Island \'olunleers, not called out. In 1,^73 
be was comuiissicuied (/olonel of the Pawtuckct Horse 
Ouards. He was elected t<j the Ib)Use of Kc|tresentatives 
in I.S()2-63-65 and iSd;"), serving in I.S(>2 and 1803 on the 
F'inance (_"omniitlee. He was .ig.un elected m 1877-78-70 
.md 18S0, serving in 1878-70 and 1880 as (.'liairman on the 
Committee on Mditia. In 1870 he w.ts a delegate to the 
National Republican Convention, at Cindnnati, which 
nominated Presirlent Hayes. He manicd, M.uch 17, 1846, 
Harriet IC. (_'liecny, of .Attlelioro, Massaclursclts ; she was 
t.>orn June 7, l82tj ; the i-sue of the m.u ri.tge being hve sons 
and two daughters. Thesimsdnd young. The daughters 
are -Xnue CI. and Julia Ida. ■■\nne ( I. married William H. 
Busworlh, of New licdfoid, Massacliusctts, Xoveridier 10, 
1870,3111! has three children, James 1 1., Bosworth M. S., 
and William H., Jr. 

?WT^I I,I.F;V, BiNJAMlN J,.\M1 s, son of John Taboiir 

t^j^ y and M.irgaret (Nicolli Tillcv. was born in New - 

fTT? i"''"b Rhode Isj.ind, Noveudter 20, i8ji. He was 

« a descendant of one of ihe .ddesi fannlies ,.f New- 

k- port. His lirst .\merican ancestor cLune from Fug- 

hind .ilMiiit 1710. His gr.iiidf.ilher was a dc. icon in the 

Noitli B.iptist ("hurch. and his kulu-r was a prominent 

member of the F'lr-t Baptist ( 'hurcli of Newport. He was 

the youngest of nine children. Besides enjoving the or- 

dill.ilv s, liool advaiit.lgcs ol his d.iy. he w.ls n jiujul ot the 

then distinguisheil teaJicr, I .ev 1 Tow tr. I'oi some time he 

served as clerk in the commission house of William \ ose. 



.\t the age of seven he iiijureil his hip Viy a leaji from the 
ste])s of the .St.ite House, which cripjiled him for life. In 
his early youth he began the news Ijusiness with a bundle 
of pajiers under one arm ami a crutch under the other, and 
soon afterwards established the first successful news stand 
in Newport. In 1848 he opiened the news store now occu- 
pied by his son, R. H. TiUcy, at No. 12S Thames Street. 
At the eoinmeucement of the war, in 1S61, his business in- 
ci cased very rapidly, and .so eager was the demand for war 
news that his store was daily crowded with customers. 
Mr. Tilley was one of the most useful citizens of Newport, 
and such was his [icrsonal ]>o]nilarity that he was twice 
elected to the Rhode Island (jeneral Assembly, in 1S64 and 
lS6^, though honestly differing politically with the ma- 
jority ^i his constituents. Liuring the Rebellion he exhib- 
ited much patriotism and kindness by his constant endeav- 
ors to supply the wants of disabled soldiers at the Pints- 
mouth ( Jrove Hospital, and liy his kin<l and sympathetic 
attentions at the bedside of the sick and dying. His ear- 
nest and self-sacrificing labors in this direction called forth 
expressions of gratitude from hundreds of soldiers. Mr. 
Tilley was a prominent member of the Masonic frateinity, 
having been advanced to the highest degiee in die order. 
He married, Ijcccmbcr 2, 1S49, Mary C, daughter of 
Ca]itain Fdward E. and Rebecca (Cha|inian) Taylor, of 
Newport. Tlieir only child, Risbrough Hanimett Tilley, 
born September I, 1S50, is his f.ithcr's sui cessor in business. 
Mr. Tilley died in Newport, July 31, i8b6. 



i?l'.\I.IiIN( ;, Ri V. .\\nis Fletcher, son of .\mos and 
Mary (Warren) Spalding, was born in Boston, 
fC^' Massachusetts, January 12, 1S21. Concerning his 
' 1 childhiiod and v.. nth we know but little. He attended 
J" the excellent public scliools of his native city, gradu- 
ating from the High S( hool with honor. Soon alterwards 
he engaged in mercantile pairsiiiis. (In the closing Sunday 
evening of the year 1837 he listened to a piowerful dis- 
course from the late Rev. Dr. Baron Stow, which arrested 
his attention and led to his conversion. He united with 
the (.'liarles Street Baptist Church, under the pastoral care 
of the venerated Rev. Dr. Sh.arp. His varied gifts and 
accomiilishmcnls gave him prominence among the young 
men of the church. He was a good linguist, a fine writer 
and speaker, and an excellent singer, understanding thor- 
oughly the rules of mu^ic. The conviction was naturally 
forced upon him, and upon those with whom he was asso- 
ciated in the church, that he had a higher calling than that 
in which he was engaged, and he resolved to devote his 
life to the pleaching of the (lospel. As the first step in the 
wi.ik of preparation he entered the Baptist Academy in 
Worcester, of wdiich Nelson Wheeler (afterwards Profess.ir 
in Brown University) was Principal. In 1S43 he entered 
Bii.wn Llnivcisiiy, .uid at once took high rank as a scholar. 
Ills genial Icmpcr and cultivated manners made him a 




/■/ / 



// ///,- // / 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOTEDIA. 



461 



favorite both in college and in society. Being in straitened 
circumstances, and unwilling to incur obligations which he 
could not reailily discharge, he taught for several winters a 
large public school in West Dcdham, Massachusetts. He 
graduated with his class in 1847. Upon leaving college 
he entered the Theological Seminary at Newton Centre, 
Massachusetts, where he studied under President Sears 
and Professors Hackett, Ripley, and Pattison. His first 
settlement was in Montreal, Canada. He was afterwards 
pastor in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he remained 
four years; in Calais, Maine, where he remained four 
years; in Warren, Rhode Island, ten years; in Norwich, 
Connecticut, five years ; and in Needham, Massachusetts, 
where he was pastor at the time of his death. He died 
suddenly of heart disease, at the railroad station in Chelms- 
ford, the Friday after Thanksgiving, November, 1S77, in 
the fifty-seventh year of his age. During his ministry of 
twenty-seven years he preached upwards of 2500 sermons, 
baptized 300 persons, married 165 couples, and attended 
375 funerals. These details, slight as they are, show 
the activity and zeal of the man, and to a certain extent 
indicate his widely extended usefulness. He was in- 
stalled as pastor of the Baptist Church in Warren in De- 
cember, l86o. This venerable church had been founded 
by President Manning as early as 1764, before the infant 
college over which he jiresided was removed to Provi- 
dence. The one hundredth anniversary of the church 
occurred on the 15th of November, 1S64. Mr. Spalding 
preached the centennial discourse on that occasion, which 
was published and extensively circulated. In October, 
1852, he married Caroline K. Sanderson, daughter of the 
late Deacon Sanderson, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and 
sister of the first wife of Rev. Dr. Ashmore, missionary to 
Burmah. She, with an only daughter, survive him. 



PSKWCOMB, CciMMANDKR Hknry Ste.arns, U. S. N., 
^SM0t^ was born at Newport, Rhode Island. August 31, 
"Z^^^ 1S21. He was the son of Henry Stearns and 
f'^ Rhoda (Martlenborough) Newcomb. His ancestry 
•'^ were of highly respectable social standing, and his 
earliest progenitor in this country, Francis Newcomb, came 
to America in 1635, and settled in Braintree, Massachu- 
setts. His father, Henry New'comb, was a Lieutenant in 
the United St.ates Navy, and performed a gallant part in 
defending F'ort Mcllenry against the British fleet in the 
War of 1812. The subject of this sketch received his early 
training in the schools of Proviilence, and ])ursued his 
studies preparatory to entering college in academies at 
Plainfield, Connecticut, and at Andover, Massachusetts. 
It was his desire to follow his father's profession, and enter 
the naval service. Yielding, however, to the wishes of his 
mother, he became a member of the F'reshnian class of 
Brown UniversUy in 1836. He remained a year at the 
University, and then his desire to enter the navy h.iving in- 



creasefl, his mother gave her consent that he shouhl have 
his wishes gratified. He received a miilshii>man's com- 
mission lulv 21, 1838, when he was not f[uite seventeen 
years of age, and was soon promoted to the rank of passed 
midshipman. His commission as a lieutenant in the navy 
bears the date of June 28, 1S53. While on duty in the 
squadron on the African coast, he was detached from his 
vessel to l)ring to this country a captured slave-ship, the 
Panther. In consequence of the unseavvorthy condition 
of the vessel it was an undertaking of very great hazard, 
but was successfully accomplished. Soon after the com- 
mencement of the (Jivil War he was promoted to the rank 
of Lieutenant-Commander, and in September, 1S62, to a 
still higher rank, that of Commander. He commanded the 
.steamer R. B. Forbes in the naval battle at Port Royal. 
It was a shot from his vessel that cut down the flag-staff at 
Fort Walker. Having for some time had command of the 
brig Bainbridge, he was transferred to the steamer Mag- 
nolia, and, in 1863, was appointed to the command of tlie 
gunboat Tioga, then with the East Gulf Blockading Squad- 
ron. He reached his ship early in October. A severe and 
fatal illness seized him soon after, and he died October 
24. His service in the navy covered a period of twenty- 
five years and two months. The body of Commander 
Newcomb, after having been interred for some time in the 
cemetery at Key West, was removed to Providence and 
buried in the Old North Burying-ground. 



l!OT^INKII/\M, Wll,LI.\M, manufacturer, and President 
^yt^ of the Providence and Springfield Railroad, w.ts 
-fi born in Harmony Village, Glocester, Rhode 
{'ifj> Island, July 8, 1823. He is a lineal descendant of 
' V Hezekiah Tinkham, who came from England to 
this country some time within the period of the Revolu 
tionary War, and settled in the southeast part of the town 
of (Jlocester, Rhode Island, where he pursued the calling 
of a blacksmith. Hezekiah Tinkham died about 1S12, 
being nearly one humlred years of age. He had four sons 
and two daughters. His son Nehemiah followed the trade 
of his father, and mamed and settled near Harmony, in 
Glocester. He had six sons and three daughters. He 
died in 1814, at the age of fifty. His son Nehemiah, who 
w'as born in 1800, was also a blacksmith, and continued 
the business established by his father. At the age of 
twenty -one he niartied Alyada Andrews, daughter of 
Thomas Andrews, a farmer in Glocester. They have 
three sons and three daughters, and the parents and chil- 
dren are all now living (1881). William, the eldest child 
and the subject of this sketch, remained at home during 
his minority, much of the time being employed on the 
farm and in the blacksmith-shop, where he learned the 
tratie of his father. He received a gooil common-school 
education at the district school and at Smithville Seminary, 
now I,a|ihain Institute, North Scitiiate, Rh.jde Island. In 



462 



BIO GKA r I lie A L C ) TL OPKDIA. 



1S44, on acct-iiint of jioor heallb. lie ai).iii(loiictl the black* 
smith's tradf, ami intcitvl a ^torc• at ( MfiMiville, Khmk' 
Klaiul, whure he served a short time as clerk, and after- 
ward jiiirch.ised the lui^ines^, which iu- coiiiiniieil until 
iSSi, part I'f tiic time ha\in_L; a ]"iartncr. lie was then 
emplo_\ed lor a short time as clerk in the store of a mami- 
factarinj; eonijiany at Waketield, Rhode Island. In |td\-. 
185^^, in company with Job S. Steere, he hired a wnoUen 
mill of Darnel S. Whipple, at Maplevdle, Rhode Island, 
and commenced the manufacture of tweeds aii'.l jeans, 
with one set of machinery. In the fall of that }ear they 
[ml in another set of machinery, and bej^an the mainifac- 
ture of satinets, which they continiieil iintd iS5("). \'cry 
soon after he had entered upon the m.innfaclurmi; busi- 
ness, Mr. Tinkham realized that in order to insure com- 
plete success, a thoroUL;h knowledge of the details of the 
business was essential, and he therefeiie determined to 
make himself competent to superintend every process in 
the factory. To attain this end he became an operative in 
his ow n mill, dismissed the assistant in the lowest room, 
and, t.ikini:; his place, i.iegan by scourini; wool. He then 
learned the art of d\einL;, dismissed the bo--s. and hired an 
assistant. .Viul sc> he went trom room to room, working 
more hours per day than \\\- help, and at the same time 
having; his share of the care and L^eneial manai^enieni of 
the business, until at the end o| three years he was master 
of the art of manufacturing woollen goods. In iS>6, Steere 
e\; Tiidsham purchased of Jason Kmersiui the Ilarrisville 
Mill property for S30.000, Jiaving 54000 in cash, and 
mortgaging the property for the rest. They then removed 
theii mac hinery t'lom Mapleville to the I larrisville Mill, 
atnl, putting in two other sets of inacluncr\-, began the 
m.imifactine of satinets on their own jacnnses. In iSt7 
they budl an addition of one hundred feel in length to the 
factory, f jr dye-hc)Use and other puiposrs, and maile other 
ini]irovements, amounting in all to .Sjo,ooo. C'onsei|uenlly 
the tinancial crisis of 1S37 found them heavih' in debt, with 
no inuncdiate prospect of business. The otulook \\as ex- 
ceedingly discouiaging ; but Mr. Tinkh.ini went mil and 
maile business, manufacturing partly on shares, and buying 
and selling in ]>crson. He then adojited the cash system, 
\\hieh he lias e\'er since adheml to. Thus thev carried 
on .a profUable business wdiile other mills stood still, and 
by Jainiary i, 1860, had money enough to pay the balance 
of then tirst purchase. l're\ioiis n, iliis time the\" h.id abo 
made various imjirovements in tiie mdl piMp.'iiy ir it men- 
tioned herein. In 1S60 they added loin- more sets of 
machinery to their mill, and comnu-nced the mamdacture 
of cassimeres. liy January, 1865, they hail paid all their 
indebtedness on their property, beside h.u ing a large sur- 
plus fund on hand. In ihe fall of 1S08 Mr. I'inkh.im look 
up his residence m l'lo\ idenci.-. and .11 the s.uiie time com 
meiiced running the Carolina Mills, in the town of Rich- 
mond, Rhode Island, m i oinpanv with his brollui. lv!li,on 
Tiukh.im, and V. .MeUalf He slocked the mid, ,uid the 



]ir(iperty was owned by the other parlies. lie was a mem- 
ber of this firm until 1S76, when he sold his interest to his 
partners. The linn of Steere & Tinkham continued at 
Ilarrisville uiilil iS-;, when Mr. Tinkham punhased the 
interest of his partner, and formed a partnership w ith K. .S. 
[•"aruell, an ex]ierienced and successful manufacturer, who 
hail lorinei l\' been superintendent of the (jranitc Mills, at 
i'ascoag; and the same business still continues inider the 
stvle of Tinkham & Farwell, Mr. Tinkliam's son, Krnest 
\V., having also been admitted into the firm in 1S7.S. The 
estimated cost of the mill property is S2oo,o0O, and the 
weaving and finishing capacily of the factory is equal to 
eighteen sets of machinery, although the cirding is only 
nine sets. In 1806 Mr. Tinkham was elecleil a Repre- 
sentative to the Rhode Island General Assembly, and 
served acceptably. His life has lieen one of determined 
cnergry and persistent industry, and in no enterprise has his 
inlluence been more marked and powerful than in the j^ro- 
jection, construction, and successful operation of the I'rov- 
idence and Sjiringlield Railroad, of which he has been 
President since the organization of the coin]>anv, and li.is 
been the I ieneral .Manager and Superintendent since 1S76. 
Mr. Tinkham married, March lb, 1847, Caroline M., 
daughter of .\ppleby and Ada (Steere) Smith, id' Smith- 
field, Rhode Island. They have had four children, two of 
whom are living, — I-anest \V., and (irace !.. I-aaie-t \V. 
was born September 25, 1857, at I lairisville, Rhode 
Island, ,ind wMs educated in the patbhc schools of Provi- 
dence and at Dansville Seminary, DansviUe, Xew \'ork. 
In December, 1878, he was elected Treasurer of the Prov- 
idence and Springfield Railroad, which positimi he still 
holds. As beiore stated, he is also a partner in the manu- 
facturing firm of iinkham ,V Farwell. He married, l-eb- 
ruary 12, 1879, M.ug.iret McCartnev, daugliu r of Hugh 
McCartney, of Dansville, Xew York. 'I'hey have one 
child, Miriam. 

.\PHAM, Hon. Hf.xj.^min Nkwki.i,, r.on of Alfred 
^' and Rachel (Newell I Lapham, was born in Smith- 
field. Rhode Island, April 21, 1821. He jiursued 
','' ' his preparatory studies under the direction of (.leorge 
J li H. Ihi.wn and Hon. .Alfred Bosworlh, late .Associate 
Judge of tin- Supreme Court of Rhode Island, and gradu- 
ated at I'.iown Cuivcrsity in the class of 1,843. He studied 
law with S.imuel \'. .\t\\eil and Hon. Richard W, ( ireene, 
late ('hiel Justice ol the Supreme Coart, and was admitted 
to the Rhode Isl.nid b.ir in 184^. From 1S03 to 1805 he 
was City .Solicitor of Pro\idence. In 1863-64 he was a 
Rei)resentative from Providence to the General .Assembly, 
and while a member of that body served as chairman of 
the ('omiiiittee on (.'orporations. He w,ts chosen as a iiiem- 
bia ofthe Piovidence t.'ommon (.'ouiicil in 1809 and re- 
elei ted 111 1870. In 187(1 he was a member of the Hoard 
ol .Mdeiineii. He was a member of the State Semite in 
1870 77, and p.iit of tile tune served as chairman of the 



BlOGRAPiriCAL CYCL OPED/A. 



463 



JucUciaiy Committee. In iSSo lie was again cliosen as 
a Representative in the General Assemtily, and is now 
a member of the Judiciary Committee. He married. June 
24, 1847, Sophia M. Page, daughter of Martin and Prudence 
B. Page, of Seekonk, Massachusetts. They have four chil- 
dren, Sophia P., Julia B., Eliza B., and Louisa P. 



^^plRNOLD, General Olney, President of the First 
»(? National Bank of Pawtucket, son of Dr. Seth 
and Belinda (Streeter) .Arnold, was born in New- 
'4% ton, Massachusetts, January 17, 1S22. He is a de- 
* scendant, on the paternal side, of an old Rhode 
Island family, and his ancestors for several generations lie 
iu a family cemetery at Woonsocket. His fatlier is still 
living, at the advanced age of eighty-one. General .'\r- 
nold's parents resided in Woonsocket prior to his birth, 
and after a brief residence in Newton, Massachusetts, they 
returned to Woonsocket, where his early life was spent. 
In addition to a comnion-school education, he enjoyed the 
advantage of instruction at Bushee's Academy, in Smith- 
field. On attaining manhood, he engaged for awhile in 
mercantile pursuits, but in a few years became cashier of a 
bank in Woonsocket. In 1853 he was appointed cashier 
of the People's Bank in Pawtucket, to which town he re- 
moved. Here his financial knowledge won for him a high 
reputation among bankers, and when the Bank of Mutual 
Redemption went into operation in Boston in 1S58, the 
position of cashier was tendered to him, which ofier he 
declined. About this time he engaged with David Ryder 
and A. H. Littlefield, the present Governor of Rhode 
Island, and a few others, in an attempt to perfect the man- 
ufacture of haircloth by power, and after numerous discour- 
agements, succeeded in establishing a large and profitable 
business in that line. After the National Banking system 
was established during the late war, the First National 
Bank in Pawtucket was organized and merged in the Peo- 
ple's Bank, of which General Arnold became cashier. 
This position he continued to hold until 1875, when, on 
the death of the former President, he was chosen to that 
office. For more than a quarter of a century he has been 
treasurer of the Providence County Savings Bank, and 
also holds the position of treasurer of .several manufactur- 
ing corporations. He has taken an active interest in mili- 
tary m.itters, and been prominently identified with the State 
militia, in which he has held almost every office from cor- 
poral to Major-General. On the breaking out of the late 
Civil War, he was appointed an aid to Governor Sprague, 
and was commissioned to superintend the draft and organ- 
ize companies for service. Thinking that he could render 
more aid in this way than by service in the field, he re- 
mained in Rhode Island, and was subsequently chosen 
M.ajor-General of the State militia. General Arnold has 
also held various civil offices. In 1846 he was elected a 
Representative to the General Assembly from Cumberland, 



of which the village of Woonsocket was then a part, and 
he represented that town for several years. He afterward 
removed to North Providence, which for several years 
embraced the village of Pawtucket, and was chosen a Rep- 
resentative from the former town, and subsequently Senator. 
He also held the office of Treasurer of North Providence, 
and was President of the town council. When the village 
of Pawtucket was consolidated with the town of that name, 
he was chosen, for two years, ['resident of the council of 
the new town. In 1853, General Arnold united with the 
Universalist Church in Pawtucket, and has taken an active 
interest in the denomination with which he is connected. 
For several years he has been treasurer of the Rhode 
Island Universalist Convention, and is a member of the 
Executive Board of that organization. He was for one 
year President of the United States General Convention of 
that denomination, and is treasurer of the High Street 
Universalist Parish in the town wherein he resides. On 
the 23d of Januai7, 1S44, he married Phebe Dudley, of 
Providence. She is a native of Douglas, Massachusetts. 
They have no children. 



I^^ENSHAW, Rev. Daniel, rector of All Saints 
IjMKrj Memorial Church, Providence, Rhode Island,. son 
(S^^-^ of Rt. Rev. John Prentiss Kewley and Mary 
(';';> (Gorham) Henshaw, was born at Baltimore, Mary- 
•■ V land, December 9, 1S22. He pursued his prepara- 
tory studies in the Academical Department of the University 
of Maryland, spent between two and three years at St. 
Paul's College, Long Island, under Dr. Muhlenberg, and 
graduated from Yale College in 1842. He studied theol- 
ogy three years; the first and third in the Episcopal Theo- 
logical Seminary, in Fairfa.>; County, Virginia, the second 
year in Providence, Rhode Island, under the direction of 
his father, who was then Bishop of Rhode Island. He 
was ordained deacon, June 29, 1845, in St. John's Church, 
Providence, and after eighteen months of missionary labor 
in Rhode Island, he was admitted to priest's orders in 
Grace Church, Proviilence, December 20, 1S46, his father 
being the officiating bishop on both occasions. Early in 
1847 he became assistant minister of St. Peter's Church, 
Baltimore, Maryland, with which church he was connected 
from his infancy, and until his father removed to Rhode 
Island, in 1S43. Here he remained until the spring of 
1849, when he took temporary charge of Trinity Church, 
in Washington, D. C, during the absence of the rector. 
In the autumn of that year he became rector of St. Paul's 
Church, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. This charge he 
resigned in 1853, not expecting to assume the care of 
another parish for some time. Circumstances, however, 
soon caused a change of jnirpose, and he took temporary 
charge of St. lohn's Church, Providence, the rector being 
absent on a European tour. He also offici.ited for a short 
time in Emanuel Church, Manville, Rhmle Island, and 



464 



BIOGRAFIIICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



in Chri-t <_'Inirch, New Havuii, < 'oniit.'Ctii,nit. In the -^priiiy 
of I.S54 he iux'cptc'l .111 invilali'Ui to St. AitIil-w's Chuixh. 
rroviiienco, RlnxK- Islainl. and m iIk- cn^nlni; ■-ninincr nuct^ 
more entcrc'I upnn tin- ilulic- '>f rector. Mo has contin- 
\rm1 ill tlii'^ ch.iiL^c I'l thi- prt'-rnt tinif. nunc than twenty- 
six years. Witliin tliix term tlie urij^ina! elmrch cdili^c 
was greatly cnlargcil ami improve'!; and sulisequentl)~one 
of the finest stone churches in New Knghmd has been 
built, through the influence and exertions uf the rector; and 
in honor of his fatlier's memory (liishoj) Henshaw, who 
died in 1852). the name of the parish was chant^ed from 
St. .Andrew's to All Saint> Memorial. For several years 
Mr. Henshaw tilled the ■•Mice of secretary of the Rhode 
Inland Mis-,i(inary (.'tinvocation ; also secretary of the 
diocese, and of the Standing; l.'ommittee. To these posi- 
tions he was annually elected until he declined longer to 
serve. He has for many year-, been a member of the 
Standing Ctmniiittee uf Rhi.ide I--Iand,and has been chosen 
as une of the deputies from that diocese to eight consecu- 
tive Oeueral (Triennial) C'Mnventions of the Church of 
which he is a minister. He i-> also a trustee of the Gen- 
eral Theological Seminary \A the Trtjlestant Episcopal 
Church, and a niend-er of the Kxeeutive dunmitlee of the 
Society fur the Increase of the Ministry. He was re- 
peatedly a member of tlie School Committee of the city of 
Providence, which office he resigned after a long service 
in that body. He was married to Rel.iecca I'. Greene, 
daughter of Mi. b->'''-"I''i ^V. Greene, of iJrooklvn, New 
York. (Jctober 16. IS62. and has had five children, two 
sons and three daughter-- : Juhn. Ju-eph (.'»., Rebecca 
Greene. .Vbbv Frances, and Mary (Jniham. Abby Frances 
died, 2Stli of Novendjcr, iSy^. 



ARKNESS. I'KMilssnK .\nURT. I'll, I).. 1.1. 1)., 

son of Suulhuick and I'hebe (Thayer) Harknes.s, 
was born in Mendun, Mas-,acluisetts, ( )ctober 6. 
•« '♦ V 1S22. He preiiared for collei-e ixirtlv at the Wor- 

cii b -^ \ . 

1 \ cester Academy and partly under the tuition of Rev. 
Mr. Atkinson, a Congregational cleigvman at Mendon.and 
was a graduate of lirowir University in the class uf 1842. 
A fev\ months after leaving college he received an appoint- 
ment :is an instructor in the new ly organized I'rovidence 
Higli School, and was an associate witli I'mfessor Henry 
b)ay about four years, upon whose resignation he became 
the senior Master of the seliuoi, and was in this oftice for 
six years. Willing to pur-«ue his classical studies in the 
German universities Mr. Harkness resigned his pi. ice in the 
High School, and at the close of the academic year 1852-S3 
went abroad, and was absent a little over two years. He 
first attended lectures at the I'liiveisity of Ronn. under Pro- 
fessors E. T. Welcker. F. ( '. "J )ahlman. liederic R.ts. hi, 
and F. Ritter. Fiom Ronii he wnu tu the liH\eisitv of 
Berlin, where he attended leetuies under I'rolessuis W. 
Haupt, A. Rock li, and Trenlenburg. Ha\ing accomplished 



the jnirjiose which carried him to Rerlln he retunierl to 
Ronn. where he took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 
He conipleted his studies abroad at Gottingen, uniler Pro- 
fessors Horner, F. G. Schneidewin, and C. H. Hermann. 
While in Europe Professor Harkness sj}ent the spring vaca- 
tion of the academic year 1853-54 in Ualyand Switzerland, 
ami m the summer of 1S54-55 he went to Greece, visiting 
many spots of interest to the classical scholar in that country, 
making a pleasant trip to the Peloponnesus, and passing 
several weeks in Athens. He returned home early in the 
fall of 1S55, and at once entered upon his duties as Pro- 
fessor of the (Jreek language and literature in Brown Uni- 
versity as the successor of Professor Nelson Wheeler, de- 
ceased. In addition to the studies of his own department 
for several years lie taught the classes of the L'niversilv a 
part of their studies in the Latin language and literature in 
the jdace of Professor Lincoln, w ho for eight years was the 
Principal of a young ladies' school in Providence. Professor 
Harkness went abroad a second time in 1S70 and was al)- 
sent over a year. s])ending a part of the time at the Uni- 
versities of Ronn, Heidelberg, and Berlin, and travelling 
very extensively in different parts of Europe. Besides at- 
tending to his duties as a college ofiicer he has found lime 
to prepare the following works for the press, i, Harkness's 
Arni)ld's i'lrst Latin Hook, which has had a large circula- 
tion; 2. Harkness's Second Latin Book ; 3, Harkness's First 
(ireek Rook ami Introductory Reader; 4, Harkness's Latin 
Series, to wit: Latin Grammar, published in 1S64, which 
has had a larger circulation than any other Latin grammar 
ever published in this country. He is now engaged in the 
preparation of a new and improved edition of this popular 
work. Latin Reader, Iiilruductory Latin Book. Practical 
Introduction to Latin Conipositie)n, and Elements of Latin 
( Iraminar. I le lias also edited and published Cesar's Com- 
mentaries on the Gallic War, Cicero's .Select Clratiuns, Sal- 
lusi's Catiline, and Preparatory Course in Latin Authors. 
He was one of the founders of the Philological Association, 
its first Vice-President, has been its Secretary and Treasurer, 
and was its President in 1876-77. He married, May 28, 
1840, Maria A., daughter of .Scott and Ada (Aldrich) Smith, 
of Pro\ idence. They have had two children, Albert 
Granger and Clara Francis. 



■ L.M-I.IN, Geurof. Lyman, only son of Lyman and 
W^;'ji> Rebecca Gay (Starkweather) Claflin, and the oldest 
of four cliildren, was born in Pawtucket, Massa- 
'^^^ chusetts (now Rhode Island), December 22, 1S22. 
j' His father was a successful manufacturer, and a man 
of influence in the community where he resided. He was 
iIe\oied!v attached to the Masonic institution, and a mem- 
ber ut the order of Ivniglits d"em]ilar. His grandfather, 
( ih\er St.n k w eather. was well known to the public, having 
been an .uti\ e mendier uf the Legislature of Massachusetts, 
and also a member of t'ongress. (Jne of his uncles, John 



BIO GRAPH ICA L C ) XL OPED/A . 



465 



Starkweatlier, a graduate of Brown University, was a prac- 
ticing physician for nearly fifty years in the town of Upton, 
Massachusetts. Another uncle, Samuel Starkweather, also 
a graduate of the University and afterwards a tutor, was 
for many years a Judk''^ '" Cleveland, Ohio. A third uncle, 
James C. Starkweather, became a successful manufacturer 
in his native town, Pawtucket, the name of the firm lieing 
Starkweather & Claflin. Young Claflin enjoyed the usual 
advantages of a lad of good parentage and surroundings. 
He attended public and private schools, and also an acad- 
emy taught by Mr. Frederic Vinton. In the year 1842, 
at the age of twenty, he came to Providence and entered 
the store of John H. Mason & Co., druggists, on Weybos- 
set Street, nearly opposite the present City Hotel. He 
afterwards entered into the employ of Earl P. Mason & 
Co., where he remained until he became a member of the 
firm, continuing until a change was made, when the firm 
was known as .Snow, Claflin & Co. In 1873 he purchased 
the stand and fixtures of the heirs of the late J. Balch & 
Sons, South Main Street, succeeding to their business under 
the name of George L. Claflin & Co. Here he has con- 
tinued until the present time, carrymg on a large and suc- 
cessful trade as a wholesale and retail druggist. Meanwhile 
he has been actively engaged in banking, insurance, and 
other kinds of business. He has been a director of the 
Northern Bank from its organization in 1856, and also of 
the Coventry National Bank, and the Coventry Savings 
Bank in Anthony. He is now a director in the Jackson 
Savings Bank. He has been a director in the Roger Wil- 
liams Insurance Company, the Union Insurance Company, 
and has been connected with various other organizations. 
In 1843, soon after coming to Providence, he became 
deeply interested in religious truth, joining the Congre- 
gational Church, then worshipping in Westminster Hall, 
under the pastoral care of the Rev. Thomas T. Waterman. 
Upon the formation of the Central Church, under the pas- 
toral care of the late Rev. Dr. Swain, he at once became 
an active member, identifying himself with all its interests, 
and contributing liberally towards the erection of their 
house of worship. On the 4th of December, 1859, he be- 
came superintendent of the primary department of the Sab- 
bath-school. This position he has continued to hold until 
the present time, discharging its duties with rare tact, fidel- 
ity, and zeal. In 1870 he was elected a member of the 
Common Council from the First Ward, and in 1874, a 
member of the State Legislature. Public life, however, 
has but few attractions for him, being by nature retiring, 
loving the quiet of his home, and being fully occupied 
with the cares and responsibilities of his own business, and 
in promoting the welfare of the church, to which he is de- 
votedly attached. He married, September 3, 1850, Louisa 
Sisson Whitman, daughter of the late Christopher A. Whit- 
man, of Coventry, Rhode Island, a leading citizen of the 
place, having been a manufacturer, president of the bank, 
member of the State Legislature as Senator and Represen- 
59 



tative,and an active ami influential member of the Masonic 
fraternity. Three of their sons are now (18S1J living, of 
whom the two oldest, Arthur W. and William L., are asso- 
ciated with him in business. In 1864-5 ^^ erected a large 
and elegant house on the corner of Halsey and Pratt .Streets, 
where he resides, surrounded with everything that can con- 
tribute to his comfort and happiness. 



^gKUILD, Rr.UBEN Aluridge, LL.D., Librarian of 
>^l» Tirown University, was born in West Dedham, 
.^L^i Massachusetts, May 4, 1822, being the oldest but 
T one of eleven children. His parents were Deacon 
\ Reuben and Olive (MorseJ CtuIM. In his childhood 
and youth he enjoyed the advantages of good public 
schools, and also of private schools taught by the accom- 
plished sisters Margaret and Elizabeth Davenport, ami by 
Mr. M. T. Gardner. He was remarkably fond of reading 
and study, and possessing a retentive memory he readily 
acquired knowledge. The literary tastes thus early formed 
were cultivated and matured in after years. When a lad 
of twelve he narrowly escaped losmg his life from the acci- 
dental stroke of an axe. Tliis event made a serious and 
lasting impression upon his mind. Two years of his boy- 
hood were spent in a variety-goods store opposite his 
home. At the age of sixteen he left the parental roof and 
entered the store of Charles Warren & Co., wholesale and 
retail drygoods dealers, No. 92 Hanover Street, Boston. 
Here he also remained two years. Having resolved U])on 
a collegiate course of study, he commenced his prepara- 
tory work at Day's Academy in Wrenth.im, finishing it at 
the Worcester Manual Labor High School, now the Ba])tist 
Academy. During this time he was an assistant teacher at 
Wrentham (the lamented Professor Charles C. Jewett being 
the Principal), and he also taught for two winters a public 
school in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts. In the fall 
of 1843 he entered Brown University, under the presidency 
of Dr. Wayland, the distinguished preacher, philosopher, 
and guide. During the four years of his college life he 
was noted for his frankness of character, his habitual cheer- 
fulness, and his diligence and faithfulness in the perform- 
ance of daily duties. He was graduated in 1847, with the 
sixth honors of his class. In March, 1S4S, he was appointed 
Librarian of the University, succeeding Professor Jewett, 
his associate at the academy. Having been his assistant 
in the library, and also having had charge for several years, 
while a student, of one of the society libraries, he was thus 
in a measure prepared for his new and responsible duties. 
This position he has continued to hold, with marked and 
increasing success, until the present time, a period of thirty- 
three years. Under his charge the library has been en- 
larged from i7,ocK) volumes, in 1848, to 54,000 volumes in 
1881. In the early purt of his professional life he added 
to a moderate salary by giving instruction to private pupils, 
one of whom was the late Commodore Thomas P. Ives. 



466 



BIOGR.irHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



On the l6th of FoVnii.-iry. I.S7S, the lu-w and clcijaiit tno- 
jiruDf llliraiy buililini;, cmistiuctL'il ami anan^cd after his 
own ideal, frcjni funds bc'iUL-athed by the- late |r>hn Carter 
Brown, was dedicated with aiipropriale ceremonies. The 
next niornini; Dr. (iuild tt.'olv a siijierli folio cojiv of liag- 
ster's l'cilyL;l<^t l!ilile,,uid .iicninp.uiied liy the late Professor 
l)iinan, a nieniber ol the l.ihr.iry ( 'nnnnittee, together w ith 
his as^istants, re\erently c.irned it alone, as tlie fust book 
to be removeil from the shelves in Manning Hall to the new 
editice. There, with uncovered heail, he placed it as the 
corner-stone of the literary structure within, number one, 
shelf one, alcove one, calling it "the book of books; the 
embodiment of all true wisdom, and the fountain head of 
real culture, civilization, and moral improvement." The 
.subseciuent classification of the library, the arrangement of 
the books upon the shelves, and the preparation of the card 
catalogue show a wise adaptation of means to ends, that 
have called forth un<inalitied praise. A writer in the Bos- 
Ion Siiiidny Heni/d, for November 7. iSSo, in an article of 
nearly three columns, headed "A MuHEL Liijr.\ry," calls 
it " in construction and general management the nearest 
approach to a perfect college library w hich .\merica has to 
show." Dr. Guild has been a voluminous and successful 
writer, llesides articles for various jieriodicals and papers, 
rejiorts. pamphlets, and addresses, he has ])ublished the 
following volumes: Lihrai tan's J/aniiu/, 4Ui..'St:w York, 
1S5.S; /,//;■, 'J'imt-s, and CorrosponJen,,- of' yamrs Man- 
n?ni;, I2m(.., Boston, 1S04; ///i/o/y o/' /ii-oufn Vniversilv, 
'ioilJi li/iis/i iifhe Domnu-n/s, ^\.o.. Providence, I.S67; Lift- 
of A'oi,':'' irHliams, being a bi<jgraphical introduction to 
his writings, as publislied by the Narr.agansett Club; 
Thomas Smith \i\-hh. being a series of thirty three consec- 
utive articles publi-,hed in the Frotinason's A'oposi/ory. A 
condensed sketch of Webb was also published in the Bro- 
iYt'i/in!^\^ of I he Grand Commanilt rv if Alassachitsotts and 
Khodi- Island, and in the Procttdinxs of ///<• Grand En- 
campmonl of the United States, for 1S74. He edited, under 
the direction of the (jenera! Assembly, Judge Staples's 
Kliode Island in the Continental Congress. He also edited 
Letter of John Cotton, and I\oger Williams's Reply, and 
Queries of Highest Consideration, in the jiublicatious of the 
Narragansett Club. Several of the biographical sketches in 
the memorial volume, entitleil Brown Cni-.'ersitv in the 
Civil War, are Irom hi^ prolillc pen. He i- at present 
engaged on a work, entitled .■/ Chaplain of the Keioht- 
lion ; or. Life, Letters, and Joninah of the Ker. Ilezekiah 
Smith, D.D., of lla-eerhill, .Massaehi, setts. This will 
probably be published during the ])resent year. For seven 
years Dr. (luild served as a member of the Common 
Council of Providence, and for fifteen years as a member 
of the School Committee, most of the time acting as secre- j 
tary. He is a member of the L'nion Haptist Church in 
Providence, having been iMjiti/ed .April :;. i<S40, by the 
late Rev. Dr. liaron Slow . He has been connecteil with 
various educational and religious societies, either as sec- 



retary or president. He is at present secretary of the 
Alumni Association of Brown University. In 1874 he re- 
ceived from ShurtletT College, Illinois, the honorary degree 
of Doctor of Law^. In 1S76 he was elected a member of 
the .American .\n(ii|uarian .Society of \V{jrcester, Massa- 
chusetis, tilling the vacancy occasioned by the death of the 
late John Carter Brown. In the autumn of 1877 he visitetl 
England and Scotland, examining the great liliraries of 
Glasgow and Etlinburgh, Oxford and Candjridge, and at- 
tending the International Conference of Librarians held in 
London. He w.is elected a member of the council, and 
afterwartis an honorary member of the " Library Associa- 
tion of the United Kingdom." He married, December 17, 
1S49, Jane Clifford, d.\ughter of Deacon .Samuel Hunt, of 
Providence. Of six children, a son and three daughters 
are now living. His eldest daughter was married, in 1874, 
to George H. Cottin, of Newton Centre. Massachusetts, 
now a Professor in Colgate Academy, Hamilton, New N'ork. 



•^jSj^^URNSIDE, M.\joR Gkner.m, Amhrosic F.vi:reit, 
United States Senator and ex-(jovernor of Rhode 
Island, was Ixirn at Libertv, Union County, Indi- 
T ana. May 2^, 1S24. His lather, Edghill Ilurnside, 
J' a lawyer, burn near Columliia, South Carolina, re- 
moved to Indiana in 1S13. Hi^ mother, whose maiden 
iiamc was Pamelia Brown, was a native of South Carolina, 
and a daughter of John Brown, of Belfast, Ireland. His 
grandfather, James Burnside, a native of Scotland, came 
to this country and settled in .South Carolina near the close 
of the last century. The subject of this sketch received 
his elementary education at the seminary in Liberty, Indi- 
ana, and at Beach (iiove Academy, near the same place. 
In 1S43 he was admitted to the United .States Military 
Academy at West Point, where he graduated in I.S47. The 
same year, July I, lS47,he was brevetted .Second Lieuten- 
ant, 2d .Artillery. L'. S. .A., and commissioned Second Lieu- 
tenant, jtl Artillery, September S, 1847. Leaving West 
Point, during the Mexican War, Lieutenant Burnside w cut 
to Mexico, and joined the United States Army. .At the 
close of tlie war he was ordered to Fort Adam^, Newport, 
Rhode Kland. In 1S49 he was ordered to New .Mexico, 
where he joined Bragg's fami^us battery. In November, 
1851, he was commissioned P'irst Lieulenaiil. jiut in com- 
mand of a cavalry company, and served in the Indian wars, 
resigning May I, 1853. While in Mexico he was impressed 
with the need of more effective carbines than those then 
in u^e in the army, and finally invented a new breech- 
loading rifle, for the manufacture of which he built a fac- 
tory at Bristol, Rhode Island, soon after his resignation, 
exjiecting a contract from the Government. The contract 
was never consummated, however, and after carrying on the 
business uiisucces:>ful!y for four years, was obliged to relin- 




^ 



e; 



/// ^'^U 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



467 



quisli it. Subsequently the Bristol Fire arms Company "as 
incorporated, in May, 1855, witli one hundred and forty-four 
thousand dollars capital, and a patent secured March 25, 
1S56. Accepting a situation as cashier in the Land De- 
partment of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, he 
went to Chicago, April 27, 1858, and was elected treas- 
urer of the Company in June, i860. In Janu.ary, 1859, 
the Bristol Fire-arms Company removed their business to 
Providence, General Burnside having retired from it, and 
in May, i860, the name of the company was changed to 
the Burn.side Rifle Company. In 1861 land was bought 
upon which were erected the buildings now known as the 
Rhode Island Locomotive Works. The war created an 
active demand for rifles, and six hundred thousand were 
made by the Burnside Rifle Company. At the close of the 
war, there being no longer a demand for rifles, it was 
deemed advisable to enter upon some new enterprise in 
order to make the capital invested remunerative. Ac 
cordingly, in January, 1867, the Rhode Island Loco- 
motive Works were incorporated. When the Civil War 
broke out, in April, 1861, Lieutenant Burnside was com- 
missioned Colonel of the First Regiment, Rhode Island 
Detached Militia, and was mustereil into service May 2, 

1861. This regiment contained twelve hundred men. 
Colonel Burnside commanded a brigade at the first battle 
of Bull Run, in July, 1861, and was promoted to Briga- 
dier-General of Volunteers, August 6, 1861. He origi- 
nated and commanded the celebrated Burnside Expedi- 
tion to North Carolina, leaving Annapolis, Maryland, 
with fifteen thousand men, in January, 1S62, encoun- 
tering a terrible storm ofif Cape Hatteras. February 8, 

1862, he captured Roanoke Island, with six forts and bat- 
teries, forty cannon, and two thou.sand prisoners, which 
were afterwards exchanged. Friday, March 14, 1862, he 
captured Nevvbern, and April 25, I<S62, Fort Macon, and 
Beaufort, North Carolina. March 18, 1S62, he was pro- 
moted to Major-General of Volunteers ; July 22d, organized 
and took command of the Ninth Army Corps, and com- 
manded the left wing of the Union army at the battle of 
Antietam, September 17, 1862. By a singular good fortune, 
not paralleled in the history of any other corps in the Army 
of the United States, the relations of the Ninth Corps with 
its leading officers were unchanged during the continuance 
of the War of the Rebellion. November g, 1862, General 
Burnside assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, 
numbering two hundred and twenty five thousand men. 
January 25, 1863, he was relieved from this command, and 
after a brief rest at his home in Providence, where he re- 
ceived every demonstration of welcome and esteem, he 
took command of the Department of the Ohio, comprising 
the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and East- 
ern Kentucky, and soon after relieved East Tennessee from 
rebel invasion. In 1S64 his military achievements were 
conspicuous at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5th and 
6th, Spotsylvania, May 12th, Cold Harbor, June 3d, and 



before and after the siege of Petersburg. He resigned his 
commission April 15, 1865. His prominence as a military 
officer made his name familiar throughout the country, and 
his patriotic services elicited expressions of thanks from 
Congress, President Lincoln, General Grant, and from the 
General Assembly and Governors and citizens of Rhode 
Island. He was elected Governor of Rhode Island, by 
the Republican party, in 1866, and re-elected in 1867 and 
1 868. In 1874 he was chosen United States Senator, as a 
Republican, succeeding William Sprague (Independent), 
and re-elected June 8, 1880. General Burnside has visited 
Europe five times. In 1870 he was the medium of com- 
munication between the German and French lines, in and 
around Paris, in the interests of reconciliation. On the 
27th of April, 1852, while a Lieutenant at Fort Adams, 
Newport, Rhode Island, he married Mary Richmond 
Bishop, daughter of Nathaniel and Fanny Bishop, of Provi- 
dence, who was a descendant, on her mother's side, of 
Roger Williams. She died in Providence, March 9, 1S76. 



ilTTLEFIELD, D.vniki. Greenr, manufacturer, son 
of John and Deborah (Mimes) Littlefield, was born 
.y in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, November 23, 
jjai 1822. His father was born in South Kingstown, July 
!• 15, 1798, and died June 23, 1847. His mother was 
born in North Kingstown, March 30, 1798, and is still liv- 
ing. They were married March 11, 1816, and had eleven 
children. The Littlefields of Rhode Island are supposed 
to be. the descendants of Edmund Littlefield, who came 
from England and landed at Boston in 1637. Several 
members of the family were conspicuous in Colonial and 
Revolutionary history. Caleb Littlefield had a son John, 
who was the ancestor of the wife of General Nathanael 
Greene. At the age of eight, while his parents resided in 
Scituate, Daniel G. began to work in the Jackson Factory, 
and early attracted notice on account of his fidelity and 
mastery of the details of the business. For more than 
twenty-five years he was engaged in the manufacture of 
cotton and woollen goods, operating all kinds of machines, 
becoming overseer and superintendent, working in Scituate, 
Wakefield and River Point. In 1846 he removed to Flor- 
ence, Northampton, Massachusetts, and began to operate 
a cotton mill, also becoming interested in a drygoods store 
in Northampton. Subsequently he became overseer of a 
cotton mill in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. He next en- 
gaged in mercantile business in Haydenville, in partner- 
ship with his brothers George L. and Alfred H. Selling 
out here, he became a salesman and agent for Hayden & 
Sanders, rearranging their mill-plans, and selling their 
goods in New York. In 1856 he returned to Florence and 
began the manufacture of Daguerrean cases, which he 
carried on successfully, and added thereto the business of 
making sewing-machines, assisting in perfecting and manu- 



468 



lUOCRAPIIICA!. CYCLOPEDIA. 



f.ictiuinj; tlu- Florence macliinc, licOuiiiini^ pie^iilent ami 
ai,'ciit of tin- Floi'fncf Scwiiii^-niachini,' t"iimi>any. In 1S63 
ho acceiuo<i the ai^a-rn y <»l" ihe Pawtucket Ilair-cloth Cona- 
[)anv,anil iliiOLtnl ihu L-rettion of the ^inicioiis mill at Cen- 
tral Kails. 'I'hc ohi tiiin al Florence of Fitlleiielil, Parsons 
& Co. lH-e;inie llie I'"!orence Manufacturing Company, ani.1 
cnlariijed their business, erecting a new mill in iSoS. mak- 
in»^ luushes. mirrors, ami \arious arlii it--., auii em])loyeii 
one liunilred and twenty-five hands. Afterward, in the 
direction of the Florence Machine Company. Mr. Little- 
held made imi>rovemeTU>. when the name of ihe new ma- 
chine became "The Crown." To conhrm (crlain ]>atents 
of the Hair-Ldnth Company, an^l to Leather information ]x-r- 
taininj; to his l'U>iness, he went to Furopo in 1865 and 
spent some time in (ireat Britain. France, Indicium and 
<_lermany. leaving one of his improved machines with the 
French Department of Ari^, as cvidLiice of his skill and 
claims. lie vi>ited Europe again in 1S66, extending his 
journey and researches into Southeastern Russia. Having 
an interest in the hrm nf Henry B. Metcalf ^: Co. in Bos- 
Ion, nrgani/ed [anuarv I. 1867. he sulTered loss with that 
tirm in the great 'iw^ of Xovcmber 9, 1872. He made 
three more \ isit-> to Furopc, in 1S6S, 1S71 and 1S7J, in 
the interest's of his business. In his last Irip he acted un- 
der ap|Hiintmcnt of the President of the Cnited States, as 
an honorary commissioner from this eountry to the Inter- 
national I'"\hi!)ition at Paris, and won encomiums as a juror 
at that Exhibition from the Commis-,ion. His journeys for 
business and recuperation have extendeil through many 
Slates an<l as far west as Montana, where he studied the I 
proees^es of mining and manufactures. In 1S61, and again j 
in lS62,he was a Representative from Nortliampton to the ; 
LegisUiture of Massachusetts. [n iSyij-Sn he was chosen | 
a member of the Town C«.>uncil of Fincoln, in which lie ! 
now resides. In 1S7S lie was elected Pre^iilent of tlie i 
Proviileiue Coiinlv Savings Bank, which otl'iee he still j 
hoiiK. He married, in 1S43, Maria B. Collins, of Natick, , 
Rhode Island. 'I'hey had four ilaughter>, all of wlnan arc 
deceased, one of whom survived her mother, and attained 
the age of tuentv. Mr. Idttlehehl married, second, in 
lSb6. NLrria Antoinette McMurray. daughter of jolm (i. 
Ml Murray, of LauMUgburg. New \"urk. (if his children 
bv the second marriage, two are now li\ing. Leland H. 
and Florence A. Mr. I. ittletield's residence is the elegant 
mansion buih in Lincidn by the late General Horace Dan- 
iels. Pidilically he is a Republican, and was formerly a 
Whig. Religiously he is a Congregationalist, and rendered 
inijiortanl aid in erecting the house of worshij) in Florence, 
acting on the Building Committee. He was aBo one of 
four who defrayed the expense of building a parsonage. 
Mr. l.iltlefield is widely known as an ingenious mechanic, 
inventor, manufacturer, and business agent, ami notwith- 
standing the fluctuations and competition^ in the brancli of 
business in which lie has been engaged, his career has been 
remarkably successful. 



Ik-.AV, Rev. GF:oKnF, Tiffany, D.D., son of Benjamin 
and Cynthia (Kent) r)ay, was born in Dav, then 
Concord, Saratoga County. New York, L>ecember 
I 8, 1822. In 1S26 the family removed to Hope, 
V .Scituate, Rhode Island, and in 1828 he began 
work in a cotton mill, meanwhile attending scliool. He 
afterwards removed with his parents to Hebronville, and 
then to Lebanon, Massachusetts, where his mother died, 
in 1854. He was converted in 1S40, in Lonsdale, under 
the jireaching of Rev. Martin Cheney, with whose church 
(Free Baptist), in ( )lneyville, he united liy liaptism soon 
afterwards. From this time his student career commenced. 
After working two years in Laccarajipa, Maine, studying 
at night, he returned to Rhode Island in 1S43. and entered 
the Smithville Seminary, under Rev. Ilosca (^)uinl:>y, D.D., 
and remained two years, having charge of the High School, 
in Piii-tol. a portion (.if the time. In 1845 he entered the 
Free Baptist Theological School. at Whilestown, New York, 
under Rev. John J. Butler, D.D. In December, 1846, he 
became pastor of the Free Baptist church in Grafton, Mas- 
sachusetts, and during the following year was ordained at 
a quarterly meeting at ('Ineyville. At the close of his 
pastorate at (oafton, in April. 185 1, he became principal 
of the Geauga Seminary, at Chester, Ohio, and pastor of 
the church in that place. In July, iS^-. he became pas- 
tor of the church in ()Iney\ille, being in this position the 
successor of Rev. Martin Cheney. During the year 1857 
he spent several months in Furojie. In October of that 
year he became pastor of the Roger Williams Church in 
I'royidence, which position he occupied for about ten 
years. In 1S65-66, partly for the recovery of his health, 
which had become impaired, he travelled in Europe, 
Palestine, and Arabia. In 1806 he was elected Professor 
id" Rhetoric aiul Fnglish Literature in Bates College ; but 
betore he had -.ignified his accei>tance of this position lie 
was elected editor of '11l<- Mornin^^ Star, the organ of the 
1-ree Bajiti->t denomination, and jntblished at L)over, New 
Hami>siiire. In this ])osition he was the successor of ^Vil- 
liam Burr, and entered upon its duties, for which he was 
]ueeminently (|ualitied, in December, lS6f). He had been 
a writer for this pajier since 1S50, and a corporator of the 
printing establi>liment in 1863. In 1875 his health had 
liecome greatly imp. bred, and with leave of absence he re- 
paired to the home of his sister in Pennsylvania, where he 
dietl, May 21, 1875, in the fifty-eighth year r.f his age. He 
was buried in Pocasset Cemetery, Cranston, w here a beauti- 
ful granite monument was erected over his grave, in De- 
cember following. He was married to Frances L. Greene, 
j of Lonsdale, Rhode Island, in December, 1846, three 
I children being the issue of the marriage. In 1S52 he 
; wrote the Liff of Rtv. Martin Chcut-y^ fulhlling that man's 
dying request. He contributed largely to the pages of 
Jlie Frec'.oili Baptist Quarterly, and was one of its edi- 
tors. He was widely known as a successful lyceum Lec- 
turer, and was an earne-t friend of etlucati<Mi, and all 




■^ - ' 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



469 



reforms. He diil nuicli literar)' work for the publishing 
house of L). Lathrop & Co., Boston. He was twice elected 
President of Hillsdale College, Michigan, from which 
institution he received his doctorate in 1868. His life 
was shortened by the severity of his studies and labors, 
and his death caused deep mourning, and left a great 
vacancy. His biography, by Rev. W. H. Bowen, D.D., 
w'as published in 1S76. 



i^i^MlTH, Orlando, was born in Grolon, Connecticut, 
February 9, 1814, and is the son of Shubael and 
Sarah (Raymond) Smith. His father and grand- 
father, Charles Smith, were farmers and large land- 
holders. During his minority Mr. Smith was em- 
ployed on a farm and in learning the trade of a stonecutter. 
His school advantages were therefore very limited. For 
several years he worked at his trade, first in Groton, and 
afterward in Westerly, where he combined the business 
with stone and brick masonry, until about 1847, when he 
opened a quarry on the old Dr. Babcock farm. At that 
time he began to make a specialty of cutting granite for 
various purposes. In 1848 he bought the Babcock farm, 
and continued in the quarry business until his death. At 
first he employed but five or six hands, and his business was 
confined to simple contracts for curbing and plain work for 
building, but the business he established has increased until 
it now amounts to about $250,000 per year, several hundred 
hands being employed, mostly on monumental work. In 
1S58 the number of workmen was so great as to necessitate 
the opening of a store for their accommodation, wdiich added 
greatly to the material interests of the town. Mr. Smith 
was the first person to develop in Westerly the branch of 
industry to which most of his life was devoted. He was a 
member of the Congregational Church in Westerly, and 
took an active interest in the welfare of that communion. 
He married, April 10, 1S45, F.meline Gallup, daughter of 
Isaac and Prudence (Geer) Gallup, the issue of the mar- 
riage being four children, Orlando Raymond, who learned 
his father's business and became his successor ; .Sarah, who 
married Otis Chapman; Julia E., and Isaac Gallup, who is 
the travelling agent for the quarry company. Mr. Smith 
died May 30, 1859. He was highly esteemed as a business 
man and as a useful citizen. 



|URDICK, WiLi.iAM Ai.KRED, son of .Samuel ami 
Sarah (Sheffield) Burdick, was horn in Westerly, 
IS^ Rhode Island, March 14, 1822. His early life was 
T ^ spent on his father's farm, ami he was educated 
J" in the common schools and at the Providence 
Conference Seminary, in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. 
In 1843 he went to Millstone Point, Connecticut, where 
he spent one year as a stonecutter's apprentice, and the 
following year worked at his trade at St. George, Maine. 



In 1844 he returned to Westerly, and was employed by the 
late Orlando Smith in the stone-quarry business, where he 
soon became foreman, and after Mr. Smith's death, in 1859, 
became one of the trustees of the estate, and was appointed 
superintendent of the works, which position he has since 
held. He has the general management and responsibility 
of the concern, which now employs about 300 men, and 
produces about $250,000 per year, mostly in the line of 
monumental work. Mr. .Smith's sons, Orlando R. and 
Isaac G., have gradually become associated with Mr. Bur- 
dick in the management of the business. Mr. Burdick is a 
member of the First Baptist Church in Quonochontaug, and 
is highly respected for his sterling rpialities of character. 
He married, July 4, 1847, Elizabeth A., daughter of Chris- 
topher and Amelia A. (Parks) Burdick, of Westbrook, 
Connecticut. Their children are Alice A., and Alfretta, 
who married Arthur liurdett, of Clinton, Massachusetts. 



^pOCKWOOD, Amos D., manufacturer, son of Cap- 
tain Benoni and Phebe (Greene) Lockwood, was 
born in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, October 30, 1811, 
''^ and is a lineal descendant in the sixth generation 
of Roger Williams. His ancestor, Abraham Lock- 
wood, settled in Old Warwick about the year 1690, and 
had a son. Captain Amos Lockwood, who accumulated a 
large property in that town. All of Mr. Lockwood's an- 
cestors in this country were Rhode Islanders, among 
whom were Stukely Westcott, Richard Waterman, Hon. 
Thomas Olney, and William Arnold, who were among the 
thirteen original proprietors of Providence, most of whom 
were also first settlers of Warwick, and all of whom were 
more or less prominent in colonial affairs. Mr. Lock- 
wood is also a descendenl of the Greene family in War- 
wick and West Greenwich, of Hon. Caleb Carr, one of the 
early Governors of the colony, and of several early settlers 
of Newport, Kingston, and Portsmouth, who held various 
positions in the infant colony. Mr. Lockwood's father 
was in early life a sea-captain, and removed from Patt'- 
tuxet to Providence when the subject of this .sketch was 
but six years of .age, and afterward became a surveyor and 
civil engineer. At the age of sixteen, Amos I). Lockwood 
entered the store of Peck & Wilkinson at Rehoboth, which 
was connected with the cotton-factory there, where he re- 
mained for two years. At the end of that time he entered 
the factory of his employers, where during the next two 
years he worked as an operative, familiarizing himself with 
all the details of the work of the establishment. On the 
1st of February, 1832, he became assistant superintendent 
of the factories of Almy, Brown & Slater, in Slatersville, 
Rhode Island, and in 1835 was appointed resident agent, 
the firm having meanwhile sold their interest in the mills 
to Samuel and John Slater. On the 1st of April, 1843, 
Mr. Lockwood and his brother, Moses B. Lockwood, and 
brother-in-law, Rhodes B. Chapman, leased these mills for 



470 



PIOGRAnilCA L CYCL PPEV/A. 



x\ term often ycnrs.and cnrrieil on liu-iincss under the style [ 
of A. I), l.ockwooil iV Co. In 1S51 tliey ]nircliased an in- 
terest in tile Ihiini'baiii; Conipanw nt I )aniels()nvd!e, Con- 
nectieut, and assumed tlie manaL;emenl of its affairs, and Mr. 
Locliwood lias eontiiiued lliis relati'ui U> tlie ]>resent time. 
In 1S53 a corporation was nrLi.ini/eil at riainfielil, Connec- 
ticut, under the name of tlic \V,une,L;an Mills, for the pur- 
pose of erectin<; and operating; mills for the manufacture of 
fine bleached cottons, and Mr. Lockwood superintended 
the construction of the works, the purchase of machinery, 
etc. His experience in the erection and manai^enient of 
mills has since been frei[iKnlly called intn use, and lie has 
often been engaged in vai'ious manufacturing districts as a 
consulting and superintending engineer. In 1S55 he re- 
arranged the Pacific Mills, at Lawrence, Massachusetts, and 
in 1S5S took charge, as iiKcliaiiical engineer, of the ex- 
tensive manufacturing operations of IJoston capitalists as- 
sociated in the proprieturslii|) of mills at Lewision, Maine, 
and in other places in that St.ite and in Northeastern Massa- 
chusetts. The Androscoggin Mdls.at l.ewiston, were built, 
equijiped, and started under his immediate supervision, 
and for several years were under liis personal manage- 
ment as resident agent. He was also resident agent for 
many years of the hranklin t'ompian)' at the same ]^lace, 
which, in addition to its cotton mills, owned the water- 
]iower and much of the real estate of the cily, and is now 
iis jiresuleiit. In 18(14 he and others purchased the con- 
trolling interest in the Levviston Foundry, and reorgam/ed 
its business as the Lewist(.)ii Machine t/ompany, and was 
for several years it.s jiresident. I le continued his relations 
as consulting engineer to the several cor]ioialions at Lewis- 
ton ; the l'ep|ierell Mills, at lliddelord, Maine; the James 
Mills, at New Imrypoit, Massachusetts; the Xaumkeag 
Mills, at Salem, Massachusetts; and other mills, until 1S71, 
A\ hen he o[)ened an office as mechaiiic.il engineer in Bos- 
ton. The next year, however, his j.l.nis were changed on 
account of the death of his brother, who was treasurer of 
the (^^uinebaug Comjiany, and in the spring of 1S73 he re- 
turned to I'rovidence, giving his jiersonal attention to the 
business of that firm. I)uring the same year he superin- 
tended the building of the mills of the I His Company, at 
Three Rivers, Massachiiselts, and the impro\einents made 
to the buildings and machinery of the lioston Manufactur- 
ing Comp-any, at W'alth.im, Mass.ichusetts. He subse- 
quently had charge of the cimslrialiiui of cotton mills at 
Piedmont, South Carolina, and X'aucluse, South Carolina. 
In 187=; he commenced for a corporation, to the stock of 
which he was a large subscriber, the erection of the mills 
of the I ,ockw ood Company, at Waterville, Maine, of w hich 
company he holds the otilce of treasurer. He is now en- 
gaged in the building of mills at Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, and other ]<l;ices in the South ; at I'tic.i, New \'ork ; 
Mam heslc-r, .New 1 laiiipshn r ; W.ili 1 ville. ^Llille; St. 
Stephens, New Uiuilsuiek, .llld eLvwliele. .Ml. Lock- 
woimI's lile li.is thus been one of uiiusii.d ;uti\il\' .Old en- 



terprise. He has been assiduously devoted to the prose- 
cution of his widely extended and constantly increasing 
business, and has contributed largely and in various ways 
to the rapid developmient of the industrial interests of the 
coiinlry, and to the public welfare. He has held numerous 
oflices ol tiust and honor. At the Centennial Exjiositii.m 
he was one of the ,\merican judges in the department of 
cotton manufactures and machinery, and in 1878 was 
chosen President of the New England Association of Cot- 
ton Manufacturers. He married, May 27, 1835, Sarah F. 
1 leming, daughter of Charles Deming, of Brighton, Massa- 
chusetts. They have had four children: Sarah, who mar- 
ried John W. Uanielson; L)e Forest, deceased; Amelia 
De F.; and Mary, deceased. In eaidy life Mr. Lockw.iod 
united with the Congregational Church in Rehoboth, 
Massachusetts, and after various transfers of his church 
relation, is at present a member of the Central Congrega- 
tional Church at Providence. He served for two terms as 
President of the Rhode Island Congregational Club, and 
is identified w ith the different benevolent and charitable 
societies of the denomination w ith which he is connected. 



kW^T%N1 iLl-yn iX, Hm.n. Jamf.s Monrok,, son of Cien- 
^3^^' ^'''^' Nathan and Phelie (Cole) Pendleton, was 
|»| born at Pendleton Hill, North .Stonington, Con- 
fflW necticut, January 10, 1822. The children of this 
* family were Nathan S., Charles H., Enoch B., Phe- 
be E., De Witt C, William F., Sarah A., Susan A., 
Nancy M., [ames M., Lydia Fl, and Catharine K. ( ien- 
eral Nathan was a descendant of iSIajor Brian Pendleton, 
who. Coming from the mother country soon after the 
I'llgrims, in 1020, settled in New England, and bc-came 
distinguished in ci\il and military affairs; representing 
North .Stonington in the State Legislature ten years; 
ftecoiiiliig a Major in the War of 1S12, and finally a 
General of militia ; and won the reputation of an able, 
upright legislator, an accomplished officer, and an esti- 
mable cili/en, having a record for patriotism, business ca- 
piacity, and ]iiety that is jiroudly cherished by his descend- 
ants. His wile, I'liebe, was of Scottish extraction, and a 
wi'inan of superior talents and refinement. She died May 
17. 18(17, in her eighty-second year. General Pendleton 
ilieil I ictober 15. 1S27, at the age of forty-eight. The sub- 
ject of this sketch remained at home, attending school, 
working on the farm, and assisting his brother, Enoch B., 
in a stcue, till he was seventeen years of age. He then at- 
tended the Connecticut Literary Institution, at Sheffield, 
Connecticut, defr.iying his expenses by his own exerlitnis, 
closing his studies in 1S44. Presenting his widoweil 
mother with his surplus eainings, he went to New \'ork, 
and was a s.ilesman in a wholesale grocery store ftir two 
years. He llieil removed to Westerly, Rhode Island, and 
engaged 111 liielc.llUde life, which he pursued successfully 
till 1854, w hell he became cashier of the Nianlic ( now .Na- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



47 > 



tional) Bank, on its organization, which position he held 
for seventeen years. In the meantime he had certain mer- 
cantile, manufacturins;, and insurance interests, which were 
prosperous, and to the manufacturing and insurance busi- 
ness he has continued to devote himself. lie was elected to 
the Senate of Rhode Island in 1862, and re-elected in 1S63, 
1864, and 1865. In 1868 he was appointed a deleg.ate 
to the N.ational Republican Convention at Chicago, and in 
the same year was chosen a Presidential Elector. He was 
elected a Representative to the Forty-second Congress in 
1S68, andin due time was re-elected to the Forty-third 
Congress. He was chosen a delegate to the National 
Republican Convention at Cincinnati in 1876. In 1S7S he 
was elected to the House of Representatives of Rhode 
Island, and has been re-elected each succeeding year to 
the present time (1881). He has acted long and efficiently 
in the interest of public schools, and has ably served on 
the Board of State Charities and Corrections. In the Ma- 
sonic Fraternity he has held many and important offices. 
He united with the First Baptist Church, in North Stoning- 
ton, in 1832 ; held membership in the First Baptist Church, 
in Westerly, from 1S47 to 1870, when he became a con- 
stituent member of the Calvary Baptist Church, of which 
he has been a liberal supporter. In 1S47 '^^ married 
Bethena Arabella Spencer, of Suffield, Connecticut, Having 
no children of his own, Mr. Pendleton has manifested 
great generosity and kindness in the educalion and care 
of his nephews and nieces. One of his nephews, bearing 
his name, became a lieutenant in the Union army in the 
Rebellion, and died of fever contracted in the service. 
Another, Charles H., brother of the above (both of whom 
were sons of Rev. William F. Pendleton), was educated 
by Mr. Pendleton, graduating from Brown University in 
1878, and from Rochester Theological Seminary, in Ro- 
chester, New York, in 18S1. 



JfREENE, Ed\v.\rd Ahorn, President of the Na- 
tional Bank of Commerce, was born in Providence, 
^ Rhode Island, January 24, 1823. He is a great- 
fw grandson of Colonel Christopher Greene of Revolu- 
^ V tionary fame. His father is Simon Henry Greene, 
with whom he is extensively engaged in business as a 
bleacher and calico printer in the town of Warwick, Rhode 
Island. His mother was Caroline Cornelia Aborn, daugh- 
ter of Edward and Susan (Potter) Aborn, of Providence. 
She was a lineal descendant of Roger Williams. Mr. 
Greene is the oldest of a family of eleven children. He 
received his early education at private schools in Provi- 
dence, and afterwards continued his studies for one year 
at Brown University. In 183S, at the age of fifteen, he 
entered the counling-room of John L. Hughes, a leading 
manufacturer of Providence, prominently identified with 
the school system of that city, with whom he remained 
four years, and then was employed as clerk by Shubael 



Hutchins, a commission merchant in cotton and cotton 
goods, in Providence. He remaineil with Mr. Hutchins 
in this capacity until 1847, when he was received as a part- 
ner, which partnership continued until the death of the 
.senior member of the tirni, in 1S67. Mr. Greene was ap- 
pointed one of the executors and also trustee of the estate 
of Mr. Hutchins, and in this fiduciary relation still manages 
the property. In 1867 he became associated with his father 
and brothers, under the firm-name of S. II. Greene & Sons, 
successors of Greene & Pike, bleachers and calico printers, 
who originally established the business in 1828. Their 
works are located near River Point, in the town of War- 
wick, and are known as the Clyde Bleachery and Print 
Works, their products being called the " Washington 
Prints." This firm now ranks among the most successful 
and enterprising in the State. Being president of two 
banks, Mr. Greene is required to spend most of his time 
in Providence, the rest being devoted to the interests of the 
Bleachery and Print Works, and in the discharge of his 
duties as trustee of the estate of Mr. Hutchins and other 
estates. He was a charter member, in October, 185 1, of 
the People's Savings Bank, of wdiich he was elected direc- 
tor and served until October, 1874, when he was elected 
vice-president. This position he retained until April 16, 
1877, when he was elected president, which office he now 
holds. He was an original director of the Bank of Com- 
merce, in June, 1851. This institution became a national 
bank in August, 1S65, and on the 6th of March he was 
elected vice-president. On the 2gth of January, 1877, he 
was elected president, succeeding Amos D. Smith, de- 
ceased, and has since serveil in that capacity. His career 
as a bank officer extemls over a period of twenty-nine 
years, and in the discharge of the various official duties 
thus required of him he has e.xhilnted rare judgment and 
ability as a financier. Mr. (ireene has been a director of 
the Merchants' Insurance Comi)any since its organization, 
in 1851, anil is also a director in the Franklin Mutual Fire 
Insurance Coiupany. Althougli a man of very decided 
views on all matters affecting the public welfare, he has 
never taken an active part in politics. He was formerly 
identified with tile Whig party, ami is now a Republican. 
Mr. Greene has held several public positions. In 1854-55 
-56 he acted as aid-de-camp to Governor William W. 
Hoppin, and served in the same capacity during the first 
year of the administration of Governor James Y. Smith, 
ranking as colonel. He was a member of the Common 
Council of Providence, from the Second Ward, from 1855 
to 1857, wdien he declined a re-election. During his term 
of service in that body he was chairman of the Committee 
on Finance. From 1858 to 1S74 he was a member of the 
Providence School Committee, ami was for many years 
chairman of the Committee on Accounts. Since 1877 he 
has been a trustee of the Rhode Island Hospital. In 1856 he 
united with Grace (Episcopal) Church, and since April 5, 
185S, has been a member of the vestry. He married, No- 



472 



B/OCA'.U'J/ICU CYCL OPl-.niA. 



vcnil>iT S, I.S4<|, H.iniiali C. Sinilli, (hniijlULT of Amos I). 
Mil. I S.ir.ili A. ( I'r.uilslin i Sniilli, nl I'l oviilrnce. 'I'liey liavc 
li.nl M'M'ii iliildirn (llvi' ■Min^ aii'l tun lUiuglitLTs), three iif 
wlinm arc liviii;^, Sarali I'rankhii, ICilwanl Aborn, Jr., ami 
Charles William. K-lward L;i.^'lualL-'l at Brown University 
in 1S77, ami is now in the oltiee of the Print \\'orks, ami 
William is a student at Mowry \' ( lolf's Classical Scliool, 
j)lci>aiin^ to enter LJmwn Lfni\ eisity. 



'i.WTDX, Rl.v. JdsF.I'lI R.\M..\I.I„ son of Dr. 
Sliailraeli and Amey (Ramlall) Manton, was 
liorn in f'ruv idenue, Rhode Kland, Septemher 
2S, 1S21. His father, a dnigi^ist and physician, 
son of Ci-)Ionel [eremiah Manton, an oBicer in the 
Revolution, <lied December 2S, 1S49, aged si.\ty years. 
His mother was a daughter of Dr. .Stephen Randall, a 
smgeon in the T\e\-olution, and a prominent ]:)liysician in 
I'rovidince, who (lie<l March 15, 1S43, aged eighty years. 
The M.iiilons trace their ancestry to Edward Manton, an 
associate of Roger Williams, and one of the first settlers 
ol Providence. The Randalls are descendants of Joseph 
Randall, who came from Brest, France, and settled in 
rrovidcmc. Rhode Island, near 1716. Originally, the 
Randalls, as well as the Mantons, had their homes in Eng- 
laml. Jciseph R., after passing through the public schools 
of Providence, prepared for college under Mr. Rhoiles, the 
principal of an academic school ke]it in the Arcade, and 
entered Prown L'niversity under the celebrated Francis 
Wayl.ind. He graduated in the class of 1S42. giving the 
salutatory oration, being excelled in study only by the val- 
edictorian. Professor A. Harkness. LL.D. \Vliile in col- 
lege, in 1S41. he united with the Fourth liaplisl (_'luircli 
in Providence. After his graduation he taught for one 
winter m the Worcester Academy, then under .Mr. Nelson 
Wheeler, afterwards a professor in lirown University, lie 
then travelled for the benefit of his health to Charleston, 
South Carolina, to New I Irleans, Louisi.ina. and thence to 
Nashville, Tennessee. At this point, purchasing horse and 
eipiipnients, he made a leisure tour thniugh I'ennesscc, 
Kentucky. Indiana, and Illinois, calling upcui ( ieneral 
J.uksoii at the famous Hermitage, and iqioii Henry I'lay 
at I.e.vington. In Llimbing the cliffs at Shaki-r's Ferry he 
met with a .severe l.iU. tli.it was nearly fatal in its results. 
On reaching Tremonl, in Illinois, he sold his horse and 
returned to Rhode Island by stages ami packets. He then 
spent some time reading law in the office of Hon. C. S. 
Uradley. In I.S46, having the Christian ministry in view, 
he went to the Iluoh.giral Seminary at Hamilton, New 
\'ork, to study llie Hebrew language under Dr. Coiiant. 
Ill I.'s4.S he entered upon the full e.Nercise of the ministiy 
with tlie ll.iptist ("iiuieli in (iloucester, Massachusetts, ami 
there 111 (Ict'iber received oriliiiation. After thiee years, 
during which his abilities, piety, learning, and elo.iuence 



greatly endeared him to his charge, ill health compelled 
him to remove fnun the raw and changing air of the New 
England coast. He settled with the liaptist Hiurch in 
Clarksville, Tennessee, in the autumn of 1S50, and served 
that liody till 1S57, meanwhile preaching much and widely 
in jirotracted meetings. Here, as elsewhere, his puljiit 
eltorts were of a very high order. While using no manu- 
script, his discourses have ever been carefully and thor- 
oughly prcjiared in matter, method, and style. In 1S57, 
he settled with the \'enn<uit Street liaptist Church, in 
Ouincy, Illinois, and remained there till the autumn of 
1S60, when, health again failing him. he remo\ed tn Min- 
nesota, and settled with the Church at Minneapolis. Here 
he laliored successfully till 1S65. when he removed to St. 
Joseph, Missouri, where, on account of political difTerences 
incident to the Civil War, he found his position a delicate 
one, but succeeded in a remarkable manner in harmonizing 
the Conflicting elements. As a irian and a preacher he held 
a superior rank and made many w arm friends. ( )wing to 
an attack of jiartial paralysis, he was again obliged to re- 
sort to the healthful climate of Minnesota, and, in 1S09, 
settled at Richheld, where he fostered and built up the 
Baptist Church of which he is now pastor, (..'n his \isits 
to his native State and the East, he is always welcomed by 
his host of friends and listened to with admiration. He 
married, October 16, 1850. Ann F. Heliiie, b.un July II, 
1825. and daughter of Nathaniel ( ;. Ileline. of Providence, 
Rhode Islaml. .She has sujierior skill as a painter, and is 
a successlul teacher of music. 



.Wl.ES, IIiiN. Wii I lAM Fk ANcis, founder of the 
y. Moshassuek Mleachery and the village of Sayles- 
"i'T'C' ^■'"^■' '^"" "' ' I'lik and Mary Ann (OIney) Sayles, 
\ X ',' was born in Paw tucket, Rhode Island, September 21 
IJ \ 1824. His father, elsewhere sketched in this volume, 
is a ilescendant of Mary Williams, daughter of Roger Wil- 
liams, who married Joliii Sayles. the surveyor of Rhode 
Island afler Roger Williams obtained his patent. His 
mother was iif the ( )lney family, so well know n in Rhode 
Island hist.uy. William F. attended the fruit Hill Classi 
cal Institute, under Mr. .\iiios Perr\' ; the .Seekonk Classical 
■School, under Mr. Stanton Belden; and spent abcnit two 
years in Phillips Acatleniy, Andover, Massachusetts, his 
object being to aC(|uire a thorough classical and mercantile 
education. In 1842 he entered the commercial house of 
.Shaw t.S: Earle, in Providence, at first as hookkeejier, then 
became salesman, and finally was intrusted with the nian- 
agenient of the linances. In December, 1847, he pur- 
chased the Piiliblv Print Works in the ])resent to\\'li of 
Fiiicidii. Kluide Island, abniit two miles west of Pawtucket, 
tile site of his present celebrated est.iblishment. Hereon 
the banks of the .Moshassuek. in one of the most romantic 
of situ.itii>iis. he coiiiniencc'l the oj^eration of bleaching 




X 



■^^'^ 



I ).^ 




BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



473 



cotton cloths, and gave to his works the name of Moshas- 
5ucU Bleachcry, the whole village now being known by the 
name of Saylesville. Beginning in small wooden buildings 
he in 1848 turned out about a ton of cloths per day, and in 
1854 four tons per day. In June, 1854, the works were 
burned. Immediately they were rebuilt on a larger scale, 
and turned out six tons per day. From time to time they 
have been greatly enlarged, always in the most substantial, 
convenient, tasteful manner, and are now capable of turn- 
ing out forty tons of finished goods daily, or 325,OCXD yards. 
In 1863 Mr. Sayles received his brother, Frederic Clark, 
as his business partner. Their establishment has already 
become the largest and best bleachery in the world, and is 
a business monument to their talents, taste, industry, and 
energy. Here in the most improved manner are bleached 
sheetings, shirtings, lawns, and every variety of muslins. 
The buildings are chiefly of brick, and constructed wUh 
architectural beauty. The structures of every kind with 
their environments cover an area of about thirty acres. The 
centre of the grounds is graced by a little granite walled 
crystal lake, supplied by a rich natural spring, and shaded 
by ornamental trees. To the water-power of the Moshas- 
suck River as a motor has been added fourteen steam- 
engines, two of them being Corliss engines of about three 
hundred horse power each, and consuming annually more 
than twelve thousand tons of coal. The bleachery regularly 
employs about four hundred operatives; the buildings are 
lighted by gas manufactured on the premises; and about three 
million feet of lumber are used annually in making pack- 
ing boxes. In 1S77 the Sayles brothers built the Moshas- 
suck Valley Railroad, which runs down the valley about 
two miles and connects with the Boston and Providence 
and Providence and Worcester roads. Of this corporation 
William F. is president and Frederick C. is treasurer. 
Soon after commencing business in this locality William F. 
established a day-school in the place, and in i860 opened 
a Sabbath-school, which he has since maintained largely by 
his personal eflorts and means, having been the superin- 
tendent from 1S62 to the present time ( 1881 ). To meet the 
religious needs of the growing community in 1873 the 
brothers erected on the high grountls overlooking the 
bleaching works a beautiful memorial chapel of stone, in 
the Gothic style of architecture, measuring thirty-two by 
forty-eight feet, '* to the memory of their deceased children," 
whose names are inscribed on marble tablets upon the in- 
terior walls on each side of the pulpit: "Louisa Marsh 
Sayles and Nannie Nye Sayles, children of William F., 
and Mary W.," being on the west side; and "Benjamin 
Paris Sayles, son of Frederic C. and Deborah C," being on 
the east side. The chapel proper seats two hundred per- 
sons, and is superbly finished, and supplied with an excel- 
lent organ. It has also a well-furnished vestry-room below. 
In 1S77 William F. erected a beautiful stone tower on the 
corner of the chapel, as a " memorial of W. C. Sayles," his 
son, who died at the age of twenty, while a member of Brown 
60 



University. The entire cost of the edifice is $26,000. The 
Moshassuck Bleachery, with its buildings, the tenements 
around it, the elevated grounds, the residences of the per- 
manent inhabitants, the chapel and the school-house, con- 
.stitute the village of Saylesville, now acknowledged to be 
the model village of Rhode Island. In 1878 William F., 
in evidence of his appreciation of liberal learning and in 
further memory of his excellent son, William Clark Sayles 
(born October 12, 1855), who died February 13, 1876, 
while a Sophomore in college, a death deeply lamented in 
a wide circle, gave to Brown University $50,000, a sum 
which has since been increased to full $100,000, the entire 
amount a]ii)ropriated to the erection on the University 
grounds of the large, elegant, stone edifice, the .Sayles Me- 
morial Hall, on the front of which is inscribed, FlLio 
P.-VTER PosuiT, MDCCCLXXX, being one of the most 
touching expressions of parental love known in the history 
of our country. Besides his extensive Moshassuck interests 
Mr. Sayles is a large stockholder in various corporations, 
such as the Slater Mill, in Pawtucket, of which he was the 
projector; the Ponemah Mills, in Taftville, Connecticut, of 
which he is a director; and mills in Massachusetts. He 
is President of the Slater National Bank in Pawtucket, and 
is a stockholder and the President of the Stafford Manufac- 
turing Company, of Central Falls. By the town of Paw- 
tucket he was chosen State Senator in 1875, and again in 
1876. For a time he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel 
on the staff of the Pawtucket Light Guard. For about 
twelve years he was President of the Pawtucket Library 
Association, now the Pawtucket Free Library. In 1879 he 
was elected a trustee of Brown University. In 1870-72 
he erected an elegant mansion on the heights overlooking 
Providence and Pawtucket, on the west side of East 
Avenue, where he now resides. He married, October 30, 
1S49, Mary Wilkinson Fessenden, daughter of Hon. Ben- 
jamin Fessenden, of Valley Falls, Rhode Island. Her 
father is elsewhere sketched in this volume. Her mother 
was of the distinguished Wilkinson family of Rhode Island. 
Mr. Sayles has had six children, three of whom are now 
living, Mary (married Mr. Roscoe S. Washburn), Martha 
F., and Frank Arthur. The immediate church relations of 
the family are with the Central Congreg.ational Church in 
Providence. Mr. .Sayles's Christian activity and benevolence 
correspond with his talents and prosperity. 



SipESARSONS, Ch.xrles William, M.D., son of Dr. 
W^^ Usher and Mary (Jackson Holmes) Parsons, was 
*^»| born in Providence, September 6, 1823. His 
A mother was the daughter of Rev. Dr. Abiel Holmes, 
* Cambridge, Massachusetts, and sister of Dr. Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, of Boston. He was brought up through 
much of his childhood in Cambridge with the Holmes 
family, his mother having died in June, 1S25. He was a 
graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1840, and 



474 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCL OPEDIA. 



stiuliid nudiiim- with lii^ fatlirr ami at the iiu-dical scht)iils 
of I'm.sI.iii aii'l riiihiikl|ihia. In 1S43 aiul 1.S44 he was in 
rari>, w htjL- hf ctiiii|.lL-tcil lii^ i)rij|es>ional ^tiniifs pievi- 
ou» to takiiii; \i\-~ ileiiiL-e. lie was giailuatcil as Diitlor uf 
McdiciiK-at Ilarvaril in lS45,anil had innlciicil iipnn liim 
tlie hnnmarv ilru;iei' .if M,|i. by llroun L'nivcisity in 
1S4S. Iininciliatriy alter liis tjraduatinn lie cumnienced 
praetiee in I'lMvidenee. at lirst associateil witli lu^ fatlier. 
In l.S4() lie joined llie Kliude Island Medical Society, ami 
at dill'ereiU times has read earefuUy prepared papers before 
that body. ( )f this Society lie was President, 1S60-62. 
He is the author of several annual reports on the registra- 
tion uf biilhs, inarri.iges, and deaths in the State; and of 
"A Report on the Medical Topotjraphy and Epidemics of 
Rhode Island," publishe<l in the Transactions of the Ameri- 
can Moiiiea/ Association. ( In the organisation of the Rhode 
Island Ifosjiital he was appointed one of the four attend- 
ing physiciairs, and sei\*ed in that cajiacit)' for se\cn terms, 
resigning at the close of the year 1S74. In hebniary, 
1S65, he was requested to lecture on Physiology in the 
Course of Instruction in Prow n University, at hrst to Idl 
a tempcjrary vacancy, but the ap])ointnient was continued 
for six successive yeaj s. The il.i/ard Professorship of 
Physics was then established, and Professor E. \V. Blake, 
the occupiant of that chair, gave the instructions in Physi- 
ology for huir years. In Septendier. 1S7,;, I h. Parsons 
was ajtprjinted Pioles-oi" of Physiology. In the follt.n\iug 
January he withdrew from the general practice of medi- 
cine, and has since de\"oted himself to the duties of his 
professorship. He man ieii. < 'Ltobvr, i.Ss,. Mar\' H. Po\l- 
ston, granddaughter ol \Var<l X. Poylsti.'ii, the rlistinguished 
benefactor of Harvard <_'olIege. 



^E.-\Hl'RV, Fki.I'I Uli K XlLKS, I).I>.S.,son of Ceorge 
5Al-v; Hriggs and Patience ('Phurstoir) .Seabur\', was borir 
ell4!' at .Stone Mi idL-e, Tiverton. Rhode Isl.md, ^XuLiust 
j 20, I.'s22. When he was (|uite young the family re- 
•r move<i to ( 'entre\itle, Warwick, Rhoile Island, where 
he was cmidoytd on a f.irni, .md subse.jiK ntly in cotton and 
woollen mills, until he was seventeen years of age, ha\ ing 
but few educati'jiial advaittages. Ileing ambitious to bet- 
ter his condition, he went to Providence, in 1S39, and 
served for three years as clerk in a broker's office, during 
\vlii(.h time he sa\fd enough from his earnings to defray 
his expenses for a time at Smith\ille Seminary, Xorth .Scit- 
nati", Rhode Island (now I.apham Institute). After dili- 
gently pursuing his academic studies for six months, he 
returned to Pio\idence, where he was eniplojed as a clerk 
in the exchange office of Philip Case until 1S4S, having 
in the nieantimc made a wise and economical use of his 
spare time and money with a view to educ.iting himself for 
his chosen profession. ( )n the 1st of .March, 1S4.S, he 
entered the office of Dr. M, P.. Me.id, dentist, in Provi- 



dence, where he remained about three months, and llien 
continued his studies at the Baltimore College of I.rental 
.Surgery, at which institution he graduated in 1S49. He then 
returned to Pro\idenee and ojiened an office in Westmin- 
ster Street, w here he soon acipiired a successful practice. 
r\)r several years he was assiiciated in business with Dr. 
A. B. H.ivves. Though not always in the same oltice, lie 
was located in the same street where he began the practice 
of his profession, until .\pril I, 18S0, when he removed 
to 25 Union Street, where, with his son, he still enjoys a 
large patronage. Dr. Se.abury has always manifested a 
progressive spirit in adopting the best improvements and 
methoils in all the departments of his profession, and ranks 
among the most skilful and successful rlenlists of the State. 
He is an honorary member of the Xew York .State Dental 
.\ssociation ; an associate niemlier of the Oilontological 
Society of Xew York City; an honorary member of the 
Brooklyn Dental Society; a member of the American 
.\cadeniy of Science of Boston ; and a member of the 
Xational American Dental Association. Since I.S4S he 
has been a member of the Westminster Unitarian Congre- 
gational Society of Proxidence, of which he has also been 
president for several years. In 1S73 he .attended the X'icn- 
na Exposition, and spent several months in Europe, visit- 
ing various points of interest. He married, September 28, 
1S52, Catharine .Ymelia, daughter of Captain X,athaniel 
and Maria (.S.ibin) Wheaton, late of P'rovidence. They 
have had six children, five of w lioin are now ( iSSi ) living, 
Eiederick Wheaton, who was educateil in the Providence 
Public Scho.jls. Highland Military School, \Yorcester, Mas- 
sachusetts, and at IIar\ard Dental .School, and is now as- 
sociated in business w itli his father; George Thurston, w ho 
graduated at Mowry & Golf's English and Classical School, 
Providence, and is now in business in his native city ; Na- 
thaniel, now a member of the junior class of Brown L'ni- 
versity ; Dw iglit, and Sophia Knight. 



'URKOliGH, Rcmi'.RT Sti^rkv, son of Robert Ster- 
rv and I'.sther Grant ( Armington 1 Burrough, was 
born in Providence, December 13, 1S14, and was 
' i the sixth of a family of children numbering Ii\'e 
J" soils and two daughters. The father, at an early 
age, was appointed to a position in the Custom- House of 
the port, at its organization, under the federal government, 
a I'ositioii which he retained for ne.irly forty years. 'Plie 
emigrant jiationymic ancestor was William Burrough, wdio 
married Sarah, daughter of the third .Nicholas Power, and 
sister of Hope, the mother of the disiinguidied four broth- 
ers, — lohn, Joseph, Xicholas, and Moses Brown. She was 
also half-sister of Mary Power, the mother of Nicholas 
Cooke, the first Governor of Rhode Island, in the Revolu- 
tion. William Burrough, before he came to America, was 
in some way connected with the eminent house of Tlirale ^v: 
Co., I .oiidon, most familiar to .Vmericaiis of the jiresent day 



BIO GRAnilCA L C 1 'CL OPED I A. 



475 



through the Life of the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson. 
The younger, Robert, on leaving school, entered the estab- 
lishment of Messrs. Smith & Dike, merchant tailors, of 
Providence, where his remarkable business aptitude speed- 
ily gave him a recognized efficiency l)eyond his years. A 
little incident occurring at this period may be related as a 
token of the keenness and decision which were to charac- 
terize the future man: As he was one day passing a 
neighbor's house he saw a stranger come out attired in a fine 
overcoat, whom he had just liefore seen going in without 
one. lie increased his pace for a closer view. The 
stranger hastened his steps with an air of unconcern, but 
broke into a run upon being hailed by Robert. After a 
brisk half-mile chase both jumped down a height of some 
fifteen feet in a secluded spot, wdiere the boy, discrediting 
the flimsy story of the man, collared him, insisting upon a 
disrobement ; and his entrance with the purloined garment 
informed the astonished neighbor of the theft so nearly 
successful. While yet a stripling he olitained a clerkship 
with Messrs. Robinson, Brown & Co., South Water Street, 
merchants of the first rank. Here he remained for some 
years, supplementing his w"ell-performed duties as employe 
by frequent and prosperous operations upon his own ac- 
count. Closing his relations with his employers, agreeable 
as these were, he, after passing some time as an individual 
merchant, accepted Dexter B. Lewis, Esq., as a parlner, 
under the firm of Burrough & Lewis, w hich was of several 
years' duration. Another period of business without a part- 
ner w'as followed in 1854 by his association with his cousin, 
James Burrough, Esq., the firm-name being R. L. Bur- 
rough & Co. Twenty years of prosperity succeeded, and 
upon the death of James Burrough, in 1874, his son, Mr. 
Frank M. Burrough, took his place in the firm, which was 
finally dissolved by the death of its senior, at his resi- 
dence in Charles Field Street, Septemlier 28, 1877. The 
immediate cause of death was a disease of the heart, w hich 
had repeatedly threatened such a termination on occasions 
that severely taxed his powers of endurance. The chief 
subject-matter of Mr. Burrough's business was the cotton 
and woollen industries of his native State, the materials 
used in wdiich, and, in a le.sser degree, their manufactured 
products forming the staple of his transactions, which, 
however, were by no means confined to them. He was 
hardly less a capitalist than a merchant. But what- 
ever direction his enterprising spirit might take, the 
same shrewdnes.s, and, almost invariably, the same suc- 
cess attended it. Nor was the benefit of his sagacity con- 
fined to himself. It was sought and reatlily conferred 
upon many, including not a few who themselves held no 
mean rank as business men, yet whose own prudence led 
them to avail themselves, upon occasions, of the admit- 
ted superiority of Mr. Burrough in intuitive discernment 
and sound judgment relative to matters within his pecu- 
liar province. Seldom is it that a man who holds himself 
so aloof from every species of official station, is neverthe- 



less so creative, or at Ica^t, so suggestive, of movements 
promotive of the public good as was he. That the end 
desirable should be accomplished was his only desire. 
Others might figure prominently in the matter, and enjoy 
a credit for which he cared nothing; for it seemed that he 
shunned rather than solicited popularity, and to appreciate 
him it was necessary to see him beneath an exterior which 
the multitude niigiit be partloned for misinterpreting. 
l'",veryIiody Icnew hint as a successful man. Everybody 
knew hnn as a man of his word. But these traits alone 
win respect rather than popularity; and wdien a friend 
would sometimes remonstrate with him for " putting the 
worst side out," he was sure to retort with some witticism 
so ajit that the friend was fain to forget his censure in his 
nierrmient. His tall, erect figure, stately gait, and well-cut 
features all seemed indicative of a self-poise which, in a 
man of wealth, the crowd regard with a disfavor for which 
the student of human nature is at no loss to account Mr. 
Burrough did not marry until he reached middle-life. His 
wife was Martha Howell Walker, daughter of the late Ap- 
plcton and Wait F'ield (Howell) Walker. Hermotherwas 
a daughter of the Hon. Jeremiah R. Howell, and a grand- 
daughter of the Hon. David Howell — names of distinction 
in the political and judicial annals of Rhode Island. Mrs. 
Burrough descended also from those Brown and Rhodes 
families coeval with its settlement. She survives her hus- 
band, with their only child, a daughter scarcely attained 
to womanhood. 

SirSt'i >I)M.\N. Gf.xer.'M, Is.\.\c Peace, was born in 
iiJLjItl ■'^""tli Kingstown, Rhode Island, August 18, 1822. 
"(i' " He was the eldest son of Samuel Rodman. He 
f't .-a was engaged in the quiet pursuits of business when 
'$ the Civil War broke out. K member of the State 
Senate when the troubles commenced, he was disposed, at 
the outset, to counsel moderation and forliearance. But 
wdien it became evitlent what were the plans of the South, 
he entered, with all his heart, into the work of preparation 
to meet the foe. Among his own friends and fellow-citi- 
zens he raised a company of soldiers for the Second Regi- 
ment of Rhode Island Volunteers. C'f this coni'iany he 
was chosen the captain. After the battle of Bull Run, 
July 21, i86i,in which the Second Rhode Island Regi- 
ment took a conspicuous part. Captain Rodman was ap- 
pointed Colonel of the Fourth Rhode Island Regiment. 
On the nth of January, 1S62, Colonel Rodman, with his 
regiment, joined (ieneral Bunisitle's expedition to North 
Carolina, an<l performed most iuijiortant service in the 
battle of Roanoke Island. Also, at the battle of Newbern, 
the regiment of Colonel Rodman distinguished itself by its 
bravery. Ordered to charge upon a battery of five guns, 
they marched at the double-quick and carried the whole 
battery, with the two flags wdiich had been waving over it, 
and planted the "stars and stripes" on the parapet. The 
commission of a brigaflier-general was Colonel Rodman's 



476 



BioGRAriiicAL era. opkdia. 



rewnrd for liis gallant cnndiict nn that iin-imiralile oCLa-.ic)n. 
Fort Macnii soon l\-ll l)cfori' tlic attack of our ^oUlicr^. in 
which the Fuurtli KImiIc Maul KcL;inunt took a Icailini; 
part. Soon after tlic victory i;ainc.l at thi-, point (Jcncral 
Roilnian was iiroslratc-d with ty|>hoiil fever, and returned 
to Ills home in South Kingstown, uhere he remained until 
lie was sulflciently restored to health to wananl his return 
to his military duties. lie was acting Major-( ieiieral, 
having the comniand of a division in the left wing of the 
arnry in its movements on Kret.leiick, Maryland He per- 
formed most acceptable service at the liattle of South 
Mountain. .\t the battle o( .\ntietam he was among the 
foremost in the attack on the enemy. In a charge up the 
heights, where had been placed batteries by the Confeder- 
ates, he was shot by a Minie ball in the left breast, at the 
same time that his .\id, Lieutenant R. H. Ives, Jr., was 
wounded in the thigh by a cannon-ball. He was taken to 
the hospital, where he received the most careful attention. 
His wile, father, and f.iniily physician hastened to his 
bedside, as soon as the news of his disaster reached them, 
and hi-, last moment^ were soothed b)' the ]uesence and 
cheered by the sympathies of those he most loved. He 
lingered until the 2'itli, and then passed on to the other 
worhl. In (ieneral Rodman's life and conduct it was said 
of him, "tliere were no extravagancies. If he had one 
characteristic more strongly marked than ancither, it was 
his retiring modesty. He was an humble professor of our 
holy religion. I'ri.un thi- time he lelt home, in the spring 
of lS6l,to the hour ol his Tall, his I'.ible was his daily com- 
panion, and was daily read by him. When thev stripped 
his person they found it in his bosom, clotted with his 
blood." General Rodm.in m.irried Sally, daughter of 
(.iovernor Lemuel Hastings .\rnold. Their chiUiren were : 
Isaac, Sally, wdio marrietl Robert Thomjison, Mary P., 
Thomas, ani.1 Samuel. 



S^^AVLES, FRIiIiKKir (.'l ark, |iartncr in the Moshas- 
jJSm suck Bleachery, son of Clark and Mary Ann 
^^^ (Olney) Sayles, was born in I'awtucket, Rhode 
I Island, Inly 17, iNj;5. He was fa\ored with unusual 
J* home advantages, and wdiile a lad was notably am- 
bitious in his studies. For aliout live years, beginning 
near 1S40, lie spent his wdnters in .Savannah, Georgia, 
wdiere his father was engaged in the wholesale lumber 
trade. While in that city he attended its best schools, 
and had as a classmate Charles II. (Ilmsled, the after- 
famous Ci.tlonel of Confederate forces in I'orts I'ldaski and 
Wagner; and he remembers with a feeling of just pride 
that the N'ankee boy lr..ni Rlh.de Island bore olT the pre- 
mium of the school for good schol.irship, .Mter passing 
through the schools of I'awtucket he piiisue.l his studies 
in the Lliiiversity (jrammar School m I'loviiieiice, under 
.Messrs. I ,yoii and l'"rie/e, and .it the I'lovuleiice ( "on- 
ference Semin.iiy in Fast ( lieciiw u li, under I'lojessor 



Robert .\lleii, where he graduated with honor in T^'n^t 
1S53. In July loUowing he entered the eniidoy of his 
brother, Wilhain l'\, in the Moshassuck Kleachery at 
.Saylesville, laboring for hve shillings per day, sweejiing 
the rooms, invoicing the goods, and performing any ser- 
vice that was required. Resolved upon success in Itusi- 
ness, so far as knowledge and faithfulness might assure 
it, he made a thorough study of all the mechanism and 
o|ieratioiis of the large estalilishment, diligently engaging 
in e\eiy department of the work with a view to its mastery. 
Thus with rigid application and fidelity he labored for 
tell years, when, January 1, liSfij, he w.as received by his 
brother as a |iartner in the extensive .and constantly ex- 
panding business. From that date the Moshassuck Bleach- 
ery ha^ been conducted by the lirm of W. F. & F'. C. 
Sayles, William F. looking after the linances, the con- 
tracts, and the outside management; Frederic C. giving 
special attention to the conduct of .the local afl'airs and the 
details of the operations in the estalilishment. Their united 
efforts were crowned with remarkable success, .as nien- 
tionet-1 in some particulars containeti in the sketch of Wil- 
liam F. in this volume. Their taste, intelligence, thrift, 
and cnterpiising spirit are expressed in their works and in 
the whole village of Saylesville, with its superb Memorial 
Chapel. The valley of the Moshassuck, with its beautiful 
village and railroad, testifies to their rare sagacity, industry, 
jierseverance, and executive talents. From over-exertion 
m labor, ami nervous exhaustion, occasioned by .sickness 
and death in his own family and that of the family of his 
brother, Frederic C, in 1.S77, was obliged to seek rest 
and recuperation by travel. In June, 1S7.S, he crossed the 
Atlantic, and spent three months in England, Scotland, 
France, Relgium, (iermany, and .\ustria. Not having re- 
alized all the bodily benefit that had been hoped for by 
the journey, he returned to the (Jld World, accompanied 
by friends, in October, I.S7S. His second tour embraced 
London, I'aris, the South of F'rance via Bordeaux, Pan, 
Nice, Geneva, and other attractive, historic places. Re- 
turning to I'aris, he was joined by his wife and family in 
May, I.S79, and they, together with friends, passed through 
Belgium (visiting the lield of Waterloo), Holland, the 
Hague, Ciermany, Switicrland, over the Alps in the road 
trodden by Napoleon's army, through the Simplon Pass, 
into Italy, visiting the Italian lakes, .Milan, Venice, Trieste, 
and Vienna; returning by Bavaria, Munich, Stuttgard, 
Str.asburg, Paris, London, Scotland, the romantic portions 
of Ireland, and then homeward, having delightfully and 
protilably spent a year. A third tour to Europe, occufiy- 
ing about three months, w.is made by Mr. Sayles in 
iSSo, aeconipanied by his wife and one child. He mar- 
ried, (Ictober 10, 1S61, I leborah Cook Wilcox (born 
November 26, I,S4i), ilaughler of Robert and I leborah 
(Cook) Wilcox, of I'awtucket, Rhode Island, who had 
si.\ children : liilia (married Edwin Gerauld), Louisa 
(m.oued Simon li. Thornton), C'harles II., Heborah C, 





/^y 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



477 



Robert C, and Annie (married (l) George S. Mitchell, 
and (2) Josiah C. Blaisdell). Thomas Wilcox, Robert's 
father, served in the Revolution, and was one of the dar- 
ing party of forty-one, led by Colonel William Barton, 
who captured (leneral Richard Prescott on the island of 
Rhode Island, July lo, 1 778. Mr. Sayles has had four 
children, Carrie Minerva, P'rederic Clark, Benjamin Paris 
(deceased), and Robert Wilcox. The religious connec- 
tions of the family are with the Central Congregational 
Church in Providence, of which Mr. and Mrs. Sayles are 
active members. The fme family residence, built in 186S, 
with its large and tastefully arranged grounds, graces the 
eastern slope of the height south of PawtucUet, which it 
overlooks, and is on the east side of East Avenue, near the 
line of the city of Providence. Besides his interest in the 
Moshassuck Bleachery, and in the Moshassuck Valley 
Railroad, of wdiich he is treasurer, Mr. Sayles is con- 
nected with various interests and enterprises. He has held 
a commission on the staff of the Pawtucket Light Guard, 
with the rank of major. He is a director in the State Na- 
tional Bank of Pawtucket and in the Merchants' National 
Bank of Providence. He is a trustee of the Franklin Sav- 
ings Bank of Pawtucket, and is concerned in other corpo- 
rations. By the special encouragement and aid of the 
Sayles Brothers, W. F. and F. C, there was organized in 
Saylesville, June 2, iSSo, the Memorial Chapel Congrega- 
tional Church, of twenty-five constituent members. The 
Sabbath-school held there has registered, during the past 
year, one hundred and seventy-nine members, with an 
average attendance of one hundred and twenty-three. At 
the hands of the Sayles brothers, public enterprises and 
benevolent causes always meet with hearty encouragement 
and generous support. 




rjHE.ATON, JAMI-.S L., M.D., was born in Seekonk, 
Massachusetts, in 1823, and is a descendant of 
\i;i Robert Wheaton, an associate of Roger Williams. 
Robert Wheaton's son Ephraim was a clergyman, 
and inherited a farm in Rehoboth, which has never 
passed out of the family, having descended by inheritance 
from generation to generation. On the old homestead 
James Wheaton, father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born in 1794. In the early part of the present century he 
removed to what is now a part of Pawtucket, being then a 
portion of Seekonk, but prior to 1812 embraced in Reho- 
both. In 1828 a part of Seekonk was cut off and made 
an independent town in Massachusetts, under the name of 
Pawtucket. Here Dr. Wheaton spent his boyhood. Hav- 
ing a predilection for tlie medical profession, he availed 
himself of favorable ojipoitunities to prepare for college, 
but failing health compelled him to forego a collegiate 
education. His health finally improved, however, and 
when he was about twenty years of age he began his med- 
ical studies under the guidance of Urs. Barrows and Man- 



chester, and subsequently attended several courses of lec- 
tures at different towns, receiving the degree of Doctor of 
Medicine from Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mas- 
sachusetts, in the spring of 1847. I" June of that year he 
entered upon his professional career in Pawtucket, where 
he has since continued in active practice, his residence, 
however, being changed to North Providence, directly 
opposite Pawtucket, in 1852. In early life he took an 
active part in politics, and for two years, 1857 and 1858, 
represented the town of North Providence in the Rhode 
Island General .Assembly. While a member of that body, 
he served as chairman of the Committee on Education, in 
which position he commenced an agitation for reform in 
the policy, then adhered to, of excluding colored children 
from the public schools in Providence, Newport, and Bris- 
tol, separate schools being provided for them, and the priv- 
ilege of attending the High School being denied them. 
Dr. Wheaton made reports to the General Assembly in 
favor of a change, which, although being the reports of 
the minority of the committee, have since borne fruit. For 
seven years he was associated with Dr. Manchester, but 
for the past sixteen years he has been comparatively alone 
in practice, as his old associate was constrained to retire 
from the profession on account of the infirmities of age. 
During his professional career. Dr. Wheaton has enjoyed 
vigorous health, and has been equal to the demands of his 
large practice. In 1871 he associated with him his son-in- 
law. Dr. J. A. Chase, who still continues svith him. Dr. 
Wheaton has been a successful physician and a useful citi- 
zen, and as such is honored and respected in the commu- 
nity where he resides. He married, in 1850, Anna M. 
Jencks, of Grafton, Massachusetts. They have had four 
children, three of whom are living. His eldest daughter, 
Martha Jencks, has been twice married ; first, to Dr. Wil- 
liam P. White, who died, 1870; and second, to Dr. J. A. 
Chase, a promising physician of Pawtucket. His second 
daughter, Anna Frances, was married, in 1862, to Mr. S. 
Frank Dexter. The name of the youngest child is James 
Lucas. Dr. Wheaton was President of the Rhode Island 
HomcBopathic Society for the years 1876, 1877, 1878. 



SfcllaAYES, HiiN. WiNGATE, son of John and Sarah 
BJ^KI t'lough (Guy) Hayes, was born in Farniinglon, 
'^'^^ New Hampshire, August 4, 1823. After pursu- 
f'0^ ing a prejiaratoi^ course at Gihnanton, New Hamp- 
•k shire, and the Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hamp- 
shire, he entered Brown University, and graduated in the 
class of 1844. He commenced the study of law in the 
office of Hon. Richard W. Greene, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1847. H<^ devoted himself to the duties of his 
profession with great diligence, and soon came to be recog- 
nized as an able lawyer. In addition to his strictly ]iro- 
fessional duties, he was called to important posts in civil 
life. For several years he was clerk, first of the House 



47S 



BlOGRArinCAL CYC/. OPEJI/A. 



of Kepre^cnt.itivc^. llicn in the Si.ri.ile of the Cleneral As- 
semblv. For live years (1S51 -501 lie was a meinl)er i>f the 
Common (_"niiiKil, and Tt three of these years [nesiileiit 
of the same. He w.is, (kx tliree years 11854-57), one of 
the Commissidiiers h.r revi^iiiL; tlie Statutes of Rhode Isl- 
and, and at another liiiir, for three years ( iSiio-72), was 
called to perform the sinie im|)ortant duty. For several 
years he was Assislaiil-;\d|ulaiil ilcneral and Division In- 
spector, hoMini; the ranlv of colonel. lie represented tlie 
city of Providence fcjr two years ( iS5i)-()0) in tlie ( ieneral 
Assemlily, being the Speaker of the llonse in the latter of 
these years. I'rcsident Lincidn ap|ioiiiied him Lhiited States 
Attorney for llie District of Rhode Island hi iSoi. which 
position lie filled for ten years, with rare ability and sue- 1 
cess. ^Vith added years of life his responsibilities kept in- 
creasing. For several corporations, es]iecially for that of 
the Boston and I'ro\idrnce Railroad, hr peiionned import- 
ant duties as then legal advi-er and louiv-el. In the midst 
of his laliors he was stricken down with disease. Alter 
lingering a few months he died in l'r<"j\ idence, < ictober 10, 
1877. He married m August, 1840, Abby M., daughter 
of Charles I. I'.owler, of Providence. Then children were 
three sons aiul three daiigliters. 



^''R()\VX, Wi irnMK flwIN, M.D., son of Welcome 
and F'reelove (( >weii) I'.rown, was born in the 
town of P.arl.m, Veniioiit, March jy, 1N22. His 
'-, 1' i'arents earlv emigrated liom Rhode Isl.md to \ ei- 
J k niont. His father was bom in North Providence, 
Rhode Island, but ienio\ ed, after his marriage, to Vermont, 
w lien that Slate was lieilig setllcd, near the close of (he 
last century, and became a thrilty laiiuer. He was a lin- 
eal descendant of Rev. Chad Prowii, one of the first settlers 
of Providence and an associate of Roger Williams. Dr. 
Brown's mother was a daughter of Hon. Daniel 1 iwen. 
Chief justice of Rhode Island from 170I to 1705. She 
liad three broilKr^ : D.iniel, a merchanl. w ho died early; 
Joseph, who removed t'l \ennoiit ; Tliomas, wdio lived to 
an advanceil age and died in (iloce^ter. Rhode Island. 
Her sister. Amy, married Hon. Asa .\ldis, of Vermont. 
Dr. Brown's father had a brother ami several sisters. One 
of his sisters maiiied Andrew .\ngell, of North Providence, 
and another married Freeman l''islier, of Providence. He 
was twice married; first, to Pliebe I'ariuim, and, second, 
to F'reelove t iwen. The i hihlieii by the Inst marriage 
were: FMisha, Amy, bisiph F., and ( Lirissa; and liy the 
second marriage: Phebe, D.iniel t )., Waitsiill W., and 
WelcrimetJ. Dr. P.rown attended the schools and acad- 
emies of Noitliein X'erinoiit, and pursued his classical 
studies, hrst, in the private school of Rev. C. F". F'errin, in 
\'ernirjnt, and at llie l-'iieiids' Poaiding-.School in Pro\i- 
dence. For sever.il winters he was a successrul le.icher in 
Tiveiloii. l.ittle Compioii, and ,it the Friends' Si hool in 
Pro\idencc. He studied medicine in Pio\ideiice under 



Dr. Wheaton Rivers, and graduated at the L'niversily of 
Pennsylvania with the degree of M.D., in 1S52. With the 
stiidv of medicine and surgery he maintained his strong 
native passion hu' liberal letters anil scientific invesiigatirins, 
and has ever lived in the higher realms of thought and jnir- 
pose. Alter graduation he practiced his profession for one 
year in Pawtucket, Rliode Island, and in 1853 removed to 
PioNidence. where he has continued a studious, active, and 
unciMnmonly useful career. He steadily rose in his pro- 
fession, and won the esteem and confidence of liis pro- 
fessional lirelliren and the public generally. He has filled 
the ollices of Secretary of the Rhorle Island Medical So- 
cictv and Presiilent of the Providence Medical Association. 
Dr. Brown's contrilnitions on professional subjects, many 
of which have been [lublished in medical periodicals, tes- 
tify to his ability and wide range of study. He was the 
originator of the Providential Dis])ensary, of the city of 
Providence. His many labors and plans led at hist to the 
seeuiing of the charter, in 1.S71, for a free public library, 
art gallery, and museum of natural history, of Providence, 
which, bv amciidment, has issued alrearly in the Free Pub- 
lic Library, ojieiied in 1S78. F'or twelve years he was 
Physician to the Providence Ihspensary, and served, in 
like manner, as a benevolence, to the (,ild Ladies' Home 
and to the Shelter for Colored Children. For eleven years 
he was the President of the Franklin Society, and largely 
advanced its interests by his wise management of its allairs 
and the contrilnition of able reports and papers. As a 
member of the l_'oniinittee on the Public Schools of Provi- 
dence, for a long time, he has furnished valuable papers, 
and i- about to give to the press the report of 1S80. He 
is also a member of the Rhode Island Historical .Society, 
of the Rhode Island .Society for the Promotion of Domes- 
tic Industry, and of the Rhode Island Horticultural .Soci- 
ety. Politically he is a Republican. To the cause of 
temperance and eiliicalion he earnestly lends his aid and 
influence. Religiously he adheres to the principles and 
practices of the I'liends. I )r. Brown ranks as one of the 
most scholarly and upright physicians of Providence. 



'IGGINSCIN, Colonel Thomas Wentworth, 
author, son of Stephen and Louisa (.Storrow) 
Higginson, was born in Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, December 22, 1S23. His father was a well- 
known Boston merchant and philanthropist. His 
grandfather, Stephen Higginson, who lived to the advanced 
age of eighly-hve years, was a member of the Continental 
Congress, a bitter opponent of John Hancock, and widely 
celebrated as an author. This Stephen Higginson was a 
descendant of Rev. Francis Higginson, who was born in 
Kngland, in 15S7, and educateii there, at Cambridge; was 
persecuteil as a non-conformist, and hence came to America, 
in 1629, and settled at Salem, .Massachusetts. The subject 
of this skctill graduated at Harvard College in 1841, and 



BIO GRA rillCA L C } XL OPEDIA . 



479 



at Harvard Theological Scliool in 1S47. He was so(.)n 
afterwanls seltled as pastor of the First Congregational 
Church at Newburyport, Massachusetts, and continued as 
such until 1850, when he resigned. During the same year 
he was the Free-Soil candidate for Congress from that dis- 
trict, but was not elected. From 1S52 to 1S58 he was 
pastor of a free churcli at Worcester, and was an active 
opposer of slavery. The leading part which he took in 
rescuing the slave Anthony Burns IVom the United States 
Marshal at Boston, in 1853, secured for him a sabre-cut in 
the face and an indicttiient for murder, but he was released 
on account of a flaw in the indictment. In 1S56 he went 
to Kansas to assist in organizing the Free-State settlers, 
who were opposed by pro-slavery men from Missouri. He 
was one of "Jim'* Lane's staff officers in Kansas, and was 
afterwards intimate with John Brown of Harper's Ferry 
distinction. In 1858 he retired from the ministry, and has 
since devoted his energies to literature and politics. Early 
in the Rebellion he raised several companies of volunteers 
in Massachusetts, and was commissioned as captain. In 
1S62 he became Colonel of the First Colored Regiment of 
Volunteers, in South Carolina, where he did good service 
with them, and also in Florida. With this regiment he 
took Jacksonville. In 1S63 he was wounded in an engage- 
ment on Edisto River, and thus was compelled to leave the 
military service in October, 1864, from which time, until 
his tour in Europe, in 1878, he resided in Newport, Rhode 
Island. Since 1864 he has devoted his time to lecturing 
and to publishing his various works. He has been a fre- 
quent contributor to 7'/ie Ai/aii/ii: JMonlhly, Scrilnicr's 
Alonthly^ The Nation, The New York Independent, A'erc 
York Tyibttne,\Voniati s yonnia/, and Alaemillan'' $ Maga- 
zine, Tondon. His published works are : Thalatta, in 
1853; Outdoor Papers, 1S63 ; Harvard Memorial Bioi^- 
rup/iies, 1866; £//</<•/;«, 1 865 ; Ma/ione, an Oldporl Ko- 
niance, 1869; Army Life in a Blaek Pein'me>!t, 1870; 
Atlantic Essays, 1S71 ; Oldport Days, 1873; Yoiini; Folks' 
History of the United States, 1S75 ; Young Folks' Book 
of American Explorers, 1877 ; Short Studies of American 
Authors, 1879. Colonel Higgmson is well known as an 
advocate of woman's suffrage. In 1847 he married Mary 
Channing, daughter of Walter Channing, M.D., and niece 
of the celebrated William Ellery Channing After her 
death, in 1878, he removed to Cambritlge, Massachusetts, 
where he now resides. In 1876 he prepared Ihe Centen- 
nial Report on the History of Education in Rhode Island, 
by appointment from the (ieneral Assembly. 



j^^^LODGETT, W'lLl.lAM Wintiirop, lawyer, was bora 

^L^'i m Randolph, Vermont, July 8, 1824. He is the 

f A"? third son of Eli Blodgett, a respectable farmer of 

Aa that town. Mr. Blodgett prepared for college at the 

* Orange County Grammar School, in Randolph, and 

in 1843 entered the University of Vermont, at Burlington, 



where he graduated with the highest honors, in 1S47. After 
graduating, the same year, he became jirincijial of the 
Academy at Keene, New Hampshire, which position he 
fdled for a few months, and then commenced the study of 
law with the late Hon. William P. Wheeler, in Keene. 
He afterward pursued his legal studies with the Hon. Isaac 
F. Redlield, then Chief Justice of Vermont, and in the office 
of Wires & Peck, in Burlington. In June, 1850, he was 
admitted to the bar in Orange County, Vermont. In Octo- 
ber, 1850, he removed to Pawtucket, then in Massachu- 
setts, and in November of the same year, was admitted to 
practice in all the courts of Massachusetts, by the Supreme 
Judicial Court, then silting at New Bedford. He has con- 
tinued in the practice of law in Pawtucket to the present 
time, and has fre<|uently been honored with offices of trust 
and responsibility. In 1S59 and i860 he represented the 
towns of Altleboro and Pawtucket in the Massachusetts 
Legislature. In 1861, the controversy, long pending be- 
tween the Slates of Massachusetts and Rhode Island con- 
cerning the eastern boundai-y of the latter .State, culminated 
in a compromise line agreed upon by the counsel of the 
respective States and submitted to their Legislatures for 
ratification. The line so proposed was unsatisfactory to 
Rhode Island, being arbitrarily drawn without due regard 
to the natural line of division, and giving a decided ad- 
vantage to Massachusetts. The whole town of Pawtucket 
was retained in, and Fall River, Rhode Island, was trans- 
ferred to Massachusetts. The proposed line woukl have 
been rejected by the Legislature of Rhode Island. A new 
line was proposed by Mr. Blodgett to the Massachusetts 
Legislative Committee having charge of the business, by 
which the town of Pawtucket and only that part of the 
town of Seekouk which formed a suburb of the city of 
Providence, lying on the Providence and Pawtucket rivers, 
were transferred to the jurisdiction of Rhode Island, where 
they naturally belonged. This line was finally adopted, 
and on the first day of March, 1861, the town of Pawtucket, 
and that part of Seekouk now called East Providence, be- 
came a part of Rhode Island. On the day of the transfer, 
Mr. Blodgett was elected to the Rhode Island Senate. 
This was the first time in the history of the State in which 
a man was elected to that office on the day that he became 
a resident of the .State, the Constitution requiring a resi- 
dence of at least one year as a qualification for that office. 
This was done upon the theory that the compromise did 
not establish new lines, but determined what had always 
been the true line of division between the two States. 
Since that time Mr. Blodgett has continued to practice his 
profession in the State of Rhode Island, and has many 
limes represented the towns of Pawtucket and North Provi- 
dence in the Rhode Island Legislature. In 1S68 he was 
elected Judge of Probate for North Providence, wliich 
office he held by annual election until 1874, when the vil- 
lage of Pawtucket was consolidated into one town under 
the same name. He continued to hold the office for Paw- 



4So 



BIOCKAPHJCAL fVCL OPEDIA. 



tucket until 1S70, wlu-n lie iciLjncil. Mr Kloilgett has 
Ix-fii fur many years a nicnihtT of Si. I'aul's (Episcopal) 
Church in I'awtuckct, a nrcnilicr of llic I )ioccsan Conven- 
ticin, anil of the StaU'linj; C'unimiltcc uf llic Diocese. In 
1S55 he married S.ilome \V. Kinsley, of I'autucket. They 
have one ilaui;hler, Kllen II., ami live sons, Edward \V., 
I.oyd Morton, lohn, (-'hanncey Elayden, and Kinsley. Their 
eldest s(Mi, ICdwaid \V., ijraduateil from V.de (.'ollege in 
1S7S, and is now pursuing; the study of law in lii^ father's 
oliice. 



.— ,-,sKT''ALF, CnLnNKi. ED\VIN,son of Josc|ih (.;. and 
^ Eveline (Houghton) Metcalf, was horn in I'mv- 
W' idence, Rhode Island, August 25, 1S23. His 
father was widely and honorably known as a tanner 
and trader in leather. He had hve children : Mary 
1)., Edwin, George, Alfred, and Joseph II. Edw in passed 
through the p)uhlic schonU of the city, and prepared for col- 
lege in the private school of Oliver .Vngell, an estimaMe 
teacher, and the school of Thomas C. Hartshorn, a tutor of 
superior reputation. Entering Brown University he gradu 
ated in 1S42. In his classwere Professor A. H. Harkness, 
EL.l)., Rev. H. .M. Pierce, 1 1. D., and Hon. A. S. Westcolt. 
AfterstLidyinglaw at the Cambridge Eaw -School, Massachu- 
setts, and in the oflices of Charles F. Tillingh,ast and Charles 
S. Ihadley, in I'ros iilencc, he \\ as admitted as an attoiney 
and counsellor at l.iu in the Rhode Islaml courts in 1S44, 
and soon attained jiromincnce in his profession. He was 
also engaged in the editorial rooms of the J'^roi-ii/t'tiLC Posl 
«;/(/ //;vv;/./, from 185410 i.SjG. Hepreviously held the po- 
sition of l!'lerk of the Supreme Court of Providence County, 
from I.S51 to 1S53. I luring the " Dorr War," in 1S42, he 
was sergeant in the First Ward Company, of Providence, 
on duty at Woonsocket. When the Rebellion of the South 
began to manifest itself, he. with \oice and pen, esjjoused 
the cause of his country. He w as elected a mend>er of the 
House of Rc|.resentatives in May, 1801, and stood promi- 
nent in patriotic counsel till he felt mo\ed lo take the field. 
Having aided tiovernor .Sprague in raising troo|>s, he ac- 
ceptei-1 a commission, August 27, l8()l,as major in the 
Third Rhode Island Regiment (Heavy Artilleiy). He 
moved with his command, by steamers to New York, and 
thence lo Fortress .Monroe, wdiere, with the tleet under 
Commodore S. F. iJujiont and tieneral T. W. Slierman, 
he proceeded to Port Royal, .South Carolina, and was pres- 
ent in the brilbaiit action of November 7, 1801, that re- 
sulted in the c.ii'ture of h'oits Walker and Ueamegard, and 
the possession of the city of Peauforl ami the neighboring 
islands. A portion of his regiment acted a brave and im- 
portant pan in the capiture of Fort Pulaski, (icorgia, .\pril 
10 and II, 1862. He gallantly led his battalion in the 
severe bailie of Secessionville, James Islaml, South Caro 
lina, June 16, lS6j, and received the highest praise of the 
conmianding olTicers, one of whom wrote, " (-'erlainly no 
otlicer Could have led hi-, conmiand w illi more -.kill and 



bravery than did Major Metcalf." .\l the re|uest of Gov- 
ernor .Sj.rague he coiisenteil lo leave the Third Regiment, 
in .Vugust, 1S62, and accepted a commission as colonel of 
the I^lcventh Rhode Island Regiment, with which he served 
in and near Washington, District of Columbia, from Sep- 
tember to November, 1862, when he returneil lo the Third 
Regiment as their colonel, and continued to serve in the 
Deparlmenl of the South, at Ililt.in Head, St. Helena, 
h'olly Island, James Iskmd, Morris Island, and Fort Pu- 
laski, till lanuary, l8i''4. ( tn the expedition, tindertaken in 
April, 1S63, against Charleston, South Carolina, he was 
Acting Chief of Artillery. His services were often in de- 
mand on boards of e.vamination and courts-martial, and 
his calmness, energy, juilgment, and know ledge were highly 
apineciated by Generals Htmter and Gillmore. Returning 
from the hehl he resumed the ]3ractice of his professioti, 
and again became prominent in municipal and Slate aflairs. 
Again elected to the General Asseml)ly,he was Speaker of 
the House in 1S73 and 1S74. He was elected Senator 
from Providence in 1S74 and 1S75. W'ith voice and pen 
lie served the State effectively, standing in the van of re- 
formative movements. Meanwdiile his ]^ractice in the civil 
ctmrts became very extensive in cases of the first import- 
ance. As a member of the Grand Army of the Republic 
he has been Commander of Prescott Post, No. I, and of the 
Department of Rlmde Island. Ohlcially, and with his 
jien, he has greatly aided the Soldiers' antl Sailors' His- 
torical Society of Rhode Islaml, and some of his papers 
have been demanded for the press. In May, 1S76, he 
unileil with the Pilgrim Congregational Church of Provi- 
dence, in which he holds an intluenlial position, and per- 
forms worthy ser\ ice. For years he has stood as a leafier 
in the temperance movements of his native city, and gladly 
identilies himself with all pukdic improvements. He mar- 
ried, in December, 1846, Eliza S. Atwell, daughter of Hon. 
Samuel V. and I.ydia .S. .Atwell, of Proviilence. and had two 
children: Frederick (born .September 20, 18471, and Evelyn 
(born Februarv, iSocil. The mother dieil in June, 1803. 
In September, 180^, he married j\nna Thayer, daughter of 
Mosesand Sabra .\. Thayer, of Charlestown, Massachusetts. 
His son Frederick, leaving his studies in the High School 
in Providence, enlisletl for the defence of his country, and 
was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Third Regi- 
ment, September 21, 1S63. Joining the command, he 
served at Hilton Head and on the adjacent islands. He 
was promoted lo the rank of lirsl lieutenant, May 6, 1864, 
and efficiently served as adjutant of the post at Fori Pu- 
laski, Georgia, and in instructing the colored troops of the 
Department. Attacked by typho-mahtrial fever, he died 
in the Ofticers' Hospital at Beaufort. South (Carolina, Au- 
gust 28, 1S64, deeply lamented alike in tlie army and at 
home, as a talented, patriotic, generous, and brave young 
man. tJeorge Metcalf, born in Providence, Rhode Island, 
lanuary 7, 1S26, brother of Colonel Edwin, enlisted at the 
opening of tlie war in the hirst Rhode Island Detached 








^/^ /. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDFA. 



481 



Militia, under General (then Colonel) Burnside, and re- 
vealed his coolness and valor July 21, 1S61, on the plains 
of Manassas. He was appointed Second Lieutenant of the 
Third Regiment, October 9, i86i ; promoted to First Lieu- 
tenant May 20, 1862; to Captain, July 8, 1862; and in 
November, 1863, was commissioned as Major. In this last 
rank, while effectively serving his immediate command, he 
was at times a valued officer of the staff of General Alfred 
H. Terry, as Assistant Chief of Artillery, and finally Chief 
of Artillery in the Northern District of the Department. 
His bravery and services on James Island and Morris 
Island deserve a conspicuous and enduring record. Though 
sufiering keenly from a malarial disease incurred in the 
army, he is now (1881) the secretary and treasurer of the 
American Ship Windlass Company, in Providence, Rhode 
Island. 




JHEDON, Rev. Daniel Avery, D.D., Presiding 
Elder of Providence District, of Providence Con- 
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, son 
of Hiram and Margaret (Avery) Whedon, was 
bom at Brantingham, Lewis County, New York, 
December 16, 1823. He received his preparatory educa- 
tion in the public schools and at the seminary in Cazenovia, 
New York, and graduated from Wesleyan University, 
Middletown, Connecticut, in 1S45. In 1846 he entered the 
New England Conference, and at the end of the year was 
transferred to the Oneida (now known as Central New 
York) Conference, where he remained until 1866. On the 
30th of July, 1848, he was ordained deacon, by Bishop E. 
S. Janes, at Owego, New York, and July 28, 1S50, was 
ordained elder, by Bishop Beverly Waugh, at Honesdale, 
Pennsylvania. From 185810 1862 he was Presiding Elder 
of the Chenango District, New York. In 1862 and 1863 
he was stationed at North Street Church, Auburn, New 
York, and in 1864 and 1865 was p.istor of Bleecker Street 
Church, Utica, New York, his labors at both of these im- 
portant churches being attended with great success. In 
1 866 he was transferred to the Providence Conference, 
and served as pastor of the First Church, at Newport. He 
was subsequently pastor of the churches at Bristol, Rhode 
Island, Edgartown, Massachusetts, and of the Mathewson 
Street and Broadway Churches, in Providence. In 1S78 
he was appointed Presiding Elder of the Providence Dis- 
trict, which position he now occupies. For the past ten 
years he has been a trustee of the Providence Conference 
Seminary, at East Greenwich, and since 1871, of Wesleyan 
University. For several years he was also a trustee of 
Cazenovia Seminary. He was a delegate to the General 
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at its 
quadrennial sessions in 1856, i860, 1864, 1872, 1876, and 
1880. In 1S76 he was one of the special committee ap- 
pointed l>y order of the General Conference to revise the 
Methodist Hymn Book, and served as secretary of the 
committee. In 1869 Wesleyan University conferred on 
6i 



him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The annotations 
on Philippians, Colossians, and the Epistles of Peter, in 
the Commentary by his uncle, Rev. D, D. Whedon, LL.D., 
were prepared by him ; and he has been a frequent con- 
tributor to the Methodist Quarterly Review and to other de- 
nominational publications. He married, May 11, 1846, 
Mary L. Jones, of Wallingford, Connecticut. They have 
two children, Charles H. and Emma Frances. 



nCyfAYLES, Albert Leprelet, manufacturer, was born 
tjM^i in Harrisville (formerly called Rhodesville), in the 
rp town of Burrillville, Rhode Island, August 29, 1826. 
r'SJ- He is a representative of the third generation of a 
'* large family of successful manufacturers in Rhode 
Island. His parents were Hardin and Laura Sayles, whose 
other children were Maria Maretta, born June 25, 1832, 
died July 16, 1853; Elliot Smith, born February 13, 1834; 
Hardin Rosco, born May 20, 1835 ; Ellen Augusta, born 
September 7, 1839, died February n, 1S64; and Addison 
Clark, born July 18, 1S4!. Laura, the wife of Hardin Sayles, 
was the daughter of Captain John and Roba (Smith) Wood. 
She w-as born December 23, 1S04, and died May 31, 1S64. 
Plardin was the son of Daniel and Phebe Sayles, who had 
a family of nine children: Hardin, born March 7, 1779, 
died June II, 1861 ; Smith S., born December 24, 1794, 
died August 31, 1879; Pitts, born August 11, iSoi, died 
January 11, 1864; Mary, born September 3, 1793, died 
August 1857; Marietta, born 1798, died 1S32; Marcillar, 
born September 5, 1S03, died January 14, 1S35; Phidelia, 
born March 2, 1807; Elizabeth, born October 15, 180S; 
Elsie, born September 2, 181 1, died October 5, 1854. 
Phebe, the wife of Daniel Sayles, was the daughter of Cap- 
tain Pitts Smith. She was born July 21, 1769, and died 
December 11, 1855. Daniel Sayles was born October 31, 
1769, and died January 25, 1849. Hf^ "'^s the son of 
Israel and Marsa (Whipple) Sayles, who had eleven chil- 
dren, seven sons and four daughters: Richard, Essie, 
Elisha, Christopher, Royal. Ahab and Daniel, Mary, who 
married Essie Brown, Roba, Rebecca, and Mercy, who 
married Benjamin Mathewson. Israel's father was Rich- 
ard Sayles, a very prominent citizen, who was a land sur- 
veyor, and laid out and surveyed Government and State 
lands in Burrillville, then Gloce.ster, and the town of Smith- 
field, Rhode Island. This is as far back as a correct gene- 
alogy can be traced, but according to tradition, Richard 
Sayles's grandfather was John Sayles, who, with his brothers 
Richard and Thomas, came from England in 1645. Rich- 
ard settled on what is now called Sayles's Hill, in Smith- 
field, Thomas settled in Rehoboth, and John in Providence, 
where he married Mai-y, daughter of Roger Williams, and 
was for some time town trea-.urcr. Daniel Sayles, the 
grandfather of Albert I.., was born in Glocester, Rhode 
Island, in that part of the town since included in the town 
of Burrillville, and in 1S14 built a mill for fulling and 



4S2 



mOGRAFIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



ilrcvsini; rlntli. on, m lu-ar, tlie --ite i>f the i>n.-seiU Ciranite | 
Mill, at r.iMuai;. I'nini a wmk ontitKcl A'l-pmentiiti-i'f 
I^Iauiifiuliircii of A'tW Kia^latul, to hIiIcIi \\ c arc iii- 
dcbtfil fur many of tin- facts containctl in tliis sketch, wo 
l(.Mri> tliat jiruvioiis ti, tliL- Ijcginiiing of the jircseiit century 
the cariling ul wiml in tliis cnuntrv, w ith the sjiinning and 
weaving, w a-^ dune wholly l)y hand at the huines of farm- 
ers, llul in iSoi.a w <)oI-car<ling machine was laiilt at 
Pitt^ficld, Massacllu^etls. liy Arthur Scoticld, who came to 
this countr\ ni 17S4. from Oldham, Kngland, where he 
had learned the art of manufacturing woollen goCMK. lie 
started a fu tory for the first company incorporated in the 
United States for the manufacture of woollen cloth, at 
Newbury, liyfield Parish, Massachusetts. lie afterward 
removed to rittsfiehl. and began the manufacture of wool- 
caroling machiiies, and in 1S04 made from merino wool 
the fir-.t bioadiloth ever manufactured in this country. 
Soon affer the erection of his mill, Daniel Sayles put into 
it a wool-carding machine, aiul the farmers around began 
to bring their woid in small jiarcels of from three to ten 
pound-- to h.ive it cariled. Then they took the rolls home 
anil after the spinnnig and \vea\ing was done, the cloth 
was br'Hight t<:) the mill for fulling and diessing. The 
second son of Daniel Sayles was Hardin, the father of 
Albert I.. lie was born in Uurrillville in 1797, and while 
only a lad entered his father's mill, where he learned the 
business of carding wtjol by machinerv and of finishing 
cloth. In i.Slo he came into posse>sion of the mill, which 
was subse<[uent!y enlarged, and in lS;4 began the manu- 
facture ol satinets with one set of machinery, in copart- 
nership w ith Ids younger brother, Pitt Sayles, and his broth- 
er-in l.iw, [oiin <_"li.ice. The former had also learned his 
trade in his f.ither"s mill, and the latter having learned the 
trade of machinist at Woonsocket, was competent to make 
repairs and to lake charge of running the machinery. 
This was the seconil null started for the manufacture ^A 
woollen goods in Pumllvdlc. Providence was the near- 
est market both for the sale of gooils and for the pur- 
chase of materials and supplies, and one of the ])ro[Hi 
clors used to con\-ey thither in a wagon a tew j)icces 
of finished cloth, and bring back cnie or two bags of 
wool, with other supplies, as often as occasion required. 
During the financial crisis of 1S37 the business was sus- 
])ended, and in lS;,S a new copartnership was fonried, 
with .an increase of capital and an enlargement of the busi- 
ness. Jacob T. and jo^iah Seagrase. |r., of I'roviilence. 
were admitted as partneis. the style of the company being 
** The f'nion Woollen C<»m]iany." In 1S44 a fuithei' en 
largement \\as ina<le, and the machniery altered to adapt 
it to the manufacture of f.mcy cassinreres. l his company 
was only moderately successf'ul, aird in 1S47 the firm was 
tlissolved, Messrs. .Seagr.ive and Mr. Chace retiring. A new 
copartnership was then formcil, l.yni.m t'opeland, of P.is- 
coag, becoming associated with Hardin and Pitt Sayles, 
nndei the fiiui name of I.. (."o[)ekin(! ^V (_'o. This tu'in con- 



tinued until I.S50, \\hen Mr. ('ojteland retired, the other 
partners contiiuiing under the style of H. ,S: P. Sayles. 
Albei"t Lej^relet .Sayles is now the owner of the property 
anil business of which we have gi\en a jiartial history- He 
attended the connnon schcxiK until fifteen years of age, 
when he commenced work in his father's mill. Two years 
later he obtained employment with Daniel S. Whipple, at 
(laza, a manufacturing village, now part of Mapleville, in 
Burrillville. Mr. Whipple was a relative (his mother being 
a si-,terof Hardni Sa\lesl. ami h.nl learned the business of 
manufacturing in the mill of lvh\ard Harris, a successful 
manufacturer, business man. and prominent citizen of Woon- 
socket. Mr. Sa\ le^ remained with Mr. Whij^ple three 
years, dining which time he learned the art of manufactur- 
ing and fini-hing woollen goods. He then returned to the 
mill of L. Copeland & Co., of which firm his father was a 
member, and in 1S4S took charge of the finishing de)iart- 
ment. (Jn the retirement of Mr. Co]ieland in 1S50 he be- 
came superinteu'lent of the mill, wdiich positimi he held 
until lS=;3. wdien he purch.ised the interest of Ids inicle, 
Pitt .Sayles, ami the iiiin was changed to Hardin Sayles .S: 
Son. Mr. Sayles then owncil one-half of the whole ]>rop- 
ertv and business. In iSoi his father dieil. and he con- 
tinued the Ini^iness under the same firm-name, his mother, 
his three lirothcrs. and a sifter, heirs, ret.aining their share 
of his father's intcre-t. In 1S65 a new stone mill was 
built, making the length about 300 feet, and the main part 
50 feet wide, anil five stories high. cc)ntaining ten sets of 
cards and other machinery for the manufaclure of fancy 
ca^-imeres. vari.ius impaovements m machinery having since 
been introduced from time to time by Mr. Sayles. 'Phe 
cost of the new nnll was about i;250,ooo. In i.So.S .Mr. 
Sayles purchaseil the interest of his brother, Hardin R., 
w ho then purchased the interest of his brother, Addison C, 
who then entered into partnership with William Nichols, to 
manufacture woollen gooils at Pascoag. the firm being styled 
.Sayles ..v Nichols. Since that time Mr. Sayles has had sole 
man.igement of the luisines-, the establishment being known 
as the tiraiiile MilK. In iSSo he associated himself with 
John T. Iiske, under the firm-name of Fiske & .Sayles, 
manufacturers of woollen gnoib. at Pascoag. 'Phe same 
year he made another addition of fifty-seven feet to the 
building, increased the number of sets of machinery to fif- 
teen, and has now the largest and most elegant establish- 
ment in the tow 11. In 1S74, in company with other gentle- 
men he pm chased the manufacturing pro]ierty at Wairen, 
.Massachusetts, known as the Sibley Woollen Mills, the 
original cost of which was 5240,000, and having since pur- 
chased one of the piarties interest, now owns three-i|uartcr5. 
He has also leased and operates the lluntsville Mill, con- 
taining live sets of machinery. Mr. Sayles was one of the 
prime movers in oiiginating and building the Providence 
and Springfield Railroad, is one of the largest stoekholdei's 
of the com|i,my, and has been one of its directors since its 
orLjanization. lie is a direclor in the Third National 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPED/A. 



483 



Bank of rr<^vi(If ncc, a director in tlif P.-i^coa*;; National 
Bank, and a fiirector in the American and the Enterprise 
Fire Insurance companies. In politics he is a Republican, 
and has long been an earnest and practical temperance man, 
having prohibited the use of intoxicating beverages on his 
premises, and provided a commodious and comfortable 
hotel, free of rent, to be kept strictly as a temperance house, 
for the public accommodation in the village. He is a 
member of the Free-Will Baptist Society of I'ascoag, of 
which he was formerly president and is now treasurer. 
He is a liberal supporter of the churches in his town and 
of all good works. Mr. Sayles married, December i, 1S52, 
Fannie J., daughter of David and Harriet P. (Benson) 
Warner, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. They have had four 
chililren, Edgar Franklin, born .\pril 20, lS55,died March 
24, 1S58; Ellen Maria, born November 30, 1S57, and mar- 
ried William A. Jenks, who resides in Warren, Massachu- 
setts, and is one of the copartners in the operation of the 
Warren Mills; Albert Hardin, born March 25, 1S63; and 
Frederick Lincoln, born April 13, 1865. 



^jr".\VLES, C<iLONi-.i. Wii.i.ARD, Altorney-fieneral of 
\ Rhode Island, son of John and Hannah (Cook) 
■g", ' .Sayles, was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, Au- 
'I'^i' gust 30, 1S25. His father was of Franklin, Mas- 
» 9 sachusetts. His grandfather, Daniel Sayles, first 
of Sayles's Hill, Rhode Island, early removed to Franklin, 
where he died. His mother was daughter of Ariel Cook, 
of Mendon. When he was but six years of age he removed 
with his parents to Providence, where he has continued 
to reside. His early education was received at tlie public 
school on Meeting Street, under Elisha Baker, and he pre- 
pared for college in the school of Thomas C. Hartshorn, 
on Westminster Street. In 1840 he entered Brown Uni- 
versity, under Dr. F'rancis Wayland, and graduated in 
1844. During his college course he espoused the cause of 
the State, in the so-called Dorr War, by uniting with a 
military company in the city, called the Carbineers, under 
Colonel James N. Olney, with whom he served for a week 
at Pawtucket, when that place was in great excitement and 
peril. After graduation from the University he entered 
the law office of General Thomas F. Carpenter, where he 
completed a course of legal study in 1846, and in the Sep- 
tember Term of the Supreme Court was admitted to the 
practice of law in Rhode Island. Such was his ability as 
a writer and speaker that he was chosen by the city of 
Providence, in 1852, to deliver the Fourth of luly Oration 
before the authorities and citizens. For a time, near 1S54, 
he was City Solicitor of Providence. At the outbreak of 
the Civil War his patriotism drew him from his peaceful 
pursuits into the great struggle of the nation. In Sej)- 
tember, 1861, he raised, in a single week, three troops of 
cavalry, and was commissioned a Major in the First Bat- 
talion of the First New England Cavalry, afterwards the 



First Rhode Island Cavalry — the first regiment of the kind 
ever raised in New England. <_)n the completion of the 
regiment he was commissioned, February 21, 1862, I.ieu- 
tenmt-CoIonel of the command. In March, 1862, the 
regiment left for Washington, under command of Colonel 
Robert B. Lawton. Colonel Sayles accompanied the ex- 
pedition, March 19-22, beyond the army-front, to recover 
the bodies of .Slocum, Ballon, and Tower from the Bull 
Run battle-field. With his regiment brigaded under Gen- 
eral J. P. Hatch, in the Fifth .^rmy Corps, under General 
N. P. Banks, he served, in April and May, near the Rap- 
pahannock and Bull Run mountains, in scouts, skirmishes, 
reconnoitring, and picket duty. At the close of April, 
when Colonel Lawton retired from the field on account of 
illness, Colonel Sayles came into full command of the 
regiment. He was with Generals Shields and McDowell 
in their forced marches over the Blue Ridge Mountains 
into the .Shenandoah Valley, and as Chief of the Cavalry, 
under General Shields, pressed hard and struck heavily 
the retreating troops of " Stonewall" Jackson, for which 
service he received the thanks of the (General. A portion 
of June was spent in scouting up the valley, on the flank 
and rear of the Confederates. The gallant and successful 
charge of the Second Battalion of the regiment on Front 
Royal, May 30, 1S62, was one of the most brilliant deeds 
of the war. Returning from the valley, depleted of horses 
and exhausted from severe services, the regiment refitted 
on the plains of Manassas. Here, July 7, Colonel Sayles 
resigned his commission. But his love for his perilled 
country would not allow him to remain out of the field. 
Governor J. Y. Smith called him to organize and command 
the Third Regiment of Rhode Island Cavalry, giving to 
him the entire management, even to the selection of the 
officers. His new commission dated July i, 1863. The 
regiment was organized at Mashapaug, near Providence, 
and at Camp Meade, on Couanicut. Tlie command 
moved by ship, in detachments, from Newport, Rhi>de 
Island, to New Orleans, Louisiana., the First Battalion 
moving at the close of 1863, reporting in the field to 
Major-General N. P. Banks, commanding the Depart- 
ment of the Gidf, and was assigned to tlie l-ifth Cavalry 
Brigade, which, crossing the Mississippi, March 3, 1864, 
shared in the marches and actions of the Red River Expe- 
dition. In the battle of Pleasant Hill, April 9, 1864, the 
command behavefl nobly, and afterwards let-l the advance 
from Natchitoches to Cane River, fighting its way. Sub- 
setjuently it endured the enemy's fire on the Steamer Supe- 
rior, and at Alexandria, and in the battles of Marksville 
Plain and Yellow Bayou. Marching over a thousand miles, 
losing .some men and many horses, the regiment finally 
founil headquarters at Napoleonville. From this as a cen- 
tre. Colonel .Sayles directed the i>icket service, scouting 
ami reconnoitring over a vast territory, and, I)ecember 9, 
1864, had command of the Fifth Cavalry Brigade. In 
short, the field of operations for his regiment was nearly 



4S4 



lUOCRAPHICAL C YCL OPED I A. 



the whole of Louisiana. Here, as on the front in Virginia, 
lie manifested \\\-, eliar,icteri-.lic aliilily, energy, efliciency, 
ami ileviiiion to his country. His success in the army will 
appear the inure honoralile when we remeir.her that the 
Cavalry was tlie nv>^t cmiplirale'l arm of the service, and 
of it was required the most constant, severe, and perilous 
duties. While serving in Louisiana he was often on courts- 
mart ial at I'hiliodcauxviHe, Camp I'ar.apet.and New Orleans. 
Lie was mustered out of the service with his regiment 
November 2Q, iStSv Rhode Idand hul no truer soldier 
anil ofhcer in the war. ;\fler the close uf the war, he 
opened a law olrtce in New (Orleans, Louisiana, and re- 
mained in that city one year, hut not enjoying the semi- 
loyal atmosphere, returned at the close of 1S66 to Provi- 
dence, Rhode Inland, where he resumed the practice of 
his profession with his wonted industry and conscientious- 
ness. Llis rank as a lawyer and a citi/en, and the appre- 
ciation of his character and services by the State of Rhode 
Island, were indicated in .\pril, iSi);, by his election to 
the office of .Vltorney-C ieneral of the State, which he now 
holds, and the effectiveness and faithfulness with which he 
has tilled this high position, are shown by the fact that he 
has lieen re-elected to the oflice for fourteen successive 
years. He married, September 23, 1S49, Sarah E. C, 
daughter of Henry Palmer, of Norwich, Connecticut. She 
died in Providence, Rhode Island, Septemlier 29, 1854, 
leaving a daughter, Clara K. Sayles, who, November 26, 
1S77, married Thomas S. Cdailding, now ol .\'ew York. 



kVWIS, LlTcivs I)., journalist, son of Norman and 
Lavina Ltavis, was born in Jerusalem, Vales (bounty, 
?#1 New York, January 21, 1825. L)uring his infancy 
^■h his parents removed to New Lisbon, Otsego County, 
k in the same State, where he spent inost of his early 
years. At the age of fifteen, desiring better educational 
advantages than the district school w hich he was privileged 
to attend afforded, he left home and went to Peattsburgh, 
Steuben County, New Vork, where some of his relatives 
resided, and entered as a student in Franklin .\cademy, 
working morning and evening to jiay his board, which 
through the kindness of his friends he was not obliged to 
pay in full. From this academy he weiit to Lima, New 
York, and entered Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, for the 
purpose of fitting himself for college. While here he paid 
his expenses by overwork, mostly in teaching penmanship 
among his fellow-students; for though since he became an 
editor his manuscript has often been a pu/^'le to compos- 
itors on account of its illegibility, he was cinsidered an 
expert in those days, .\boiit this time Mr. Iiavis united 
with the Methodist I^piscoiial Church, and decided to pre- 
pare for the work of the ministiy. He made ariangements 
to enter Dickinson College, but w as jjcrsuaded by his friends 
to abamlon this purpose and connect himself w itli the Con- 
ference. This concivisii 111 tieing reached, he spent a few 



months in Cilbertsville Academy, and in the summer of 
I.S46, when twenty-one years of age, was received into 
Oneida (Conference, then holding its session at Auburn, 
New ^'otk. In March of that year he married Mary 
A. Heiuiet, who^e father, Elnathan Bennet, then in the 
prime of life, and residing in the suburbs of Buff;ilo, was 
one of the early settlers of that town, and had marked its 
growth from a \illage of not more than five houses to a 
city with a population of nearly one hundred thousand. 
While a member of the Oneida Conference, Mr. Davis oc- 
cupied several of its most prominent pulpits, spending the 
allotted term of a Methodist minister at Hartwick, New 
Hartford, Madison, .Manlius, Cortland, and at two churches 
in the city of L'tica. During these years of his ministry in 
Central New York he wrote frequently for the press, and 
was the author of several books, some of which were pub- 
lished without the author's name. His Life in the Itiiie- 
laitev and Life in tlie Laity were widely circulated, and 
though works of fiction in the ordinary sense of the term, 
exerted a marked influence on ministers and churches, and 
in effecting reforms where most needed. He jniblished, 
also. Creeds of the Chiirehes. The Child in Ilea: en, I/is- 
tiirv i<f MelhflJism in Cortland, and other sketches and 
pamphlets that were well received. At the close of his 
pastorate in Utica, the physicians advised a change to the 
seaboard, on account of the health of his family, and in 
1859 he was transferred to the Providence Conference, and 
stationcil at Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. Thence he 
was placeil in charge of the parish in \Varren, Rhode 
Island, from wdiich he went to the charge of the First 
Church m .\euport. ;\t the close of his three years' ]ias- 
torate here, he a^ked to hive his connection with the 
Conference severed, having spent twenty years in the min- 
istry, and served ten churches. Deciding to remain in 
Newjiort, Mr. Davis, in connection with Rev. M. J. Talbot, 
D.L1., purchased \\k jVi-.i'forl Daily Xeu'S,2inA engaged in 
editorial work. About this time he received the honorary 
degree of Master of .\rts from Wesleyan University. After 
two years Dr. Talbot retired from the firm, and resumed 
pastoral work, and Mr. T. T. Pitman succeeded him in 
the business, which has since lieen carried on under the 
firm name of I >avis & Pitman. The Daily Xe-i'S at that 
time had lint a luiiited circulation, and had not been a linan- 
clal success. liut the number of subscriptions soon began 
to increase, and a steady growth has been made in its pros- 
perity ever since. Lhider the new management the business 
h,as been a success, and its present patrons fully equal one- 
half the number of families in the city, a much larger pro- 
portion than is usually found. In addition to the daily, a 
weekly, the A'eivfort Journal, has been established, w hich 
has also met with favor, especially in the country towns. 
Since his permanent settlement in Newport, Mr. Davis has 
fully identihed himself w ith other interests as well as that 
of publisher and editor. He organized the Cliff Cottage 
Association, ami built the beautiful summer residences on 



BIO GRA PHICA L C } 'fZ OTEDIA . 



4S5 



the cliffs; and later, organized the Conanicut Land Com- 
pany, having previously purchased a large tract of land 
on Conanicut Island. This is now known as Conanicut 
Park, a watering-place of growing reputation, which has 
been from the first under his management. He has also 
purchased and improved other valuable estates in the city 
from time to time, and is emphatically a busy man. He 
has twice been elected to the General Assembly from New- 
port, and been called to other public positions, most of 
wdiich he has declined. Though interested in politics, he 
has had no desire for office, and no time for office-holding. 
He may properly be called an Independent Republican, as 
he will not be kept closely within party lines, and is out- 
spoken in his abhorrence of politicians, who seek merely 
the loaves and fishes as the chief end of their so-called 
patriotic action. Since his retirement from the regular 
work of the ministry he has kept up his interest in the 
church of his early choice, having served as Sunday-school 
superintendent, President of the Young Men's Christian 
Association, and in other positions assigned him. In 1876 
he was chosen lay delegate to the General Conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, heUi in Baltimore, which 
was in session four weeks. The Church sends to this quad- 
rennial body only one lay delegate to about ten thousand 
members. During the past few years Mr. Davis has given 
considerable attention to agriculture and stock-raising, for 
which he has great enthusia.sm. His valuable tract of land 
near Newport, known as " Conanicut Park Farm," claims 
all the spare time which his city business will allow. He 
has just issued a book, entitled Imprm-im; the Farm, in 
which he tells how he has succeeded in making a poor farm 
into a good one ; and has also been a frequent contributor to 
agricultural papers. Mr. Davis has had four children, one 
of whom died in infancy. He has three daughters living, 
the eldest of whom, Mrs. Pitman, is well known as *' Mar- 
gery Deane," her nom de plume in the new.spapers and mag- 
azines, and as one of the translators of Wonderland, a 
work published by the Putnams of New York, which has 
met with much favor. 



S^LOCUM, Colonel John S., was born in Richmond, 
Rhode Island, November I, 1824, and early in life 
removed with his family to Bristol, where he ac- 

■ quired the rudiments of an education, which he com- 

■ pleted at the Fruit Hill and Marlborough Classical 
Schools, and at a commercial school at Hartford, Connec- 
ticut. The fondness for military pursuits was developed 
in him in his youthful days, and when war was declared 
against Mexico he offered his services to the Government, 
asking that he might have a commission in the army which 
was to be raised for the prosecution of the war. When less 
than twenty-three years of age he was appointed First 
Lieutenant in one of the ten regiments which were raised 
in accordance with an Act of Congress passed February 



II, 1847. The newly raised regiment joined the army 
of General .Scott, and was in the battles which were fought 
under that gallant officer, in which the American arms 
were everywhere victorious. Lieutenant Slocum, as a re- 
ward of his bravery, obtained the brevet rank of Captain, 
and for gallant conduct at Chapultepec he secured a com- 
mission .as Captain. The victories of the Americans forced 
the routed Mexicans to make peace. The regiment with 
wdiich Captain .Slocum had been connected was disbanded, 
and he returned to Rhode Island, where, as an officer of 
the army, he was detailed to the recruiting service. Sub- 
sequently he took command of the Mechanic Rifles. He 
was one of the Examining Board at West Point in 1S60, 
and made the report of the visitors. When the Civil War 
commenced a Major's commission was tendered to him by 
the Governor of the State, which he at once accepted, and 
took his appointed place in the First Rhode Island Regi- 
ment, and with it, on the 20th of April, the day after the 
attack by the Baltimore mob on the Massachusetts Sixth, 
he was on his way to Washington to protect the threatened 
capital of the country. When President Lincoln made his 
first call for troops to serve three years or during the war, 
a second regiment was raised in Rhode Island, of which 
Major Slocum was made the Colonel. In the equipment 
of this regiment the deepest interest was taken by the 
community. The firm of .\. & W. Sprague presented it 
with a thousand india-rubber blankets, and the citizens of 
Lonsdale were profuse in their gifts to the hospital depart- 
ment. Through Colonel Jabez C. Knight the ladies of 
Providence presented to it an elegant stand of colors. 
Impressive services were performed in Exchange Place, in 
Providence, on the eve of the departure of the regiment 
for Washington. Right Rev. Thomas M. Clark, Bishop 
of the Episcopal Church in Rhode Island, addressed the 
soldiers in a speech of earnest, stirring words, antl besought 
for them the blessing and protection of Almighty God. 
On reaching the place of their destination they encamped 
in Gales's woods, in the vicinity of Camp Sprague. On 
the 15th of July, Colonel Slocum broke camp and proceeded 
to Fairfax Court-house. At the Battle of Bull Run, Sun- 
day, July 21, the Second Rhode Island Regiment opened 
the fight, the Colonel bravely leading his troops through 
the woods to the open ground. General Evans met the 
advance of the attacking regiment, which under the lead- 
ership of Colonel Slocum charged bravely upon the foe. 
In one of the charges he received a shot by which he was 
mortally wounded. Colonel Burnside in his official report 
makes this honorable mention of his deceased friend and 
fellow-officer: "The death of Colonel Slocum is a loss, 
not alone to his own State, which mourns the death of a 
most gallant anti meritorious officer, who would have done 
credit to the service, while his prominent abilities as a sol- 
dier would have raised him high in the public estimation. 
He h.id served with me as Major of the First Regiment 
of Rhofle Kland Volunteers, and when he was transferred 



4S6 



mOCRAPHICAL CYCL OP ED I A. 



lo a more respon>-ible po^ition, T was glad lliat liis services 
had been thus secured for the beiielit of his country." 



j'.VXIiOI.PII.Ri v.\V\KKr,N,l ).])., Tastur of the Cen- 
l^^j^'l tral Bajitist Church, Newport, was liorn in i'iseala- 
%-i\.' way, Mi(Ullesex County, New Jersey, .March 511, 
'^f^f 1826. His parents were Lewis ,S. and Hannah (Gil- 
J J man) Ranvlolph. I le i^ a hnea! descendant of Edward 
Randolph, who came from England in the early hi^toi-y of 
the Plymouth Colony, and was afterwartl Collector and 
Surveyor of Customs, and also Secretary and Registrar for 
all the Colonics of New Euglaml. Lewis S. Randolph, 
father of the subject of this sketch, was a man of much in- 
telligence, often honored with ofllces of public trust, and 
served for several terms as a meudtei' of the Legislature of 
New Jersey. lie died suddeidy, at Chicago, in 1S56, leav- 
ing one daughter and five sons, the three youngest of w horn 
servetl in the Union Army during the late war. <_'iiarles, 
the second son, has lieen for se\eral years and is now sec- 
retary of the Chicago Hoard of Trade, and w.is une of the 
original members c)f the N.ition.il Ilnaid of Trade, of w Inch 
for three years he was secretar)'. XN'arreii, the eldest son, 
received his academic education at the I'eith .\mbiiv Sem- 
inary, in New Jersey, under the insiructiiui of Messrs. S. 
S. and G. Woodbriilge, after which he graduated at Crown 
Lhiiversity in 1851, in one of the last classes taught by the 
late Dr. Francis Waylainl. In the siumncr uf the same 
year Mr. Randolph was nnlained a liaptist minister, at 
Pawtucket, Rho<le Hand, and sulisei|uently Ijecame pastor 
of Baptist churches in l'ru\idcnce, ilustmi, and Philadelphia, 
unld 1N70, when |)arlial failure of health compelled him to 
stisjjcin-l acti\*e labor. He then went abroad and spent 
nearly a year in Europe, I'.gypt. and the IIol\- Land, re- 
turning to this country in the aulumn of 1S71, and soon 
after became Sundayschocd Secretar)' of the .Vnieiican 
Baptist Publication Society, located in Philadelphia. In 
discharging the duties of this oftlce Mr. Kanilol|ih travelled 
from New England to K.uisas, and from Minne^i>ta to 
I-'lorida. In the live and a half years thus engaged he went 
frec^uently through the South and West. Under his di- 
rection chiefly the Second Naiional Paptist Sunday-school 
Convention was held in (_incinnali, in l.Syj. He also in- 
duced the ."Vmerican llaptisi Publication Society to undertake 
Sunday-school mi-.sH III w oik ainoiig the I'recdinen, person- 
ally selecting the first missionaries, and going with them to 
give counsel and assistance in their work. In 1S77 he re- 
turned to the pastorate, setllingtheii in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
Preferring New England to the West he returned to Rhode 
Island, in 1S79, and waschosi-n jiastor of the Cenlial IJaptist 
Church of New]iort. In 1S59 he received the honorary 
degree of M.isier of .\rts from Madison Lniversiiy, at 
Hamilton, New York; ami in 1.S04 the degree of I)oct(U 
of Divinity bom (/oluinbi.in (.'oUege ( now Colunibi.iii Cni- 
versityl, in W.i^liinglon, 1 Ji^liii t of ( dlunibia. In iS72he 



was elected a member of the First International Bible 
Lesson Ctnnmittee, and was chosen its secretary. At the 
end of seven years this committee's term expired by liniiia- 
tion. .\ second committee was then chosen for the ensuing 
se\en \e.irs, of which he was made a member, and is also 
its secretary. Its members select the Bible lessons chiefly 
u-.ed by the Sniiday-schools of this country, and by many 
in other ]>arls of the world, the entire number using them 
being estiinateil at eight millions. In 1851 Mr. Randolph 
married M.iK iiia I )unn, daughter of Alexander Dunn, Esq., 
of Middlesex <_'ouiily. New Jersey. They have one sou 
and OIK daughter, Fletcher Randolph anil Belle M. Ran- 
dolph, the loiiner being a member of the extensive printing 
anil publishing house of Baker & Randolph, Indianapolis, 
Indiana. 



^^^pi;)OI)P>URV, Ri-;v. AtinusTUS, son of Stephen and 
3V3ME Betsy (Ray) Woodbury, was born, Decemlier 4, 
'V:*^'; '=1?' 'S25, in Beverly, Massachusetts. His ancestors 
'|( u were among the earliest settlers of that place. He 
i° prepaid for the Sophomore class of Harvard Uni- 

versity at l'liilli|is's Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hamp- 
shire, and entered the Divinity School, Harvard University, 
in 1S4O, from which he graduated in 1S49. He was or- 
dained ]iastor of the Unitarian Church in C'Uicord, New 
Hampshire, August i, 1S49, and resigned that position 
August I, iS^j. He was installed pastor of Lee Street 
Church, in Lowell, Massachusetts, September 4, 1853, 
where he continued until March 29, 1S57, having resigned 
in lanuary to acce]it the [lastorate of the We-tminster So- 
ciety, Providence, into which he was installed .\pril 2, 
1S57, and which he still holds. Mr. Woodbury received 
the honcuary degree of .-V.M. from Harvard University in 
I.SOO. He has published: Plain WorJs to W'tiiii^ M.ii 
(Concord, N. 11., 1858, two editions); /'//<' i\unpaii;)i of 
Ihe J-'iiit KhoJo hUind Koi^iiiicut (Providence, 1802); 
M,:jo!-Geiitriil A. I-'.. Piini^iJe and the NinlJi Army 
Coifs ( Providence, 1807 | ; 77/c SoooiiJ Phocie Island PtX'- 
monl ( Providence, 1875). He has also published sermons: 
;/'<■ oi<:^}il to ol'ov Cod rat hor than Man ; P<lp\':ous Giowlli: 
Old A^o; Who air PvanxelioaU Slarory, Pail and J'rrs- 
ont ; Sol/'-Ciil/iiro : J/oaiiin; Cod's ll'oid; Conraxr: The 
Son of Cod Calloth Ihr P)cad to Life; Al'iaham Lln.oln ; 
'Plu- Piosidont and Con'^icss ; Ton Yoais at Home: J'oy- 
sonal Posfonsiliility ; Sciinon ho fore the Ancient and Hon- 
orable Artillerv of Boston, 1S69; The A/oral Law of 
Trnst! ; As foots and Prosfeets of Peligioiis Truth ; also 
oral ions: i'harailor and Influenoe of Ameriian Cix'iliza- 
tion. at Lowell, |iily 4, 1855; The Preservation of the Re- 
fiiblicM Proxidence. July 4, 1S62; A Citizen Soldiery the 
True Dofenoe of the Rofnhlie. before the First Light In- 
fantrv Wteran Associ.uioii, Providence, May II, 1871; 
//;,■ />odioalion of the Soldiers' and Sailors' iVoiuiiiient, 
at Providence, Sei.tember 16, 1S71 ; Before the Ninth Army 
Corps Atsotia/ion, M.iy 15, 1873; 3'''° addresses: Before 





// / -/ 



BIOGRAPHICAL C VCL OPED I A. 



487 



tht- P/todc hltind Griin<i Lodge- of Free and Accepted .Ma- 
sons, upon dift'erent occasions; Be/ore the Graduating 
Class of Xorth Granz'ille Seminary, 1857 ; American Life 
and Liberal Christianity; The Execution of yohn Brown ; 
Dedicatory Address, State Normal School, Proviilence, Jan- 
uary 23, 1S79 ; *'^o [lamphlets and reports : 7'he Camp and 
Eield ; Halleck and Biirnside ; The Penitentiary System 
of Rhode Island ; The Causes of Crime ; An Historical 
Shetch of the Prisons and jtails of Rhode Island, and 
others. He contributed largely to Bartlett's Rhode Island 
Oncers, and has also contributed to The Xorth American 
RevieiL', Christian Examiner, Monthly Religious Jilaga- 
zine, and .Ve-v Englander. Mr. Woodbury served three 
months, from April to August, 1861, as Chaplain of the 
First Rhode Island Detached Militia. He was a member 
of the House of Representatives, General .'\ssembly of 
Rhode Island, 1863-64, and again 1874-75. He was 
Chairman of the Inspectors of the Rhode Island State 
Prison, 1S66-77, and was one of the Commissioners for 
building the new State Prison, 1874-79. He was Chap- 
Iain, Department of Rhode Island, Grand Army of the 
Republic, 1872-74, and Chaplain-in-Chief of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, 1873-75. He was a director of 
the Providence Athenctum for si.xteen years from 1859, and 
has been for ten years vice-president, and for three years 
treasurer of the Providence Charitable Fuel Society, which 
offices he siill holds. He was married to Rebecca Bryant 
English, of Beverly, Massachusetts, April 8, 1S50. Of the 
marriage there has been no issue. 



f|0\V.\RD, IIc.n. Henry, ex-Governor of Rhode 
l| Island, was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, April 
2, 1826. His father, Jesse Howard, for many 
^> years a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, was 
••• for a quarter of a century treasurer of the People's 
Savings Bank in Providence, and one of the most influential 
public men in the State. Governor Howard was educated 
mainly at the academies of Fruit Hill, .Seekonk, and Smith- 
ville, but finished his education at the University Grammar 
School in Providence, where he prepared for college. His 
health becoming seriously impaired, he was obliged to 
abandon study and enter upon the more active duties of 
mercantile life. Recovering his health, he entered the law 
office of ex-Governor William W. Hoppin, and upon being 
admitted to the bar, followed the practice of the law in 
conjunction with Governor Hoppin, and then with the late 
Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes and Hon. Jerome B. Kimball 
until he returned to mercantile life, in 1858. Since that 
time he has been engaged mainly in managing the business 
of the Harris Manufacturing Company, of which he has 
been president for many years. He was elected a Repre- 
sentative to the General Assembly from his adopted town, 
Coventry, in 1857, and again in 1858, but resigned during 
that year. He was a delegate to the National Republican 



Conventions of 1S56 and 1S76, and was chosen a Presi- 
dential Elector in 1S72. He was elected Governor of the 
.State in 1873, on the Republican ticket, by a very large 
majority of the votes cast, re-elected without any opposing 
nomination the next year, but declined a nomination the 
ensuing year. He filled the executive chair with marked 
ability. He was designated by the President of the United 
States as one of the Assistant Commissioners to the indus- 
trial Exposition at Paris, in 1878, and made an extended 
and detailed report to the Government of the exhibit of 
textiles from all countries. He is one of the directors of 
the National Bank of North America. Governor Howard 
is not only an eminent manufacturer, but a man of fine in- 
tellectual attainments, and has superior talent as a writer 
and lecturer. He has published numerous letters of travel, 
and has been a frequent contributor to the columns of the 
Providence journal and other newspapers, both of prose 
articles and poetry. He has also displayed considerable 
ingenuity in the application of physics to manufactures. 
He was married, September 30, 1 85 1, to Catherine G. Har- 
ris, of Coventry, Rhode Island, daughter of the late Gov- 
ernor Elisha Harris. His children are : Jessie H., married 
to Edward C. Bucklin, treasurer of the Harris Manufac- 
turing Company ; I-Uisha H., local agent of the mills of the 
Harris Manufacturing Company; and Charles T., a recent 
graduate of Brown University. 



plj^i^NIGHT, Robert, manufacturer, son of .Stephen 
gJ|Stg and Welthan (Brayton) Knight, was born in Old 
,'",&; Warwick, Rhode Island, January 8, 1826. His 
''-.'3> parents had nine children, Sophia Amelia, Benjamin 
fei*2j Brayton, Jeremiah, Mary Briggs, Anna, Robert and 
Elizabeth (twins), Stephen Albert, and Dexter Newton, 
all of whom are living, except Anna and Elizabeth, the 
death of the former having occurred June 16, 187S, and 
that of the latter November 19, 1S6S. During Robert's 
childhood the family removed to Cranston, and at eight 
years of age he commenced work in tlie Cranston Print 
Works, where he remained two years, and then became 
an employe in the cotton mill in Coventry, owned and 
operated by Elisha Harris, afterward Governor of Rhode 
Island. He was employed in this mill until his seven- 
teenth year, part of the time working fourteen hours a day, 
for one dollar and twenty-five cents a week. Early in 
1843 he went to Providence, and for two years thereafter 
served as clerk in the store of his brother Benjamin. Sub- 
sequently, through the aid of a friend, he spent eighteen 
months at the Pawcatuck Academy, at Westerly, Rhode 
Island. For the next four months he taught a district 
school in Exeter, Rhode Island. In 1846 he accepted a 
position as clerk in the factory store of John H. Clark, at 
Arnold's Bridge (now Pontiac), Warwick. Upon the elec- 
tion of Mr. Clark to the United States Senate, the cotton 
mill and bleachery were leased to Zachariah Parker and 



4SS 



BIO CA\! PllICA L OCI. OPF.DIA . 



Mr. Kiii;^!it for t'lve llioiisAnil dcilhrrs a VL-ar, ami on the 4th 
of Oclolier, 1S50, I'arkur \- Kniylit ihucIusl-iI iIil- \vliule 
property from Mr. CKirk for forty thoiisaml doll.irs. The 
next year Mr. Kniylit boui^lit his iiarliier's interest. When 
he came into ]H)^se^^ion of llie property he gave to the vil- 
lage its present name of Tontiac. In h'ebrnary, 1S52, he 
sold one-half of his pro|)erly and business to his brother 
Benjamin B., at the same lime jnirchasing one-half of the 
flour and gr.iin business of the latter in Providence, the 
(iim then taking the name of I!. 15. ..S; R. Knight. They 
have since rapidly increased in wealth and intluence. and 
now rank anii.uig the largest nianiifai turers in New Eng- 
land. They personally supervise their immense business 
interests, having their general headquarters in Providence. 
Together \\ ith their brother .Stephen A. Knight, who owns 
one-quarter of the stock, they organized the Hebron Man- 
ufacturing Companv, v\hich owns ami operates the mills 
at Helironville and Dodgeville, Massachusetts, and the 
Grant Mdl at Pio\idence. They also own the l>leachery 
and cotton mill at Ponliac, the White Rock Mill at West- 
eily, Rhode Island, the iiskeville Mill :it .Scituate, Rhode 
Island, and the mill at Rtadville, Massachusetts, while 
they own the controlling interest in the Manchaug Mills 
at .Sutton, Massachusetts, and the Clinton Mill at Woon- 
soeket, Rhitde Island. The aggregate capacity of these 
nine mills is 189,400 spindles, and among their protlucts 
is the celebrated brand of clolli known as the " Fruit of 
the Loom," of wliit.li o\er linily million \ards are manu- 
factured annually. Their bleai- liery at Pontiac has a ca- 
pacity of liiiishing twenty tons of cloth per day. In Inly, 
1S5J, the firm Ijought the null |iropeity at IIebron\ ille, 
Massachusetts. This mill was socjii aUeiward struck by 
lightning and burned. A substantial brick mill was imme- 
<liately erected, which was put in o]ieration July i, 1S54. 
At first its cai'acity was 5000 spindles, wdiich has since been 
increased to 21,000. In the same year they |iurchased the 
mill property at iJodgeville, Massachusetts. The original 
factory was estal)lished in 1S09, and known as the Altle- 
boro Manufacturing Company. They have since rebuilt 
the mill ami increased its cajiacity to 2j;,ooo spimlles. In 
1S58 they enlarged then bleachcry at I'oniiac, and in iSoj 
the stone mill built in I.S32 w.is taken dow n, ami in its 
place was erected a brick mill, with a capacity of JI.ooo 
spindles. In 1S66 they also built at Pontiac a large brick 
building, the three lower stories being devoted to the fac- 
tory store, and the upper story containing a spacious hall 
for religious and social meetings. The Heliron Mill has 
21,000 spindles, the Dodgeville Mill 2 5,000, and the tyrant 
Mill has a capacity of 9000 spindles, the .Manchaug Mill, 
in wdiich they own the controlling interest, 47,000 spindles, 
the White Rock .Mill 27,400, the Clinton Mdl 20,000 spin- 
dles, the mill .at Fiskeville 4000, anri the mill at Readville 
17,000 spindles. A di.t.iiled account of the m.iiiiifaciuring 
interests of Messrs. IS. li. & R. Knight was pulilished in a 
woik entitled K,piLse>itali~'e Manitf.uluieis ,'f Xfiv Eng- 



land, to which we are indebted for most of the facts con- 
tained in this sketch. Mr. Knight has never held any 
]»ul.ilie oltice, but h.is devoted his time entirely to his busi- 
ness. He has been connected ofhcially with several bank- 
ing institutions and insurance companies. Since January 
I, 1867, he has been a director in the National Bank of 
Commerce of Providence, and was an incorporator of the 
People's Savings Bank, October 7, 1S74, at which time he 
was elected a director, and served until October 4, 1876, 
when he was elected vice-president of that institution, 
which office he has continuetl to hold until the present 
time, having also been a member of the Standing Com- 
mittee since January 17, 1S76. He has been a director in 
three insurance companies. He married, March 5, 1S49, 
Josephine Louisa Webster, daughter of Royal A. and Han- 
nah C. (Parker) Webster, of Providence. They have h.ad 
nine children, Josephine E., Robert, deceased, Webster, 
Franklin, deceased, Clinton Prescott, Harriet, deceased, 
Sophia, Edith, and Royal, deceased. 



^W5®IRCI'", IlnN. Wii.i.i.VM Almy, son of Hon. Benjamin 
JSK^ and Abigail (Johnson) Pirce, was born at Hojie, 
s^"^" Scituate, Rhode Island, February 29, 1824. His 
'T father was originally a farmer; finally became the 
J" owner of a cotton null at Simmon's Upper Village, 
Johnston, Rhode Island; and after holding various public 
offices, represented the' town of Johnston in the General 
Assembly for several years jirior to his death, wdiich oc- 
curred Feiuuary 13, 1868. William A. began life on a 
farm, and afterward engaged in the manufacture of cotton 
gooils. He was educated in the pulilic schools and at 
Smithville Seminary (now I.apliam Institute), North .Scit- 
uate, Rhoile Island, and was for several terms a teacher 
in the district schools. For ten years he had charge of 
the store and counting-room of the company of which his 
father was a memlier, at Simmon's Upper ViU.age, and in 
1S54 commenceil business at that p'lace on his own account 
as a manufacturer of cotton giiods, in which he continued 
successfully until lS6j. In 1855 he was chosen to repre- 
sent the town of lohnsion In the State Senate, and in 1S58 
and 1S62 he was elected a memberof the House of Repre- 
sentatives. During the latter year he resigned his position 
as Representative to accept the appointment of Assessor of 
Internal Revenue for the Second District of Rhode Island, 
which olfice he held until it was abolished in May, 1S73. 
In 1879, iSSo, and 1881 he was again elected to the House 
of Representatives ; served as chairman of the Committee 
on Charities and Corrections, and was a member of the 
Joint Commltlee on Rules and Order. He w.as chairman 
of the Rhode Island delegation to the Republican National 
Convention at Chicago in June, 18S0, and is a member of 
the Re]iulilican Naiional Commiltee. In 1S63 he was ap- 
pointed Paymaster, with the rank of M.rjor, on the staff of 
Major-Geiieial Gould, commanding the St.ate Militia. He 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



489 



has served as Justice of the Peace and Assessor of Taxes, 
and held other offices in Johnston. On the ist of January, 
1S65, he married Asenath S., daugliter of James and Abi- 
gail (Cohvell) Aldrich, of Scituate, Rhode Island. They 
have four children: Mary Elizabeth C, William B., James 
A., and ."Vbby A. Major Pirce is a successful manager in 
party politics and an effective campaign speaker. In the 
Second Congressional District Convention for the nomina- 
tion of Representative to Congress, in October, 1880, he 
held a plurality of the votes until the sixty-eighth ballot, 
when he withdrew his name and nomin.ated the successful 
candidate. 

sMITH, CoLO.VEi. George Henry, Superintendent 
of the North Metropolitan Tramway Company, 
M ' London, England, was born in Marlborough, Mas- 
sachusetts, October 24, 1824. His parents were 
Gaius \V. and Lucy (Walkup) Smith. His child- 
hood and youth were spent in the town of his birth, where 
he enjoyed good opportunities for education, attending the 
public schools, and also an academy. His father, who was 
a harness-maker by trade, having moved to the neighboring 
town of Charlestown, young Smith finished his education 
in the excellent public schools of that place. At the early 
age of fourteen he engaged in farming in the adjoining 
town of Maiden, continuing in this healthful employ- 
ment until his manhood, when he took charge of the 
freight department of the Boston and Maine Railroad. 
Here his remarkable executive ability and tact were de- 
veloped, and speedily attracted attention. At the end 
of a year he was sent for by a well-known gentleman of 
Attleborough to take the entire charge of his farms and 
business. Here he became acquainted with Cynthia 
Amanda Capron, whom he married on the 14th of De- 
cember, 185 1. She was the daughter of Jacob and Deb- 
orah Capron, and a lineal descendant of Governor Carter, 
who came over in the Mayflower. At the age of twenty- 
three he was employed by A. S. Matthews, Esq., then 
Chief Engineer of the Stonington Railroad, to assist him in 
the construction of a branch of the road, five miles in length, 
to its present terminus in Providence. The work was com- 
menced in the fall of 1847, and completed in the summer 
of 1848. On the 28th of January, 1849, he embarked at 
Warren, Rhode Island, in the ship Hopewell, for Califor- 
nia, where he remained several years. In the summer of 
1852 he established the Lawton Express, so-called, to New 
London, Connecticut, on the Stonington Road, which ex- 
press he run until 1853, when he was appointed conductor 
on the road, running the steamboat train. He continued 
as Conductor eleven years, during which time he opened, 
and for a period run, the Shore Line Express. In the fall 
of 1864 he was appointed to superintend the constniction 
and running of the Union Horse Railroad Company in 
Providence. This enterprise he managed with his usual 
tact and success eight years, or until 1S72, when he was 
62 



appointed manager of the North Metropolitan Tramway 
Company, London, England. This extensive corporation, 
with a capital of five millions, was opened in May, 1S70. 
From small beginnings they have increased, under the 
efficient management of Colonel Smith, until the annual 
transit of passengers amounts to thirty-five millions, paying 
dividends to the fortunate capitalists of from five to ten per 
cent. While superintendent of the Union Horse Railroad 
Company he was actively engaged in other enterprises. He 
was secretary of the Narragansett Park Association, and 
had the entire management of affairs, from the opening of 
the Park, in the summer of 1867, until he left Providence 
for London. He was also secretary and treasurer of the 
National Trotting Association, which was organized in the 
spring of 1870. Mr. .Smith's military experience com- 
menced about the year 1854, when he became a member of 
the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery. From a private 
he passed through all the successive grades of promotion, 
having been paym.ister, quartermaster, lieutenant, cap- 
tain, major, until he attained the position of colonel com- 
manding. During the War of the Rebellion he rendered 
most efficient and important service, being the first man 
called upon in fitting out the first battery from Rhode 
Island. Ten batteries in succession were fitted out under 
his directions and sent to the front, every battery carrying 
the impress of his energy and patriotism. For his services 
in securing volunteers and equipping them for duty, he was 
early rewarded with a special appointment as lieutenant- 
colonel by his Excellency, Governor William Sprague. 
At a complimentary dinner given him .September 4, 18S0, 
by the Veteran Association of the Artillery, he being on a 
visit from London, all these facts were proudly recounted 
by the several speakers at the banquet, as reflecting honor 
not only on the association and the Slate, but on the whole 
country. Colonel Smith has been an active and useful 
member of the Masonic Fraternity. In January, 1849, ^^ 
joined the Asylum Lodge in Stonington. He joined the 
Providence Royal Arch Chapter in 1857, and the St. John's 
Commandery of Knights Templar. He was also a charter 
member of Calvary Commandery. He has four children, 
viz., Charles Bates, Carrie Lee, Mary Carver, and William 
Sprague. Charles, the eldest, who is associated with his 
father in business, married, December 12, 1878, Mary Ada 
Lane, daughter of George Lane, of Nottingham, England. 



?y!l£'ECK, LiEUTE.N.^NT WiLLl.\M Ed\v.\ri), was born 
October 13, 1821, in Wrentham, Massachusetts, 
where he spent his boyhood. His parents were 
I 1 I William and Sarah (Arnold) Peck. He attended 
\ A \ school in his native town, and subsequently pur- 
sued his studies at Scituate, Rhode Island ; then for some 
time engaged in teaching in different places, and was prin- 
cijjal of the High .School of Franklin, Massachusetts. In 
1S47 he commenced the study of law in the office of Rich- 



49° 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



aril W. Gn.-i.iU', (if rroviili-ncc. late jiuli;e <if tlie Supreme 
Coun of IsliMiK- Kl.iml. He was ailmiltecl lu the liar in 
1S50, anil entereil upon the praetiee of liis pinfL-ssiiin in 
Providence, in ennipanv w itli 1 linnia^ ( '. lireene. In 1S52 
he was elected a KepreM-ntati\e fiuni rr«i\idence to the 
General Assemiily, and s(.j\ed a^ erne of the judges of the 
Court of Maiji^tr.itei. In 1855 he removed with his fam- 
ily to East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Imt continued his 
office business in Providence. In 1857 he was elected 
Senator from Greenwich. He continued his professional 
duties there and in Proviilence until the Civd War, in 
which he took a deep interest, not onl\' in raising; soldiers 
and means for protecting; his country, lint also by his own 
enlistment in the Rhode Island Cavalry, where he was 
commissioned lirst lieutenant. While connected with 
his regiment in Louisiana he was apjiointed Judge .Advo- 
cate, and ofticiateil as such at Thiii'Hleau.v, where he was 
taken ill, and after going to Xapoleonville, ilied there Au- 
gust 13, 1S65. Mis remains were placed in a metallic 
coffin and buried with military honors. Lieutenant Peck 
will long lie leinembered IVir his jiatriotism. He was mar- 
ried, June 2S, 1S53, to Harriet A. Xewell, daughter of 
Nelsf.m and .'Vmanda (.-Vrnoldl Newell, of P^ranklin. Massa- 
chusetts. Their children are Hattie A. and \\'illiam E. 
It is worthy of note as an iiulex of longe\ity, that Lieuten- 
ant Peck's eldest sister, Mary Ann, had at one time two 
grandmothers, four great-grandmiithers, and one great- 
great-grandniother, making seven generations then li\ing. 




',,lC.\BE, Vkrv RI' v. M., was born in the county 
^ of Leitrini, Ireland, Septenil.ier 12, iSj6. .\fter 
W a prepar.Uory educatiiin in the public and clas- 
sical schools m the neighliorliood .if his native 
]ilace, he came to this country in 1851, and finish- 
ed his ecclesiastical education in .St, Mary's Seminary, 
Baltimore, Maryland. He was ordained to the holy or- 
der of priesthood June II, 1854, by the Rt. Rev. Bernard 
O'Reilly, second Bishop of the Diocese of Haitford, who 
was lost in the unfortunate steamer Pacific, in lSi;6. After 
his ordination he was assistant at the Cathedral till Feb- 
ruary 2S, 1S55, when he was ajipointeil ]iastor of St. 
Charles Church, Woonsocket. The death of Rev. Patrick 
Lamb left a vacancy in St. Patrick's Church, Provi- 
dence, wdiich was tilled by the transfer of the subject 
of this sketch. He remained in Providence till Febru- 
ary 2, 1869, when, owing to financial troubles caused 
by building the new church in Woonsocket, for the 
erection of which he had collected ten thousand dollars 
before going to Providence, the Bishop rciiuested him to 
return to Woonsocket. Here he remains at this date, pas- 
tor of .St. Charles Church, ,it which there is an attendance 
of about 3500. The school at the church was built in 
1S59, and the school on River Street in 1S7S. The church 
was deilicated in 1S70. m which year the Sisters of Mercy 



came to Woonsocket. The church .and the schools named 
were built up liy his enterjirise and supervision. 



E.\liR.\\'I% (.;i;i>R(:e Augi-stus, manufacturer, son 
sJ^i.gB of Josiah and Lois (Taft) Seagrave, was born in 
^fi" Uxbridge, Massachusetts, January 6, 1823, and is 
f'lfj» the youngest of a family of twelve children. His 
*¥ father was a well-known farmer in moderate circum- 
stances. We learn I'rom a genealogical record being pre- 
pared by Daniel Seagrave, Esq., of Worcester, Massachu- 
setts, that the family probably came to this country from 
Leicestershire, England, where the Christian names, to a 
great extent, are synonymous with those of the families in 
New England. The family name in English history is 
variously spelled Segrave, Seagrove, and .Seagrave. The 
great ancestor in New England w.as John Seagrave, who 
left England for .\merica between 1725 and 1730, and died 
on the passage; so says tradition. His widow and fiuir 
children landed in Bo-ton. His sons Edward and John 
removed to Uxbridge, Massachusetts, when ijuite young, 
and there became thrifty farmers and respected citizens. 
Thither their mother removed in 1774, where she died in 
17811. The daughters remained in Boston, where one of 
them was married. Edward was first lieutenant of the 
Company of minute-men, who inarched from Uxbridge for 
Lexington on the morning of April 19, 1775, and was sub- 
seijuently taptaiii in the l.'ontinental army, and for his l.irav- 
ery and self possession at the battle of White Plains was 
tendered a colonel's commission, which he declined. He 
is also mentioned as a [nivate in ijiie of the companies 
which M.lullteered to put down the Shays Rebellion. John 
enlisted in the French and Indian war and died during his 
term of ser\ ice. I'dward's son pisialiwas the father of 
fieorge AugiiMus. the sulijcct of this sketch. George .A. 
was em)iloyed on his father's farm until the age of fifteen, 
and attended the district school during the winters. In 
1S3S he went to Piovidence, where he served as clerk in 
the wholesale grocery house of J. T. Seagrave & Co. until 
1842, except a few inonihs spent in Uxbridge, where he 
attended a pri\ate school during that time, his brother 
being one of his employers. In the year last mentioned 
he and James S. Phetteplace purchased the stock and trade 
of his employers, and leasing a building on Market Street, 
Providence, cairied on the business successfully until 1872. 
In 1S50 Mr. Seagrave became interested in the woollen 
manufacturing business carried on by J. T. Seagrave & Co. 
at Graniteville, BurriUville, Rhode Island, to the iiianage- 
inent of which he began to devote most of his time about 
18,6, the grocery business being conducted by Mr. Phette- 
place. In 18115, in company with James S. Phetteplace 
and I L. Pierce, he purchased the Falcs & Jenks cotton 
mill and machine-shop, on the Blaekstone River, at (.'en- 
tral Falls, Rhode Island, which they let until 1S69, and in 
the spiing of that year built a new mill and made other 





^-f^' 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



491 



general improvements about the place. In 1870 their 
lease at Granileville expired, and they started the new mill 
at Central Falls, making doeskin and fancy cassimeres. The 
corporation is now known as tlie Central Falls Woollen 
Mill, Mr. Seagrave being the treasurer, and having the 
general management of the business. Mr. Seagrave was 
one of the originators of the Continental Bank of Provi- 
dence, which finally became the Fourth National Bank, of 
which he has been a director most of the time during its 
existence. On the 4th of .September, 1S54, he was chosen a 
director in the Weybosset Bank, and has been president of 
the same since May 18, 1867. He has been a director in the 
Northern Bank of Providence since April, 1S79, and is also 
a director in the American Mutual Insurance Company, 
and in the Wliat Cheer Mutual Insurance Company, of 
Providence. He is a member of the First Congregational 
(Unitarian) Society, and takes an interest in all benevolent 
work. He married, June 24, 1856, Mary Greene, daughter 
of Duty and Ruth (Owen) Evans, of Providence. They 
have had seven children, two of whom, named Cieorge A., 
died in infancy. The names of the others are Frank Ev- 
ans, Lincoln Taft, Clifford Phetteplace, Mary Lois, and 
Carrie Foster. 



|SM|K5.VTERM.\X, Hon. Stephen, son of Stephen and 
ajMrnS Eliza (Aldrich) Waterman, was born in Provi- 
''efe^' clsnce, December 13, 1826. lie prepared for 
\fi college at the University Grammar School, and 
«L graduated at Brown University in the class of 1846. 

Among his classmates were Hon. S. S. Cox, M.C., Judge 
Thomas Durfee, William and T. P. I. Goddard, and Hon. 
Francis Wayland. Soon after he graduated he embarked 
in business pursuits, for which he had eminent qualifica- 
tions and in which he achieved success. In due time he 
came to be recognized as a man of marked ability in the 
community. His fellow-citizens sliowed their appreciation 
of his character by choosing Iiim as their representative in 
each branch of the municipal government. For four con- 
secutive years he occupied the chair of the President of 
the Common Council. He was chosen also to represent 
his native city in the General Assembly, of which he was 
a prominent member at the time of his death. The quali- 
ties of his character were such as belong to men of earnest 
purpose and promptness of action. Although a 'Mnan of 
affairs," he did not neglect the cultivation of those tastes 
which had been developed by his liberal education. He 
was a lover of good books, and took pleasure in tlie society 
and friendly intercourse of intelligent people. It is said of 
him that few men subject their daily lives to the control of 
conscience and reason more habitually than did Stephen 
Waterman; and an honest application of his best faculties 
to the business of the hour, whetlicr public or private, \\'as 
always characteristic of him. His temperament was a san- 
guine one, and at times gave to his expression of opinion 
a force which to more cautious men seemed like exaggera- 



tion ; yet his reasoning was almost always sound, and the 
steps were well considered. He died in the prime of life 
and in the midst of his usefulness. The event took place 
November 3, 1871. He married, October 26, 1852, Har- 
riet Pearce, daughter of William P. and Sarah P. Bullock, 
by wdiom he had four sons. Mrs. Waterman died February 
7, lS66. 

^H^LLEN, J.^ME-s, a distinguished aeronaut, son of 
|«jR«& Sylvester and Mary (Luther) Allen, was born 
fW?^ in Barringlon, Rhode Island, September II, 
§m, 1S24. His father was liberally educated at An- 
* dover, Massachusetts, but, from considerations of 
health, took to a maritime life, and was a sea-captain for 
twenty-five years. While in the brig "Busy" he had a 
severe conflict with pirates, was wounded in the thigh and 
taken captive. He died in Providence in 1S32. The 
mother of James was of the old and highly honorable 
family of Luthers of Eastern Rhode Island. The Aliens 
and Luthers were of English origin. Sylvester and Mary 
Allen had ten children, — Martha Watson, Samuel, Joseph 
Kinnicutt, Ezra Stiles, James, Luther, Cyrus, Nancy, Eu- 
nice Brown, and Lydia Monroe. James received a good 
common-school education, which he afterwards enlarged 
by reading, study, and his extensive travels on the whole 
American continent, and large intercourse with all classes 
of men. Being of a bold and progressive spirit, full of the 
enterprise of a genuine Yankee, and perceiving what ad- 
vantages might accrue to the world from aerial ex[)lorations 
and observations, after studying the history and science of 
balloonmg, he finally determined upon the perilous career 
of an aeronaut. He was the first to choose this airy voca- 
tion in New England. Prior to his beginning his ascen- 
sions but one person had made aerial voyages in this coun- 
try, and that was the Frenchman, Lauraette, who in about 
1833, made ascensions in Boston and Providence, and was 
the first man to manufacture sulphuric acid in America. 
Mr. Allen was channed with the idea of navigating the air. 
He, in this daring undertaking, was finally remarkably suc- 
cessful, and attained wide reputation, having now (iSSi) 
pursued his career about thirty years, during which time 
he has made about one hundred and fifty ascensions. At 
present he has no superior among the aeronauts in America. 
Professor John Wise, who led his profession in his time, 
was unfortunately drowned by his descent into Lake Mich- 
igan, in 1878. Mr. S. A. King, wdio for some years was 
associated with Mr. Allen, has ceased making aerial voy- 
ages, and now resides in Pliiladelphia. After Mr. Allen 
had sufficiently studied the history and science of balloon- 
ing, especially as it had been developed in France, he con- 
structed his balloon, the " Zephyrus," and began his ascen- 
sions at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1S56. He was at 
this time assisted by Mr. King, of Philadelphia. In 1857 
he made ascensiims from various cities and towns in New 
England, and began to take a few courageous passengers 



402 



BIOCRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



with him. His nij^ht^ wore made on occasions of celebra- 
tions, anil from fair-L^roiinds, to the wniiikT and (leli|:;ht of 
thousands of sjiectators. After the " Zc|tliyrus," his next 
balloons were the "Frolic" and the "Monarch of the 
Air ;" the capacity of the latter being 3;,ooo cul)ic feet of 
^as, and the "Gi'ddess of Liberty," constructed in 1800. 
The stiiry of his aerial v<tya;;es wouM lill a volume. His 
average elevation \va^ fntm nne to two nidc^. \\\^ i^reatest 
height was attained during his ascension from Providence 
in 1S56, when lie reached an altitude of three and a quar- 
ter miles. In 1S61, at tlie opening of tlie RcbLdlion, Mr. 
Allen i.iffi^red his services to the nation to reconnoitre the 
front of the rchtd lines for the I'enefit of the Federal army. 
His first a--censiun^ were made in Washington. He then 
foUo\\ ed the Army of the Potomac to tlie l'enin--ula and to 
the front of Richmond. Here his discoveries were of 
special importance. He took up with him engineers and 
photographers, wdio sketched and pictured the country ly- 
ing along the front-^ of the contending forces. The rebel 
evacuation of Vorhtown was first (bscovered from liis bal- 
loon, at davdawn. by(;eMeral Custer, who accnmpanie<l 
him. His armv services were many and arduous, and 
were well appreciated by our government. In 1S65 he 
constructed the *' ^b)narch uf the Air," a very remarkalde 
balloon, that served him on a multitude of f>ccasions with 
great success, till having been entangled in forests at its 
descents it was fuially abandoned in 1S70. Thi> balloon 
cost about a thou<uid dollars When ready tor flight it 
weighed almiit nine humlred jiounds, and \\as capaliie of 
carrying about nine hundred pounds, in iSoj Mr. Allen 
was chosen hy the government of Brazil to visit that coun- 
try and assist the united forces in subduing the Paraguayan 
rebellion. In this expedition he was assisted by his bro- 
ther, Ezra Stiles Allen. ()n reaching Paraguay he found 
that the forces of Brazil, of tlie Argentine Confederacy^ 
and of Montevideo had been lying fourteen montlis withr)ut 
venturing to attack the enemy's fr-mt. In sixteen days 
after his tlist ascen-.ii.in here these lorces moved success- 
fully upon the enemy. He served the Brazilian govern- 
ment with signal success for thirteen months, and was 
handsomely rewarded. His most magnificent balloon was 
named "Allen's Castle in the Air," in which he made an 
ascension from liostun during the secoml Jubilee celebra- 
tion in I.S72. Its cajiacily was seventy thousand cubic feet 
of gas, and it took up ten passengers at a time. From a 
height of one thousand feet a photograj'her in this aeiial 
ship secured a splendid view of the city and harbor of 
Boston. < )n tvv() occasions Mr. Allen has remained up in 
l\is balloon Cor len days in succession ; first, after his ascen- 
sion from the Soldier's Home in Dayton, ( ijiio, in iSSo, 
and second, tVom I.vnn, Massachusetts, July 4, iSSl. 
These feats added to hi> lame as a skilful, tiaring, success- 
ful aeronaut. He has met with but few accidents in his 
descents. ( )nee he fell into Thomaston Bay, in the Stale 
of Maine, but escaped by his lire-]ireser\ cr. He has built 



fifteen balloons, and has himself used about a do/en. He 
has made about one hundred and fifty ascen-ions from 
various points, from (Quebec, in Canada, to Paiaguay, in 
South America, and from Bangor, in Maine, to the Golden 
date, on the Pacific. Commonly he has used carburetted 
hydrogen gas, such as is used for the illumination of cities. 
On special occasions, when away from gas-works, he has 
Used pure hvdrogen gas, generated from water by means 
of sulphuric aciil and iron. The greatest sjieed that he 
ever made in his voyages was twenty-eight miles in 
eighteen minutes. His son, James K., has fi.ir some years 
assisted him, and has become an e\pert in both the science 
and practice of ballooning. Politically Mr. Allen is a 
stanch Republican. In tlie spring of 1S7S he became a 
member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
Providence. For twelve years he has been an active and 
prominent member of temperance organizations, holding 
the highc-^t offices i]i the various societies. He married, 
October 15. 1S4Q, Agnes Jane Fields, born in Johnston, 
I\hode Island, ^bay 20, 1S30. daughter of Dr. William 
Fields, and has three sons and two daughters: James Kin- 
nicutt, E/ra Stiles, Malvern Hill, Eh/alieth Nbiry Cook, 
and Minetta. The eldest son, now associated with his 
father as an aeronaut, lias attained a high rank in his pro- 
fession. 

I'^P^XX rnONA', FKWis Wn. MAMS, was born in North 
'i^J^& Pro\ideiKe, September I9, I.S25. He is the son 
'*^^"^ of James and Sarah Poiter (Williams) Anthony, 
j^'Q» and the fifth of nine children. His paternal ances- 
*' V try is traced from John Anthony, who came from 
1 lomestead, England, Ai>ril 16, 1634, in the bark Hercules, 
and died Julv iS, 1675, aged sixty-eight years. From him 
the succession is as follows: Abraham, William, James, 
Daniel, the grandfather of Hon. Henry B., Richard, 
lames, the father of Lewis W. His maternal ancestry is 
tracccl from Robert Williams, who came from England to 
Roxbury, Massaehusetts, in ib^S, through four successive 
generations of Congregationalist clergymen, viz.: Revs. 
Isaac, Ei>enezer, Chester, Nehemiah, the father of Sarah 
Piiiter, the wife of |anies Anthony, and the mother of 
Eewis W., a woman of marked intelligence, fidelity, and 
jiiety. He acquired his education at a school established 
liy his father for the benefit of his children, in the district 
school, and at the Academy at Fruit Hill. His father died 
when he was ten years of age. When seventeen years of 
age he went to Pawtucket, became a clerk in a boot and 
shoe store, and continued in this |iOsitit.)n about a year and 
a half. In 1S43 iie came to Providence, and became clerk 
of Greene ^ Arnold, wholesale dealers in boots and shoes. 
He was admitted as a i)artner in the business in 1S51, 
and is now a member of (he well-known firm of Greene, 
Anthony & Co., one of the oldest and largest wholesale 
shoe firms in Providence. In 1S47 he was married to 
Britannia F, Waterman, and has three surxisiiig children. 



BIOGRAnilCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



493 



Mr. Anthony has been a member of the city government 
of Providence, and is a director in the Traders' National 
Bank. He is a leading member of the Roger Williams 
Free Baptist Church, and has been for nearly a score of 
years one of its deacons. He is President of the Freewill 
Baptist Home Mission Society, and a member of its execu- 
tive board ; also a member of the Board of Management 
of the Freewill Baptist Printing Establishment, the pub- 
lishing house of the denomination. Genial, active, benevo- 
lent, and discreet, he has in his sphere a large influence, 
and is universally esteemed. 



I^^TE.VRN.'^, Henry A., manufacturer, was born in 
SEISu Kil'crica, Massachusetts, October 23, 1S25. His 
^^^ father. Captain Abner Stearns, was a soldier of the 
' T war of iSi2. His mother was Anna Russell, whose 
J" grandfather, though a non-combatant, was ruthlessly 
shot by the British in their retreat from Lexington, April 
19, 1775. Captain .Stearns was for many years engaged 
in wool-carding in West Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 
also carried on a gri.st mill and paint mill. He invented 
the first machines in the country for splitting leather, and 
devised the first machine for dyeing silk. An uncle of 
Mr. Stearns's mother, Mr. Whittemore, invented a card- 
setting machine, considered a w onderful contrivance, which 
was patented as early as 1797. Captain .Stearns removed 
from West Cambridge, after years of labor, to spend the 
remainder of his life in Billerica, Massachusetts. When 
the subject of this sketch was about twelve years of age his 
parents died. His father, being very zealous for the educa- 
tion of his children, left a sufficient amount to enable him 
to attend school for awhile. He therefore went to Andover 
Academy, and for two years pursued an English course of 
studies. At the expiration of that time, being dependent 
upon his own resources, he supported himself by shoe- 
making and shopkeeping until twenty years of age. He 
then concluded to try his fortune in the West, and in the 
fall of 1846 went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he embarked 
in the manufacture of cotton-wadding, his establishment 
being the first of the kind west of the Alleghanies. He 
was thus engaged until the sprmg of iS^o. Meanwhile, 
his works were twice destroyed by fire, Init, undismayed 
by these reverses, he at once erected other buildings adapted 
to the needs of his business. In 1850 a new purpose took 
possession of him. Gold had been discovered in California 
more than a year before, and an immense emigration had 
set toward the Golden State. Thinking that a steam laun- 
dry might be a source of profit there, he purchase<l the 
necessary machinery at Cincinnati, shipped it down the 
Mississippi and over the Gulf to Chagres, and then, after 
great exertion, across the isthmus, the boiler being carried 
overland to Panama by squads of men. At Panama he 
embarked for .San Francisco in an old whaler, wdiich 
sprung aleak and was in great danger of foundering ; pro- 



visions gave out, and passengers and crew were stinted to 
four ounces of bread per day. For four months the vessel 
thus floated on the ocean, and when Mr. .Stearns reached 
.San Francisco he was so enfeebled that a physician told 
him he could not live. But he finally regained his health, 
set up his machinery, and established the first steam laun- 
dry in California. Subsei:]Uently he turned over to his 
partner the business of the laundry, and purchasing an in- 
terest in a steamboat, ran the first regular steam ferry be- 
tween San Francisco and Oakland, now a large city. For 
the next two years, he was engaged principally in carrying 
on a saw-mill at San Jose, and a store at Gilroy. Cutting 
down the redwood, he converted it into lumber for building 
houses for miles around. During his residence in San 
Francisco he witnessed the execution by the Vigilance 
Committee of many ruffians who for some time had en- 
dangered the city. In the fall of 1853, Mr. Stearns re- 
turned to Cincinnati and resumed the manufacture of cot- 
ton wadding on a larger scale, in which he continued until 
the spring of 1857. His health being impaired, a change 
was considered desirable, and he therefore sold out and re- 
moved to Buffalo, New York. Here he tried a new ven- 
ture. Finding a partner, they engaged in June, 1S57, m 
the manufacture of hardware. Not many months after 
came the disastrous financial revulsions of that year, and 
Mr. Stearns lost nearly his entire property. He then re- 
moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, where he bought a 
tract of forest land, set up a saw-mill, in addition to which 
he carried on a farm, and was thus engaged for two or 
three years. In the l)eginning of 1S61 he removed to 
Paw'lucket, Rhode Island, and became connected with 
Darius Goff, Esq., of that place, in the manufacture of 
cotton wadding. It was comparatively a small business at 
that time, but Mr. .Stearns's skill and energy, in conjunc- 
tion with that of his associate, rapidly enlarged it. Ex 
tensive buildings were erected, improved machinery pro- 
vided, and the capacity of the works greatly increased. 
Unfortunately, the entire factory was destroyed by fire in 
1S70. But the business had been too successfully devel- 
oped to be abandoned. Larger buildings w"ere soon after 
erected, and the establishment is now the largest and best 
equipped of the kind in the country, and probably in the 
world. The works cover a space of five or six acres, and 
employ between two and three hundred hands. Mr. 
.Stearns has devised several contrivances which have 
proved of great value in the business. On these he ob- 
tained patents, and has also a number of patents on rail- 
way safety-gates, cotton-gins, and for extracting oil from 
waste substances. After living a year or more in Paw- 
tucket, Mr. Stearns removed to the adjoining village of 
Central Falls, where he has resided for over seventeen 
years. He has been called to fill various offices by his 
townsmen. For three years he has represented the town 
of Lincoln in the General Assembly ; has served several 
terms as .School Trustee ; and was chairman of the com- 



494 



BIOGRA rillCA L CYCL OPED LI . 



mittce lli.it secured tlie iiitioiluction of water into the vil- 
lage. Mr. .Ste.\nis is .n nuTiilier of the Centr.il Fall-. Con- 
gregational Cliureh. in the work of which he takes an ac- 
tive interest. On the jfith of Iiine, I.S^h, he niarrierl Kate 
Falconer, daughter of J. 11. ,ind i harlotte Smith F"alconer, 
of Hamilton, Ohio. They have had ei_;ht children: 
Deshler Falconer, George Russell, Walter Henry, Kate 
Russell, Charles I-"alconer, Ilenr)' I'o^tcr, .\una Ru>se]l, 
deceased, and Carrie Cranston. 



5LLIS, Jnsin .\ J.vMi s, M.D., horn in Hoston, Jlas- 
sachu^etts, .September 13, 1S26, being the only 
.ip ■ issue of a second marriage, and the youngest of a 
fey* family of ten children. His father, who was a pros- 
'9 perous merchant, died while he was yet a child, and 
the family having broken Uji, his mother removed with him 
to Scituate, Massachusetts, her iiati\'e town. In a few vears 
she too died, so that at the age of eight he was left an or- 
jilian. His guardian, Haniel I'luUips, win) liad been ap- 
pointed to this trust by his dying mother, proved a friend 
indeed, wisely --upcrvising his education and carefully hus- 
banding the little hutiine left him by his father. He was 
placed in good schools, and at the age of fourteen com- 
menced the study of Latin. A year later he was sent to 
the academy of I'.nd Wing, of Sandwich, where he was 
fitted for college. In the fall of 1S43 he entered the Fresh- 
man class of Brown University, of which the l.rte Rev. Dr. 
Wayland was then Presiilent, and graduated in 1S47. As 
a scholar he ranked high, being one of the eleven in his 
class wdio were elected memlier^ of the I'hi lleta Kappa 
Society. Iiuring hii Senior ye.u* he bec.inie interested in 
religious truth, and in the spiiiig of i,S47 was baptized by 
the Rev. Lir. Xeale, paMor of the l-irst liai'li^t Church in 
Boston. Immediately after graduating he rennned to New- 
port, Rhode Islaml, where he spent a year teaching in a 
l^rivate family-school. .■\fter\\ards he entered the Medical 
.School of Harvard University, where he sjient three ye.ir.s 
in the stiulv of his chosen jirofession. In i.^S4 he estait- 
lished himself as a physician in liristol, Rliode Island, and 
by close attention Uy business soon aci|uiix'd reputation 
and a handsome practice. In July, 1862, his health hav- 
ing become somewhat impaired ami re<|uiiing a change, he 
accepted an appointment as assistant surgeon in the Thirty- 
seventh Regiment of .Massachusetts \'olunleers. His whole 
heart was now in the work before him, and with all the 
enthusiasm of his nature he devoted his [irofessional ener- 
gies to the care of the men intrusted to his charge. His 
letters to his friends during his period of service abound 
with expressions of sincere patriotism, and contain graphic 
descriptions of the stirring scenes around him. But while 
thus engagcil in his arduous duties, he was sei/ed with 
tvpiioid malaria, and tor twelve weeks was confined in one 
of the hiispitals at Washington. He was brought home to 
his f.iniily in Xewjiort. where he died Tuesd.iy, .M.uxli 17, 



1S65, in the thirty seventh year of his age. He married, 
soon after giadu.iting tVoui Har\aid, Martha, onlv daughter 
of the late Rev, Dr. lohn ( ). Choules, of Newport, who 
and one son sur\ i\e him. 



I.M.I,, CiNKR.M, Nelson, son of .Samuel and Han- 

^\ n.di (.Shorey) \'iall, was born at Plainliehi, Con- 

4 necticut, November 27, 1827. His father was a 
.I'l 
&[(h native of Harrington, Rhode Island, a cal)inet- 

4> maker by trade, and in 1S23 removed to Plainlield, 
\\liere he became a farmer. He was a descendant of fohn 
\ lall, a resident of Bosttui as early as 1639, and afterwards 
owneil large tracts of land in Rehohoth, Massachusetts. 
Hts mother was a daughter of Colonel Abel Shorey, a 
prominent cili/en of Seekonk, Rhode Island, where he died 
at the age of ninety-three. Colonel Shorey comniandeil a 
regiment of Massachusetts militia m the War of 1S12, be- 
ing stationed at New Beilfonl. (General Viall received a 
common-school education, and at the age of fifteen was 
apprenticed to Amos C. Baistow, on Point Street, Provi- 
dence, to learn the trade o{ a moulder. During his aji- 
jiieniiceship. he joined the Pro\ itlence Arlillerv Comjiany, 
now known as the United Tram of --Vitillery. He remained 
in Harstow's employ till 1S46, when he joined the Rhode 
Islaml company which served in the Mexican War under 
General .Scott. L)uring the war he was twice promoted 
for meritorious conduct. He fought in the battle of Con- 
treras and at the storming of Chapultepec, where he was 
wounded while ascending one <->f the storming ladders. 
He took part in the engagement which resulted in the sur- 
render of the cit)' of .\le\ico, and remained there on gar- 
rison (luty se\eral months. Leaving Mexico in 1S4S, at 
the ex|iiration of his term of service, he returned to Provi- 
dence, ami for about two years was in the employ of 
Thomas J. Hill, on Edily Street. In 1S50 he contracted 
with the agent of a Brazilian firm to go to Brazil to erect 
and manage an iron foundry at Bahia. He remained there 
until 1854, when he again returned to Pr'A-idence. where 
he continued his occupation as a moulder until 1S61. 
When the (_"isil Wai' broke out he held a commission as 
Lieutenant-(."oloncl in the Providence Artillery, and in re- 
sponse to the first call of the Cjovernor, raised a company, 
with w hich he immediately proceeded to the defence of 
Washington, under command of Colonel Burnside, First 
Rhode Island Volunteer Militia. He was mustered into 
service at W.ashington, May 2, 1S61, and on the 1st of 
June returned to I'roviilence, where, within three days, he 
recruited Company C for the Second Rhode Island Regi- 
ment, of w hich he was commissioned captain. For gallant 
conduct at the Ijattle of Bull Run he was promoted to the 
rank of nuijiir. (in tlie 12th of June, 1S62, he was com- 
missioneil lieutenant cidonel, and was promoted to the 
rank of colonel December 13, l8l)2, while commanding 
I his regiment at the battle of I'reileiicksburg. LIuring liis 




y}C^^kr>^^ /^^^^^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



495 



connection with the Second Regiment he paiticipated in 
the battles of Bull Run, July, 1861, Voiktown, Williams- 
burg, Malvern Mill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and other 
engagements. January 25, 1863, he resigned his commis- 
sion and returned to Providence, and on the 21st of August, 
of the same year, was appointed Major of the First Battal- 
ion, and afterwards Colonel of the Fourteenth Rhode Isl- 
and Heavy Artillery (colored). He organized the regi- 
ment of eighteen hundred men for the field, and was 
assigned to duty in the Department of the Gulf. On the 
15th of January, 1864, President Lincoln appointed him 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fourteenth Rhode Island Regi- 
ment, and he continued in the service until the close of the 
war, being honorably discharged October 2, 1S65. In 
recognition of his bravery and capacity as a military officer, 
he was brevetted Brigadier-General, April 15, 1866. In 
May, 1866, he was appointed Chief of Police of the city 
of Providence, and served in that capacity for one year, 
when he resigned the position to accept the office of War- 
den of the Rhode Island State Prison, which he still holds. 
In the discharge of his duties General Viall has exhibited 
marked efficiency, and to his suggestions in regard to the 
needs of the institution under his management may largely 
be attributed the architectural superiority of the new State 
Prison at Cranston, which is said to be the most complete 
in all of its appointments of any building of a similar 
character in the countiy. For many years General Viall 
has been prominently identified with several military and 
civil fraternities. He was one of the nine who organized 
the Grand Anny of the Republic in Rhode Island, in 1866, 
and was elected Junior Vice-Commander, being still a 
member of Prescott Post, No. I, of that organization. He 
is a member of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Historical So- 
ciety of Providence. In 1861, while stationed in the city 
of Washington, on military duty, he became a Freemason, 
uniting with Federal Lodge of that city; but since 1S65 
has been a member of St. John's Lodge of Providence. 
He married, February II, 1849, Mary W. Peckham, daugh- 
ter of Silas and Freelove (Millard) Peckham, of Provi- 
dence. They have had eight children, but two of whom 
- — Grace Eveline and Nelson Shorey — are now living. 



rOSS, Hon. Samuel Simms, was born in West Boyl- 
Jj^^l fJ ston, Massachusetts, August 15, 1821, and was the 
yf? son of Robert and Lydia Foss, who came from near 



j Derby, England, to America in 1820. He obtained 
J" the rudiments of his education in Boylston, where his 
father was the bookkeeper and storekeeper of a cotton 
mill from 1S20 to 1827. Samuel had a twin brother, 
German W., and they bore so great a resemblance to each 
other that one was often taken for the other. In lS24they 
were presented to Lafayette as he passed through Boylston 
on his way from New York to Boston. In 1S27 the family 
removed to Slatersville, Rhode Island, where the father 



of Samuel became private secretaiy and bookkeej^er of John 
Slater, then an extensive manufacturer. At this place he 
and his brother German attended the common school, and 
afterward spent about a year at Uxbridge Academy, and 
two terms at Fryville Academy, in Bolton, Massachusetts, 
then in charge of the Society of Friends, Thomas Fry being 
its principal. In the autumn of 1836 they left school, and 
German entered a book-store in Woonsocket as salesman. 
Samuel soon afterward began to learn the printer's trade in 
the office of William N. Sherman, then proprietor of the 
Woonsocket Pn/riot, and while serving in tliis capacity was 
remarkably industrious, studious, and obliging. The Penny 
yl/r?^(?3/«f, published in England, which his father presented 
to him in 1832, was read by him with great profit in his 
youth, and proved a great source of usefulness to him, as 
he frequently acknowledged in manhood. He also read 
extensively in various departments of literature, and ac- 
cumulated a valuable library. His father removed to 
Mansfield, Connecticut, in 183S, but Samuel remained in 
Woonsocket to pursue the calling he had chosen. He had 
a large brain and active mind, a retentive memory, and was 
noted for his generous disposition. In 1841 he bought the 
Woonsocket Patriot from his employer and became its ed- 
itor, a position for which he had been preparing himself. 
He changed the Patriot from a Whig to an independent 
paper. While holding this neutral position in politics he 
visited the Dorr camp, at the time of the " Dorr Rebellion," 
to obtain information for his paper, and was there arrested 
as a spy, but through the interposition of his friend, General 
Henry De Wolf, was released without a trial by court- 
martial. Through the energy and talent of Mr. Foss the 
circulation of his paper rapidly increased from 50010 8500, 
and the Patriot was so improved by him that it was pro- 
nounced by good authority " the best weekly paper pub- 
lished in New England." In 1S65 Mr. Foss bought the 
Patriot building. In the spring of 1S76 he began publish- 
ing The Daily Patriot, which under his management at- 
tained an extensive local circulation. Among other evi- 
dences of his enterprising spirit was the establishment by 
him of a telegraph line from Providence to Woonsocket for 
the benefit of his paper. He was the first it is said to 
employ a corps of local correspondents throughout Rhode 
Island and in other States, and to classify New England 
news under the heads of the different States. But few men 
better exemplified the three elements of success — principle, 
tact, and push — than Mr. Foss. By industry, perseverance, 
and integrity he accumulated w-ealth, and attained a promi- 
nent and useful position in the community. He was for 
one year a member of the Rhode Island Senate. Mr. Foss 
made his influence felt throughout New England, and his 
manly qualities of character commanded the respect of all 
who knew him. He died at his residence in Woonsocket, 
August 6, 1879. His twin brother, German Foss, who pos- 
sessed many of tile characteristics of Samuel, was for some 
time the publisher of the Literary Harvester, of Hartford, 



496 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



Connecticut ; tlicn a siuec^sful manufacturer uf silk nt 
Caniilen, New Icisev, fmni I.S47 to iS;/; anil al'tcrwariN 
associate ciiilor of iliL- l\\i,^tnoikt! I\ilii:it until tlie ileatli 
of liis ijiniiur Samuel, when he became sole eilitor of tJiat 
paper, which jui^ition he retailie<l until ills ilcath, which 
occurred (_)ctol)er 22. iSSo. The father of Samuel S. and 
German \V. Foss was liorn in England, April 5, 17S7, and 
died in Manslield, Connecticut, in Xovember, 1S71. Their 
mother was horn in Lee, England, January 14, 17SS, and 
died ii\ Mansheld, Connecticut. Decenil>er 2},, 185.S. Samuel 
Foss married. Decemlier 24. 1S51, ^\mey A., daughter of 
.Stephen Ilcndiick. of Thompson. Connecticut. She was 
born January I, 1853. •'">'' '^''^'' Mareh II. I.S79. They 
had two children, Herbert S. Foss, born Feliriiary 16. 1S56. 
and died May 23. lS59,and IJertlui S.. born Seplendier 27, 
18(55. 



?•> 



'^•-UXX, I'K<iFE5SOR RiiUINSDN PilTTF.R, DTJ., was i 

bom 111 .Newport. May JI, 1S25. He was the son 
of 1 )r. Theophilus C. and Elizabeth ( I'.itter) Dunn. 
' He prepared for college in his native citv, and gra'l- 
T. uated, with the highest honors of his class, at j 
Brown University, in 1843. He returned to the University [ 
soon after he graduated, and took charge of the library. 
During the absence of J'rofessor Jewett in Europe he gave 
instructions in French. His temporary connection with , 
the University continued until December, 1845, at which j 
time he repaired to I'rinceton, New Jersey, to pursue hi- 
course of theological study. He received his license to 
preach as a Presbyterian minister, in April, 1S47. His I 
character anil scholarship at Princeton made him a marked 
man. Rev. Dr. \V. M. I'axtim. of New \'ork. who was 
his elassmate, says of him; *' He was greatl)' belovc'l for 
his kind, genial fellowship, whiKt he was admired for his 
fine talents and scholarly culture. He was, beyond ques- 
tion, the most finished, accurate scholar at that time in the 
institution. There was such a perfection in everything that 
he did, tliat he has a place in my memory as a finished man, I 
ca]ialile of doing anything, and of adorning any position. 
In his fiilelity to all the duties of a student he was a moilel." 
He Computed his theological course. May. 1848. and at 
once commenced to preach in the Presbyterian Church in I 
Camden, New Jersey, of which he was ordained the pastor 
by the Presliytery of New Jersey, November I, 1848. 
Here he remained, performing his ministerial duties with 
great fidelity, and winning the confidence and afl'ection of 
his church, until, in the sjiring of 1S52. he was invited to 
take the chair of Professor of Rhetoric and I'^nglisji Liter 
ature in llrown University. .Soon alter his removal to 
Provirlence, the Central Congregational (,'huich was formed, 
and although Professor Dunn never left the Presbyterian 
(liuich. he idenlitied hiniself with the interests of the new 
parish. •■ for years," says L)r. Sw.un, the p.istor of the 
cluirch, " he taught a large Bible class of our young ladies, 
speniling eight hours every week in preparing himself for 



the recitation. During almost the entire fifteen years he 
presented, at the monthly concert, the reports from the for- 
eign missionary fields, making himself so perfectly familiar 
beforehand with the contents of the Missionarv Iliald 
that by the aid of that woiiderl'ul memory which he pos- 
sessed, and of that equally marvellous facility of speech 
which belonged to liim, he would, without referring to the 
book, set before us in a condensed, swift, and beautiful 
narrative of half an hour, almost the entire substance of 
what was contained in thirty or forty pages." In the sum- 
mer of i860 he was elected Professor of English Literature 
and Ehieution in the college at Princeton. He felt, how- 
e\er, that his w cirk was in I'mviilence. and he declinetl the 
call. He remained at his post in Brown University until 
the summer of 1807, when, on Wednesday, August 2Sth, 
he passed to the better world, after sixteen years of con- 
tinuous service in the chair to which he had been elected 
in 1852. A few of his discourses have been published. 
Several of his articles published in the Quarterly Kcvifws 
as literal")' productions have very great merit. Professor 
Dunn was twice marriei.1, the tirst time to Maria, i-laughter 
of John Stille, Esq., of Philadelphia, .September 21, 184S, 
who died June 23, 1S49, •'"^'l seconil to Mary Stiles, daugh- 
ter of the Hon. .\ltVed Dwight Foster, of Worcester. Massa- 
chusetts, January 25, iS55,\vho and one son survive him. 



HIPPLE, Cii.\Rl.lis Hr.NRV, manufacturer, son of 
j Ziba and Mary (Sayles) Whipple, was born in 
i|i-»'VcY Burrilh ille, Rhode Island, February 22, 1823. 



yC " His father was a native of Burrillville, and 
«i descendant of Samuel Whipple, who came from 

England and settled in I'rovidence in Colonial times, Hts 
mother was a member of the Sayles family of Rhode Isl- 
and, many of w honi have been prominently identified with 
the manufacturing, mercantile and political interests of the 
State. Charles II. Whipple was the fifth of a family of 
seven children. His eldest brother, I.ianiel, who tlied in 
1S72, in his hlty-eighth year, was a manufacturer, and for 
many years a leading man of Burrillville. The other 
brothers cngageil in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits. 
Mr. Whipple was educated in the pulilic schools, and at 
Smithfield .Seminary, at North Scituate. At the age of 
twenty-two he entered his brother Daniel's factory, where 
he was employed until 1852. when he and his brother Ster- 
ry leased his brother Daniel's mill, and continued the busi- 
ness under the firm-name of .S. & C. H. Whipple. They 
manufactured satinets, and did an extensive business U^x 
those times, being successful in a marked degree. .\t the 
expiration of four years, diaries sold his interest to his 
brother, w ho Continuetl to carr)- on the business, taking his 
brtithers fames and John into partnership with him. Charles 
then I'ought the Plainville .Mill, hicated near the other mill, 
and began the manufacture of fancy cassimeres. He con- 
tinued in business alone until lanuarv, iSSo, when he asso- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



497 



ciated with him hi"; 5on Gilbert F., since which time the 
business has been conducted in the name of Gilbert F. 
Whipple, who has also been intrusted with the general 
management of the interests of the firm. Mr. Whipple's 
career as a manufacturer extends over a period of twenty- 
eight years, during which time he has acquired an ample 
fortune. In the town of (Mocester, adjoining Burrillville, 
he owns a farm of two hundred and fifty acres, under good 
cultivation. There he spends much of his time, though 
having some one to look after the general management of 
the farm-work. He has never held any public position, 
except local town-offices, though often requested to allow 
the use of his name as a candidate. He has been a mem- 
ber of the Republican party during its existence, and was 
formerly a Whig, but has never taken an active interest in 
politics. He married, April 20, 1S54, Adaline .Smith, 
daughter of Jeremiah and Celia (Eddy) Smith, a native 
of Burrillville. They have had but one child, Gilbert 
Francis, before referretl to as general manager of the 
manufacturing business. 



^JfLANDING, WiLLl.AM Eui.LOCK, merchant, son of 
Colonel William and Mary R. (Bullock) Blanding, 
was born in Providence, August 2, 1826. His 
father, who died in 1845, at the age of forty-seven, 
was a prominent business man of Providence, and 
highly respected in the community. Colonel Christopher 
Blanding, father of Colonel William, was an officer of the 
Revolutionary army, and many members of the family 
occupied prominent public and social positions. The 
American ancestors came from England and first settled 
at Plymouth, but subsequently removed to Rehoboth, Mas- 
sachusetts, being among the earliest settlers of that town. 
Mr. Blanding's mother was also descended from an old 
English family, and a coat of arms is still preserved as a 
souvenir of the family. Mr. Blanding attended the public 
and private schools and received a classical education. At 
the age of eighteen he entered the drug store of Edward 
T. Clark, on North Main Street, in Providence, and soon 
attained a proprietary interest, succeeding to the business 
in 1849. His increasing trade necessitated the establish- 
ment of a branch house, and in 1873 ^^ bought the stock 
of Dyer Brothers, on Weybosset Street, where he has since 
carried on a wholesale drug business, and where he is also 
largely engaged in the manufacture of medicinal prepara- 
tions. His business career has been attended with success, 
and he is recognized as one of the leading merchants of 
the State. Since the organization of the State Board of 
Pharmacy in 1870, Mr. Blanding has been one of its mem- 
bers, and has also been President of the Rhode Island 
Pharmaceutical Association. In 1853 he became a mem- 
ber of the United Train of Artillery, for ten years held a 
lieutenant's commission, and is now a member of the Vet- 
eran Association connected with tliat organization. He 
63 



has long been identified with the Masonic order, having 
joined Mt. V'ernon Lodge, No. 4, of Providence, in 1854. 
In 1857 he organized What Cheer Lodge, No. 21, and was 
its first Master, serving two years in that office. He also 
held various offices in Providence Royal Chapter. In 1855 
he received the order of Knighthood in St. John's Com- 
mandery, of Providence, and was Generalissimo of the 
same during the pilgrimage to Richmond, Virginia, in 
1859. In 1S60 he w"as one of the founders of Calvary 
Commandery, of which he was Commander in 1866. He 
has been .Senior Grand Warden and Deputy Grand Master 
in the Grand Lodge of Masons, and is Past Grand Gen- 
eralissimo of the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island. He has taken all the degrees in .An- 
cient and Scottish Rites, including the thirty-third degree. 
In politics he is a Democrat, and has taken an active part 
in canvassing the State in the interest of his party, especially 
from 1859 to 1865, though he has never held public office. 
He married, November 13, 1851, Mary A. Remington, 
daughter of Oliver and Electa A. (Bosworth) Remington, 
of Providence. They have one son, William O. Blanding, 
who man-ied, March 17, 1S75, Rosella Cornell, of Provi- 
dence. 



lEFFT, TnoM.\s Alexander, architect, was born in 
Richmond, Rhode Island, in 1827. Early in life 
he developed a remarkable taste for architecture. 
(isii*-i) j-jg pursued his course of academic and collegiate 
el k studies, having constantly in view the profession 
which he intended to follow. He was a graduate of Brown 
University in the class of 1851. Immediately on graduat- 
ing he opened his office in Providence, and was soon fully 
occupied with his professional duties. He made the plans 
and superintended the erection of many buildings in Prov- 
idence. His reputation extended far beyond his home, 
and his services were in constant demand in other cities 
and States of the Union. Six years of great success were 
devoted to the study and practice of his art. In order to 
study the choice models of architectural grace and beauty 
in the Old World, he went to Europe, and visited Great 
Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. Two years were 
devoted to this foreign trip, and he had laid up large stores 
of useful information, which were to be at his command 
when he once more should resume his professional work. 
While on his second visit to Florence he was smitten down 
by a fever, the seeds of which had previously been sown in 
his system, and he died December 12, 1859. While abroad 
Mr. Tefft became much interested in the application of the 
decimal principle to currency, and prepared an elaborate 
article on the subject, which was read before a meeting of 
the Brhish Association for the Promotion of Social Science. 
The paper was praised by the public press, and the subject 
discussed awakened much interest in various quarters. 
Had Mr. Tefft lived and been able to prosecute his pro- 



498 



BIOGRArniCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



fessional \vnrl<, tliere is nciilmil'l tl)at lie wnulil luivc Uikeii 
a very hiL;h rank anions; the architeets «>1 tlie euiintry. 



^ASWKI.I., I'llllll'. Ik,, el. lest cliiia of riiilip an<l 
Kli/al>etli (asurll, was liorn in Jamestown, Rhode 
J-J, 1-Nlanil, March 21, I.Sjy. IIi^ father was burn in 
I jT[ Sonth Kini;xtu\vn, Rho.le Island, Jaiuiary 10,1803, 
I I anil his mother was a native of tlie same place, 
the date of her birth beini; April 15, iSog. Mr. Cassvell 
was educated in the conunon schools in Jamestown and at 
the Latin school of Thomas I'. Nii hoU in Newport. lie 
pursued the study of meilicine and pharmacy with Dr. 
Rowdand R. Hazard, of Newport, ami in 1S51 entered the 
drug business in that city with R. R. Il.izaril, Jr. (adopte<l 
son of Dr. R. R. Ila/ard), under the funi-name of Hazard 
& Caswell. In the summer of 1M59 the linn opened a drug 
store in the cily of New Wtyk, earner of liroadway and 
Twenty-fourth Street, under tlie I'ifth .\venue Hotel. Mr, 
Caswell remaineil in Newport during; the summer, Vjut in 
the fall went t'l New ^■ork and purchased his partner's in- 
terest in the business. Soon afterward he formed a co- 
partnership with Henry Q. Mack and John R. Caswell, 
his brother, and established the firm of Caswell, Mack & 
Co., which continued for several years. In 1S72 Mr. Cas- 
well sold to Mr. Ila/.srd his entire interest in tlie drug 
business, again taking up liis residence in Newport. He 
then became President of the National Exchange Bank of 
Newport. In iSyj, on the incorjioration of the Island 
.Savings Bank, he became Bresident of that institution, 
v^hich offices he held until his rleatli. In 1S67 he visited 
Europie, and for the jiuriiosc of perfecting his drug business, 
travelled in England, Ireland, Scotland, I-Yance, German}', 
.Switzerland, and attended the French Exposition. In 
1S73 he visited the same countries and Austria, and at- 
tended the Vienna F.x)iosition. While ahroad he pur- 
chased, at great expense, a rare variety o\ r(.ises, and alter 
his return clevoted cnnsiderahle allentii>ii to thuicuiture 
and also to grape culture, making large shi|niients annually, 
both of roses and grapes, to the New \'ork mari^(.t. Mr. 
Caswell was a member of the Central lia|itst i'IuiilIi in 
Newport, and while a resident t)f New York was a great 
friend and patron of the Howard Mission of that city. He 
married, January 9, I.S77, the only daughter of William 
Allan, of Newport. Mr. Caswell died February 22, iSSi, 
at Jacksonville, Florida, whiiher, in\ acccmnt of impaired 
health, he had gone for the winter to escape the rigor of 
the New England climate. In announcing his ileatli the 
Newport Meriitrv spoke of him as hdlows : " He was an 
active and capable man ol imsiness, .uid h.id the C'jmplete 
respect and conlidence r»f the community. His business 
life was a success. .\s a friend he was highly and warmly 
esteemed. He lived a consistent (.'liristian life, and w.is a 
leading and honored member of the Central Baptist ('liurch. 
He contllliuted uith a libel. d hand to the t.huich.and to 



the poor and needy everywhere. In his death the com- 
munity Irises a most estimable citizen." 



'•,'^^i?R^^' 'Id). I.lia'TEN.\NT-CliL(lN'EL JoB, son of Ste- 
plun I ). and Mary -(Angell) Arnold, was born in 
,, , J ^^ Smilhfield, Rhode Island, January 18, 1S27. 
Jjl ril F'arly removing to Providence, he was educated in 
6 ! 5 the city schools. From his thirteenth to his seven- 
teenth )'ear he was emploved in a drygoods house, with his 
br< tiler fohn, in New \'ork. Returning to Providence he 
learned of I'ayton & Hawkins the trade of a jeweller and 
engraver, and pursued that business till 1861, meanwhile 
taking a great interest in books, machinery, and horticulture, 
and the political ipiestions of the day. At the beginning of 
the Civil War, being a memlier of the First Light Infantry 
Company, lie volunteered, at the first call for troops, enter- 
ing the lield as a member of Company D, in the F'irst 
Rhode Iskmd Detached Militia, and took part in the 
first battle id' Bull Run, as one of the carliineers umler 
Captain I''. W. Ilodd.ird. i.in being mustered out he dili- 
gently pursued the study of militaiy tactics, and re-entered 
the service in the FTfth Rhode Island Volunteers as Cap- 
tain of Company E, and participated in the Burnside Ex- 
pedition to North Carolina. His gallantry was revealed at 
Roanoke and at Newbein. .Vt the siege of Fort Macon, 
in April. 18112, his ciiinpany was always in the advance. 
After the reiluction of the fort he came into coinmami of 
the regiment, and soon greatly imjiroved the drill and 
knowledge of his men. In November, 1S62, he took an 
active part in the expedition under General Foster to Tar- 
boro ; and in December, in the advance on Goldsboro, par- 
ticipating in the liatlles of Kinston, Whiteh.all, and Golds- 
boro. receiving the jiraise of the commanding General. 
Early in iSdJ he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the b'ifth Regiment, but was immediately transferred, with 
the same rank, to the Seventh Regiment, and joined this 
last command near Winchester, Kentucky. In June his 
Corps was ordered to join the Army of the Tennessee Iie- 
fore \'icksburg, but, befue reaching General Grant, was 
ordered to .Snyder's Bliilf. 011 the Vazoo. On the surrender 
of Vicksbnrg the Seventh jiursued the Hying foe, and, July 
lolli, was at Jackson; July I2th, aided by the Sixth Mas- 
sachuselts, destroyed five hundred yards of Mobile & Ohio 
Railroad ; on the I sih they skirmished all day, losing two 
officers and eleven men ; on the 2otli left Jackson; on the 
24th reaclieil Snyder's Blulf; .\ugust Sth embarked for 
Cairo ; and on the 20th reached Nicholasville, Kentucky. 
The regiment was then oidcre<l to Lexington, and could 
report only eighty men fiu duly. In this campaign. Colonel 
ArU'ild, always on the alert, and unwearied in serving his 
men, ciiiiliaeted a malignant army disease that confined 
him to his bed, led to the order to be sent home for re- 
covery, and finally terminated his life. He left the front 
in No\ ember, 1 80;, but his resignation was not aecej-ted 




/ 

7^- 



.■^c<^ 









r 



-/K. 



BIO GRA Fine A L C } TZ OTEDIA. 



499 



till May 28, 1864. No truer or more devoted officer was 
found in the service. Regaining some strength he ven- 
tured into business with the firm of Mooney, Gleason & Co., 
in the manufacture of gas-burners. When Mr. Gleason 
sold his interest to General James Shaw, Jr., the firm took 
the name of Mooney, Arnold & Shaw. He married, June 
16, 1S64, Anna Maria, daughter of Job Angell. During 
the last year of his life he was seldom able to leave his 
room. As much a martyr to his country as though he had 
fallen in the trenches of VicUsburg, he finally died of his 
army disease, December'28, lS6g, in his forty-third year. 
His characteristics were cheerfulness, promptness, braveiy, 
and fidelity. '* He was ^s complete a specinren of the 
citizen soldier as Rhode Island contributed to the suppres- 
sion of the Rebellion." 



Bg-|ENDRICKEN'. Rt. Rev. Thom.\s Francis, D.I)., 
IMjN Bishop of Providence, was born May 5, 1S37, 
on Chapel Street, city of Kilkenny, Ireland. His 
parents were John and Anne (Maher) llendricken. 
1 }s The first of his father's family who settled in Ire- 
land was a German who belonged to the aniiy of the Duke 
of Onnond, and who took part in the battle of the Boyne, 
in 1691. Bishop Hendricken pursued his early studies in 
the academies of his native city ; entered St. Kyran's Col- 
lege in 1844, where he finished a course of rhetoric and 
mathematics; and in 1S47 succeeded in winning a vacancy 
in the Royal College of Maynooth. After spending six 
years in this renowned theological seminary, he was or- 
dained to the priesthood by Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Reilly, of 
the diocese of Hartford, then visiting in Ireland, and imme- 
diately set out for this country. His first mission was at 
the old Cathedral, Providence, in 1853. He then spent a 
few months between Newport, St. Joseph's*, Providence, 
and Woonsocket. Finally, in 1S54, he was settled as pas- 
tor in the parish of West Winsted, which comprised that 
village and the country for fifty miles around. In those 
days there were but few communicants of the Catholic 
Church in that region, and money was scarce; yet with 
the money at hand, in the space of sixteen months, the 
young priest paid for a church that was heavily in debt, and 
purchased and paid for lots in different villages, on every 
one of which a church stands to-day. In 1855 he was re- 
moved to Waterbury and appointed pastor of the Church 
of the Immaculate Conception, where he ministered for 
seventeen years, leaving it only to obey his superiors and 
accept the episcopal labors in another diocese. During 
his ministerial career in Waterbury he built a costly Gothic 
church, a school-house, and pastoral residence; purchased 
and laid out a beautiful cemetery, and founded a convent 
where the sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, from 
Montreal, still continue to conduct a flourishing boarding 
and day school for young ladies. He early identified him- 
self with the cause of education. Shortly after his arrival 



in Waterbury, seeing that his parishioners were poor and 
unal)le to employ a teacher, he opened a school and added 
the office of school teacher to his other laborious duties. 
For many years he was a member of the Board of Educa- 
tion, and was employed on its most important committees. 
In 1868 he received from Pius IX. the degree of Doctor of 
Divinity. On the division of the diocese of Hartford, in 
1S72, Dr. Hendricken was made Bishop of Providence, 
where he was consecrated April 28th of the same year. 
The new diocese embraces the State of Rhode Island and 
a large portion of Southeastern Massachusetts. He visited 
Rome in 1873, ^"'1 again in 1878 to pay his respects to the 
new Pope, Leo XIII. Since his consecration the number 
of priests and parishes in the diocese of Providence have 
been doubled ; churches and chapels have been largely 
augmenteti ; schools have been opened in many places ; 
tlic Jesuit Fathers brought to Providence ; the French Nuns 
of Jesus and Mary to Fall River ; and the educational es- 
tablishments of Bay View and Elmhurst have been formed. 
He also brought the Unsuline Nuns to teach the parish 
schools and academy at St. Mary's, Broadway. Bishop 
Hendricken has exhibited untiring zeal and indomitable 
energy in promoting the spiritual and temporal concerns of 
the different churches over which he has been placed. Dur- 
ing the twenty-four years of his ministry he has purchased 
and paid for properties valued at upward of one million dol- 
lars. When he arrived in Providence to take possession 
of his diocese there was a considerable debt upon the Ca- 
thedral parish, but it was liquidated within a few months. 
There was also an imperative demand for a suitable resi- 
dence for the bishop and clergy, and a building for that pur- 
pose was built and paid for at a cost of about forty thousand 
dollars. A cathedral worthy of the city, the diocese, and 
the growing Catholic population, became a necessity, and 
the bishop undertook the erection of such an edifice, which 
is now (iSSi) rapidly approaching completion, and will be 
the crowning work of his life. The lot upon which the 
old church stood not being large enough for the new build- 
ing, an additional lot was ])urchased for the sum of thirty- 
six thousand dollars. A temporary place of worship had 
to be provided, and the Pro-Cathedral was erected, at a cost 
of thirty thousand dollars, on a lot on Broad Street owned 
by the Cathedral corporation. The new Cathedral on High 
Street will be one of the finest church edifices in New Eng- 
land. It is a Gothic structure and will cost about four hun- 
dred thousand dollars. There is no mortgage upon any 
portion of the property belonging to the Cathedral corpo- 
ration. This is remarkable, especially when we consider 
that this has all been accomplished during years of unpre- 
cedented financial depression, and that during the prosecu- 
tion of the work the bishop has been suffering from ill health, 
frequently being confined to his bed. His success is attrib- 
utable to his utter disregard of personal interests and entire 
devotion to the duties of his high calling, together with a 
happy gift of communicating his own spirit and tenacity of 



500 



lUOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



purpose to his assistant ck-rL;yineii ami the members of Iiis 
congregation. 

^fTAPLES, Rev. C.\kiton .•\i.nF.RT, pastor of the 
First Congreg.Uional fhiirch in Proviilence from 
"j^" 1S72 to iSSi ; son of Jasoii and I'hila (Taft) Sta- 
f<^ pies, was born in Menclon, Massachusetls, March 30, 
^ * 1827. He is a descenilant. in the fifth generation, of 
Sergeant .\brahani Staples, one of the origin.il proprietors 
and settlers of that town, who, willi a sm.ill C(->mpany from 
Braintree and Weymoulh. planted himself tliere in 1663. 
This branch of the Staples family came from England as 
early as 1636, and was among the fnst settlers of Wey- 
mouth, Massachusetts, from which a portion removed to 
Mendon and Taunton. The subject of this sketch was 
brought up on the farm of his father, about two miles south 
of the village of Mendon, where he was duly trained in 
all varieties of farm-labor, and early learned the lesson of 
self-dependence. His advantages of early education were 
limited to the di-tiict school, which at that period was by 
no means of a high order. His parents were anxious to 
give him the best opportunities within their power, and 
laid upon themselves many sacrifices in after years to send 
him to better schools than the town afforded. After a few 
terms at the U-xbridge Academy ami other high schools in 
the vicinity, he commenced teaching in the town of Black- 
stone, for which he received twelve dollars per month, and 
had his first experience in the felicity of " boarding round," 
a custom which has happily passed away in this portion of 
New England. Using the money received for teaching in 
winter to support himself at school, he entered the State 
Normal School at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where he 
graduated in the autumn of 1S47. This school was at that 
time under the care and instruction of the late Nicholas 
Tillinghast, assisted by the late Christopher Greene, form- 
erly of Providence, both graduates of the Military Acad- 
emy at West Point, and both teachers of remarkable power 
in stimulating the minds of their pupils. Mr. Staples looks 
back to the period passed under their instruction as one of 
intellectual quickening and progress, and one to which is 
due some of the best impulses of his life. He ntjw re- 
sumed teaching, but after a term in a school at Sherburne, 
Massachusetts, began at the Holliston Academy to prepare 
for college, continuing his studies subsequently at the Wor- 
cester Academy, then under the direction of Eli Thayer 
and George Capron, and paying expenses by teaching from 
time to time. When partially through his preparatory course, 
he was drawn aside from his purj.iose by the offer of a 
grammar school in Watertown, Massachusetts, at the un- 
precedented salary to him of live hundred dollars a year, 
a sum which seemed large enough to enable him to ilefray 
all college expenses from the savings of a year or two, at 
most. Finding the position a pleasant one, and greatly 
enjoying his work, he remained here for two years, in the 
meantime commencing a course of tiieological studs', under 



the direction of the late Rev. Hasbrouch Davis of that 
town. In the spring of 1S51 he gave up his school and 
entered the Theological Seminary at Meadville, Pennsyl- 
vania, under President R. P. Stehbins and Professors N. S. 
Folsom and F. Huidekoper, graduating after the comple- 
tion of the course, in 1S54. Before graduating he was 
called to the pastorate of the Unitarian Church in Mead- 
ville, and was onlained to the work of the ministry there 
in June of that year, the late Rev. E. B. Hall, D.D., of 
Providence, preaching the serm<m. In July, 1S54, he was 
married to Priscilla Shippen, daughter of Charles and 
Martha ( Eddowes) Shippen. He remained in Meadville 
until the spring of 1S57, when he was called to be col- 
league pastor with Rev. W. G. Eliot, D.D., of the First 
Unitarian Church of St. Louis, Missouri, a position which 
he filled for five years, resigning it to become chaplain of 
a Missouri regiment in the war of the rebellion. After a 
service of nearly a year in camps and hospit.als among the 
troojis un<ler the command of Generals Pope and Halleck, 
in the military movements along the Mississippi, Mr. Sta- 
ples resigned his commission and resumed the work of the 
ministry at Milwaukee, W'isconsin, succeeding his brother, 
the late Rev. \. .\. Staples, in charge of the Unitarian 
Church there. .\ ministry of nearly six years in that city 
was terminated by resignation in the spring of 1S68, to 
take charge of the missionary work of the Unitarian As- 
sociation in the West as Assistant Secretary at Chicago, 
Illinois, where, in addition to his other duties, Mr. Staples 
gathered the Third Unitarian Church of that city. Acting 
as pastor, and su]ierintending the planting of new churches 
in the adjoining Slates, and the opening of new fields 
of missionary labm', his life in Chicago was filled with 
varied activities, until the autumn of 1S72. when he re- 
ceived a call to the pastorate of the First Congregational 
Church in Providence, Rhode Island, and removed to that 
city in Xovember of that year. The services of installa- 
tion took place December 5, 1S72, Rev. E. E. Hale of 
Boston preaching the sermon. His connection with this 
society ended by lii^ resignation in May, 18S1. The First 
Congregational ("hurch in Providence is among the oldest 
in the city, its history running back to the year 1720. Dur- 
ing this period of one hundred and sixty years, it has had 
eight pastors, viz.. Revs. Josiah Cotton, John Bass, David 
S. Rowland, Enos Hitchcock, Henry Edes, Edward B. 
Hall, Arthur M. Knapp, and Carlton A. Staples. It has 
had an honorable history in charitable and religious work, 
and has numbered among its people many active and in- 
fluential men. It has been the source of large and varied 
benevolent enterprises, and still continues to give liberal 
support to many agencies of usefulness both in the city 
and the religious denomination with which it is allied. 
Organized as a Congregational Church upon a Calvinistic 
basis in theology, it began at an early day to imbibe a 
broader spirit; under the ministry of Dr. Hitchcock it be- 
came dislinctivelv .^rminian in belief; and under Lirs. Edes 



B I OCR A Fine A L C } CL OPED I A . 



501 



anil Hall it came into full sympathy with the body of Chris- 
tians known as Unitarians. During the ministry of Mr. 
Staples he acted for seven years as a member of the Provi- 
dence School Committee, and was associated with some 
of the prominent charitable associations of the city. But 
his work was confined mainly to the duties of pastor and 
preacher in his own congregation. These were found ar- 
duous enough to demand all his time and energy. Several 
of his sermons upon anniversary occasions, and upon doc- 
trinal and religious subjects, have been published by the 
Society. He has also published an address given at the 
celebration of the Bi-Centennial of the .Settlement of Men- 
don in 1867; one on the hi.story of the church in Mendon, 
a brief sketch of the life of his brother, the late N. A. 
Staples, of Brooklyn, and various other discourses. 



'I^KOFF, General N.\T!i.\n, Jr., son of Nathan and 
K Nancy (Ingraham) Goflf, was Imrn in Warren, 
Rhode Island, August 5, 1827. His father was 
bom in Warren in 1802. His mother was born in 
Glocester, Rhode Island, in 1803. In 1833 his parents 
removed from Warren to Bristol, Rhode Island, where 
their son, Nathan, received his education in the district 
school. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to the 
sailmaking business with T. & B. T. Cranston, but two 
years later, on the retirement of both members of that firm, 
he, with George E. Cranston, succeeded to the business. 
In 1850 he engaged as an engraver with Smith, Duy & 
Eddy, in Warren, in the manufacture of jewelry. In 1861 
he was holding the position of Brigadier-General of the 
Rhode Island Militia, and soon after the firing of the rebels 
on Fort .Sumter he tendered his services to the Governor of 
the State to serve in any position assigned him for the 
maintenance of the Union. He immediately organized 
a company of volunteers in Bristol, which, with numbers 
from Warren, were called the Bristol County Company. 
As captain of this company, known as Company G, Sec- 
ond Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers, he was mustered 
into the United States service, June 6, 1861, for three 
years, and remained in the service for more than six years. 
He shared in the first Bidl Run battle, July 21, 1861, and 
becoming attached to the Army of the Potomac, participa- 
ted in all its memorable engagements. July 24, 1862, he 
was promoted to be major of his regiment, and L)ecember 
12, 1862, lieutenant-colonel. In December, 1S63, by 
permission from the War Department, he appeared before 
Casey's Board of Examination, in Washington, and passed 
as lieutenant-colonel, " first class." He was immediately 
assigned to the Twenty-second Regiment, U. S. C. Troops, 
and ordered to Yorktown, Virginia. Afterwards his com- 
mand became a part of the Army of the James. In Feb- 
ruary, 1864, he received from the citizens of Warren a 
present of a sword, belt, and other ecpiijiments. \-X. the 
battle in front of Petersburg, June 15, 1.S64, he was se- 



verely wounded, and taken to Chesapeake Hospital, Hamp- 
ton, Virginia. In October, 1864, by recommendation of 
his brigade and division commanders, he was promoted to 
the rank of colonel, and assigned to the command of the 
Thirty-seventh Regiment, U. S. C. Troops. He joined his 
command November 10, 1864. Being detached from the 
Army of the James, he joined the expedition of General B. 
F. Butler against Fort iMsher, North Carolina, and also 
participated in the second expedition, under General A. H. 
Terry, and sliared in the capture of the fort. He shared 
in all the engagements of the army through North Carolina, 
until the .surrender of General Johnston's army to General 
W. T. Sherman, at Raleigh, North Carolina. In May, 
1865, he was assigned to the command of the post of Wil- 
mington, North Carolina, and remained on duty in that 
State, the troops of his command occupying the forts on the 
coast of North and South Carolina, he being in temporary 
command of the District of Wilmington and the Depart- 
ment of North Carolina. In June, 1865, by recommenda- 
tion of Major-General Charles J. Paine and Brigadier-Gen- 
eral John W. Ames, division and brigade commanders, he 
was promoted by the President to be Brigadier-General of 
Volunteers, by brevet, " for long and faithful services and 
gallant conduct in the field." He was detailed November 
3, 1866, as president of a general court-martial at Raleigh, 
North Carolina, and though his regiment was mustered 
out in February, 1867, he was retained m the service as 
president of general court-martial till June 13, 1867, when 
he was honorably discharged, being among the last officers 
mustered out. Upon returning to Rhode Island he en- 
gaged in his former occupation, as an engraver of jewelry, 
at Providence. His talents, character, and public services 
won for him a very high rank among his fellow-citizens. 
He received, August 10, 1870, the appointment of Deputy 
Collector of Customs at the port of Providence, a position 
which he now holds (1881). Politically he has been a 
Whig and a Republican. Religiously he is identified with 
the Baptist Church. He married, November, 1849, Sarah 
S. Surgens, of Warren, Rhode Island, and has three chil- 
dren, Ella S., Walter I., and Mabel D. 



HITE, Fenner R., was bom in Glocester, Rhode 
\ Island, October 14, 182S, and was a son of Ben- 
.^» . ,J jamin and Polly White. During his boyhood 
^'t'S ' he lived on the homestead where his father and 
1. grandfather lived, in summer working at farm- 

labor, in winter attending the district school. When about 
fourteen years of age his parents removed to the village 
of Chepachet, and he found occupation in one of the cot- 
ton factories of that place, where he remained four years, 
spending a portion of each year in the school of the vil- 
lage. At eighteen he was an apprentice at cabinet-making, 
and served three years learning that trade, but having a 
disinclination for that business he engaged with Squires 



502 



BrOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



& Kddv, tin ami slu'et-inMi nuimifadurcrs, a-, a peddler, 
and Continued in their en\|iloy unlil the year 1S56, at which 
time he took tlie IHl^in^^^, and tlie firm became White & 
tiray, wlio conlinued the tin and iron liusiness until 1S62, 
at which time the partnervlii|) was dissolveil. In the same 
year F. R. and H. C. White formed a cojiartnership under 
the name of F. R. Wliite & ('o., ami purchased a factory 
at what i> called the Inman Mills, in the town of ISurrill- 
ville. In the year iSoS F. R. White & Co. lioui,dit an in- 
terest in W. C. Arnold's woollen niilK, at C'hepachet, and 
they commenced that year the nianufaclure of fancy cassi- 
meres in the same mill in which all of the memliers of the 
firm had worked when boys. In 1S70 the firm leased the 
"Whipple Mill" in the adjoining town of BurrillviUe, 
and operated the same until 1875, at which time they ex- 
tended their already lari^e business by purchasing of the 
" Babcock & Moss" estate in Westerly, the large mills 
known as the " .StillmanviUe Mills." In 1876 they added 
to their business again by inirchasing the " C. M. Stillman 
Mills," located in the adjoining town of Stonington, Con- 
necticut, just north of tlie We-terly depot. In 1878 the 
"Lyman Milk," so-called, located in North Providence, 
adapted to the manufacture of cotton-yarns, was bought, 
and its products were used in their other estalilishments in 
the manufacture of cloths. At the time of his death, Mr. 
White was at the head of one of the largest and most suc- 
cessful manufacturing firms in the State. He was, in every 
sense of the wnrd, a self-made man. His life covered 
nearly e\ery phase of e\i)erience from honorable toil in 
his early boyhootl to a front pKice iu the ranks of the busi- 
ness men of Rhode Inland. .Mr. White w.is cautious and 
conservative, I'Ut i)r(imptto act when he saw a thing clear- 
ly; careful, but honorable in all his engagements. In 
1S57 he was united in marriage to Mar\' B. .\rnolfl, 
of Chepachet, who sur\i\os him. Socially, Mr. White 
was a genial, kind neighbor, and a steadfast fnend. He 
never forgot a kindness to himself or family. His presence 
was an acquisition to any social party. He seemed to 
have an inexhaustible fund of story and anecdote to draw 
from, an<l was respected and liked by all who knew him. 
Mr. White always acted politic.dly with the Itemocratic 
jtarty, but was broad and tolerant in his political \iews, 
ready to concede to others the same honesiy of purpose he 
claimed for himself He was elected, and served as a 
mendier of the d'own t_'ouncd ol ( llocester for several 
years. In 1S7S he was elected as a representative to the 
General Assemldy, to which position he was re-elected in 
1S79 and in 18S0, and held the oltlce at the time of his 
death, w liich occurred November 9, iSSo. 



fTMITH. Ch.\RI.KS Syiini:v, manufacturing jeweller, 
.m ^on of Elisha Cj. and .Vbby (CarperUer) .simitli, was 
Ijorn in Warren, Rhode Island, ( tetober 4, lS2.'s. 
His father, for many years the agent of the Uighton 
ami .Mount Hope Manufacturing Company, in Digh- 



ton, Massachusetts, representeil the town of Wairen in the 
first rjeneral Assembly under the People's Constitution in 
1842, and was a man of marked intelligence and upright- 
ness of character. Mr. Smith received a common-school 
education, and in early life was engaged in agricultural 
and manufacturing pursuits in Illinois and New Jersey. 
Having served an apprenticeship with Palmer, Richardson 
& Co., manufacturing jewellers, in Newark, New Jersey, he 
worked at his trade as journeyman in Warren, Rhode 
Island, until 1855, and for six years thereafter was in the 
eniiiloy of Sackett, Davis & Co., of Providence. In Septem- 
ber, 1S61, he entered the Union Army, enlisting in the 
Fourth Rhode Island Regiment. Soon after his enlistment 
he was commissioned second lieutenant aiul detailed as 
regimental quartermaster. (.In the 2d of (October he was 
promoted to hrsl lieutenant, and on the 4th of that month 
left the State w ith his regiment for Washington. Fluting 
the Maryland campaign, in November, 1861, he was as- 
signed to duty as Brigade (Quartermaster on the stalT of 
General O. 1 1. How anl, who, at the close of that campaign, 
offered him a iiermaiient posiiion on his staff, with com- 
mission of caiitain, which he dccliiie<l. Subsequently he 
joined the Bunisidc F.xpedition to North Carolina, where 
he was detailed to the position of Acting Brigade (,)uarter- 
master on the staff of General J. G. Parke, which position 
he held until the battle of Roanoke, February S, 1S62, 
when he was relieved by the regular commissioned (,)uarter- 
master. He was present at the battles of Roanoke, New- 
beru, and Foit Macon, in the discharge of the duties of 
(Quartermaster. In July, 1S62, he accompanied his regi- 
ment to Newp'>rt .News, and thence to Aquia Creek, where 
he and thirteen other officers of the regiment resigned. He 
returned to Rh<jde Island, and iu the fall of 18(12 resumed 
work in the factory <if .Sackett, Itavis ^; CVi., \\here he re- 
mained until 1S66. In June, 1S63, he received from (Gov- 
ernor James V. Smith a commission as First Lieutenant 
and ( hiartermaster of the F'ourteenth Regiment of Rhode 
Island Volunteers, but the organization of the regiment was 
never completed, and accordingly he did not re-enter the 
service. In iSf)6 he became the superintendent of the fac- 
tory of .Sackett, iJavis & Co., who then employed about one 
hundred and fifteen hamls, and were engaged in the manu- 
fatture<if all kinds of jewelry. This position he continued to 
occupy unlil the spring of 1870, when he formed a copart- 
nership with Samuel W. Saxton, of New York, under the 
lirm-nanie of .Saxton, Smith & Co., and has since been ex- 
clusively engaged in manufacturing solid gold chain, at the 
corner of F'ddy and Friendship streets. Providence. Mr. 
Smith has personal charge and oversight of the factory, and 
.Mr. Saxton has charge of the sales department. They now 
employ about sixty-hve hands, ami are doing a business of 
j' one-third of a million of dollars per year, ranking with the 
I hrst manufacturers in the country. Mr. Smith was elected 
to the ProNidence Common Council, from the Sixth Ward_ 
m 1S6S, 1S71, 1872, and 1873. He represented the city 




16^ 




BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



503 



of Providence in the lower house of the General Assembly 
in 1S77, 1878, 1S79, and 1881, being elected on the Re- 
publican ticket. He has been an active member of the 
Masonic fraternity for more than thirty years, and is also 
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He 
married, December 2, 1849, Lavinia Winberg Gorgas, 
daughter of George Gorgas, of Philadelphia, She died 
February 26, 1857. They had two sons, Roswell Cunning- 
ham and Alberto. On the 15th of August, 1858, Mr. 
Smith married Mary Ann Fish, daughter of John and 
Nancy (Wheeler) Fish, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 
the issue of the marriage being a daughter, Cora Carpenter. 



w 



«jw«»sOWARD, Hon. Albert C, ex-Lieutenant-Gover- 
nisiWYe nor of Rhode Island, son of Jesse and Mary (King) 
Howard, was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, 
February 29, 182S. In addition to the ordinary 
studies pursued at the common schools he had 
the advantage of a course of instruction at Smithville Semi- 
nary, now Lapham Institute, North Scituate, in the years 
1842 and 1S43, where he was associated with such pupils 
as James B. Angell, now President of Michigan University, 
his Inother, ex-Governor Henry Howard, ex-Governor 
William Sprague, Amasa Sprague, Rev. George T. Day, 
Alexander Farnum, Hon. W. A. Perce, and others who 
afterwards became prominent. He entered upon the active 
duties of life at an early age, and has had a varied and 
successful career. At the age of seventeen he commenced 
business for himself, in Providence, continuing for five 
years in mercantile pursuits, and then engaged in banking, 
which he has followed for twenty-seven years. At the 
present time (iSSi) he is treasurer of the People's Savings 
Hank in Providence. At the breaking out of the .Southern 
Rebellion he was very active in all patiiotic endeavors in 
Providence, and in the summer of 1862 enlisted a company 
in Cranston. Entering the army as a private, he was soon 
promoted to the office of First Lieutenant of Company I, 
and then Captain of Company E, Eleventh Regiment 
Rhode Island Volunteers. The regiment occupied ex- 
posed positions on picket duty, though not engaged in bat- 
tle. Upon the reorganization of the regiment under the 
militia law he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1873 
he was elected a member of the Legislature of Rhode 
Island, and re-elected, without opposition, in 1S74. In 
1875 he travelled extensively in the Southern States. He 
was the candidate of the prohibition party for Governor in 
1876, and in 1877 received the unanimous nomination of 
both the Republican and Prohibition parties as candidate 
for Lieutenant-Governor, on the ticket with Governor Van 
Zandt, and for two successive terms was unanimously nomi- 
nated and re-elected by a large majority. During his official 
terms he has been fx offn'io Senator, member of the State 
Board of Education, and trusteeof the State Normal School. 
He is connected with several benevolent and temperance 



organizations, holding various positions, and is also a mem- 
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic. At the age of 
twenty-one he united with the High Street Congregational 
Church, and is now connected with the Beneficent Con- 
gregational Church, Providence. He is eminently a self- 
educated and self-made man, who has attained a high po- 
sition of honor, influence, and usefulness, not by political 
chicanery, but by his native force and sterling traits of 
character, and through the consistent and uniform advocacy 
of the principles he holds dear. He is withal distinguished 
for his modest and una.ssuming deportment. Thoroughly 
identified with the cause of temperance, he has been en- 
abled through his connection with the executive and legis- 
lative departments of the State to do much to forward the 
cause. He married, in April, 1S53, Ellen Murray, of 
Athens, Pennsylvania, daughter of Harris and Sophia R. 
Murray, who died in 1875. He has five children now 
living, Alice M., Nellie M., Albert H., Henry A., and 
Jessie W. Governor Howard resides in East Providence. 



'IXBY, Rev. Moses Human, A.M., D.D., was born 
^^SJ^ in Warren, Grafton County, New Hampshire, 
August 20, 1827. His father, Benjamin Bixby, 
'f was born in Salem, New Hampshire, in 1790. His 
J' grandfather, George Bixby, whose ancestors came 
from England, was a native of Topsfield, Massachusetts, 
the American home of the Bixby family. Dr. Bixby was 
the fifth of eight sons, all of whom were Christians, and 
five were ministers of the Gospel. He was converted at 
the early age of ten years, and at the age of twelve made 
a public profession of religion, uniting with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in his native town, the only church 
known to him at that time. Feeling himself called to the 
ministry of the Gospel, he entered at once upon the work 
of preparation. For five years he studied in various schools 
of his church, especially Newbury Seminary, and the Bib- 
lical Institute, under the presidency of Rev. Dr. Dempster, 
afterward removed to Concord and Boston, and now known 
as Boston University. At the age of sixteen he was ap- 
pointed class leader in his church, and Sunday-school super- 
intendent, and soon after was licensed to preach. About 
this time he read, with great interest and profit, President 
PJwight's Theology, and the works of Andrew Fuller, 
which had great influence on his religious belief, and as 
he had always believed in immersion only as baptism, he 
united with the Baptist Church in East Hardwick, Ver- 
mont. This changed all his plans of study. After this 
he studied several years at the Derby Seminary, under 
Rev. Austin Norcross, and in the Baptist College in Mon- 
treal, which was then under the presidency of the Rev. J. 
M. Cramp, D.D., assisted by the Rev. Dr. Davies, after- 
ward the distinguished Professor of Hebrew in Regent's 
Park College, England. He received the degree of Master 



$04 



BIOGRAPHICAL CVCL OPED/A. 



of Arts from D.iitminilh College. In 1X49, :it the aj;e of 
tweiily-two, he was onlaiiieil in Vermont, and preached 
the Gospel in Wdlistun and Johnson, baptizini; many con- 
verts. In I.S51 he was appointed missionary to Burmah 
by the American liaptist Missi.jnary Union, liut was not 
able to reach the fielil until early in 1853. On his way to 
Burmah he landed at Cape Tow n. South Africa, and beinj; 
detained for a iiioiuh, preaclied repeatedly to a little band 
of disciples \\ lio were soon after organized into a Baptist 
Church, lie iireaclied also on board the ship Baltimore 
in Table Ba\', t<-i very large c^>ngregations gathered from 
the ships and the shore, and forty persons professed their 
faith in Christ. He readied Maulmain in June, 1S53. 
The English Church there was almost e\liiict. and they 
were talking of joining the native Burman (."liurch, but 
under Mr. Bi.Kby's preaciiing the chapel was soon tilled, 
and within one year the iiienilier^hip increased from nine 
to forty-five. After this he travelled extensively f 'r several 
years in the Tenasserini and Martaban pri)vinces, preach- 
ing the t^io-'pel to many tliousands of the natives. But the 
failing health of his wife compelled him at leiigtli to return 
to this country. After a long and tedious sea-voyage, in 
which his infant daughter starved almost to death, he 
landed in New York only to see his beloved wife breathe 
her last liefore they could reach home. In 1S57 he became 
the pastor of the Friendship .Street Baptist Church, Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island, where he remained a little over 
three years. In the manual of that church we find the 
following recor<l : " His labors were greatly lilessed. . . . 
His relations as the pa-tor of the church were always held 
in subjection to the cherished purpose of his life, and as 
soon as a door was opened for him to re-enter the field of 
foreign missions, he did not feel at lilierty to continue in 
the pastoral oftice. ... It was a sad day to this church 
when Mr. B. announced his intention to sever the pastoral 
ties. . . . During this pastorate one hundred and seventy- 
six were added to the church." In .September, 1S60, Mr. 
Bixby was recalled to Burmah, and was appointed to open 
a new nilsvion to the Shans, a numerous race of people for 
whom nothing hitherto had been done. Sailing via Eng- 
land and the Red Sea, he was able to enter the field early 
in 1S61. Just before he reached Burmah, ten thousand 
Shans, dnven out of the Shan states tiy war, came in a 
body to Toungoo and settled near his destined home. 
Encouraged by this providence, he entered w illi great ex- 
pectations ujioii the work of ilie new mission; nor tlid he 
labor in vain. Success inimediatelv followed, and con- 
tinued from year to year. The chiefs son was soon con- 
veiled, and converts were multiplied ; a church was soon 
organized and a training school established. After this, 
for eight years, he travelled extensively over this and other 
provinces, far into the interior, and among savage tribes, 
often in great peril, but always w ith marked tokens of 
I)ivine favor, preaching the (ni^pel to v.uiou-. tribes, bap- 
tizing converts, organizing churches, establishing schools. 



an<l training teachers and preachers. But these labors and 
exposures proved too much for his naturally robust consti- 
tution, and at length his health broke down, and he was 
compelled to return to his native land. In the last tpiarter 
of the year 1S69, he built a chapel that would hold about 
five hundred people in a new and growing part of the city 
of Providence. It was opened for public services the first 
Sabbath in lanuary, 1S70. The Sabbath-school began 
with thirty-five scholars, the congregation with forty-two 
hearers. In October, 1S70, ho organized a church of fifty- 
six members. In nine months it was doubled, and in 
eighteen months tripled. The chapel has been thrice en- 
larged to suit the growing demands of the school and con- 
gregation; the audience-room will seat over one thousand 
people, and there are thirteen rooms besides, all in use. 
The school now numbers nine hundred and twenty-four, 
and more than three thousand have been members. The 
church now numbers four hundred and fifty, and more 
than i]\-^ hundred and fifty have been received into it, 
more than three hundred by experience and baptism. In 
these ten years of toil he has regained his health, and afier 
thirty years in the ministry, in which he has preached the 
(lospel in the four great divisions of the globe, he is still 
vigorcius, and actively employed in the work. In 1S75 the 
Central L'niversity of Iowa conferred upon him the hon- 
orary degree of D.D. 



J^yiCAlT, Stephfn Albert, manufacturer, son of 
S Stephen and Welthan (Brayton) Knight, was born 
in Cranston, Rhode Island, June 5, 182S. -At an 
I earlv age he licgan work in the cotton mill owned 
% by Elislia Harris (afterward Ciovernor of Rhode 
Island), at Coventry, to which place the family removed 
in 1S35. He remaineil there until his eighteenth year, 
and then was employed in the cotton mill owned by Dr. 
Harris, at River Point, until the fall of 1S47. ' '"^ "^''' 
year he served as clerk in the store of Bow en ^ Battey, 
grocers, in Providence. In 1S49 he entered the factory of 
Parker & Knight (of which firm his brother was a member), 
at Arnold's Bridge, now Pontiac, Rhode Island, and was 
overseer of the spinning-room until the fall of 1S50, when 
work in the factory was suspended for about eight months 
in order to renioflel the mill. Six months of that time he 
spent at Kruit Hill Academy, under the tuition of Stanton 
Belden, w hich proved of great benefit to him. In the sum- 
mer of 1S51 he resumed his duties in the mill and remained 
there until February, 1S53, when he removed to Heliron- 
ville, Massachusetts, and with his brothers, Benjamin B. 
and Robert Knight, purchased the mill propeily there of 
Harkncss & .Stead. The mill being entirely new, without 
any machinery, Mr. Knight began to supply the necessary 
machinery and to build tenement houses, and while thus 
engaged the mill was struck by lightning and consumed. 
.\ brick mill with a cajiacity of 5000 spindles was immedi- 



BIO GRA PIIICA I. C } XL OPEDIA . 



SOS 



atcly erected and put in operation July i, 1S54, of vvliieh 
Mr. Knight was superintendent. Since then the capacity 
of the mill has been increased to 21,000 spindles, and 46 
tenements have been added to the village. In 1866 Mr. 
Knight removed to Providence and became the agent of 
the Hebron Manufacturing Coinpany, which in that year 
purchased the Dodgeville Mill property. Mr. Knight 
superintended the reconstruction of the Do<lgeville mill, 
and increased its capacity from 7000 to 23,000 spindles. 
He built 48 new tenements and reconstructed the remain- 
ing 40 tenements in the vill.age. In 1868 he bought one- 
fourth of the Grant Mill, in Providence, and on the death 
of Zachariah Parker, in 1870, the Hebron Manufacturing 
Company bought the whole mill property there. Since 
then under Mr. Knight's supervision this mill has been re- 
modelled and enlarged, a new building erected, and the 
capacity increased from 100 to 302 looms or 9000 spin- 
dles. These mills all manufacture the celebrated cloth 
Icnown as the " Fruit of the Loom." With the exception 
of the few months spent at theFruit Hill Academy and the 
relinquishment of his duties during the greater part of the 
year 1878 on account of impaired health, Mr. Knight has 
been closely confined to business since he began work in a 
cotton mill in his childhood. He is a member of the Union 
Congregational Church in Providence, and was formerly 
connected with the Baptist Church at Phenix, Rhode Island. 
He married. May 5, 1851, Ellen Parker, daughter of Zach- 
ariah and Eliza Parker, of Pontiac, in the town of Warwick, 
Rhode Island. They have three children, Florentine Au- 
gusta, Emma Jane, and Annie Brayton. Mrs. Knight"s 
father was formerly superintendent of the cotton mill at 
Pontiac, and at one time associated in business with Robert 
Knight at that place. 



Iji^JRATT, Fredkrick A., journalist and legislator, was 
^I^S born at Cohassett, Massachusetts, December i, 
uj 1828, and in 1831 came to Newport, whece he has 

tw)i continued to reside. He was taken from school at the 
^v age of seven years, when he began to earn his own 
living ; was employed in various occupations until he was 
thirteen ; and for seven years thereafter served as an ap- 
prentice in the printing business, his only compensation 
during that time being his board and clothes. At twenty 
he married Elizabeth Messer, and soon afterwards went 
to New York to become more proficient in his trade. In 
1850, soon after the death of the proprietor of the New- 
port Mercury, the oldest paper in America, Mr. Pratt was 
prevailed upon by his friends to return to Newport ; and 
in February, 1851, purchased one-half the intere^t in that 
paper, which he retained during the succeeding twelve 
years, and then became sole proprietor. He retained pos- 
session of the Mcrmry until November, 1872, when, on 
account of failing health, he was compelled to dispose of 
the establishment, which was bought by Mr. John P. San- 
64 



born. As an evidence of the ability and success with 
which the Mercury was conducted under Mr. Pratt's pro- 
prietorship and management, it may be stated that while in 
his possession its value was increased from one thousand 
to twenty thousand dollars. After retiring from journal- 
ism, Mr. Pratt was prominent as a public ofiRcial. In 
April, 1873, he was elected to the General Assembly of 
Rhode Island, and re-elected the three following years. 
He was one fjf the most faithful and efficient members of 
that body. In July, 1S77, he was appointed, by President 
Hayes, Collector of Customs of the district and port of 
Newport, which position he held until his death, which 
occurred in September, 1880. Mr. Pratt took a deep in- 
terest in all movements designed to promote the growth 
and prosperity of his adopted city, and was highly esteemed 
by his fellow-townsmen, with whom, ill the discharge of 
his duties as a journalist and public officer, he was brought 
into intimate relations. A notice of his death, which ap- 
peared in the Newport Mercury, concludes as follows: 
" Mr. Pratt was a man prominent in the community. He 
was of strict integrity in business. His success in life 
was self-attained, and was the result of indefatigable 
Ial.)or. He jiossessed marked ability in journalism. He 
was generous and kind-heartei-1, and in his death New- 
port loses a valued citizen." 



K' lUP, John Ebenezer, merchant, was born in Ohl 

; MeUlrum, county of Aberdeen, Scotland, May 4, 

:i •: ° 1829. His parents were John and Lsabel (Ban- 



T nerman) Troup. The former died when John was 
•L an infant ; the latter is still living. Their othei 
children were Margaret, who married John Eraser, and is 
now living in Scotland; and Jane, deceased. Mr. Troup 
attended school until the age of fourteen, and for three 
years thereafter engaged in farming. He subsequently be- 
came a clerk in a commercial house in Aberdeen, where 
he remained for a short time, and was employed in differ- 
ent positions until March, 1S55, when he sailed for America, 
arriving in Boston April nth. On his arrival at Boston 
he immediately entered the emjjloy of George Trumbull 
& Co., drygoods dealers, in that city, having left Scotland 
for that pur]»se. He remained with that firm and their 
successors, Churchill, Watson & Co., until August, 1866, 
when, with Walter Callender and John McAuslan, he 
went to Providence, and there engaged in the drygoods 
business, under the firm-name of Callender, McAuslan & 
Troup, which partnership still continues, their place of 
business being known as the " Boston Store." Each part- 
ner has charge of a special department, and Mr. Troup is 
the manager of the financial affairs of the firm. He has 
visited ScotIan<l several times during his residence in this 
country, and has also travelled on the Continent of Europe. 
He married, November 28, 18&7, Jane Graham, daughter 
of Hugh Graham, of Wightonshire, Scotland. 



5o6 



JUO GK. I PHICA L C ) rZ OPED/A. 



^.ENNIS, CiKNF.KAI. ("ilAKIEs Riii u n-.s, I hiaitcnii;!^- 
'; tor (kiidiil of KI1...I0 Klan.l Militia, s,,ii uf Jolm 
Ri.liiiiM)ii ami IldiK- Ann (Rll■illc^| Iicnnis. ua'. 
'•■'I liom ill I'liivi'lince, Rhode Inland, March 3, 1S29. 
J I His latlar, liorn at Somerset, Massachu-,etts, Jan- 
uary Q, iSoo, followed the sea for about forty years, for 
nearly twenty of wliieh he commanded vessels running 
between Providence and New York, and was finally 
drowned from the steamer State of Maine, in Long Island 
.Sound, Tebruary 3, 1S49. His body was recovered and 
l)uried in the North Murying-Ciround of I'rovidence. He 
was a deseeiulant of Arthur Dennis, wdio was one fd" three 
brothers who came to this country from England, and lie- 
came large landowner^ in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 
Their father, Cajitain Arthur Dennis, in iMigland held a 
commission in the British navy. The mother of Charles 
R., born at Paw tucket, Rhode Island, March 4, 1S04, was 
the daughter of Captain Charles Rhodes, of the merchant 
marine service, who was captured with his vessel near 
Hiuuluras by a Pritish cruiser in iSij, and subjected to 
great loss and priwuion. Charles R., after attending pri- 
vate and public schools, and the .\rnold Street Grammar 
School in Providence, was employed as a mercantile clerk 
with Messrs. Bailey & Mason, but soon afterward engaged 
as clerk with the Union Line Packets. He next served as 
clerk and railroad messenger for the Karle K.xpress Com- 
jiany, and finally as principal clerk, fixnn 1S51 to iS5l, for 
the Ilarnden Express (/umpany, and the .Vdaiiis Express 
Company. In 1S50 he joined the Fir-l Light Infantry of 
Providence, and became a sergeant. On the opening of 
the Rebellion he entered the L'niled States service in the 
Mrst Rhode Island Detacheil Militia, and \vas appointed 
•Second Lieutenant of Company D. In 1S62 he was en- 
gaged for several months at Washington in organizing the 
Army Express for the Adams Express Company. In 1S65 
he (irgani^ed the Neptune Express, and was agent for it 
till it was merged in the .American Menliaiits' L'niun b'\- 
press (^"i.mpany, which he served till 1S70. when he en- 
tered upon v.iiious llilueiary trusts for lailioad and steam- 
bo.it CLUnpanies. In I.Sdy he was eleeled ( "aptaiil of the 
Iirsi Ligln Infantry of l'ro\idence, .iiid when the corps 
w.is Migani/ed inlo a battalion of four companies in 1S72, 
he was lIioslii Colonel, and held that position till 1874, 
when he was elected i^Juarterinaster-t^eneral of the Rhode 
Island Militia, with the rank of brigadier-general, which 
office he has eontiiiiied to till to the present time (1S81). 
He is also instiiutor in military drill and tactics at .Mowry 
& (Kjffs School. In I.S57 he uniteil with the What Cheer 
Lodge of the Masonic fraternity, and has tilled ollicial 
jiositioiis in lodge and chapter, lit 1S50 he joined .St. 
lohn's 1-aieainpmeiit, No. i, (tf Knights Teiiiplar, and 
went with them to kichiiioiid. \ iiginia. He was a eluiiter 
member of C.ihary Coinmandeiy, No. 13, and became 
lunineiil ( oiinnander in 1S68. Politically he w.is at first 
idenlllied with llle Whit's, but ha^ acted /e.llouslv with the 



Republicans since the formation of that party. He attends 
the lirst Universalist ('luireli of Pro\ idelice, of which his 
mother was a member and where his father attended. His 
life has been one of activity, energy, fidelity, and success. 
He married, October 9, 1S49, Olive Jane Winch, of Provi- 
dence, whose parents died when she was a child, and has 
two daughters: Henrietta .'Vrabel, and Mary Addison, 
both of whom are married. 



i?ALLOU, Major Suii.ivan, an officer in the army, 
son of Hiram and Kmeline (IJoweii) Hallou, was 
born m Suullificld. Rhoile Island. March 2S, 1829. 
''jl['^" His early education he ac'juired in the public schools 
1 of his native town. At the age of fifteen he was 
placed in a drygoods store in Rochester, .New York, where 
he remained a year and a half, and then went through a 
course of study preparatory to enteiing college. He was 
for two years connected with the Phillips Academy at An- 
dover, Massachusetts, and in the f.iU of I.S4S became a 
member of the Freshman class in Brown I'nivcrsity. .At 
the end of his second year in college he became straitened 
in his pecuniary resources, and aceejited an oft'er to teach 
elocution in the National Law .School in Ballston, New 
York. Here he began the study of law, and after the 
practice of much self-denial, completed his preparatory 
course, and was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 
185^. .'Vfter a few months' practice at Pascoag, he tiiok up 
his residence at Woonsoeket, where at once he secured a 
gooil practice in his pirofession. He was chosen lor three 
years in succession a clerk of the House of Representa- 
tives, and in 1S57 was elected a member of the same to 
represent Woonsoeket, and was unanimously chosen Speaker 
of the House. He was married to Sarah Hart Shum- 
way, of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the summer of 1S55. 
'I'wo children were the fruit of this marriage. When Presi- 
dent Lincoln called for three hundred thousand men to 
serve during the war, the Second Rhode Island Regiment 
was mustered into the service of the United States June 5, 
1S61. (Jovemor Sprague ottered to Mr. Hallou the posi- 
tion of Mai'U- in this regiment. He received his commis- 
sion on the Iltli of luiie, iSoi, and on the loth the regi- 
ment was cm its way to Washington uiuler the command 
of Colcjiiel Slocum. \ few weeks only were devoted to 
the experiences of cani]i life, and then came that fatal Sab- 
bath, July 21, when the battle of Hull Run was fought. A 
round shot striking Major Ballon, who was on his horse, 
cairied away his leg. .Afier having been in the field hos- 
|iital near Sudley lliurch for a short time, he fell into the 
hands of the enemy. His limb was amputated, but the 
shock was too great fiir his constitution, and he died July 
26, iSoi. His remains were bill led near the church, but 
subseipiently they were dug up by sonic men of a ( ieorgia 
letjiment and luirned. Aftei waixls snine ol the ashes -uul 




■4 




/ ^^ A/////y_ 'c)^ 



'?-// 



BIO GRA nilCA L CYCL OP ED I A . 



S07 



bones were found and brought to Providence, and with im- 
posing military honors were buried in Swan Point Ceme- 
tery. "Of the many worthy sons of Rhode Island," says 
Hon. |. R. Bartlett, " wdio bravely fell on that fatal day, 
none was perhaps so well and so favorably known as Major 
Ballou, and his State could ill spare one who so young had 
shown so great an ability for its highest honors." 



JALL, Hon. Nicholas, son of Edmund and Charity 
(Dodge) Ball, was born on Block Island, December 
31, 1S2S. His father, grandfather, and great-grand- 
father were natives of the Island and descendants of 
Hon. Peter Ball, of English lineage, who was promi- 
nent as a Representative in the Colonial Legislature, and 
a prime mover in obtaining a pier for the Island in 1735. 
The subject of this sketch attended the common schools 
until the age of fourteen, when he went to sea and made 
several voyages both in the coasting and foreign trade. 
In 1849 he sailed from Stonington, Connecticut, for Cali- 
fornia, in the brig General Cobb, as chief mate and part 
owner. Mr. Bill went out as member of a mining com- 
pany, and during his four years' stay in California was suc- 
cessful in his mining operations. In 1S53 he returned to 
Block Island and engaged in mercantile business. He 
was elected a member of the House of Representatives to 
the General Assembly in 1854, and after serving two terms 
was elected to the Senate, of which body he was almost a 
constant member from 1858 to 1872. Mr. Ball early con- 
ceived the idea of a harbor of refuge at Block Island to be 
constructed by the General Government. In furtherance of 
this object he held interviews with the Boards of Trade of 
the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Provi- 
dence ; prepared petitions to Congress, corresponded with 
members of Congress and wdth men of influence engage<l in 
commerce in various parts of the country ; and never re- 
laxed his efforts until he had secured from Congress an 
appropriation to accomplish the work desired. The new 
light-house at the south end of the Island was procured 
mainly through his efforts, as were also the two life-saving 
stations and the signal station. His last and crowning act 
in behalf of his native town was the procuring of the sub- 
marine cable from the mainland to Block Island, thus af- 
fording telegraphic communication with the world at large. 
His first petition to Congress for this was written by him 
in 1876, headed by the late Professor Joseph Henry, and 
subscribed by other prominent men then guests at the Ocean 
View Hotel. Mr. Ball gave the land to the government 
for the site of the Life-Saving Station at the harbor, as also 
for a new lighthouse soon to be built there. This petition 
was renewed by him in 1878, and in the spring of 1S80 he 
had the pleasure of seeing the cable laid, on which occasion 
he made a congratulatory address to his fellow-townsmen. 
The building of the breakwater at Block Island and the 
consequent facilities afforded summer visitors to find their 



way to its shores seemed to necessitate providing increased 
accommodations for their reception. .Seeing that no one 
was inclined to take the initiative in making Block Island a 
pojHilar summer resort, Mr. Ball invested a large sum in 
the erection of a hotel, which he aptly called the ''Ocean 
Vic\\'," the reputation of which has become national. In 
June, 1875, while President Grant was visiting Rhode 
Island, in response to an invitation from Mr. Ball, he came 
to the Island in company with .Secretary Bristow, Attorney- 
General Pierrepont, .Senators Anthony and Burnside, and 
other members of the Presidential parly, and took dinner 
with Mr. Ball at the Ocean View Hotel, supplementing the 
repast by a pleasant drive over the Island. Mr. Ball has 
gre.itly added to the material prosperity of his native town, 
having raised it, largely by his own unaided exertions, from 
an insignificant fishing hamlet to a popular and well-known 
watering-place. Scarcely a dozen years ago a weekly mail 
carried in a cedar fishing-boat constituted the only regular 
means of communication with the mainland, while now to 
a daily mail during the summer and a tri-weekly mail dur- 
ing the rest of the year, carried by a steamboat, is added 
telegraphic communication with all parts of the world. Mr. 
Ball was the originator and |irime mover in all these im- 
provements. Though not inclined to be radical in his 
views he is a strong supporter of the Republican party, of 
which he has been a member ever since its organization. 
Mr. Ball married, in 1851, Eliza Millikin, daughter of 
Abraham and Sybil (Littlefield) Millikin, of Block Island. 
Their surviving children are Cassius C, Effie A., and 
Schuyler C. I.. Mrs. Ball died April 14, 1S70, and Mr. 
Ball subsequently married Mrs. Almeda R. (Dodge) Little- 
field, daughter of .Solomon and Catharine L)odge. 



ARREN, Ma;or-General Gouvernf.ur K.,was 
);ij|,:iJji1 born at Cold .Spring, Putnam County, New York, 
IPjK^Y J^""^'')' S, 1830. He was appointed to the United 
S)T .States Military .'\cademy July i, 1846, where he 
bI. graduated with honor in July, 1850, with class 

rank of " 2." He was commissioned, July i, 1850, Brevet 
Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical En- 
gineers, and began service under Captain A. A. Hum- 
phreys in the survey of the Delta of the Mississippi, 1S50-2; 
participated in the Board for the improvement of the canal 
around the Falls of the Ohio, 1852-3; had charge of sur- 
veys for improvements of Rock Island and Des Moines 
Rapids, 1853 ; engaged in compiling General Map of the 
Territory of the United States west of the Mississippi 
River, to accompany reports of Pacific Railroad explora- 
tions, in 1854. In September of that year he was pro- 
moted to Second Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers, 
and served as Chief Topographical Engineer on the Sioux 
Expedition, in 1855. He was in charge of reconnoissances 
in the Dakota country, in 1856, being promoted to First 
Lieutenant July i, 1856. He performed similar work m 



5oS 



BIOGKAPIIICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



XeWrasUii Tcrritorv. 1S57, in w liicli y.Mr he niailc the first 
iecuiinui-.s.ince of the iJlack IliiK hetween the forks uf the 
[JIl; ("heyenne River, l-jigaged un maps ami reports till he 
was made l-"irst As-,istant Trofessor of Mathematics at West 
r<iinl in Aui;ust, 1S50, w hence he nhlained leave of absence 
finni his corps, in April, iSoi, auil iliil not serve in it ai^ain. 
lie was promotc'l tn ('aptain of TojiOL^raphical Knt^ineers 
Septemhcr 9. 1S61, ami the Topoi;rai»hical Knt^inecr Corps 
was inei\^cil intu the (.'urjis of Kiv^inecrs. He was pro- 
moted !(■ Majur ^^i tlic <."urps of Kn^^ineers June 25, 1S64. 
General Warren's military >er\ ices and pri'motiuns fron\ 
the be^inmnL; to the close of the RcliLdliun were numerous 
and imiiortant. In iSoi. as I.ieutcnant-Culnnd of the 
Fiftli New \'<)rk Viihintccrs, he was wiih his regiment in 
the Depaitment c»f \'u\L;iiii.i, and eni^aged in the action at 
Bii; lielliel Church, June 10, after that in tlie ilefences of 
Maliininre, constructing the fort on Federal Hdl. (.)n the 
Jlst «'f AuL^ust he was promoted to Colonel -if the Fifth 
New York Vi.dunlcers, and was in the expedili-in ti.i Xc>r(h- 
nmplon ami Accomac counties, X'irLjinia, In Noveml)cr ami 
Deceniher. In 1S62 Iiis operations were in the Virginia 
Peninsular Campaign of the Army of the Potonuic, where 
a brigade was organized for his command, from March to 
August. In May he was on the right flank of the Cnion 
Army, and had a skirmish on the I'amunkey River, May 
26; was at the capture of Hanover <_"ourt-li(nise. May 27; 
fi>r gallant and nieritoriuus services nt the battle uf Gaines 
Mdl. lune 27, where he was wounded, lie was subse<"|Uently 
made Urigadier-( ieneral Volunteers and Urevet Lieutenant- 
Colonel Ihiited States Army ; he participated in the repulse 
of Wise's Rebel Divisiem at ]\Ialvern Ilill, June 30, and in 
the battle of Malvern Hill, July l of that year, and was 
also in the skirmish at Harrison's Landing, July 2. (Gen- 
eral Warren with his brigade took an active part in the 
Northern \'irginia Camjiaign, w here, in .Vugust ami Septem- 
ber, he was m many skirmishes, and was prominent in the 
battles of Manassas, August 30, and of Antietani, Septem- 
ber 15-17. <>n the 26th of Sejitemlier, 1S62, he was ma<le 
Brigadier-Cieneral United States Volunteers, ami as such 
was in the march to Falmituth, Virginia, in < )ctober to No- 
vember ; was with his brigade in the Rapjiahannock Cam- 
paign, under General liurnside, from December. 1S62, to 
February, 1S63, and in the lialtles of Fredericksburg, De- 
cember 13-16, l8f)3. Under (ieneral Hooker he served 
as Chief Topographical Engineer of the Army of the Po- 
tomac. He was in this jiosiiion on (ieneral i looker's staff 
at the battle of Chancellorsville, parlicipaiing in the action 
on ( 'range I'ike, May I ; in the storming of Marye's 
Fleights, May 3, for which, for skill and bravery, he was 
promoted to Majoi (ieneral of United Stales \'olunteers. 
He was conspicuous in the I'ennss Kania ( 'ampaign as 
Chief of Engineers at I leathpiarters (,f the Ainiy of the 
Potomac, engaging in the baltle of 1 ieltysburg, July 1-3, 
1S63, wdiere he was wountjed. He afterwartls was made 
Brevet (_'olone], U.S.A., Un gallant and nuritorious ser- 



vice at this battle. He was in Commaml of the Second 
Corps of the .'\rmy of the Potomac from August 12, 1 863, 
to March 24, 1S64, operating in Central Virginia, being in 
the engagement at Culpepper and Rapidan, September 
13-16, iS63,and In command on llie field in that of Au- 
Inirn and Bristoe Station, ( Jctober 14. I.S{>3. < >n the I ;th 
of March, 1S63, for "gallant and meritorious services" at 
liristol Station, he was promoted to Brevet Brigadier-(^;en- 
eral of the United States Army. While in commaml of 
the Second (_'orps he was In the hdlowhig other engage- 
ments: Bull Run, ( Jctober 15, i.Sf)3; Kelly's I*"ord, No- 
vember S, 1S63; Mine Run, November 26-30, 1863; Mor- 
ton's Ford, I'cliruai'y 6, 1S64, having command of the 
Fifth Corps. He was made, by President Lincoln, Com- 
mander of the Fifth Army Corps of the Army of the 
I'otomac on March 24, 1864, and served in the Rich- 
mond (_*ampaign till the city w'a-> taken, in Ajtril, 1865. 
He was in the battles of the Wihleniess, May 5-6. 
lS(")4 ; about Spottsylvania, May 18-20, 1864 ; North 
.■\nna. May 23-25. 1S04 ; Bethesda Church, May 30, 1864; 
(Johi Harbor, June 1-4, 1S64; the skirmish on White Oak 
Swamp, June 13, 1S64; the assaults on Pelei-sburg, June 
17-1S, 1864; in its siege from June 18, 1864. to April 2, 
1S65 ; in the Petersburg Mine assault, |ulv 30, lS(_)4 ; in the 
actions for the occupatitm of the Weldon Railroad. August 
1S-2S. I 8' 14 ; the engagements at Peeble's Farm, Sejitember 
30, l8b4, and at the ( 'hapel House, ()i.tober I, l8()4; In 
skirmishes near Hatcher's Run. ( >etuber 27, 28, 1864; in 
the destruction of the Wehlon Railroad to Meheriin River, 
December 7-10, 1S64; at Dabney's Mill, February 6-7, 
1S65 ; in the actions and movements to White Oak Ridge, 
March 2<), 30, 31, 1S65, and the battle of Five Forks, 
April I, 1865. In these almost incessant engagements, 
( ieneral Warren attracted special attention from the country 
he so patriotically and bravely serveil, especially wdiile he 
was in command of the Fifth (_'orps, and in them he won 
laurels that will not fade from the memory of posterity. 
( )n the 13th of March, 1865, he was promoted to brevet 
^bljor-(_ieneraI of the United States army " for gallant and 
meritorious services <hiring the Rebelli<m," ami was in 
command of the Dejiartment of the Mississippi from May 
14th to the 30th, 1865. He was a member of the Board 
of Engineers to examine Washington Canal, District of 
( 'ohimbla, from March 10. to May 28. 1806. About the 
1st of August, 186'). he was assigned to duty as Engineer 
in charge of the surveys of the Mississippi River above St. 
Louis, Missouri, excejit the l.)es Moines and R<ick Island 
Rai'ids. 'I'he object of these surveys was to devise plans 
for the improvement of the navigation, and for building 
bridges that would accommodate the railroads and not ob- 
struct navigation. He remained on this duty until May 
31, 1870, with such additional duties as the requirements 
of the improvements in the Department called for, among 
w hich was planning and locating the l>rlilge over the Mis- 
sissippi at Rock Island. February o, 1870, he was assigned 



BIOGRArillCAL CYCL OPED/A. 



S09 



to the charge of the Lake surveys, which impaired health 
compelled him to ask to be relieved from. IIis station 
was changed to Newport, Rhode Island, where he has 
continned until the present time, iS8l,in charge of surveys 
and improvement of rivers and harbors, and construction 
of fortifications in Southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, and Connecticut, and until July i, 1S74, of those 
of Long Island, New York, of the defences of New Bed 
ford Harbor, Massachusetts, and of Narragansett Bay, 
Rhode Island, and of New London and New Haven, Con- 
necticut, until July I, 1S74. In 1868-9 ^^^ served as special 
commissioner to examine the L'nion Tacific Railroad and 
telegraph lines. While on the Mississippi he discovered the 
probable former outlet of this river to the north through the 
Red River, etc., to Hudson Bay. In 1870-1, he served as 
President of the Board of Engineers on bridging the Ohio 
River. I Us report on the Minnesota River was completed in 
1874; report on the survey and improvement of the Wiscon- 
sin River in 1875; report upon bridging the Mississippi 
River between St. Paul, Minnesota, and .St. Louis, Missouri, 
in 187S. Besides the regular duties at these stations, he has 
served on several engineermg boards upon bridges and 
harbors, and for the improvement of rivers. He has been 
a member of the Advisory Council of the Harbor Commis- 
sioners of the State of Rhode Island since October, 1S78. 
General Warren married, June 17, 1S63, Emily F. Chase, 
daughter of .'\. S. Chase and Mary A. Chase, of Baltimore, 
Maryland. 

^jTi'iJi^OWRY, WlLLUM A., teacher, was born at Ux- 
ll^^^ bridge, Massachusetts, August 13, 1S29. His 
o^^rSt^ parents were Jonathan and Hannah (Brayton) 
^ la Mowry. He was but three years old at the time 

el of the death of his father, and was thus left to the 

sole care of his mother, a woman of superior intellect and 
great force of character. He received his elementary edu- 
cation in the schools of his native town, antl in the year 
1847 commenced teaching in Mohegan, Rhode Island, and 
during the succeeding four years taught in Burrdlville, 
U.xbridge, and Whitinsville. After pursuing a preparatory 
course at Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, 
where he graduated in 1854, he entered Brovvn University, 
but was prevented by ill health from completing the course 
at the latter institution. Leaving college, he travelled to 
recruit his health. In September, 1857, he became the 
editor and publisher of the Rhode hlonJ Schoolmaster, 
which he conducted with ability until February, i860. 
From May, 1858, to February, 1864, he taught in the pub- 
lic High School of Providence, during most of which time 
he was principal of the English and scientific department. 
On the 15th of January, 1861, he was licensed as a preacher 
by the Rhode Island Association of Orthodox Congrega- 
tional Ministers, and for nearly a year afterward served as 
pastor of the Elmwood Congregational Church, Providence. 
Subsequently he was for several years superintendent of 



the Sunday-school. In Septemlier, 1S62, during the time 
of the country's peril, he enlisted in the Eleventh Regi- 
ment Rhode Island Infantry, and was promoted to the 
captaincy. He served with distinction through the term 
for which the regiment enlisted, and was honorably dis- 
charged July 13, 1863. In 1864 he was appointed Super- 
intenilent of the Public Schools in Cranston, which office 
he held until 1S66. In 1864 he commenced the " English 
and Classical .School," a private institution for boys, which 
has grown to be one of the most successful and noted in- 
stitutions of the kind in New England. Mr. Mowry is the 
senior partner in company with Mr. Charles B. Goff, and 
has a corps of fifteen experienced teachers associated with 
him. The school is established in a fine building erected 
expressly for it. and every facility is afforded for scholars 
to obtain a solid business education or to pursue a prepara- 
tory course of instruction for entrance into college. A 
daily military drill is also practiced with great precision 
and thoroughness, and has been found to contribute to the 
health as well as the esprit lie eor/s of the school. In 1 866 
Mr. Mowry received the degree of A.M. from Brown Uni- 
versity, and was subsequently elected a member of the Phi 
Beta Kappa fraternity. He has been very active in edu- 
cational movements, especially in connection with the 
Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, of which he has 
been President, and the American Institute of Instruction, 
of which he was elected President July 8, iSSo. He has 
delivered lectures before the Normal schools of Massachu- 
setts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, the teachers' insti- 
tutes in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the Rhode 
Island Historical Society, and other associations. Being 
an original thinker, an earnest speaker, and a ready de- 
bater, Mr. Mowry's public efforts are both stimulating and 
interesting. He has contributed variously to the press, and 
is the author of the two handsome octavo volumes entitled 
Richard Mo-ivry, of C'.r/'ridi^v, his Ancestry and Descend- 
ants, and 'I'he Descendants of A'alhaniel Mo-wry, of Rhode 
Island, giving very full genealogical information respect- 
ing that family ; and of some published treatises, among 
which may be mentioned. Who Invented the First Ameri- 
can Steamboat / published by the New Hampshire Anti- 
quarian Society ; and " Political Education," from the 
Transactions of the American Institute of Instruction. 
He has been deeply interested in various philanthropic, 
charitable, and social movements, being a member of 
the Providence Young Men's Christian Association, the 
Providence Franklin .Society, the Rhode Island Society 
for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, the Rhode 
Island Horticultural Society, and the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society. Mr. Mowry married, December 15, 1849, 
Rufina M. E. Weaver, daughter of Nehemiah K. and Free- 
love M. Weaver, of .Slatersville, Rhode Island. She died 
March 11, 1S50. On the 29th of April, 1S58, he married 
Caroline E. Aldrich, daughter of Ezekiel and Eli^a D. 



51° 



lUOCKAPIIICAL CYCLOrEDIA. 



AMrid), of \V.H,ii^(irk,-l. Rlindc Maml. He- h;is three j 
chrl..reii: W.iltci 1 Ici IfliI, Ai lliur M.iv, .ui.l Rutli Emcliiie. 



JREEXOL'(_;H, Jamks Carruthkrs, A.M., Principal 
^ of the Rhnilc Klaml State Nurnial .School, was 
'i»"3 liorii in Weiiilell, Ma^sacIiii^Ltts, Aiit;ust 15. I.Sj'). 
' I His parents were 'riionias ami Maiy (Joh^^to^e) 
•P Greenougli. (in his father's side lie was de-ceiidet-l 
from a Puritan ancestry, who dwelt in and about Boston 
almost from the time of its settlement. Thomas Green- 
ough, Es [., great-grandfather of James C, was one of the 
" Committee of Safety" who directed the movements of 
the Colonial forces in Massachusetts until after the battle 
of Bunker Hill. Rev. \Villiam (Ircenough, grandfather 
of James C., grailuated at Vale ('ollege as salutatnrim uf 
his class, studied divinity, settled at Xewton. as pa^t.jr of 
the Congregational Church, and, after a very successful 
pastorate of fifty year^. died in 1S51. The collateral rela- 
tives of the subject of this sketih include Ralph Waldo 
Emerson, of Concord, and Professor C. U. Shepard, of 
Amherst, Massachusetts, the maternal cousins of his father, 
Horatio Greenough the sculptor, and other prominent per- 
sons. His father nearly completed his preparation for col- 
lege in Providence. Rhode Island, in the family school of 
Professor Park, father of Professor K. A. Park, of .\ndover, 
but impaired health caused him to abandon the idea of a 
collegiate education and engage in farming. 'Phe niater- 
nal great-giandfather of Mr. Greenough was a clergyman 
who resitled in the south of .Scotland, and combinei-l the 
duties of his clerical oftice with those of an instructor. 
Thomas Carlyle was in jiart tilted by him for Edinburgh 
University, and in the same school was the uncle of .Mr. 
Greenough, Rev. John Carruthers, D.I)., who was for 
many years pastor of the Second Pari-h Church, Portland, 
Maine. The maternal grandf.ilher iif Mr. Greenough was 
Rev. James Carruther-, al-o a minister 111 Maine. Before 
Mr. Greenough was nine years of age he lett home t'l enter 
a school in Portland, Maine, conducted somewhat upon the 
Eellenburg system. Here, as teacher for a time of one of 
the lower classes, the boy first discovered his fondness for 
the work of the man. Gn his return home the ill health 
of his father, and the absence of his elder brother, obliged 
him to assume the management of the farm, and the care 
of his younger brothers. Though yet a lioy he cheerfully 
toi.ik up the burden, determined, however, not to relin- 
quish his studies. He taught winter schools in Conway, 
(ireeiitield, and Pleerliehl, the latter place being then his 
home. These Inisy years yielded a fair pecuniary return, 
but nibust health, and a mind disciplined by study and 
trained in practical alT.iirs, were their best results. Early 
in 1S54 he entered the We^theld Xormal School, \\ here he 
spent tliiiteen weeks, after which he taught a select school 
in Heath, Ma-sachusetts. He was soon afterw.ird appoint- 



ed Principal of the Beacon Street School in Gloucester. In 
the "-pring of 18^5 he became Principal of the High and 
I irammar .School of Rockport, Massachusetts. After one 
year's service here he was elected, in 1856, Principal of the 
Hacker .School in the city of .Salem; but before he had 
comjiletcd the year in that position he was appointed Urst 
.Assistant of the Westfield Normal School. After several 
terms of ser\ice he obt. lined leave of absence to complete 
his College course at Williams College, where he graduated 
with honor in the class of I.S60. Gn leaving college, he 
resumed his position at the Westfield Normal .School, and 
while ser\iiig in this capacits' made such Use of his pen as 
his profession seemed to demand. His articles on educa- 
tional subjects were |iublished in the proceedings of the 
National Teacher^' Association, in those of the American 
Institute of Instruction, and in Eilucational journals. Some 
of the branches uliich he taught, and the facilities which 
the hnv-ofl'ice of his father-in-law afforded, favored the 
study of the law. As the result of such study he was ad- 
milted to ilie bar at Springfield ill 1S65. In 1S69 he was 
selected by the ('onneclicut Board of Education to re-open 
the State Normal School at New Britain as Principal, anil 
began to arrange plans for organizing the school, but before 
he was formally appointed he was induced by his friends 
in Weslheld to decline the position. In 1S71 he was unan- 
imously elected Principal of the Kansas State Normal 
School at I-anporia, but before his acceptince of that posi- 
tion, the Board of Education of Rhode Island secured him 
as Principal of the Normal .School aliout to be established 
at Providence. Resigning lii^ position at Westfield, he 
opened the Rhode l-land Ncuinal School m Providence, 
September (1, I.S71. Huriiig the following autumn, he was 
one of the four gentlemen selected as instructors of the 
School of Stience, established through the beneficence of 
John Cummings for the teachers of Boston, holding its 
sessions on Saturdays. His second course on mineralogy 
was to have been given l>efore the teachers of Boston the 
following season, but the great lire in that city prevented. 
Near the close of the year KS76 he was urged to accept 
the presidency of Illinois College, and a little later he was 
unanimously elected, by the Board of Education of Mas- 
sachusetts, Principal of the Westfield Normal School, both 
of which positions he declined. He has discharged the 
duties of his present position with ability and eminent 
satisfaction to the public, and his labors have contributed, 
in no small degree, to the welfare and efificiency of the 
public schools of the St.ite. He married, November 27, 
1S60, Jeanie .Vshley, eldest daughter of Hon. William G. 
Bates, of Westfield, Massachusetts, who has long held the 
foremost place as a member of the Hampden County { Mas- 
sachusetts) bar; was one of the earlier members of the 
Massachusetts Board of I-'ducation ; and has held many 
positions of honor and trust in this town, county and State. 
Their children are Jeanie (bace, William Bates, Henry 
Waldo, and Heulah. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



S'l 



^ITTLEKIELD, Hon. Alfred Henry, Covernor of 
}M^. Rhode Island, son of John nnd Deborah (Hniies) 
":?'°>" LittlefieJd, was born in Scituate, Rhode Island, 
I April 2, 1829. The Littlefields of Rhode Island are 
•l descendants of Caleb and Nathanael Liltlefield, who 
settled at New Shoreham, in 1 721. Nathanael was a 
member of the General Assembly in 173S, 1740, 1 746, 
174S, and 1754; Nathanael, Jr., in 175S and 1762; and 
John from 1747 to the Revolution. Caleb, Jr., was also a 
member of that body, and was on the committee to oppose 
the tea tax. William Littlefield was recommended by 
General Washington as First Lieutenant of the Second 
Rhode Island Battery, and attained the rank of Captain. 
His daughter, Catharine, became the wife of General Na- 
thanael Greene. The family was obliged to flee from New 
Shoreham during the Revolution. Governor Littlefield's 
father was born in .South Kingstown, Rhode Island, July 
15, 1798, and his mother was born at North Kingstown, 
March 30, 1798. The former died June 23, 1847, and the 
latter is now living in Pawlucket, in her eighty-fourth year. 
They were married March II, 1S16, and removed to Scitu- 
ate a short time before the birth of their son, Alfred H. 
They had eleven children. Alfred H. was educated in the 
district school at Natick, Warwick, to which place the 
family removed in 1S31. At an early age he entered the 
Sprague Mills, at Natick, where he was employed until 
1S44. In May, 1S45, ^' '^^ instance of his brother, 
George L., he went to Central Falls, and acted as clerk 
for Joseph M. Davis, a dealer in drygoods, and engaged, 
in a small way, in putting up skein and .spool-cotton, 
which business, in 1S47, was transferred to George L. Lit- 
tlefield and Elias Nickerson, the former becoming sole 
proprietor in 1849. Alfred H. served as clerk with his 
brother until 1S51, and then became his partner, the firm- 
name being Littlefield Brothers. Their business was first 
confined to the manufacture of thread, at Central Falls, 
but afterward, in connection with their brother, Daniel G., 
they opened a store in Haydcnville, Massachusetts, which 
was sold to Daniel G. in 1853. The firm of Littlefield 
Brothers added to their business a drygoods store in Paw- 
tucket, which they sold in 1854. In that year they became 
associated with David Ryder & Co., thread manufacturers, 
whose entire interest they purchased in 1S5S, since which 
time they have continued to carry on the business under 
the old firm -name of Littlefield Brothers. Their business 
has steadily increased until it is now one of the largest in 
the State. Governor Littlefield was one of the corporators 
of the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company, of which he has 
been a director since its organization. He is also a direc- 
tor of the First National Bank, of Pawtucket, the Stafford 
Manufacturing Company, of Central Falls, and the Cum- 
berland Mills Company. In politics he was a Whig until 
the formation of the Republican party, with which he has 
since been identified. During the Rebellion he was very 
active in aiding llie Union troops, and by personal eff'ort 



and moneyed contributions greatly assisted the families of 
soldiers. In 1S64 he was appointed Division Inspector of 
the Rhode Island Militia, with the rank of Colonel, and 
held office for five years. The township of Lincoln was 
set off from Smithfield and incorporated in 1871, and June, 
1S73, Mr. Littlefield was elected a member of the Town 
Council. He was re-elected in 1874, 1875, 1876, and 
1877, after which he declined a re-election. In 1S76 he 
was elected to represent Lincoln in the General Assembly, 
and re-elected in 1877. In 187S he was elected to the 
State Senate, and re-elected in 1879. In March, 18S0, he 
received the Republican nomination for Governor of Rhode 
Island, and at the election in April received 10,098 votes, 
while the Democratic nominee received 7,239, and a third 
candidate, 5,062. There being no choice by the people, 
as the law required a majority instead of a plurality vote, 
the election of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor de- 
volved upon the General Assembly, and Mr. Littlefield 
was chosen Governor by a vote of 82 Republicans against 
20 Democrats. He was re-elected by a large majority in 
1S81. His quick discernment, sound judgment, and su- 
perior e.\ecutive ability eminently qualify him for the dis- 
charge of the duties of his high ofiice. He married, 
February 9, 1 853, Rebecca Jane Norlhup, daughter of 
Ebenezer and Jane (Padwell) Northup, of Central Falls. 
They have had four children: Ebenezer N. ; Minnie J., 
deceased ; George H., deceased ; and Alfred H., Jr. 
Governor Littlefield attends and generously supports the 
First Baptist Church, in Pawtucket, of which his wife is a 
member. 

^j^feURFEE, Hon. Thomas, eldest son of Hon. Job and 
SlMJI Judith (Borden) Durfee, was born in Tiverton, 
*^^ Rhode Island, February 6, 1826. After his excel- 
I lent home education, he prepared for college at East 
•l, Greenwich, Rhode Island, under the tuition of the 
late Rev. James Richardson and the Rev. Nathan Wil- 
liams. Entering Brown University in 1 842, he graduated 
with honor in the class of 1S46. His legal studies were 
pursued with the late Hon. Charles F. Tillinghast, and the 
Hon. Charles S. Bradley, and he was ailmitted to the bar 
in October, 1848. In 1849 he was appointed reporter of 
the decisions of the Supreme Court, which position he held 
for four years. He then served on the Court of Magis- 
trates of the city of Providence from 1S54 to 1S60, one 
year as an .Assistant, and five years as Presiding Magistrate. 
He was elected by the city of Providence as Representative 
to the General Assembly, and was Speaker of the House 
in 1863 and 1S64. During the Civil War his pen and 
voice were powerful in support of the Union ; his calm, 
judicial cast of mind and clearness of judgment and thought 
gave his utterances peculiar weight. In 1865 he was 
elected to the State Senate, and in June of the same year was 
chosen Associate Judge of the .Supreme Court of the State, 
holding his position as such till January 28, 1S75, "hen he 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYC I. OPED I A. 



was elected Chief Justice, llie iinsitinii lie mnv lioUls, wliicli 
\v;is occu])ie(I liy liis lionored falher. Willi the hue Joseph 
K. Aiigell. E-M|.. he %v:is joint aiithoi of a treatise on the 
Laws of Hi.r|nvays, |iublishe«i in lS|;7. In 1S72 he gave 
to the ]ires> a iluodecinio \olume of poems <>f 2\\ ]ages, 
entitled The \'ili,r^,- P'u-Xu aiui cW/,r /'.K'W.t, which was 
received with marked favor. In I Jecemher, I.S77, he de- 
livered the oration at the dedication of the Providence 
County Court-house, which was puhlishe<l by order of the 
Slate. His decisions ami legal jiapers are a prized part of 
the juriilic literature of the .State. He is a trustee of 
Lirown University, and also the Chancellor. As Chief 
Justice he succeeded Hon. ( leorge A. Drayton, and his 
Associates are Hon. Walter S. lUuges, Hun. lilisha R. 
Potter, Hon. Charles Matteson, and Hon. John H. .Stiness. 
He married, October 29, 1857, Sarah J. Slater, daughter of 
John Slater 2d, of Providence, and has one son, Samuel 
Slater Durfee. His brother, Kev. .Simeon Borden Duri'ee, 
was l)orn in Tiverton, Rhode Islaml, September 2, 1S29; 
graduated at Brown University in 1851; studied divinity 
at Harvard and And<.iver; was ordained as a Congrega- 
tional minister, settled lir^t in the .Slate of \'erinont, and 
afterwards in Peace Dale, South Kingstow n. Rliotle Islantl, 
and died in Tiveil'm, at the family home, February 23, 
I.S5S. He was a superi-u* scholar, and an accomplished 
writer. His brief mini-lry was exceedingly liappiy in its 
s])irit and results. 



i-fiVl.E, Thmmas .\Rint r, ex-Mayor of Providence, 
son of 'fhoiiias and Martha (lones) Dovle, was 



^3- 



--'--■■ ^ born in 1 rovideuce, Ivhoi.le Islana, JNlarch 15, 

flS27. .Se\en cliildren coiistiuiled the family at 
the paternal home, of whnni two sons ami twt.i 
daughters are now I iSSi I living. ( >ne of the daughters, 
Sarah K. Doyle, is well known as an accomplishei.1 edu- 
cator of youth, ha\ing been for many years the principal 
teacher in the Ladies' Department of the Providence High 
.School. The subject of this sketch showed in liis boyhood 
a remarkably quick and self reliant disposuinn. Losing 
his father at an early age, he was stimulated to exertions 
for self-culture and success through the inllueiice of an 
excellent mother, wluun he lendeil)' h.oed, and upon 
wdiom he la\islied the utmost attention aiui care. In his 
childhood and youth he enjoyed the advaiit.iges of the 
public schools, graduating at the Klni Street lirammar 
Schoijl. At the age of fourleeii he entered the counting- 
room of Benjamin Coz/.ens, Esq., on South Water .Street, 
where he remained as clerk over six ye.irs. Mr. Cozzens, 
who had been a lawyer, was then an enterprising maiui- 
fieturer and calico printer, running the Ciompton Print 
Works. Thence he entered the Louiirmg-r<i..m \\\ f.ieob 
DiiniK-Il \ Co., where he remained as ehiet ^leik l"i\e 
\eais. L'pou the organi/alion of llie t Iroeers" and Produc- 
ers' Bank, in iS^j, he was elected cashier, which ollice he 



held two years. He afterwards became stock-broker and 
auctioneer for real estate. Mr. Doyle's municipal career 
commenced in 1S4S, wdien at the age of twenty-one he was 
elected ward clerk for the Sixth Ward. 'Phis po-ition he 
held f >ur years, ui until he moved hack into his native ward. 
From that time on, a period of thirty-two years, he has 
continued almost without interruption to hold office under 
the city government, serving his constituents in his varied 
capacities as legislator, member of the School Committee, 
and executive officer, with rare zeal and efficiency. In 
1852 he was elected a member of the Common Council 
from the Fifth Ward. To this office he was re-eleeteil 
from year t<-i year until 1857, w itii the exception of a single 
year, 1855, when he declined a nomination. He was 
Chairman of various important committees, and President 
of ihe council from 185410 1855. In 1855 he was Chair- 
man of the lioard of Assessors. For eighteen years he was 
a most active and efficient member of the School Cc>nimit- 
tee, being at the time of his first service the youngest mem- 
ber of tile board. In June, 1864, he was duly inaugurated 
as Mayor of Pro\idence. This uffice he continueil to IidIiI 
from year to vear, with a single exceptiiin ( 1869), until 
January, 1S81, when he declined further service. He was 
thus Mayor fifteen years and seven months, an instance, it 
is believed, of long-continued office without a parallel in 
the history of municipal government, at least in Xew Eiig- 
laml. During his successive administrations the city near- 
ly doubled in populition and wealth, and many improve- 
ments were made through his influence and suggestions. 
The jiolice were uniformed and drilled, until they became 
a model for all similar bodies; water was introduced, and 
an excellent system of pipes and sewerage was adojited and 
carried out under the skilful oversight of Engineer Shedd. 
Rnger Williams Park was donated to the city, ami im- 
piroved ; man)' public buildings were erected, and the 
spirit of jirogress was infuse*.! into every department of the 
city government. Mayor Doyle is noted for his zeal in the 
cause of Freemasonry, believing it to be, in the words of 
the distinguished writer, Dr. Oliver, "the handmaid and 
helper of Christianity," and the oldest and best of all hu- 
num iiistiliitiiiiis. He was made a Master Mason in St. 
Idiii's Lodge, Providence, (.Ictober 28, 1S57, and in De- 
cember, 1850, was elecled its Master, serving in that 
capacity for two years. In September, 1S59, he was ap- 
pointed tiraml .Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Rhode 
Island to hll the vacancy occasioned by the death of Dea- 
con William C. Darker. At the ensuing election he was 
elected to that office, w hich he held for three years, when he 
declined a further re-election. In May, 1S65, he was elected 
(band Master of Masuiis in Riiode Islanil, which office he 
held, by suceessi\e annual elections, f(ir seven years. May 
S, iSV). he reLei\ed the degree of Royal Arch in I'rovi- 
ileuce (_li.ipter, and in No\ ember, 1S62, was elected its 
High Priest, serving four years. The C.rand (Chapter of 
Rhode Island elecled him its t.oand High Priest, March 




[ . 






V ^CU 



LC/ 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



S«3 



14, 1S65. Over this body he presided seven years, when 
he declined further service. He is a Knight Templar, hav- 
ing served both as Prelate and Commander in Calvary Com- 
mandery, and afterwards in St. John's Commandery, of 
which he is now a member. He has served as Grand Prel- 
ate, Grand Captain General, and Grand Generalissimo of 
the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Isl- 
and. He has also received the Thirty-third Degree of the 
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, of which he is Deputy 
for Rhode Island. In April, 1 881, he was elected Senator 
to represent Providence in the General Assembly. He has 
been for many years a consistent member of the Unitarian 
Church, and a firm believer in the doctrine of good works. 
He married, October 21, 1869, Almyra Sprague, daughter 
of Amasa and Fanny .Sprague, and sister of ex-Senator 
William Sprague. They have no children. The follow- 
ing tribute from the Boston Advertiser to ex-Mayor Doyle 
on his retiring from office may fitly close this sketch : " Mr. 
Thomas A. Doyle to-day ceases to be Mayor of Provi- 
dence. He has been Mayor for over fifteen years, and his 
career has been interrupted but once. This is the more 
remarkable, as the second city of New England is unique 
in the self-asserting individuality of its citizens and the 
heat of its ever-shifting partisanships. Mr. Doyle himself 
has the individuality of a true Rhode Islander, he has the 
courage of his opinions, his opinions are decided, he has 
never been afraid to express them, and there are probably 
few voters who have not at one time or other opposed him. 
In uniform succession he has been opposed by every jour- 
nal published in Providence, and as a rule this opposition has 
been merciless, if not bitter and unreasonable. He has been 
opposed at one time by Democrats, then by Republicans, 
then by the Independents, then by the chief tax-payers, 
then by every department of the city government, and 
always by a hopeful minority. His relations to the City 
Council have usually been those of hearty disagreement on 
almost everything. The veto messages written by Mayor 
Doyle would fill a stout folio volume. He has rarely had 
the support of conservative financiers, and he has never 
attempted a personal policy or a policy of conciliation. 
While expressing cordial dislike for all sorts of men, cor- 
porations, and interests, he has ever been ready to give 
every citizen full information on all city matters, and he 
does not seem to have known what wire-pulling, secret ar- 
rangements, and quiet understandings meant. He has been 
frank, upright, and straightforward to the last degree — so 
much so that any man could at any time learn what the 
Mayor wanted or opposed. Rarely has a mayor resisted 
popular measures more frankly, or advocated unpopular 
policies more courageously. That his career is not free 
from mistakes and blunders goes without saying. But he 
knows his city more thoroughly than does any corpora- 
tion ; he chose to decline a re-election for reasons satisfac- 
tory to himself; and he quits office with the proud record 
that Providence is one of the best governed of all Ameri- 
65 



can cities. When Mr. Doyle entered office Providence 
was little more than a large manufacturing village; it is 
now a city with all the advantages of a little metropolis. 
Its credit is equal to that of the richest cities in the coun- 
try; its prospects are excellent. It is certain that Mayor 
Doyle had something to do with all this; and it is equally 
certain that his whole record is absolutely free from the 
taint of jobbery, dishonesty, or malfeasance. Mistakes 
have been made ; but they have been made in broad day- 
light. A large debt has been accumulated ; but the city 
has received full value. And altogether Mr. Doyle closes 
a service as unparalleled as it is deserving of studious at- 
tention on the part of those interested in the difficult and 
undefined art of municipal government.*' 



'■J^ K A DLEY, Hon. Charles Smith, LL.D., ex-Chief- 
Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 
i^~ S son of Charles and Sarah (Smith) Bradley, was 
T ^ born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, July 19, 
J" 1819. His father, born in Andover, Massachu- 
setts, was a merchant and manufacturer in Portland and in 
Boston. His mother, the daughter of Jonathan K. Smith, 
of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was a granddaughter of Rev. 
Hezekiah Smith, D.D., an eloquent preacher, able writer, 
and a conspicuous chaplain in the Revolutionary army, 
who for more than forty years was one of the Fellows of 
Brown University, bringing that institution under perpet- 
ual obligations by his labors for its sustenance and endow- 
ment. The subject of this sketch enjoyed excellent early 
advantages, and prepared for college in the Boston Latin 
School, and was drawn to Brown University by the great 
regard he had for his great-grandfather. He entered the 
University in 1834, and graduated in 1838 with the highest 
honors of his class, which contained an unusual number of 
distinguished men. In due course he received the degree 
of A.M. Several of his post graduate years were spent as 
tutor in the University. Choosing the legal profession, he 
attended Harvard Law School, and finally studied in the 
law-office of Charles F". Tillinghast, in Providence, with 
whom he formed a business copartnership on his being ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1841. His proficiency in law studies, 
and particularly his talent for public speaking, soon brought 
him into wide public notice. His eloquence and pol- 
ished diction led to his appointment to often speak on 
political and literary occasions. In 1854 he was elected 
by North Providence to the Senate of the State, where he 
was influential in securing the Act of Amnesty to all who 
were involved in the Dorr Rebellion of 1842. At a public 
meeting in Providence June g, 1856, relative to the assault 
of Brooks upon Sumner in the United States Senate, he 
said : " Is it not well that the second city in New England 
—the first which is not connected by any personal ties with 
Mr. Sumner — should speak of this outrage, not in the first 
flush of our indignation, but in the tones of deliberate con- 



5U 



BIOGKAPIIICAL CYCL OI'EDIA. 



ilciniKiliiiii ? . . , \\ L- knoAv tliat lnutality anil cuwanlice 
go liainl in haml, because- brutal jiassimi^ and tiuc moral 
courage cannot liannoni/,e in the same character. ... If 
the South uplioliK till-, act, the antagonism of their civiliza- 
tion and ours will mount higher, and come closer and 
closer; and it reijuires no horoscojje to show the future." 
While he has Ijcen a conscientious and constant adherent 
of the Democratic jiarty, he has been a stanch and heroic 
defender of law — *' the monarch of us all " — and his lellow- 
citizens of all parties have reposed great confidence in him. 
He has repeatedly represented Rhode Island in National 
Democratic Conventions, notably that of lS6o, when the 
party was divided, and he adhered to the Unionists, cast- 
ing his vote for Stephen A. Douglas. In 1S63 he was the 
Democratic nominee for Congress. In February, 1S66, he 
was elected Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode 
Islaml, as successoi- of Hon. S.Luuiel Ames, and for over 
two year-, held that high posuion with great honor to him- 
self ant-1 to the State, \\ hen he resigned to resume profes- 
sional jiractice antl giNe that attention to business afiairs 
that the exacting nature of judicial iluties precluded. On 
his retirement from the bench the PioviJiiue Jinirnal ob- 
serveil : " He has discharged the duties belonging to that 
high ])o^ition with a success, and, we may add, a judicial 
distinction, in wdiich the peti[)le of the Slate feel both a 
.satisfaction and pride, and wliicli they had hoped he would 
long continue ti> illustrate in a sjihere so honoralile and 
imjiortant.'' At the opening of the Rhode Island Ibjs- 
pital, on which occasion $80,000 were subscribed to the 
endow mcnt of the institution. Judge Bradley, himself being 
a generous donor, remarked in his address : " Every hu- 
man being is united, by mysterious ties, with all of the 
past and all of the future. Those who mo.^t fully realize 
the greatness of our Ijeing have the strongest desire to live 
after death, even on earth. It is no personal ambition, but 
a diviner instinct, which leads such natures to found, or 
to .lily themselves with, great iii^litutiijns, whose perennial 
existence of beneficence shall outlast their names and their 
memories among men. . . . ( )ur State will l)ear proudly 
on its bosom through coming centuries this institution, ex- 
[iressing in its object and its architecture the humanity of 
the age. ... In aiding, you place stones of beauty in these 
walls, whereon the All-seeing Eye, it may not irreverently 
be said, shall read your name, though time and storm shall 
jiave written their wild signatures upon them. . . . The 
sons and daughters of toil, as tiie day c.ills them to work 
and the night to rest, will look upon these towers, 
blending with the morning and the evening sky, with 
their tearful benedictions. In the time of illness or ac- 
cident, if the struggle of life presses too hard upon them, 
this shall be their honorable refuge, buihled with a beneli- 
ccnce akin to, and sanctioned by, the Divine." In 1S66 
Judge Brailley received the honorary degree of LI..]), 
from Brown University, and was also elected one of 
the bellows of that institution. Botli in professional 



and public life he has maintained a high and influential 
[josition. For three years he officiated as Lecturer in the 
Law School of Harvard L^niversity. In 1S76 he was chosen 
Professor of that school and filled the chair with remarkable 
ability till 1S79. On his retirement the Board of Overseers 
through their chairman, Juilge Lowell, said: "We have 
suffered a great loss in the resignation of Hon. Charles S. 
Bradley, whose lucid and practical teaching was highly ap- 
preciated l)y the students, ani.1 whose national reputation 
added to the renown of the school. We had hoped that 
some incidental advantage of tpiiet and freedom from care 
might be found to outweigh other considerations, and that 
the professorsliij) was permanently filled." Judge Bradley 
has travelled widely in our own country and at different 
times has visited nearly all portions of Euro])e. With his 
love of letters and broad scholarship he unites a genuine 
and strong love for agricultural scenes and rural enjoyments, 
w Iiich he himself is disposed to regard as in no small degree 
an inherited pa-sion. The grounds about his elegant pri- 
vate residence, his farm property and products, and his at- 
tachment to ancestral estates, are a proof of his apjireciatimr 
of all that lieloirgs to the ohlest and most important of 
human employments. His taste and culture are manifest in 
his strong passion for superior works of art, some of the rarest 
specimens of which enrich and embellish his residence. His 
oration before the .\lumni Association of Brown L'niversity 
in I.Si;5,his oration on the 250th anniversary of the landing 
of the I'llgrims at Plymouth, his remarks on the retirement 
of President Casw ell from the presidency of the L'niversity 
in iS72,and his oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society 
of Harvard University in 1879, were models of rich thought, 
graceful tliction, and lucid argument, vindicating his light 
to be classed as one of the most impressive orators of our 
country. Of this last effort the Boston Daily AJvcrtisi-i- 
oliserved : " If there were any need for justification of the 
custom of annual addresses before the college societies, 
such an address as Jutlge Bradle\''s yesterday ga^■e that 
justitication c<-»m[iletely. It is, indeed, remarkable to see 
an audience of so distinguishetl meir of leading position in 
every walk of life. It is remarkable to have so much good 
sense, so many important suggestions, nay, so inany of the 
fundamental truths upon which civilized society rests 
crowded into one hour. The power of the speaker on his 
audience, the hold with which he comjielled their fascina- 
ted attention were again and again referre<l to through the 
afternoon. This is not simply the attention which people 
give to what they hear with pleasure, it was the satisfaction 
with which the audience received important principles, of 
which they felt the value, whether they were or were not 
new to the hearer. ]',ra pro ^ratiis\\\^i:^Oi might well be 
taken as the motto of the address. The passage which 
showed how the bar of the country must be relied upon to 
maintain at the highest the dignity of the bench w as received 
with jirol'ound sympathy and interest. It deserves the care- 
ful attention of the bar in every part of the country." His 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPF.DIA. 



S15 



oration on "The Profession of the Law as an Element of 
Civil Society," pronounced June 29, 18S1, before the So- 
cieties of the University of Virginia, was regarded " as a 
learned and profound discussion of this suliject," in which 
he argued that " the bar is essential to the administration 
of justice, that the administration of justice is essential to 
the existence of society, and the existence of society essen- 
tial for the protection of man in his endeavors to live ac- 
cording to the laws of his being." He married (i) April 
28, 1842, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Whipple) 
Manton, of Providence. She was born March 10, 1S18, 
and died December 12, 1854, leaving three sons, two of 
whom are now (1881) living, Charles and (ieorge L. 
Joseph Manton died March 7, 1879. J"<:'ge Bradley mar- 
ried (2) August 4, 1858, Charlotte Augusta Saunders, of 
Charlottesville, Virginia. She died in May, 1864, leaving 
a son, James Saunders, who died January 19, 1880. He 
married (3) in May, 1866, Emma Pendleton (Ward) 
Chambers, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She died Feb- 
ruary 28, 1875. 

RjAN SLVCK, Nicholas, lawyer, was born at Pine 
Plains, near Kinderhook, New York, July 2S, 
1829, and is the eldest son of Hugh and Orminta 



Matilda (Pulver) Van Slyck. His ancestors on his 
J father's side were among the earliest settlers of 
Kinderhook, having come to this country in 1655, and his 
maternal ancestors lived at Pine Plains for several genera- 
tions. He pursued his elementary studies in the district 
school of his native town ; prepared for college at the 
Kinderhook Academy, under the tuition of Silas Metcalf, 
an able instructor; and in the autumn of 1846 entered the 
Sophomore class of Williams College, Wiili.-imstown, 
Massachusetts, from which institution he graduated in 
1849. ' Among his classmates were several persons who 
have since become distinguished in literary and professional 
walks. Mr. Van Slyck studied law at Kmderhook, and 
was admitted to the New York bar December 2, 1850. He 
pursued his profession in the city of New York until the 
fall of 1855, when he removed to Providence, where he 
soon acquired a lucrative practice. Upon his removal to 
the latter city he formed a law partnership with Hon. 
George H. Browne, a graduate of Brown University, with 
whom he is still associated. Mr. Van Slyck's professional 
career extends over a period of twenty-five years, and has 
been attended with eminent success. Although engaged 
in a general practice, he has been especially successful as 
an advocate in jury trials. At the outbreak of the Civil 
War, in 1861, he was Colonel of the Providence Artillery, 
and in command of a company detached therefrom, he 
entered the service of the United States, in response to the 
first call for troops, his company forming a part of the 
First Regiment, Rhode Island Detached Militia. He 
participated in the first battle of Bull Run, and afterward 
served as lieutenant-colonel. He aided in organizing the 



Ninth Rhode Island Regiment, and soon afterward re- 
signed his commission, returned home, and resumed the 
practice of his profession. His professional abilities were 
early recognized, and caused him to be called upon to fill 
various positions in public life. He has served for many 
years with great efficiency as a member of the Providence 
School Committee, of which body he is now President. 
He was a member of the City Council, from the Fifth 
Ward, from June, 1S70, to August 10, 1S74, and was pre- 
siding officer of that body from June, 1873, to August, 
1874, when he was elected City Solicitor, wdiich position, 
by various elections, he still holds. As chairman of the 
Joint Special Committee on Education, of the Common 
Council, he was influential in obtaining the plans and se- 
curing the erection of the school-house on Point and Plane 
streets. In 1875 he was elected to the General Assembly 
of Rhode Island, and served three years as a member of 
that body. He has been a member of the Masonic Fra- 
ternity since 1858, and has held various positions in that 
order, including that of Grarkd Master of Masons in Rhode 
Island, and Grand Commander of Knights Templar of 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He married, November 
I, 1854, P. Elizabeth Manchester, daughter of Captain 
C. B. Manchester, of Providence. Their children are 
Cyrus Manchester, a graduate of Brown University ; Mary 
Helen ; Abbie Lizzie; and Emma M.itilda. 




aATTESON, Hon. Ch.\ri.ks, Associate Justice of 
the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, son of 
Asahel and Julia M. (Johnson) Matteson, was 

born in Coventry, Rhode Island, March 21, 1S40. 

His father, a merchant in Coventry, has served for 
several years as a State Senator. The subject of this sketch re- 
ceived his early education in a private school in Providence, 
and at the Providence Conference Seminary in East Green- 
wich, after which he served for two years as a clerk in his 
father's store. He then re-entered the Greenwich Academy, 
and in 1S56 began studies in the University Grammar .School 
in Providence, preparatory to entering college. In 1857 
he was matriculated in Brown University, from which he 
was graduated in iS6i. Choosing the legal profession, he 
studied for one year in the office of Wingate Hayes, then 
United States District Attorney for Rhode Island, and then 
pursued a thorough law course at Harvard Law School. 
In January, 1864, he was admitted to the bar in Rhode 
Island, and began the practice of his profession in Provi- 
dence, at first alone, but in 1865 became associated with 
Mr. Hayes, under the law-firm of Hayes & Matteson. This 
copartnership continued until July i, 1871, when he re- 
sumed practice alone, and became the attorney for various 
corporations. He likewise served efficiently as director 
and trustee of several corporate institutions of the State. 
His ability as a lawyer, and his fidelity to important trusts, 
led to his election, in January, 1875, to the bench of the 
Supreme Court of the State, which position he assumed the 



5.6 



BIOGRArilJCAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



f illowing month, ami wlierc he is still serviiii; with linnnr. 
He married, August 22, 1S73, Belle llines, daughter of 
Paul nines, a manufacturer of Warwick, Rhode Island. 



IWilpAN ZANDT, Hon. Charles Collins, ex-Gover- 
p'i»|iii.''i nor of Rhode Island, son of Edward and Lydia 
^'"" Bradford (Collins) Van Zandt, was liorn in New- 
f|||> port, Rhode Island, August 10, iSjo. His father 
^T was a native of New York, where he spent most of 
his life, and died in Brooklyn, in May, 1S6S. His grand- 
father, Wynant Van Zandt, descended from one of the 
oldest of the Dutch families that settled in New York, the 
progenitor having come over in the first ship that brought 
colonists. His grandmother was Maria Underhill, of West- 
chester County. She lived to the advanced age of about 
ninety years. Her grandfather held a grant, froin the King, 
of the whole of Westchester County, under the title of 
" Ijoril Mayor of Westchester." His mother, wdio is still 
living (iSSo), is the daughter of Hon. Charles Collins, of 
Bristol, Rhode Island, for nine years Lieutenant-Governor 
of Rhode Island. She was granddaughter of Hon. Wil- 
liam Bradford, of Mount Hope, a lineal descendant of 
Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony. Hon. 
W'illiam Bradford was Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives of Rhode Island, Lieutenant-Governor of the 
State, and a Senator to Congress from March, 1793, to 
October, 1797. Charles Collins Van Zandt was brought 
uji under the particular care of his grandfather Collins, 
and after passing through the schools of Newport and a 
select school in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, entered Trinity 
College, Connecticut, graduating in the class of 1S51. 
One of his classmates was Charles J. Hoadley, State Li- 
brarian of Connecticut. After pursuing a course of law 
study with Hon. Thomas C. Perkins, District Attorney of 
Hartford, Connecticut, anfl with Hon. Alfred Bosworth,of 
Warren, Rhode Island, afterwards Judge of the Supreme 
Court of the State, he was admitted to the bar in March, 
1S53, and commenced the jjractice of his profession in 
Newport, where he has continued to reside. His strong 
literary tastes, love of books, and oratorical gifts fitted him 
to be an advocate rather than ofifice counsellor. He has 
contributed largely to many periodicals. In 1855 he was 
elected City Solicitor of Newport, and filled that position 
for many years. In the same year he was chosen Clerk of 
the House of Representatives of the State, and served for 
two years in that ofi'ice. In 1857 he was elected a member 
of the 1 louse of Kepresentalives, from New]iort. and served 
the State in tlie Assembly for many years with signal suc- 
cess, being chosen .Speaker of the House from 1858 to 
1S59, and from 1S66 to 1S69, and again from 1 87 1 to 1873. 
He was elected to the State Senate, from Newport, from 
1873 to 1874, and was chairman of the .Senate Judiciary 
Committee. From 1S73 to 1S75 he was tlie Lieutenant- 
Governor of the Stair, and also served as President of 



the Senate. In 1S77 he was elected Governor, and, after 
serving for three years, declined a re-election. In the 
presidential campaign of 1864, with Governor Morton, of 
Indiana, and Governor Brough, of Ohio, he spoke through- 
out the Middle States in favor of the re-election of President 
Lincoln. He has also taken a prominent part in other po- 
litical campaigns. At the Chicago Convention, 1868, that 
noiuinated General Grant for the Presidency, he was Chair- 
man of the State Delegation, as he also was in the Repub- 
lican Convention in 1S76, that nominated President Hayes. 
His literary ability, scholaidy attainments, broad political 
principles and Christian urbanity have been apparent 
throughout his public career. Numerous have been his ora- 
tions and poems, before literary societies, and his addresses 
at mass meetings and political assemblies. State conven- 
tions, temperance conventions, and benevolent and social 
gatherings. Special praise was awarded to his orations 
delivered at the laying of the corner-stone of the State 
monument for soldiers and sailors that fell in the Civil 
War, and at the semi-centennial of the Rhode Island So- 
ciety for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry; also 
to his poems delivered before the Literary Societies and 
Alumni of Brown University, Dartmouth College, Colby 
University, Waterville College, Norwich University, and 
Trinity College, his poem delivered before the Army of the 
Potomac and the Grand Army of the Republic, at New 
Haven, and the Centennial Poem before St. John's Lodge 
of Rhode Island. Rhode Island has never had a readier 
and more pleasing extemporaneous speaker — a man equal 
to all occasions — than Governor Van Zamlt. President 
Hayes offered him the position of United States Minister to 
Russia, but he declined the honor. He is an attendant of 
the Congregational Church. On the 12th of Februai^, 
1S63, he married Arazelia Greene, daughter of the well- 
known poet, Albert G. Greene, one of the Presidents of the 
Rhode Island Historical Society. 



iQpTEERE, Hi'-NRY JoN.\n, son of Jonah and Alice 
jtjS™ (Smith) -Steere, was born in Providence, Rhode 
^3^ Island, April II, 1830. His father, a saddler and 
' T harnessmaker, and an esteemed and prospered citizen, 
J" died Septend>er 25, 1 87 1. The lineage of the Steere 
fainily is traced to Jolin Steere, one of the first settlers of 
Providence, whose grant of land, fronting on South Main 
Street, lay south of Hanover, now College Street. Henry 
J. had a sister who <lied in infancy, hence, on the death of 
his parents, as the oidy surviving child, he inherited the 
estate for which his parents had long and prudently toiled. 
He received excellent home training, pursued the regular 
course of study in the public schools, and after graduating 
from the High School was engaged as a bank clerk, serv- 
ing at different periods the Merchants', the Traders', and 
the Grocers and Producers' Banks. Capability and fidelity 
secured his advancement. His extensive business career 
with the firm of OIney iV Metcalf (Stephen 



was commenceu 




yr y'. 



/XV- 'y 



yj /^ ^ ' c. 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



S'7 



T. Olney and Jesse Metcalf), having an interest in the 
business, which at first was simply dealing in wool, but 
was gradually enlai'ged to include the manufacture of 
woollen goods. He became associated with them in their 
manufacturing enterprise. After operating different mills, 
the firm in 1862 erected the large, thoroughly appointed, 
and now widely known Wanskuck Mills, in the Tenth 
Ward of Providence. This successful firm is now known 
as the Wanskuck Company, and is engaged chiefly in 
the manufacture of plain and staple woollen goods. 
Since 1869 Mr. Steere has been the treasurer of the com- 
pany. On the death of Mr. Olney the affairs of the firm 
fell substantially into the hands of Mr. Metcalf and Mr. 
Steere. In the manufacturing interests of Rhode Island 
this company holds a prominent position. Though Mr. 
Stcere's duties confine him much to his oflice, and are of a 
quiet nature, he has yet taken a deep interest in all public 
affairs, particularly those of a monetary and benevolent 
character, but has studiously avoided political offices. He 
early identified himself with the military force of the city, 
being a member of the First Light Infantry Company, and 
during the Civil War was a lieutenant on duty at Ports- 
mouth Grove, near the Lowell General Hospital. He 
accompanied the corps in 1S60 in their visit to Cleveland, 
Ohio, on the occasion of the dedication of Commodore 
Perry's monument. He is a director of the Northern 
Bank, the Globe National Bank, the Fifth National Bank, 
the City Savings Bank, the Providence Washington Insur- 
ance Company, and the Economical Insurance Company. 
He is a member of the Franklin Society, of the Rhode 
Island Historical .Society, and a trustee of the Rhode Island 
Hospital. His interest in the church he attends, and of 
which his father was an honored member for more than 
fifty years, — the Beneficent Congregational Church, — has 
been manifested by building for the society a beautiful 
and substantial chape! at a cost of more than thirty thou- 
sand dollars, designating the building as a memorial to his 
father. His contributions have been constant and large 
to various needy churches, and to all the charitable insti- 
tutions of the city. Though much confined by his business 
interests, he has travelled in the western and southern por- 
tions of our country. His large and elegant mansion on 
Benefit Street, purchased in 1876, contains rare paintings, 
statuary, and books, which have been the means of stimu- 
lating the artistic taste of the city. 




ipOSE, Rev. James Gardiner, D.D., pastor of the 
Beneficent Congregational Church, Providence, 
was born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 3, 
1830. His father, Colonel Josiah H. Vose, was an 
officer in the United States Army, and served in 
Florida in the Seminole War, and in the War of i8l2. 
His mother's maiden name was Charlotte Cushing. She 
was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of New 



England. The Vose genealogy in this country is traced 
back to Robert Vose, who came from England and settled 
at Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1654. Dr. Vose's paternal 
grandfather, Colonel Joseph Vose, commanded the First 
Massachusetts Regiment in the Revolutionary War, and 
was brevetted Brigadier-General by order of Congress, 
September 30, 17S3. He was an original member of the 
Massachusetts Society of Cincinnati. Dr. Vose received 
his preparatory education at Worcester, Milton Academy, 
and Phillips (Andover) Academy, where he graduated in 
1847. He entered Yale College the same year, and gradu- 
ated from that institution in 1 851. On leaving Vale Col- 
lege he entered Andover Theological Seminary, from which 
he graduated in 1854. From 1856 to 1865, he served as 
Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Amherst 
College ; was ordained to the work of the ministry in Am- 
herst Chapel, October 20, 1857, and has been pastor of the 
Beneficent Congregational Church, in Providence, since 
January, 1866. In 1855-6 he visited Europe and spent 
several months in Italy and Germany, and revisited Europe 
in 18S0. In 1874 Brown University conferred upon him 
the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He has long been an 
active worker in the cause of education, and for the past 
five years has served as a member of the School Committee 
of Providence. He is an hereditary member of the Mas- 
sachusetts Society of Cincinnati, and a corporate member 
of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions. Dr. Vose possesses fine literary taste and supe- 
rior ability as a writer. He is a close thinker, and his ser- 
mons, addresses and lectures e.\hibit deep research and 
scholarly finish. He is very popular with the membership 
of his own society as pastor and teacher, and is very effi- 
cient and successful in the administration of all departments 
of church work, including that of the Sabbath-school, in 
which he takes special interest. He married, August 19, 
1S56, Charlotte E., daughter of Hon. Franklin and Char- 
lotte (Barrett) Ripley, of Greenfield, Massachusetts. They 
have five children, Charlotte Ripley, Sarah Franklin, Josiah 
Howe, Elizabeth Eliot, and Robert Henry. 



^^^fl^'^NGELL, Hon. James Burrill, LL.D., President 
of the University of Michigan, Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary to China, was born in the town of Scitu- 

ate, Rhode Island, on the 7th of January, 1829. 

His parents were Andrew Aldrich and Amey (Al- 
drich) Angell. His father was a farmer, in comfortable 
circumstances, who, in addition to his other employments, 
kept a hotel known as the " Angell Tavern." His mother 
was a woman of rare worth, e.\ceedingly amiable in dispo- 
sition, and vivacious in temperament. From her the son 
inherits many of those traits of character which have so 
eminently distingui.shed him. He early developed a love 
for study and reading, which soon placed him far in ad- 
vance of his playmates and associates at the village schoid. 



5iS 



BlOGRAnUCAL Ci CLOPRDIA. 



Having decitled upon a college course, he was, at the age 
of fourteen, sent to the University nrammar Sclinol in 
I'roviclence, where he eiiji'vecl the superior instruetion of 
111'. Merrick Lyon, and of Dr. H. S. hrie^e, who has for 
many year> been Professor of I.alin in tiie l'ni\'ersity over 
wdiich Mr. Angell now presides. In tlie fall of 1S45 he 
entered the Freshman class of lirown I'niver^ity, under 
the presidency of the celei>rated r)r. Wayland. I'Voni this 
institution he was graduated in 1S49, with valedictory hon- 
ors. The period of his residence in college is still reinem- 
V»ered as distinguished for tlie number of its accomplished 
scholars, and among them, l>y te^tinloIly alike of officers 
and students, President .\ngell was lir^t. He had a 
siir))risiiig aptitude for all kinds nf knowledge. Prom- 
inent as a classical scholar, he showed erpial facility in 
mastering the sciences, while in the <kp,iitn]ents of 
literature, history and philosophy he was an enthusiast. 
It was during his collegiate course that iie became espe- 
cially interested in religious truth, attaching himself, after 
long and thoughtful examination of denominational pecu- 
liarities, to the Congregational Church. Immediately al'ter 
graduating he was appointed assistant librarian, under Dr. 
R. A. Guild, who pre^ides over this dep.ntment of the 
I'niversity. Here, in this choice and well-selecied library, 
was fostered and developed a ta^te for liil)liography, and 
that knowledge and love of books w hich has been of such 
signal service to him in his professional lite. He was also 
engaged in private teaching, one of his pupils being the 
late Thomas P. Ives, Esq. In 1 85 1 he went to Europe, 
wdiere he spent two years in study and travel. From his 
foreign residence he was recalled to take the chair of Mod- 
ern Languages and Liter.iture in I'.rown University. This 
jiosition he hllctl with the most gratifying success until the 
year iSoo, developing the highest qualities of a teacher, 
and inspiring enthusiasm on the part tif the undergraduates, 
who learned to love him as a man, and to reserence and 
respect him for his rare culture and gifts. Fhning the last 
two years of his professorship he had written many of the 
leading articles in the Pnn'iih'iiiC yotinial, a paper which 
has always been distinguished for superior editorial ability. 
l'|i<ui the election of the H.in. Henry B. .\nthony to the 
Sen. lie of the United States, he offered I'lofessor Angell 
the entire editorial care of his ])aper, which offer was 
accepted. For six years he held this im|iorlant and trying 
position, conducting the Joiirn.il through the entire period 
of the Civil War, preserving it loyal in all its ultrrances 
and unfaltering in its support of the government. In the 
midst of political life he still retanied his academic tastes, 
and when in I.S66 the presidency of the University of Ver- 
mont was ohered him, he ]n*om])tly accepted the piosition, 
and in .\ugust of that year entered iqi<pn his new duties. 
His inaugur.il address, jirejiared in the shortest ]iossible 
notice, attrai.:te<l universal attention for the eloijuence of 
its delivery, its classic lluisli, a?id the grasp it showed of 
the educational jiroblem w ith w liii li lie w.i^ called to ileal. 



Dining the five years that he remained in Vemiont the in- 
stitution prospere<l under his care, while he became widely 
and fa\oralily known as a citizen. His native .Stale did 
ntit meanw liile forget him. His .Alma Mater, in iStiS, gave 
him her highest degree, that of Doctor of Laws, and in 
1809 selected him ftn" the address before the .\Uunni. In 
1S71 he resigned his position in Vermont to enter iqion the 
more anluous and important duties of President of the 
University of Michigan. This position he has continued 
to hold until the present time, with constantly increasing 
usefulness and success. The number of students under 
his adniini>tialion has increased from one thousand to four- 
teen hundred, and all the departments of instruction have 
been materially extended and enlarged. (_)n the oth of 
.\pril, iSSo, the United States .Senate, m executive session, 
confirmed President Angell as Envoy Extraordinary and 
Miirister I'lenipotentiary to China, constituting him, with 
John F. Swift, of California, and William H. Trescott, of 
South Carolina, a Commission to negotiate and conclude 
by treaty a settlement of such matters of interest to the 
two gtivernments now pending between the same as may 
be confided to it. He sailed from San Francisco in June, 
expecting to be absent from College duties one year. Mr. 
.\ngell marricil, Xovember 26, 18^5, Sarah S. Caswell, 
daughter of the lale President .Alexis Caswell, of Provi- 
dence. Two sons and a daughter are the fruits of this 
marriage — Alexis Caswell, Lois Thompson, and James 
Rowland — all of whom are nr)w liviitfj. 



'FRRLSIPiFF FAMILY. Ciiarifs Frkhekick 
111 KRKsIliiI'l', the first of the name that came to 
.Vmerica, born in Minden. Prussia, ami married 
'y'^ Sarah Brown, second daughter of b'hn IJiown, di 
'& I-'rovidence, Rhode Island, July 2, I Sol. Their 
children, three of whom are now living, w ere .\nna Francis, 
Sarah, John Brown, deceased, Charles Frederick, and Agnes 
Frederica, deceased. Charles Frederick, through wdiose 
family the name of Herreshoff has become known through- 
out the world, was born in Providence, July 26, 1S09, and 
was eihicated at Ihown University, wdiere he graduated in 
1S2S. .M'ter leaving college he engaged in agricultural 
pursuit^, and spent several years in improving the Point 
Plea-^ant harm, in Bristol, wdiich was purchased in 17S0 
by John Bioun. In 1S56 he removed to the town of Bris- 
tol, where the family now resides. He married Julia Ann 
Lewi-,, of Boston, M.iy I '^, 1833. His children are James 
Briiwii ; Caridine Louisa, who m.arried, August 16, l866, 
E. Stanton Chcsebro, of New York city, a lieutenant in 
the I'nioii .nniv during the Ci\il War, who died t)f disease 
contracted in the service, (October 22, 1875; Charles F'red- 
erick, John liniw n, l.ewds, Sally Brown, Nathanael Greene, 
John Brown Francis, and Julian Lewis. James Brown 
was born March 18, 1834, and w'as educated at Brown 
University. Alter graduating he was engaged for six years 



BIOGRAPIIICA L C J •CI. OPED I A . 



SI9 



as a manufacturing chemist with the Ruinfoixl Chemical 
Company. In 1870 he retired from business to devote 
himself to experimenting, and as a result of his discoveries 
produced the " coil boiler/' now so widely known in this 
and other countries. He made a series of experiments 
with compressed air in air-engines, the results of which 
were never published. In 1875 ^^ married Jane Brown, 
of New York city, since which time he has resided abroad. 
Charles P'redcrick, brother of James Brown Herreshoff, 
was born February 26, 1839. He was educated in the 
schools of Bristol and at East Greenwich Academy, and 
has ever since been engaged in farming at the homestead. 
He married, first, March 19, 1863, Mary Potter, of Tiver- 
ton, Rhode Island, who died Marcli 24, 1S66; and, second, 
Alice Almy, of Tiverton, December 3, 1868. John Brown 
Herreshoff was born April 24, 1841, and educated in the 
schools of Bristol. At the age of fifteen he became totally 
blind. In 1864 he began the business of yacht building in 
Bristol, and for some time was associated with Mr. De.xter 
S. Stone, under the firm-name of Herreshoff & Stone. 
For several years the business has been carried on under 
the style of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. The 
sailing-vessels built soon after the business was commenced 
were famous for speed and thoroughness of construction. 
Prior to 1874, Mr. Herreshoff built 250 yachts of all sizes 
and 1000 boats of other descriptions. About the year 
1873 the character of the business was changed to that of 
building steam-yachts. While building sailing-vessels John 
B. Herreshoff modelled the fastest boats with his own hands. 
Since he began to build steamers his brother, Nathanael 
Greene, has managed the outside business of the company. 
These brothers have improved the " coil boiler," before 
mentioned, and brought it to its present state of perfection. 
The Herreshoff Company now employs one hundred men, 
and for several years has been doing work for the United 
States, English, Russian, .Spanish, and Peruvian govern- 
ments. The steamers built by this company have attained 
the greatest speed of any in the world, and are equally noted 
for their fineness of construction and seaworthiness. John 
Brown Herreshoff married, October 6, 1870, Sarah Lucas 
Kilton, of Boston. His brother Lew is was born February 
3, 1844, and was educated in the schools of Bristol. Na- 
thanael Greene Herreshoff' was born March 18, 1848. He 
was educated at the Institute of Technology in Boston. 
At an early age he showed a talent for mechanical inven- 
tion. After leaving the Institute of Technology he was 
for nine years, from 1869 to 1S78, in the employ of George 
H. Corliss, of Providence, during which time he obtained 
several patents for regulators for steam engines. In 1877 
he procured a patent for a jointed boat, or catamaran, 
which soon became very popular, and has attained the 
greatest speed under sail of anything on record. Since 
1878 he has occupied the po'-ition of superintendent of the 
Herreshoff" Manufacturing Company. The success of the 
company is largely attributable to the fact that the boats 



and engines made by it are modelled by him. John Brown 
Francis Herreshoff was born February 7, 1850. He was 
educated at Brown University, and after graduating, was 
for two years assistant professor of chemistry at the Uni- 
versity, under Professor John H. Appleton. In 1874 he 
removed to New York city, wdiere he was engaged as a 
chemist. In 1S76 he became the Superintendent of Laurel 
Hill Chemical Works on Long Island, and soon afterward 
invented a remarkable process for the manufacture of sul- 
phuric acid. The business under his direction has become 
the largest of the kind in America. He married, February 
9, 1S76, Grace Eugenia Dyer, of Providence, who died 
December 2, 1S80. Julian Lewis Herreshoff was born 
July 29, 1854, and was educated in the schools of Bristol. 
He married, September 11, 1879, Ellen F. Taft, of Bristol. 
John Brown Herreshoff, son of Charles Frederick and 
Sarah (Brown) Herreshoff, was born in Providence, and 
died in Bristol, June u, 1861, in the fifty-sixth year of his 
age. He graduated at Brown University in the class of 
1825. The necrology of that institution for the academ- 
ical year 1860-61 says : " On the maternal side he was the 
grandson of John Brown, one of the founders of the Uni- 
versity, and one of the four brothers of that name who in 
their day contributed so largely to the prosperity of their 
native town. On leaving college he studied law with 
Hon. Samuel W. Bridgham, and was admitted to the bar 
in Providence, but never engaged in practice. His consti- 
tution was always delicate, and he evinced no taste for the 
cares of business. He was never married. He resided the 
greater part of his life in Providence, but ten or twelve 
years previous to his death removed with his sisters to a 
family estate at Point Pleasant, near Bristol, and there he 
spent the remainder of his days. He was quiet and re- 
served in his habits, but warm-hearted and devoted to his 
kindred and friends." 



I 



?.4t«?OUTIIWICK:, James McKenzie, son of Pitts and 
.Mary (Eldred) Southwick, was born in the home- 
stead of his father and grandfather, and the last 
residence of Solomon Southwick, " the printer," 
corner of Washington and Walnut streets, Newport, 
Rhode Island, November 25, 1S30. His great-grandfather, 
Joseph, the elder brother of Solomon, was born in 1719, 
and died in Newport, in 1780. His grandfather, also 
named Joseph, was born in Newport, in 1 746, and died 
there in 1829. He was a man of strong resolution and 
intrepidity, who prosecuted with remarkable energy and 
determination whatever he undertook. In early life he 
engaged in boat-building, and while the British fleet was 
entering the harbor escaped from the Island in one of his 
boats, with his wife and two infant children, and such ef- 
fects as he could gather. He went to Dartmouth, Massa- 
chusetts, and after the Revolutionary War returned to 
Newport, where he resumed his former business, occasion- 



BIOGRAPHICAL C J CL OPED I A. 



ally luiililiiiL; lari^e vesscN. i'iII^ Suiithwick, fatlier of the 
suhjL-ct of this sketch, who was horn in 179S. is stiil living, 
anil iinli! recently has been actively carrying on the business 
establishcti by his father. He has often been engaged in 
marine enterprises, h'or some time during the War of 
1S12 he was one of the garrison at Fort Adams. James 
McKen/ie Southwick enjoyed good school advantages. 
In 1S49 he went to California, where he engaged in mining, 
and while there was a director in the Deer Creek Water 
Company, until he left that State, in 1S54. ()n his return 
to Newport he commenced the cordage, netting, and twine 
business, in which he has since Ci>ntinued, recently addmg 
to it house-furnishing goods. In 1S55 he was elected a 
member of the City Council of Newport. In the discus- i 
sion of the fishery question in the State, he from the first 
took a decided stand in defence of the rights of fishermen, 
and in 1 87 1 prepared a paper upon that subject that was 
pmblished in the Report of the United States Commissioner 
for that year. In 1873 he was chosen a representative from 
Newport to the General Assembly, and served efficiently 
as a member of that liody. He ni.Trried, July JI, 18^6, 
Mary A. (;oods]ieed, daughter of I-,aiah and Mary A. 
(Carr) Goodspeed, of Newport. Mr. Southwick's business 
career at Newport e.xtends over a period of twenty-five 
years, during which time he has done much to advance the 
prosperity of his native city. 



investigating his legal cases, for his high sense of profes- 
sional obligation, and his sincerity ami integrity." He was 
twice married; first, to Mary Anna, daughter of John A. 
P'ield, of Providence, in 1855; and second, to Gertrude, 
daughter of William E. Bowen, of Philadelphia. 



i 



^|^.\RDNER, Hun. John A., lawyer, son of Dr. 
M^r. Johnson and I'liebe Lawton (Sisson) Gardner, Mas 
t]j~' born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, April 10, 1S30. 
^y He was prepared for cidlege by Messrs. Merrick and 
H Emory Lyon, in the University Grammar School, in 
Providence, and was a graduate of Brown University, in 
the class of 1S52. After pursuing the study of medicine 
for a time he concluded to enter the profession of law, and 
became a student in the office of Hon. Wingate Haves. 
He was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1S55, and 
soon after was ap])(..inted Clerk of the Supreme Court, 
which office he held for ten years ( 1S55-1865). He rep- 
resented Providence in the House of Representatives of 
the State two years ( 1S06-1S07). For about four years he 
was the legal adviser of Messrs. A. & W. Sprague. In 
iS7i,upon the resignation of Hon. Wingate Hayes, United 
States District Attorney, he was elected to fill his place. 
He held the office for six years I 1S71-1S77 ), performing 
its duties with fidelity, and rendering acceptable service to 
the government. In 1S77 he resigned his office, and re- 
sumed the more general practice of his profession. While ' 
thus engaged he had a return of heart disease, to which he 
was subject, and after lingering a few munths died, in 
Providence, March 2b, 1S79. "Mr. (ijrdner left behin.l ' 
him," says Professor Lincoln, "a good and lion(.>red name 
among his professional brethren and his elients, for his 
legal knowledge and hi-^ cautious and jiatient method of 



'^^pKARDINER, Jeremi.\h Brigi-:s, Superintendent of 
3t^^ the New York, Providence, and Boston Railroad, 
~^?^ son of Henry and Mahala (Briggs) Gardiner, was 
1'^ born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, July 15^ 
* iSjI. He received his early etlucation in the 
schools of his native place, and came to Providence in 
1S45. Until 1S49 he was a lad in the family of Governor 
William .Sprague, Sr., who this year placed him on 
board of the ship " William Sprague," of which he 
was one-quarter owner, to learn navigation, and fit him 
to become in time a well-trained master of a vessel. 
He was absent from home a little less than two years, 
making a voyage round the world. The second mate 
of the ship having been displaced, at Manilla, early 
in the fall of 1850, Mr. Gardiner was appointed to t.ake 
his place, and held the position during the remainder 
of the voyage, which ended m New York in February, 
1S51. Finding that a sea life was not in accordance either 
with his tastes or his health, he decided to abandon it, 
and to enter the business of railroailing. Soon after the 
chtse of his first and only sea voyage, he received an ap- 
pointment in one of the subordinate departments of the 
New "V'ork, Pro\idence, and Boston Railroad, and by fidel- 
ity and his own merit has w-orked his way up through the 
different offices wliich he has held in this company until 
he has reached his present responsible piosition. He was 
chosen Agent of the " Neptune " Line of steamers, plying 
between Providence and New York, in 1S69, and held 
this oftice four years and a half, when he was appointed 
aj^ent ^-^i the '* .s^t'iiiiiigton " Line of steamers, which ofiice 
he still hohK. In 1873 he was chosen Assistant-Super- 
intendent, and in 1S7S, Superintendent of the New York, 
Providence, and Boston Railroad. He was married, 
Aj'ril II. 18^2, to Eli^a Antoinette, daughter of Tolland 
and Rhoila .\nn Benson. They have had five children, 
three of whom died in infancy, and two are now living, — 
Antoinette Augusta, born January 14, 1855, and Gran- 
ville Sharp, born August 22, 1859, and is now (1880) a 
student of law in the office of Hon. N. F. Dixon, United 
States District Attorney. 



^■.IM.W, Proffssor Jeremiah I fwis, D.D., second 

I'P* son of Byron and Abby Alden (Wight) Diman, 

was born in Bristol, R. I., May I, 1S31. In his early 

('i)' youth he enjoyed superior advantages for mental 

'% culture and discipline, which he diligently improved. 

He was, says a fellow-townsman and schoolmate, a bright, 



BIOGRAPHICAL C VCI. OPED/A. 



S2I 



henlthy, and ingenuous lad, better prepared with liis lessons 
tlian most of the boys, and always ready for a game of ball, 
a swim, or a frolic. He was fitted for college by the 
Rev. James N. .Sikes, a Baptist clergyman settled in the 
place, and at the age of sixteen entered Brown University. 
Even at this early period he manifested a taste for historic 
pursuits, publishing in the Bristol Plicnix a series of papers 
entitled "Annals of Bristol," his material having been 
gathered from the town records and from conversations 
with the old inhabitants. His career in college, says his 
associate and eulogist, was marked by steady growth in 
intellectual power, rather than by e.xiraordinary brilliancy 
of scholarship. He enjoyed the classical studies of his 
freshman and sophomore years, but when the later years 
of the curriculum were reached, it was evident that in lit- 
erary, historical, and philosophical studies, his tastes and 
superior abilities would in after-life assert themselves. He 
was graduated in 1851, having had assigned to him "The 
Classical Oration" for Commencement. His theme, as 
announced in the published programmes, was " The Living 
Principle of Literature." .■Xmong his classmates may be 
mentioned the lamented Daniel J. Glazier, who died just 
as he was about to enter upon the work of the ministry in 
Fall River, Hon. Judge Hamilton B. Staples, of Worcester, 
Hon. John S. Brayton, of Fall River, Rev. Dr. James B. 
Simmons, of New York, Rev. Dr. Warren Randolph, of 
Newport, and, Hon. Frederic Mott, LL.D., of Iowa. 
During his college course Professor Dinian became a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church in Bristol. In his ad- 
mirable notice of his friend and instructor. President Way- 
land, published in the Atlantic Monthly for Januai-y, 1868, 
is one passage which Dr. Murray, in his memorial discourse, 
quotes as a chapter in Diman's own experience. " In the 
most difficult task of dealing with young men at the crisis 
of their spiritual history. Dr. Wayland was unsurpassed. 
How wise and tender his counsels at such a time ! How 
many who had timidly stolen to his study door, their souls 
burdened w'ith strange thoughts and bewildered with un- 
accustomed questionings, remember with what instant ap- 
preciation of their errand, the green shade was lifted frtun 
the eye, the volume thrown aside, and with what genuine 
hearty interest the whole countenance would beam. .At 
such an interview he would often read the parable of the 
returning prodigal, and who that heard could ever forget 
the pathos with which he would dwell upon the words." 
Having chosen the Christian ministry as his vocation in 
life. Professor Diman wisely determined to spend a year 
in general study, and accorilingly he entered the family of 
the Rev. Dr. Thatcher Thayer, of Newport, under whose 
superintendence he pursued a course of philosophy, theol- 
ogy, and classics. In the fall of 1852 he entered the The- 
ological Seminary at .'Vndover, Massachusetts, where he 
remained two years. In the summer of 1S54 he sailed for 
Europe, having decided to pursue a course of study in 
the German universities. He travelled on the Continent, 
66 



and studied theology, philosophy, and history under the 
great teachers of Halle, Heiilelberg, and Berlin, spending 
a spring vacation at Munich in the study of art. Return- 
ing in the spring of 1856, he again resumed his studies at 
Andover, from which institution he was graduated in the 
ensuing summer. In the fall of this year he was settled as 
pastor of the First Congregational Church in Fall River, 
where he remained four years, gaining a widespread repu- 
tation for eloquence and learning, and securing friends 
among all denominations by his kindly spirit and his broad, 
liberal views. In the summer of 1858 he was invited to 
settle over the Congregational Church in Hartford as a 
colleague with the celebrated Dr. Bushnell. This in\ita- 
tion he felt obliged to decline. In i860 he accepted a call 
to Brookline, Massachusetts, as pastor of the HaiTard Con- 
gregational Church. Here he remained until 1864, when 
he was appointed, through the influence of the late Presi- 
dent Sears, Professor of History and Political Economy in 
Brown University, filling a vacancy occasioned by the 
resignation of Professor William Ganimell, LL.D. In 
this new and important position he soon distinguished 
himself by devotion to his work and by his rare scholar- 
ship and attainments, being in the words of his eulogist : 
" The embodiment of what the occupant of the chair of 
history in our leading colleges should be ;" possessing an 
enlarged and comprehensive conception of the philosophy 
of history and of the relation of divine to human affiiirs, 
and being withal "apt to teach," he magnified his office 
until his department became without question the best and 
most eflective of any chair of history in all the institutions 
of education in the land. In 1870 he w.is honored with 
the degree of Doctor of Divinity, conferred upon him by 
the Board of Fellows of the University. In 1S73 he was 
elected a corresponding member of the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society, an honor of which he was deservedly proud. 
Professor Dim.an was often called upon to deliver sermons, 
addresses, and lectures on important occasions, many of 
wdiich have been published. Among these may be men- 
tioned a sermon delivered October 16, 1867, in the chapel 
of Brown University, at the request of the Faculty, in com- 
memoration of Rev. Robinson Potter Dunn, D.D., for many 
years Professor of Rhetoiic in the University. "The 
Method of Academic Culture," an address delivered before 
the Phi Beta Kappa .Society of Amherst College, July 6, 
1869, and afterwards published in the New Englander. 
" Historical Basis of Belief," one of the Boston lectures 
delivered in 1870. " The Alienation of the Educated Class 
from Politics," an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa So- 
ciety, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, delivered June 29, 

1876, and afterwards published by Sidney S. Rider. An 
address delivered at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, July 10, 

1877, at the Centennial Celebration of the capture of Gen- 
eral Prescott by Lieutenant-Colonel Barton ; this was after- 
wards published with notes, forming No. I of Rider's 
Rhode Island Historical Tracts. An address delivered 



HIO G/xA /V//( '. ; /. C YCLorEDIA. 



(Ictolicr l6, 1S77, .It Ilic iL-c|Ut.'--t cif tliL- iiuiiikipnl .lulhiiii- 
ties of I'l'tviilriu 1-, Ujniii i!r' uciasiim nl tlic (Iclicaliun of 
the mi'iuinifnt in roiiiiiR'iiiiir.itinii nl the lite and services 
of the veiicLiteil founder ol the Stale, m Rosier Wilhams 
Park. .\n address at the <ledication of the Rogers Free 
Library at liristol, delivered January 12, 1S7S. Twenty 
lectures on the " Thirty Years' W.ir," delivered in 1S79, 
before the professors and students of Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, Baltimore, Maryland. Twelve lectures on ■' Im- 
manent Finality," before the Lowell Iiistilute, Boston, de- 
livered in the sprinL,' of iSSo. The^e lectures he had 
engaged to repeat at I'.altiuiore, and the programme had 
already been ])rinted at the time of his lamented decease. 
He delivereil liefore an immense gathering the historical 
address at the tuo hundredth anniversary of his native 
town, in the fall of 18S0, » Inch aildress has since been pub- 
lished with the proceedings. I'rofessor Dinian also furnished- 
leading articles lor the I't-oviJcitie Jfiiriuil, the lYoil/i 
Amnieaii R.-vinv. the XhIi.'H. and other jiapers and peri- 
odicals. His article entitled " Religion in America, 1776 
-1S76," published in the January number of the Xorth 
AtHfiiian Riviiw, attracted universal altmtion. He edited 
" John Cotton's Answer to Roger Williams," in the second 
volume of " I'ulilications of the Narraganselt riub," and 
also " (.ieorge F'ox Digg'd out of his liurrowes," constiiul- 
ing the hfth volume of the same set He aKo furnished 
one of tlie sketches in the nieniiuial volume entitled 
" Brown University in the (ail War." In the midst of his 
fame and usefulness, and w liile in the en](.)) nieiit of jierfect 
he.ilth he was attacked with malignant eiysipelas, and after 
.1 sickness of less than a week died 1 hursday afternoon, 
February 3, iS.Sl, In his lilf ulh year. The intelligence of 
his sudden decease was speedily spread thouighou! the city, 
causing everywhere exjiressions of prolouiul sorrow and 
regret. College exercises were at once suspended until 
after the funeral, which occurred on Monday following. 
( )n the nuiriung of ih.it day the (ielier.il .Xssembly met, and 
after suitable remarks on the |>art of various members, ad- 
journed, as a tribute of res|iecl for an eminent scholar and 
divme, who had retlected honor on the .St.ile of his birih 
by his distinguished services and his person. il character. 
The Hon. .Mr. SheHiehl. .if Newport, in his opening re- 
marks said: " .\ii eminent citi/eii li.is die<l, eminent in 
learning and eminent in the |iurity of his character. Though 
a iirivate citi/eii he occupieil great eminence in |iliilosophy, 
and his connection wilh our piimi|ial se.it ol learning af- 
fected him w nil a public interest w IikIi was deep and » ide- 

spread 1 am oppressed by this great loss as a 

personal grief, and am iiiihl for impoitant legislative duty 
to clay. To allow the meniliers of the .\ssembly who have 
the physical ability to do so to attend the funeral, I now 
move that this House adjourn." In accordance with his 
own expressed wishes he w.is buiied trom his home, with 
the forms of the F.piscopal (.'hurch, the Rev. J. W. Colwell, 
rector of St. Stephen's ( huri h, where of late years the 



deceased with his faniilv had worshipped, conducting the 
ser\'ices. In ri-lereiice to his religious \iews as develo].>ed 
in his m.iturer life. Rev. I^dward J. Young, in a memorial 
tribute read before a meeting of the Massachusetts Histori- 
cal Society, and published in the proceedings for February, 
1 88 1, thus elo4Uently remarks : " Since he dissented from 
many of the dogmas and methods of New England Con- 
gregationalism, and disproved the negative attitude of those 
who rejected what to hiin was essential to Christianity, it 
was but natural at last, while keeping his independence, he 
should have been drawn to the services of tluat historic 
church which, holding the iloctrines of faith, allows a large 
liberty in the interpretation of them, combines established 
order w ith piogiess. and ap|ieals to the devout feelings ol 
the worshijiper by the symbolism of its architecture, and 
by the impressive ritual of its Christian year." A memorial 
service in hiuior of I'rofessor Dinian under the auspices of 
the University was held in the First Baptist Meeting-house, 
on Tuesday, .Ma\' 17, 1881, when an impressive commem- 
orative discourse was delivcre<l by his intimate friend ami 
associate in college, Re\'. James (>. Murray, Ll.L)., Preifessor 
in the College of New Jersey, at Princeton. Professor 
r)inian married. May 15, 1861, Emily G. Stimson, of Provi- 
dence, only surviving daughter of John J. and .Abby M. 
(Clarke) Stiuiscui. A son and three daughters were the 
fruits of this union. 



y!?l'R.\lil.:E, Ib'N. Wii I. L\M, Governor of Rhode Isl- 
and from l8i)0 to March, 1865, son of .\masa and 
Fanii)- ( Morgan ) Sprague, was born in Cranston, 
'f Rhode Island, September 12, lS;o. He was edu- 
J" cated in the schools of his native town, and in East 
Greenwich, .Scituate, and Irving Institute, at Tarrytown, 
New York. .\t the age of hfteen he was employed m the 
factory store at Cranston, connected with the extensive cot- 
ton manufacturing and calico ]irinting business of his father 
and his uncle, (io\eriior William Sprague, who constituteil 
the lirni of .\. A: W. Sprague. .\t sixteen he entered the 
counting-liouse of the linn in Prosidence as an assistant, 
and t\vo jears tliereafler was promoted to the position ot 
bookkeeper. In 1S56 he became a member of tlie firm, 
as the large estate left to him and his brother Amasa on 
the death of his father, in 1843, "''i*^ largely in the firm 
properly. When his uncle, (Jovernor William Sprague, 
died, in 183(1, he rose to occupy the leading place in the 
business iransacdons of the company. The business plans 
of the linn were now much enlarged and extended in 
Rhode Island and Connecticut, and soon afterwards Messrs. 
A. & W. Spr.igue became the largest calico printing com- 
pany ill the world, running nine mammoth mills capable of 
weaving eight hundred thousand yards of cloth and print- 
ing one million four hundred thousand yards of calico per 
week. They enjoyed uninterruiited prosperity until 1873, 
when their interests being seriously affected by the general 
nnuielarv reaction of that year, their immense estate and 



PlOCRAPinCAr. CYCLOrEDlA. 



523 



business passefl into the hands of a trustee. The subject 
of this sketch early evinced a decided taste for military 
aflfairs. In 1S48 he joined the Marine Artillery Company 
of Providence as a private, and by gradual promotion at- 
tained the rank of colonel, meanwhile by his zeal and ma- 
terial aid greatly enlarging and improving the command, 
placing it on a footing for efficiency equal to any similar 
company in our country. In 1859 he made the tour of 
Europe, and studied specially the military establishments 
of the continent. In 1S60 he was elected Governor of 
Rhode Island, and re-elected in 1861. Anticipating the 
outbreak of the Rebellion, he had the military forces of the 
State — infantry and artillery — in readiness for the defence 
of the Union. When the hour of action came he stood in 
the van and led his regiments and batteries to the front, 
and gained deservedly the reputation of being " the war 
Governor." In the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, 
he was with his gallant troops in the thickest of the fight, 
and had his horse shot under him. For his zeal, prompt- 
ness, bravery, and untirin;.; exertions at home and in Wash- 
ington, and on the front with the army, he was commis- 
sioned Brigadier General, but in order to retain his guber- 
natorial position, was not mustered into the service. No 
governor exceeded him in his devotion to the country, and 
Rhode Island won a high name for the number, character, 
ability, courage, and efficiency of her regiments and bat- 
teries. What he so nobly begun his successor. Governor 
James Y. Smith, as nobly carried out to the end of the 
war. During the conflict Rhode Island gave to the Union 
for service ten thousand eight hundred and thirty-two in- 
fantry, four thousantl three hundred and ninety-four cav- 
alry, two thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine light 
artillery, five thousand six hundred and forly-four heavy 
artillery, six hundred and forty-five navy — total, twenty- 
four thousand four hundred and ninety-four ; and expended 
six million five hundred thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-two dollars and fifteen cents. The popularity of 
Governor Sprague led to his election to the United States 
Senate, where he served from 1863 to 1875, a portion of 
the time being a member of the Military Committee. He 
married, November 12, 1863, Catharine Chase, daughter 
of Hon. Salmon P. Chase, then Secretary of the Treas- 
ury of the United States, and has had four children, Wil- 
liam, Ethel, Catharine, and Portia. In l86l Governor 
Sprague received from Brown University the honorary de- 
gree of Master of Arts, and in 1866 was elected one of the 
trustees of that institution. 



services of Commodore Joel Abbot are elsewhere sketched 
in this volume. Trevett possessed superior intellectual 
powers, and fine social qualities. He was favored with 
unusual educational advantages, which he wisely improved. 
After due preparation in the ordinary schools and acade- 
mies of his native State, he entered the Naval Academy at 
.Annapolis, Maryland, from which he graduated with honor, 
while his father was in command of the navy yard at 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, and was admitted, October 13, 
1848, to the first official grade in the United States Navy. 
His ambition was to serve his country, and in his short but 
eventful life his purpose was realized. By virtue of his 
abilities, attainments, and fidelity he steadily rose from 
rank to rank in the naval service, while voyaging in dif- 
ferent parts of the world. Of his twenty-one years of ac- 
tive duty for the nation, fourteen were spent upon the sea, 
and about twelve on the coasts of Africa, the West Indies, 
and the Gulf. Heroically he stood by the flag of the Uniim 
in the trying years of the Rebellion, ami was the Executive 
Officer of the " Mercedita " when she captured and safely 
brought to port the richly laden " Bermuda." His cruises 
in the Mediterranean were pleasant and exhilarating alike 
to body and mind, but his main voyages and posts of ser- 
vice were perilous to health, and finally led to his early 
and lamented death. He was connnissioned as Com- 
mander December 12. 1S67, and proved himself eminently 
worthy of the responsibility. Finally ordered to the com- 
mand of the United St'tes Steamer " Vantic," to cruise in 
the waters of the West Indies, while in his line of duty 
he was seized with the yellow-fever and died near Port au 
Prince, October 27, 1869, and was buried in the ocean, with 
impressive ceremonies. He married, January 22, 1858, 
Sarah Cole Turner, daughter of Governor Thomas G. and 
Mary P. L. Turner, of Warren, Rhode Island, and left two 
daughters, Marian and Mary Turner. At the time of his 
death he stood No. 84 on the list of commanders, and was 
acknowledged as a gallant, accomplished, faithful officer. 
Not only was he loyal to his country and her laws, hut he 
"declared himself a determined servant of the Lord |csus 
Christ." Though passing away at the age of thirty-seven, 
he left a cherished record of patriotic service and an honor- 
able name to the land that he bravely served. Rhode 
Island gratefully enrols him among her representative 
sons. 



^jBBOT, CoMM.\M)ER Trevett, U. S. N., son of 

Commodore Joel and Laura (Wheaton) Abbot, 

"C^i" was born in Warren, Rhode Island, July 2, 

'1 1S31, in the historical Abbot homestead, on Miller 

J" .Street, now the property of his brother, Pay 

Director Charles W'heaton .'\hbot, U. S. N. The life and 



jINER, Hi)N. Francis Wavi.and, lawyer, son of 
Rev. Bradley and Phebe E. (Pendleton) Miner, 
was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, Decem- 
,j ." " ber to, 1831. His father, an able and honored 
■ ; Baptist clergyman, was born in North Stonington, 

Connecticut, July 18, 1808, and, after a career of unusual 
usefulness in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, died in the 
meridian of his strength, while pastor of the Friendship 
Street Baptist Church in Providence, October 28, 1854. 
His grandfather, Saxton Miner, was a stanch farmer of 



•■■\ 



/.'/()(;/,■.//'///(■//, OCLO/'F.D/A. 



tliL' "M -lyK-. anil a nun "f pnlilic alfail•^ in North Ston- 
ini^lon. The ninilu-r lA iianri^ \\'.. wlm (iu.(! near tlic 
•tl;!.' iif Iwonty-fiylil. in Dcmln-ski, MasxachnMlls, wlu-ic 
lit-r Iiusliand \va^ llicn scttlcl. was a daut^liici uf Cienutal 
Nathan IV'iullcton. of Norlli Stunin^^ton. She u as a talented 
wuniaii nl' many excellencies uf character. Her father was 
a n]an i)f so< iai, civil ami military distinctiiin. I'Vancis \V. 
was eihicateti at home and in the inmnmn scliuols. He 
afterward pnisued his stndies in the Worcester Academe, 
Worcester, Massachusetts; in the Lfniversity i irammar 
.School, in l'ro\ idcnce, under Messrs. Lyon and h'ric/c; anil 
linally in Ihown I'niver-ily. He studied law in the office 
III ( Icor^e 11. I'.riiuii and N. Van Slyc';, and was admitted 
to the liar in I.S59. While iiroseciiting his preiiaratory 
studies he was also engaged successfully as a teacher, giv- 
ing instruclion in the High School in (ireenheld, Massa- 
chusetts, and for several years teaching in Cransiim, Rhode 
Island, and other places. ( in entering upon his profession, 
he settled in (_'ranstoii (now a jiart of the city of Provi- 
dence). Here he acipnred a jimspeious law luisiness, lie- 
came supeiinteiident of the juililic schools, and w.ts chosen 
to rtpreseiit the town in the ( ieneral ,\ssendily, heing re- 
turned to the House for aliout ten years. He was elected 
Speaker of the House in iSoj. 1 luring the l'i\il War he 
served, with the rank of major, on the stalf of ( ;overnor 
William .Sprague, accomp.mying him I 1 the field m \'ir- 
ginia, visiting .Antietam and other nii|.ortant lields; at one 
time heing sent liy I'resident 1 .incoln w ith dispatches to 
(icneral Halleck at (.oiiiith. The citi/ens of I'lovidence 
ha\'e liestowed honors u|ion liiin. So cautious and inde- 
pendent was his political position for awhile th.it at one 
time, in a single day, he was ealled upon hv committees 
from the three parties then in existence — the Citi/ens, Re- 
publican, and Democratic parties — to liccomc their nominee. 
His services in the Legislature of the .State were highly 
commended. For a nuniher of ye.iis he was the attorney 
of the Union Railroad Company. I le h.is served as I'resi- 
dciit of the l''ranklin Lyceum of i'lovidencc. In 1S64 he 
married Elizalieth Read li.i\is, daughter of lienjaniin 1 la- 
vis, of Providence, a memlier of the old Rhode Island fam- 
ily of Davises, so noted in Wtckford ; the issue of the mar- 
riage heing five children, oidy tvvo of whom aie now liv- 
ing, Susan and Francis. In 1S7.S Mr. Miner went to Ln 
rope and visited Ireland, Kngland, Wales, Scotland, France, 
and other portions of the ( Md World. He occupies a promi- 
nent position as a lawyer and citi/en. 



^i^]P]H,\W, lit Ni'R.M, J..\Mi;s, Jr., son of (ieneial James 
and I'di/a I'leld ((iodlrevl Shaw, was horn in 



'i 



-•'<? 



Providince, Rhode Island, Septemlier 25, lS;o. 



- His lather, elsewhere sketched in this volume, harl 

•P command of the First Light Infantry, and ordered 

the firing on the moli in Providence in I<SlI. .'\ military 

sfiirit has charactcri/ed the family. The children of lien 



eral Shaw, Sr., were, lieside the snliject of this sketch, 
Richard (i., ('a|itain in the Third Rhode Island Volunteers, 
Major in the Fourteenth Rhode Island Volunteers, in the 
Civil War, and now Lieutenant and Brevet Captain Mrst 
United States Artillery; John P., Sergeant major First 
Rhode Island Detached Militia, Second and First Lieu- 
tenant, and Captain Second Rhode Island Volunteers, killed 
at Spottsylvania, M.iy 12, I.S04; Frederick, of the hnn of 
J. F. Caldwell & Co., Philadelphia; Mary F., widow of 
A. Richniiind Raw son, who rose from Sergeant of the 
First Regiment to the rank of Lieutenant in the Third 
Regiment, anri f/aptain of the Fourteenth Regiment, and 
died of disease contracted in the war. May 5. 18(14; and 
.'\nna F., who married A. V. Payton, James, Jr., a'ter 
|iassing through the public schools of Providence, entered 
the High .School, at its first opening in March, 1S43, and 
graduated in 1.S4I1. |-'or the next two years he was en- 
gaged in the counting-room of Sha\\- ^; F.irl. He then 
learned the traile of a jeweller, and followed that business 
lor ten years, wdicn he again became an accountant. ( In 
the opening of the Rebellion, his military and piatriotic 
siiirit was deeply stirred. His military kinnvledge, ac- 
ipiired in company drill and as Colonel of the First Regi- 
ment National ( iuanls of Providence, coupled with his 
executive talent, ga\e him immediate |irominence. He 
entered the ser\ice as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth 
Rhode Island Volunteers, .May 26, iSb2; was promoted 
to the rank rif colonel August 0th iif the same year, and 
scrsed in tiie defence of Washington. Alter that command 
was mustered out he re-entered the seivice, December 3!, 
1862, as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twelfth Rhode Island 
Volunteers, and served w ith the Ninth Army Corjis before 
Fredericksburg, at Newport News, and in Kentucky. His 
services with these two commamls are honorably men- 
tioned in the report of the Adjutant-Cicneral of Rhode 
Island. When the Twelfth Regiment was mustered out 
he volunteered to ajipear before *' Casey's Board " for ex- 
amination, and was the fifth, out of se\'en hundred exam- 
ined, to receive the grade of colonel, and \\ as apjiointed, 
( Ictober 27, 1863, to the comm.md of the .Se\enth Cnited 
States Colored Troops. The story of his long, brave, and 
faithful services with this command is found in its published 
j " Record," written by Brevet-Captain J. M. Califf, issued 
in 1877. W'e here can only summarize these services. He 
joined the regiment November 12, 1863, in Maryland; 
entered the I leparlment of the .South ; was Post-commander 
at jacksoinille, Floritla ; commanded brigade in the ex- 
pedition to Cedar Creek and Camp Melton ; piartieii»ated 
in the battle <in [olin's Island ; was commcndeil for wis- 
dom ami bravery in action; returned to Virginia and 
moved on Richmond ; commamling First Brigade, Third 
Division, Tenth Army Corps, August 13-21, August 25th 
to September 25th, and October 2()th to December 4th, 1 S64 ; 
commanded First Brigade, Second Division, Twenty-fifth 
Army (_"oips, from and after December 4, l8(34; com- 




r-J^^af" 



'^ r /J , ^. //^2j/^7 




BIOGKAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



525 



mnn lud St'cond r>ivision, 'r«'cnly-riftli Army Corps, I-"eb- 
ruary 3ISI to March IJtli. 1805; shared in the capture of 
I'etcrsburg and the triumph at Appomattox ; commanded 
sub-district of Victoria, Texas, from January ifrth to Feb- 
ruary 2ist, 1866; commanded Central District of Texas 
from February 2 1st to May g, 1S66; mustered out of ser- 
vice with Ills regiment, November 16, 1S66, iiearing on his 
flag, by authority, the names of the battles of Cedar Creek, 
lialdwin, Kingland Road, Fuzzel's Mills, White Point, 
John's Island. Fort Gilmer, Darhytown Road, Armstrong's 
Mills, Peter^lnirg, and Appomattox Court-house; brevetted 
Brigadier-General for "meritorious services" during the 
war, to date from March 13, 1865. The record of this 
regiment of colored troops forms a valuable and brilliant 
page in the history of the war. The ability of the men in 
arms, their tone of character and progress in knowledge, 
reflected peculiar credit upon their officers. Returning 
from the conflict, General Shaw again entered the circles 
of business life. He served as a member of the City 
Council of Providence in 186S-69-70, and a member of the 
.School Committee in 1873-74-75, on which committee he 
was particularly efficient in the m.atter of finances. He 
was appointed, August i, 1870, Collector of Customs of the 
Port of Providence, and filled the office until February i, 
1879. His faithfulness in this position received warm 
commendntion from the citizens, and from the oRicers of 
the government. He was a member of the National En- 
campment of the Grand .'\rmy of the Republic at its organ- 
ization, and for several years thereafter, and is a meml)er 
of the Massachusetts Commandery of the military order of 
the Loyal Legion. Devoted to his duties, he has firmly 
held himself above all partisanship and intrigue. He is a 
member of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Chmch of 
Providence, and for the past five years has been superin- 
tendent of the .Sunday-school. From his pen have ema- 
nated valuable paj^ers on military subjects and other topics. 
.\t present (1 88 1) he is a member of the firm of Denison & 
Shaw, in Providence. He married, September 22, 1853, 
Elizabeth \V., daughter of James Fisher, of Pawtuxet, 
Rhode Island, and has had three children : James, born 
August 6, 1S54; Walter Arnold, born October 26, 1870, 
died May 3, 1873; and Howard .Armington, born April 
25, 1873- 

f^.'\SON, Israel Bowen, was born in East Killing- 
ly, Connecticut, August 20, 1832. He is the 
son of David and Lucy (Bowen) Mason. He 
worked on his father's farm in summer and attend- 
ed school in winter until he was sixteen years of 
age, when he left home, ami after working one season for 
William Waterman, a farmer, in Johnston, Rhode Island, 
went to Providence, where, in 1850, he began to learn the 
trade of a moulder, at which he continued for about four 
years. He then engaged in the grocery and provision 
business on his own account, on Pine .Street, Providence, 




until 1S63. He soon afterward became a packer and pro- 
vision dealer, which business he has carried on with great 
success until the present time. His packing-house was 
destroyed by fire in May, 1869, and immediately thereafter 
buildings large enough to meet the demantis of his immense 
business, which soon afterward amounted to over $1,000,000 
a year, were erected. His establishment is one of the largest 
and most complete of its kind in New England. His son, 
Edward H. Mason, on attaining his majority, became asso- 
ciated with liim in 1877, and the business has since been 
carried on under the firm-style of I. B. Mason & Son. In 
1877, Mr. Mason's health having become impaired on ac- 
count of close application to liusiness, he spent four months 
in California with his wife, and travelled through the South 
the following winter with his wife and eldest tlaughter. In 
May, 1S78, he and his wife sailed for Europe, and spent 
five months, visiting England, Ireland, Scotland, France, 
(-lermany, and other countries, his son conducting the busi- 
ness meanwhile. Mr. Mason returned from Europe in 
greatly improved health. While abroad he visited several 
busmess' houses in Germany and elsewhere, to whom he 
had exported largely, and became personally acquainted 
with many of his European patrons whom he had never 
seen. His prominence and capacity as a business man 
have caused him to be called upon to fill imjiortant posi- 
tions connected with banking institutions, and to serve the 
public in an official caj^acity. In 1S79 he was elected to 
the Rhode Island Legislature from Providence, on the Re- 
publican ticket, and re-elected in 1880. He married, No- 
vember 30, 1854, Martha Halton, daughter of Edward 
antl Elizabeth Halton, of Taunton, Massachusetts. They 
have had five children, Edward Halton, Lucy Frances, 
Nellie Louise, who died June 4, 1869, William Barton, 
and Mabel Lillian. His son Edw.ard was educated at the 
English and classical school of Mowry & Goff, in Provi- 
dence, and spent about a year in Germany learning the 
German language, after which he travelled in Great Britain 
and on the Continent of Europe. He married, December 
It, 1877, Mary Harris, daughter of David S. and Mary 
Harris, of Providence. Mr. Mason's daughter Lucy 
married. May r, 1879, William H. Rotliwell, of the firm of 
Rothwell, Martin & Co., of Boston. t)n the 31st of No- 
vember, 1879, Mr. and Mrs. Mason celebrated their silver 
wedding at their beautiful residence on Broad Street, Provi- 
dence, which was attended by a large number of relatives 
and friends. The family attend the Fir.st Universalist 
Church of Providence, of which Mr. Mason is one of the 
trustees. 

="lfcSSC)OT, Henry Theodore, merchant, son of Erastus 
MMJ^ Sargeant and Dorcas (WelK) Root, was born 
l^ll* October 5, 1830, at .\ugusta, Oneida County, 
ffitli New York, whence the family removed to Mt. 
* Morris, Livingston County, New York, in 1S33. It 
appears from the Root genealogy that the family is of Nor- 



526 



mocRArincAL cvci. orF.niA. 



mnii-I-'rcnrh c\ti\uii' m. and tli.it ilit.- iiuiiibor of (iescend- 
aiits <.>r the naiiu- in this ('anitiv from the four ilistiiict 
ln'ads. lo^iali, 'I'lioDias, I(>lin,ani| Kalpli, is tui-f fourtln'u- 
sanil.aml nl iirs( L-ndaiils i>l i.ilirr name-., about lillcfn tnin* 
(Ircii. wliilt; llif whole iiuiiiIkt of ilrscrlulant^ from all the 
Root proi;eiiilors in thi^ ioumr\", tliroiii^h the male anil 
female linos of \aiious names in the se\en oi ei-^ht L^eneia- 
tions, is estimated at one hundred thousand. I'lie subject 
of this sketi'li is descended from Thomas Rooie, who came 
from Kiiglaiid to this Country in I(>37, and was among the 
first settlers in Hartford, Connecticut, ^\■here he resided for 
about lilteen years, and then removed to Northampton, 
Massachusetts, being a|ipoinled <.ne of the selectmen in 
165(1 The grandfather of ileiiry riieodoie Root was Vtx. 
James li.mks Root, whose father, Hon. Jesse Root, was 
I hief Justice of ( 'onni-cliciit from lyoSto 1S07, and served 
as an officer, attaining the rank of ,\djutant.(ieneral, in the 
Revolutionary army. Henry T. Root attended the com- 
mon schools until he was sivteen years of age, when he 
entered the shop of his father, in Mt. Morris, New York, 
to leal n the trade of a wheelwright, w here he was (.-uipioyed 
during his minority, .\fter he became of age, he worked 
at his tiarle for two years in tlie same place. In lS^t he 
went to Ilaitfoid, ( 'oiinecticut, and was emplo\ed as clerk 
and bookkeejier by James Iltooks, a sto\e and furn.ice 
dealer. .Vfter seriing for t»o years in that ca|)acity, he 
became a partner of Mr. llrooks, and was thus associated 
with him for twu years. In 1.S57 he removed to I'roviilence 
and entered the ser\ice of the IJaistow .Sit.ive Comjianv as 
travelling salesman. I'^arly in iS^S, being |iermanentl ,■ 
located in I'rovidence, he formed a coparlnersliip with 
l)eacon James h^ames in the sto\e and tinware business. 
Deacon lvalues \\-as the father of Hon. lienjamin T. Eames, 
and father in law of Iloii, .Amos (.'. liarstow. L'|i to that 
time. .\Ir. Fames had been located for thirty-seven years 
on the spot now occupied by the Franklin liuilding. Tin 
the 1st of March, lS5,S, the firm of Fames & Root pur- 
chased the stock of Ansel F. Hradley, who was then in the 
stove and tinware business at what was then :;2 and ^4 
Weybosset .Street. Leasing the stiueof F. I'. Mead & (^o.. 
they rennned and began business (here at once. In l.S^i) 
they leased a lot on the west corner of Wesiminster and 
• Irange streets ami erected a three-story building, which is 
still standing, to which they removed their business. In 
April, 1X65, Mr. Eames died, and m June following Mr. 
Root became owner of the whole business. On the xoth 
of February. 1S66, he purchased a lot on Westminster 
Street and erected the budding now occu|iied by his large 
and increasing business. In February, iSiuS. he recci\ed 
Henry (.". i'.ennett as a jiartner. and they were associated 
together lor three )ears undei the firm name of H. T. Root 
iS: Co. .\t the expiration of that time Mr. Ilennett, on ac- 
count of imiiairetl health, sold his interest i.i Mr. Root, 
who h.is ^ince continued tin- business alone. Mi. Root 
has fre-juently been honored with rifiici.-)! positions, m vvliich 



he has rendered the community faithful service. In I.S6q 
he was elected a member of the (.'ommon Council of I'rov- 
idence, and served lor three consecutive years in tlr t 
ca]>acil\", and was a menilier ijf the Hoard of .-Mdermen for 
one \eai, 1.S7J-7 ^. I'or several years he was President of 
the Rhode Island Society for the I'roiection of Game and 
Fish, and i^ now- the Vice President of the Rhode Island 
1 lorticultural .Society, of w Inch for many years he has been 
an active member. In 1S77 and 1S7.S he w.as President of 
the Rhoile Islanil Poultry and Columbarian Society. Ik- 
is also an active and influential member of the Rhode 
Island Society for the F.ncouragement of Domestic Indus- 
try, an.l a member of the Standing Committee. Several 
years ago he united with the l'"linwood Congregational 
Church, with which communion he is still connected. He 
married, June 24, 1.S58, .Mary V.. I.ake, daughter of Fli 
and Mary E. I.ake, ..f Mt. Morris. Xcw York. .She died 
September 16, 1S70. There were nine children by this 
marri.age, eight of wdiom are living: Paulina Mary, Alice 
Fake, Hiram (.Madding, Amos ISarstow. Edward Thomp- 
son. Robert Canlield. h" ranees .\inelia, and Henrv T. 
A daughter. Fli/abelh Sargeant. died Fcbruaiy 0. I.S77. 
'I he eldest daughter, I'aulina .Mary, is m the Philadelphia 
Medical College jireparing for the work of a foreign mis- 
sionary. (Jn the 30th of December, I.S77, Mr. Root mar- 
ried Mary E., daughter of F|ihraim and Emma ( I lodge | 
Cushman. They have one child, Charles Cushman. 




\R\.\BY, Jl Km IIMil RnwFRS, was born at •■ Rar- 
naby Hoine-tead," in Freetown, .Massachusetts. 
'^'•^K^ October 27. I.S30. His piarents were .Ste|ihen U. 
, I and Lucy (Hatliawa}) I;,iinab\'. His lather, who 
(J L died dctober S, 1S44. w.is a tarmer. and served for 
one year as selectman of Freetown, and seven years as 
assessor. His grandt.ither. .-Xmbrose Harnaliy, was a 
prominent man of that jilace, having served as selectman 
fourteen years, assessor one year, moderator of the an- 
nua! town meetings ten years, representative to General 
Court one year, and tow n treasurer twci years. The ear- 
liest mention ol the iJarn.iby- family in .America is of lames 
Ikirnaby, in the old Plymouth (.'olony, .M.issachusetts, h'eb- 
luary (■, II160. He died there I Ictober jo. 1077. Illswife 
Fydia, daughter of Robert an.l .\l.iry (Warren) Rartlett, 
afteryyards married John Nelson, <if Plymouth. James 
liarnaby, son of the first settler, was born about 1670; 
married Joanna Harlow, of Plymouth Colony; and died 
in Freetown. July 5. 1726. He made a will. June 22, 
172b, and gave to his \u\\ Ambrose liarnaby a I'arm that he 
]>iirchased of Fieiitenant Nichol.is .\lorey. February iS, 
1725, which has ever since been in the possession of the 
liarnaby family. Mr. J. li. Barnaby was educated in the 
jiublic schools in his native town, and at Pete's Academy, 
near I-'all River, Massachusetts. Leaving school when he 
was sixteen years of age. he became a clerk in the grocery 



HIOGKAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



527 



store of his brother-iii-law, Willi.mi H. Asliley, at Sleep- 
brook, near Fall River, where he remained about four 
years, after which he was employed in the clothing store 
of Andrew N. Dix, in Fall River. He then removed to 
Providence, and in 1852 opened a clothing store at No, 15 
South Main Street, where he remained seventeen years. 
In 1869 he removed to Wood's Building, corner ol South 
Main and College streets. In that year Henry li. Win- 
ship became associated with him, the firm-name being J. 
B. Barnaby & Co. Their business rapidly increased, and 
in November, 1S76, they removed to the Dorrance Build- 
ing, a large and handsome structure located on Westmin- 
ster, Dorrance and Middle Streets, their removal being sig- 
nalized by a formal opening so largely attended as to be a 
memorable event in the history of the tinn. Their store 
is one of the largest and most complete in all of its ap- 
pointments in New Englaml ; about one hundred persons 
are employed in the various departments in the ca|)acity of 
salesmen, bookkeepers, etc., and the manufacturing depart- 
ment furnishes employment for about fifteen hundred peo- 
ple in different parts of New England. They have four 
branch houses; one in Portland, Maine, one in New Ha- 
ven, Connecticut, one in Fall River, Massachusetts, and 
another in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mr. P.ainaby erected 
the first iron-front building in the State, which is located 
on the corner of Union and Westminster streets, and is 
known as the " Barnaby Building." He has taken an ac- 
tive part in politics for several years, and has filled many 
official positions. He was a member of the City Council 
of Providence, from the Seventh Ward, from June, 1S70, to 
January, 1879, and for a long time was chainnan of the 
Finance Committee. In 1S75 '>^ "'^'^ elected to the Gen- 
eral Assembly from Providence, and served for one year. 
In 1877 he was the Democratic candidate for Governor of 
Rhode Island, and was also the candidate of his party for 
representative to Congress. He married, September 15, 
1857, Josephine A. Reynolds, daughter of Joseph and 
Rebecca (."Vnthony) Reynolds, of Providence. They have 
had three children: Mabel, Hattie A. (who died Febru- 
ary 3, 1879), and Maud Josephine. Mr. Barnaby and his 
family are regular attendants at Grace ( P'piscopal ) Church, 
and he is a liberal contributor to the benevolent objects of 
that communion. 



^1B^?E.\NE, Eken J., merchant, was born in Sullivan, 
^^^' Hancock County, Maine, September I, 1831, and 
'S^ is the son of Theodore and Cynthia Cook | Blown) 
^P Beane. His father, who died January ig, 1 88 1, at 
W the advanced age of eighty-seven, was appointed by 
President Jackson Deputy Collector of the Port of French- 
man's Bay, Eastern District of Maine, in 1S36, which po- 
sition he held for nearly nine years, being reappointed by 
President Van Buren, and also served as County Commis- 
sioner of Hancock County. He was for many years a 



prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. His ances- 
tors were of French origin, and the name of Simpson 
among them can be traced through several generations to 
Governor Sullivan of Massachusetts. Mr. Beane's mother, 
who died July 6, 1847, was a woman of uncommon worth, 
and highly esteemed by all who knew her. Her father 
was killed while fighting under Commodore Perry on Lake 
Erie. Mr. Beane was educated in the district school of 
his native town. Soon after his mother's death he was 
employed for one year in a country store, and then returned 
to the old homestead, which he fitted up as a hotel, and 
together with his sister, Harriet H. Beane, conducted suc- 
cessfully for four years, at the end of which time their prop- 
erty was destroyed by fire, and having no insurance, they 
were unable to resume business. In September, 1856, Mr. 
Beane removed to Providence, where he obtained employ- 
ment, and immediately paid his debts occasioned by the fire. 
Some time afterwards he received an appointment as an 
officer in the shoe department of the Rhode Island State 
Prison. After one year's service in this capacity, he ac- 
cepted a similar position in the Rhode Island Reform 
School, where he remained for two years, and was then 
chosen by the East New York Boot and Shoe Manufactur- 
ing Company as their foreman, which place he held for 
five years. On retiring from that position he opened a 
boot and shoe store on High Street, Providence, where he 
continued in business for thirteen years, and then removed 
to the elegant store at the corner of Westminster and Union 
.streets, where he is at present located. He is one of the 
most successful merchants in Providence. He has a fine 
residence on Butler Avenue, where he resides with his 
sister. 



j^HURSTGN, .'Vl.FRiiD Henry, surgeon, the young- 
|3(>i est child of Charles M. and Rachel H. Thurston, 
was born in Newport, October 2, 1832, and gradu- 
ated from Columbia College, in the city of New York, 
in the class of 185 1. He received his medical degree 
from the University of New York. For some time he held 
an important position in the New York City Hospital. He 
received an appointment as Surgeon of the Twelfth Regi- 
ment of New York State Militia, and for three months in 
l86i was with this regiment in the defence of Washing- 
ton. October 5, 1861, he was apjiointed Brigade Surgeon 
of Volunteers, with the rank of Major, and ordered to the 
army of the Cumberland, where he was called to fill most 
important and responsible positions. He had the charge 
of the University Hospital, at Nashville, Tennessee, for 
some time. On the 30th of October, 1862, he was appointed 
Medical Inspector on Major-Geneial Rosecrans' staff, and 
in 1863, .\ssistant Medical Director of the Department of 
the Cumberland. He was Medical Director of the Twelfth 
Army Corps, under Major-General Slocum, receiving his 
appointment January 7, 1864. In May of the same year 



52S 



BIOGRAPIUCAL C\CL OPED I A. 



lie was statioiuil at Uclle Pl.iin, whero he rt-ninined iinlil 
lie was traiisfut Ti-il l-i \VasliiiiL;t'>n. where, for a short time, 
he wa*- Mc'liial In^-i'Letor. ami tinally was plneeil in charge 
111" (Iraiit Hovpil.il, WilKtfs roint, New \"orlv harbor, 
wiiere he reinaiiu-ii until l))c hospital was closcil. in Ji-ine, 
iStx^. *' For faitliful and meritorious services during the 
w ar " he wa^ apjjointed a Lieutenant-Colonel of Volunteers, 
hv Itrrvct. tn rank as such from March 13, lS{')5. He did 
not loni; enjuy his hon'jrs. A disease contracted while he 
was in service prostrated him, and he died in New York, 
August 2, 1S65. Dr. Thurston was twice manned; the 
first time, April io. 1856, to Kli/a S., tkiughtcr of N. B. 
lihint. K^q., "f New York ; and the second time. April 25, 
lS(i4, tn Mary S.. daughter of f*'^"!'^'^ Baiikhead, Ksq., of 
Nasliville. He was a direct descendant, in the (iflh gene- 
ration, of Edward Thurston and Elizabeth Mutt, who were 
among the earliest scllicrs t.if Newport. 



I'M I'll RE\S, Li WIS IIn\vARi\ son of Thomas ( ;. 
and Ahbv ( Edtl) ) 1 lum|)hreys. was born in iVov- 
idence. Octolier 2g, 1833. His father was a noted 
^ caterer, and is said to have been the hrst person to 

"L ^iii^i^ge' in the manufacune and sale of ice-cream in 
Trovidence. Lew is H. was the fifth of a family of nine 
children, four sons and hve claughters. He attended the 
conunon an<i high schooK in I'rovulence, then assisted his 
father for a short time, and was afterward employed in 
mercantile pursiiit->. until iS^o. when he went to New York 
to learn the business of caterer and confectioner witii 
Thompson ^: Son, with whom he remained until the death 
of his father, in February, 1S52. when he returned t«) 
Providence to take charge of the bu?^iness established by 
his father. In 1854 he and H. C. Burgess formed a part- 
nership, under tiie tirm-name of L. H. Humphreys .S: Co., 
and canied on business as caterers until 1S62, at the 
corner now occupied by the i)orrance Hotel, keeping, also, 
a restaurant and ice-cream saloon for ladies. L)uring this 
jiartnership Mr. Humphreys spent tour nu'Uths, in l86i.in 
Washington, I>. C.,as a partner with William S. Hayward 
in the Rhode Island Bakery, w here they were extensively 
engaged in sujiplying sutlers fnr the army. After the ter 
mination of the j-artnership relations between him and Mr. 
Burgess, during which the firm prospered and became 
well known throughout the State, Mr. Humphreys opened 
an elegant restaurant and saloon f<jr ladies on Westminster 
Street, corner of (lemence, where he remained two years, 
and then sold out to Paul B. Wright, but continued in the 
satne business elsewhere until 1877. i>uring the war of 
the Rebellion he furnished rations for all the Rhode Island 
tnH)ps in the National and State service w idle they were 
in the State. He wasthe proprietorof Rocky I'oint during 
the seasons of 1S65-66 and lS()7, and from 1S70 to 1877. 
inclusive, that place being hrst under the ownership of 



Byron Sprague. and afterward under that of liie American 
Steamboat Company. Under his management an elegant 
an<l commodioui hotel was erected, the famous Rhode 
Island clam-bakes were served, daily, and that place be- 
came one of the most popular summer resorts in the coun- 
try, being visited by excursion parties from all parts of 
New England, some of which numbered over twenty 
thousand. In addition to his management i>f Rocky Point, 
Mr. Humjihreys became proprietor of the City Hotel, in 
Providence, September I, i860, which he conducted until 
September i, 1877, and on the 1 i^th of April, 187S, became 
the proprietor of the Xarragansett Hotel. Under his man- 
agement the former house was widely known, and regarded 
as the best hotel in Providence. He continued as proprietor 
of the Narragansett Hotel until March i, 18S1. He was 
a member of the building committee, and it was largely 
through his personal efforts that the Narragansett was 
built. It is one of the largest and most magnificent hotels 
in the United Slates, having been erected at a cost of one 
million dollars, and under Mr. Humphreys' management it 
became one of the most popular. On the 1st of May, 18S1, 
he leased the Hotel L>orrance,in Providence, of which he 
now is projirietor. Mr. Humphreys is a member of the 
Veteran Association of the First Light Infantry Regiment, 
of Providence. He married, January 11, 1855, Harriet 
Elizabeth Davis, daughter of Henry D. and Harriet T. 
(Booth) Davis, of Providence. They have one child, Fe- 
licie Eddy llumjthreys. Mr. Humphreys' superior busi- 
ness qualilications and social disjiositiou have secured him 
a large measure <jf success and popularity in the calling to 
which his life has lieen devoted. 



xYLSW( )RTH. Hiram Bennett, merchant, .son 
<.f ludge h:ii and Martha ( Bennett) Aylswortii, 
~M was born at Foster, Rhode Island, Februarj* ig, 

i;f^ 1S31. Ill 1S41 his parents removed to Killingly, 
•• ¥ and one ye.ir theiealter lo Brooklyn, Connecticut. 
Mr. Aylswt)rtli was educated in the common schools of 
his native tow n and Kitlingly, at Smithvillc Seminary, now 
Lapham Institute, and East Creenwich Academy, in Rhode 
Island. At the age of seventeen he was emjiloyed as clerk 
by Preston Bennett, agent of the Richmond Manufactur- 
ing Comj-anv, in Providence, with whom he remained un- 
til May 20, 1S30, when he became bookkeeiier for Rice & 
Congdon, wholesale boot and shoe dealers, in Providence. 
Tliis hrm succeeded to the business originally established, 
in 1S15, by Charles Cobb, a member of the Society of 
Friends. Mr. A\lsworth was admitted as a ]xartner, Feb- 
ruary 8, 1S57, and the firm-name was then changed to 
Rice, Congdon ^ Co.. the other partners being George F. 
Rice and Henry R. Congdon. On the Sth of February, 
l8()0. lames Rothwell bought Mr. Rice's interest in the 
business, and the tiim-name became Congdon, Avisworth 





Cc 



^rz.^M^'^^yt^OC^J 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



529 



& Co., and so continued until February 8, 1S62, when Mr. 
Rothwell sold his interest to the other members of the firm, 
and the business has since been carried on under the name 
of Congdon & Aylsvvorth. Frank H. Congdon, son of 
Henry R. Congdon, has been a partner since 1876. Pre- 
vious to May 20, 1870, their place of business was on 
North Main Street, but since that time they have occupied 
the brick building owned by Alexander Duncan, corner of 
Pine and Hay streets, to which, to the surprise of their 
friends, their entire stock was removed during a siiit;lc 
night. Their sales have steadily increased from year tu 
year, and their trade now extends over a wide range of 
territory. In 1852 Mr. Aylsworth commenced selling 
goods by sample, and for twenty-one years spent much of 
his time travelling throughout the Eastern States in the 
interest of his house, during which time he visited his cus- 
tomers at regular periods, and for thirteen years he never 
lost a single bill, though his sales were very large. On the 
breaking out of the Rebellion, in i86i, he had charge of 
the management of the extensive business of the firm, and 
finding that it was his duty to remain at home, his patriotic 
spirit prompted him to send, voluntarily, a substitute, whom 
he liberally compensated for his services. He was first 
represented in the service by one of his clerks, to whom 
he gave a complete outfit, and continued his salary. This 
gentleman being wounded at the first battle of Bull Run, 
Mr. Aylsworth took him to his own home and cared for 
him until his recovery, when he reinstated him in his cleri- 
cal capacity, and engaged another substitute, at a liberal 
compensation, who continued in the service until the close 
of the war. In 1873 Mr. Aylsworth was elected a member 
of the House of Representatives of the Rhode Island Gene- 
ral Assembly, but on account of the pressing demands of 
his business, was compelled to resign before the completion 
of the term for which he was elected. For nearly fifteen 
years he was a delegate to the Republican State Conven- 
tion, and for many years served as a member of the Repub- 
lican State Central Committee. He was one of the original 
members of the Providence Board of Trade, 1868, and 
served on the Executive Committee for three years, ending 
in January, 1879. He was also one of the originators, in 
1879, of the Providence Commercial Club, composed of 
prominent and entcrpri-,ing business men, combined for 
promoting and developing the business resources of the 
city. For several years he served as a trustee of the Me- 
chanics' .Savings Bank of Providence. In 1S69 Mr. Ayls- 
worth united wuh the Mathewson .Street Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, in Providence, with which he continued until 
1S76, when he withdrew from that communion and united 
with the Union Congregational Church. In 1875 he served 
as chainnan of the committee to raise money to liquidate 
the church debt of the fonner, and in 1878 was a member 
of a similar committee in the latter society, both commit- 
tees being successful in accomplishing the object for which 
they were appointed. To the various benevolent, tempe- 
67 



ranee, and military organizations, he has been a liberal 
contributor. Mr. Aylsworth married, June 11, 1857, 
Margaret Miller Hatfield, daughter of Elisha and Eliza- 
beth (Miller) Hatfield, of White Plains, New York, and 
sister of the Rev. Dr. Hatfield, of Chicago, Illinois. They 
have five children, — Henry Congdon, Annie Hatfield, Cora 
Elizabeth, Emma Lillian, and Mary. 



[|ENDRICK, Colonel Joseph Harvey, manufac- 
yJFj|L:'i turer, son of Joseph and Permelia (Smith) Ken- 
WiT drick, was born in Winchester, New Hampshire, 
March 19, 1831. He is a grandson of Oliver 
Kendrick, a solilier in the Revolutionary army, 
who served throughout the war, and took part in many 
memorable engagements. His great-grandfather came 
from England, and settled at Dedham, Massachusetts. At 
the age of sixteen Joseph H. went to Woonsocket, Rhode 
Island, where he was employed for two years in the loom- 
harness factory of his brother, and in 1849 took charge of 
a branch of the business at Worcester, Massachusetts, 
where he remained until 185 1. He then removed to Prov- 
idence, and became superintendent of the manufacturing 
department of the main branch of his brother's business, 
which position he continued to hold until 1862, when he 
enlisted as a private in the Eleventh Regiment Rhode 
Island Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed by the city 
authorities to recruit men to fill the quota of Providence. 
He recruited and organized Companies I and K of the 
Eleventh Regiment, and fifty men of Company A of the 
Twelfth Regiment Rhode Island Infantry. On the 2d of 
( )ctober, 1862, he was commissioned as Captain of Com- 
pany I, Eleventh Regiment, anti ordered to the defence of 
Washington, where he remained about three months, after 
which he participateil in the siege of Suffolk, Virginia. 
He was then ordered to Yorktown, and thence to Williams- 
burg, where he was on duty until the expiration of his 
term of service. In July, 1863, he returned to Providence 
and resumed his former business relations. In 1S66 he 
and his brotlier started a factory at Fall River, Massachu- 
setts, under the finn-nanie of [. (!y; J. H. Kendrick, which 
was carried on under his management until 1873. ^'^ the 
year last mentioned the several interests were consolidated 
in the main factory at Providence, with a branch at Fall 
River, under the name of the Kendrick Loom-Harness 
Company, with a capital of $150,000, and he has since 
filled the position of superintendent of the manufacturing 
department of the business. He has been a member of the 
First Light Infantry of Providence since 1S61, and now 
holds the office of lieutenant-colonel of that organization. 
He is a member of the Central Congregational Church in 
Providence, is an efficient worker in its Sunday-school, and 
for twenty-one years has been the leading bass singer in 
the church choir. He has been connected with the prin- 
cipal musical societies of the city for twenty-five years, 



53° 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



holding a jiositioii ;is one uf ihc iium.ii^crs. In 1S56 he 
became a member of the Voun;; Men\ Chii-iian A'.socia- 
tion of Providence, and served for some time as chairman 
of the Missionary Committee of tlie Association. Me is 
aKo a mend)er of tlic Inde|)endent ( trdir of ( >dd Fellows. 
He married, June 19, 1^56, Abby 1!. Arnold, daughter of 
William and Elizabeth Mary Arnold,, of Cranston. 




'ORRI.SON, Rr.v. Win iam Vi-.vch, D.D., son of 
John and Elizabeth ( \'each) Morrison, was born 
iirf in West Miihlleses, Mercer County, Pennsylva- 
nia, January 2},, 1S30. He is descended from the 
"Scotch clan M.actJhiUemhuire, hereditary judges 
of Lewis," some of w Inch family emigrated to the North of 
Ireland at the close of the Reformation, and were at the 
famous siege of Londonderry, l6S,S-Sg, so graphically de- 
scribed by ^L^caulay. John Nbirrison, born in 162S, emi- 
grated to .\merica near the time of the accession oi the 
House of Hano\er to the throne of (heat Britain, in 1719, 
and settled in Londonderry, New Hampshire, to which the 
emigrants gave the n.ime of the city and county Irom w hich 
they came, made sacred to them by the valor au'l heroic 
suftVrings of their ancest-trs in the ever-memorable events 
of 1041 and 16S8. He died in 1730, at the reputed age of 
one huiulred anti eight years. The subject ol this sketch 
spent the first seventeen years of his hie upon a farm. 
After pursuing the usual academic studies, he entered Alle- 
ghany College in 1S50, from which institution he graduated 
in 1S54, He then .spent three years at the Theological 
School at Concord, New Hampsliire, now merged in the 
Boston University, graduating in i.Ssy. He joined the 
Providence Annual Conference of the Methodist EiMscopal 
Church, at its session in Piiistol. l\hode Island, .^pril i, 
I.Si^y, in a class of nine, in which were Rev. \'. M. Cooper, 
now of the Mount Bellinghani (liurcli, Chelsea, Massachu- 
setts, Rev. George W. (^uereau, D.D., late Principal of 
Jennings .Seminary. Illinois, and the Rev. C. H. Payne, 
D.D., LL.l).. I'resiilent of the Wesleyan L'niversity, Dela- 
ware, ( iliio. ( )f no class that has entered the Providence 
Conference in its whole histoid' ul jorty veai s ha\ e so many 
risen to distinction. 1 >r. .Moiiison's first pastoral charge 
was at Millville, Massachusetts. He afterwards hlled im- 
portant pulpits in the Central Church, Norwich. Connecti- 
cut, Stafford Sjiriiigs, Coniiectieut, Welltleet, and East 
Weymouth, Massachusetts. In the latter ])lace, especially, 
his success and popularity were very great. In 1874 he w.is 
made Presiding Elder of the Fall River District, in which 
he remained his full term of four years. This district em- 
braced all of Newport t'onnly, Rhode Island, and large 
portions of Bristol and Phinnuth, and a ]iart of Ni-nfolk, 
Massacluisetls, with 41 cliiirches. 42 piasiors, and 470^ 
memlters. He discharged the duties of this iiiii">Mrlaiit 
charge with such distinguished satisfaction th.at at the close 
uf his term, in 1S7S, the Bishop was requested to reappoint 



him to a vacant district ; but a rule of the episcopacy against 
the rea]i])ointment of a Presiding EKler for a second con- 
seciili\e term, forbade it. He was, therefore, appointed to 
Ihistol, Rhode Island, in 1S7.S. This is one of the oldest 
Melho.lisi churches in Rhode Island, dating from 1791. and 
one of the largest and most important of any denomination 
in the State. Here his success and popularity exceeded 
those of his former pastorates. In 18S1 he was a]ipointed 
to Hojie Street Church in Providence. Since 1S74 he has 
been the I'resident of the Martha's Vineyard Association, 
which puis him in charge of the great seaside camp-meet- 
ing, carried on under the auspices of that association, and 
in which his administration has been popular and accept- 
alde. In 1.S77 his Alma Muler, Alleghany College, con- 
ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. r)n 
the 5th of April, 1857, he married Mar\- P. Fusselinan, 
daughter of John and Jane Eusselman, of Warren, Ohio. 
Their children are : William Frank, born January II, 1S58, 
now a student in the Metlical School of Harvard Univer- 
sity, and Albert Long, born .August 18, 1S67. Dr. Mor- 
rison is now in the fulness of his powers, modest and un- 
assuming, of a pure life and spotless character, beloved 
and respected by all. 



tS^.'VRPEN PER, Fr.vxcis W'., merchant, was born in 
|liS| Seekonk. Massachusetts, June 24, 1831, and is a 
'''3?^ descenilant of William Carpenter, of Weymouth, 

f<; > who came in the Bevis from Southampton in 1638. 

'% His parents were Edmund and Lemira (Tift'any) 
Carpenter. He was educated at Seekonk, where he pur- 
sued a preparatory course for college, but dirl not enter. 
.At the age of seventeen he was employed in the iron store 
of l.dlbert Congdon cV Co., of Providence, and after several 
year> of faithful service was admitted into the firm, Fehru 
ary 6, 1855. his partner at present I 18S0) being John Cong- 
don, son of Cilbert Congdon. Mr. Carpenter has occupied 
various positions of trust and resj^ionsibility. He is Presi- 
dent of the .\merican National Bank of Providence; Vice- 
President of the Peo|ile's Savings Bank of Providence; 
President of the khode Island Horseshoe Company, a 
manufacturing eoin|iany at Valley Falls, Rhode Island, 
and Buffalo, New Vork ; Treasurer of the Fletcher Fur- 
nace Company, manufacturers of pig-iron, Buffalo, New 
Vork; and foiiiieily \ ice-President of the Board of Trade 
in Providence. He has frequently been solicited to permit 
the use of his name for political office, but uniformly de- 
clined. He is an energetic business man, whose judg- 
ment is much relied upon, and whose integrity is without 
suspicion. He has deep convictions of duty, which he 
carries out in every department of life, and is a man of 
large synqialliies. interested in all benevolent operations. 
In 1S54 he uniteil with the Richmond Street Congrega- 
tional Church, and is now a member of the Central Congre- 
gational Church, the Sabbath school of which he has for 



BIOGRArinCAL CYCLOFEDIA. 



53' 



some time been superinteiKlent. From lS68 to 1S70 he 
was President of the Young Men's Chri^tian Association 
of ProviJence. He married, May 5, 1S53, Anna Davis 
Barney, of Seekonk, Massachusetts, who died December 
9, 1864. On the 5th of June, 1S67, he married Harriet 
Zerviah Pope, of Providence. His children by the first 
marriage were Emma Annie, deceased ; Edmund, Frank, 
Clara, deceased ; Mary Anna, and Idelette. The names of 
his children by his second marriage are Harriet Armington, 
Gilbert Congdon, Julia Swain, and Hannah. 



^f.\RRO\VS, Rev. Comfort Edwin, D.D., son of 
»J^ Comfort and Mela (Blake) Barrows, was born in 
' ? « Attleboro, Massachusetts, December II, 1831. 
I He is a descendant of John Barrows, wlio tlied in 
1* 1692, and who was the first of this name to emigrate 
to this country. His b(.)yhood was passed on the farm 
which had been in the family for generations, and which 
is said to have been " never purchased, unless from the 
Indians." His father and mother were deeply interested 
in the work of foreign missions from its very beginning 
under Adoniram Judson and Luther Rice, and also in 
ministerial education. Very early he himself evinced the 
desire for a liberal education, which, however, on account 
of family reverses, was not speedily gratified. The way at 
length being opened, he entered the preparatory school at 
New Hampton, New Hampshire; but after a single term, 
as the school was about to be removed, he left and enrolled 
himself as a pupil in Pierce Academy, at Middleboro, Mas- 
sachusetts, of which Professor J. W. P. Jenks was princi- 
pal, and Professor C. C. Burnett, classical instructor. He 
was matriculated at Brown University in 1854, the last 
year of Dr. Wayland's presidency, and was graduated in 
1S58, under the presidency of Dr. Sears. The same year 
he entered Newton Theological Institution, from which 
he was graduated in 1861. On the 25th of December of 
that year he was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church in 
South Danvers (now Peabody), Massachusetts, where he 
labored successfully for over three years, and then accepted 
a call to become pastor of the First Baptist Church in New- 
port, Rhode Island, where he has continued since March 
12, 1865. For two years he was President of the State 
Missionary Society of his denomination, and from 1S73 to 
1876 was a member of the Board of the American Baptist 
Missionary Union. He has made occasional and able con- 
tributions to his denominational journals and to theological 
reviews. On the nth of F'ebruary, 1872, a sermon in com- 
memoration of the life and services of the Rev. Erastus 
Willard, for twenty-one years a missionary in France, was 
delivered by Mr. Barrows in the First Baptist Church in 
Salem, New York, where Mr. Willard had served as pastor 
during the last si.x years of his life. This sermon was soon 
after published by Gould & Lincoln, of Boston. The sum- 
mer of 1872 Mr. Barrows spent in Europe. In 1874 he 



was elected President of the Rhode Island Baptist .State 
Convention, and by special appointment of th.it body de- 
livered. May 12, 1875, at its Scmi-Centennial .Anniversary, 
a historical discourse on " The Development of Baptist 
Principles in Rhode Island," which discourse was pub- 
lished by the Convention, and received very considerable 
attention, being widely and favorably noticed by the press, 
and subsequently issued in Philadelphia by the American 
Baptist Publication Society. The history of the First Bap- 
tist Church in Newport was embodied in a discourse de- 
livered by him on Thanksgiving Day, November 30, 1876, 
and published in an octavo pamphlet of si.xty-four pages. 
An abridgment of the same was the next year inserted in 
the Associational Minutes of the State. On the 30th of 
December, 1S77, he delivered an address, afterwards 
printed bv the family, commemorative of Benjamin B. 
Howland, who for fifty consecutive years was clerk of the 
town and city of Newport. In the spring of 1878 Mr. 
Barrows was elected a member of the Board of Trustees 
of Brown University. In 1881 he received from Colby 
University the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. 
He married, January i, 1862, Harriet Willmarth Willard, 
daughter of Erastus and Sarah (Clarke) Willard. 



|WCjS|UGG, Rev. Henry W.\rren, was born in Fram 
^^Bg ingham, .Massachusetts, .September 3. 1S32. He 
flJ5 (^5" M'as the son of worthy Christian parents, and his 
™ Y ancestry for generations back was marked by the true 
el I9 New England character. He received the rudiments 
of his education in the public schools of his native town, 
and for several terms attended the Willistown Academy, 
Massachusetts. Compelled by ill health to abandon the 
idea of a collegiate education he pursued a course of read- 
ing and advanced study under competent private instructors, 
and at the age of nineteen commenced teaching in Milford, 
Massachusetts. He afterward taught successfully in Abing- 
ton, Worcester, and South Dennis, in the same Stale, and 
while at Worcester gave himself to the stu<iy of theology 
with a view to entering the ministry. In 1854 he was 
called to the pastorate of the Universalist Society in .South 
Dennis, where he was ordained the .same year. During his 
ministry in this place he spent a part of the time in teach- 
ing, and was especially active in educational matters, having 
been for some time a member of the school committee of 
the town. In 1857, after a brief period spent as Principal 
of the Sea View Seminary, in Hyannis, Massachusetts, he 
accepted a call to the Universalist Society in East Cam- 
bridge, Ma-ssachusetts, where he remained nearly four 
years, removing thence to Bath, Maine, where he was set- 
tled over a large and flourishing parish, with which he 
labored until the close of 1864, when ill health obliged him 
to resign and seek a milder climate. He was offered and 
accepted a position in the Post-Olifice Department at Wash- 
ington, and was soon promoted to the responsible position 



53^ 



B/OCA'A PNJCA L CYCL O TED I A 



ol chief clerk of the Fiiiniice Hiire;ui, which place he re- 
signed in iS()6 to accei>t a call to the Second L'niversalist 
(-'hurch in Providence, Rhode Kljnd. I'urinL; Mr. Rugg'.s 
j'aslorate in Pro\ idence hi^ church, now kn<i\\n as the 
C'huich of the Mediator, has greatU increased in niunl'cr^, 
a commodious house of worship has hcen erected, and other 
evidences of jirosperily indicate the success of his mmistry. 
In the autumn of 1874 he spent a few months in European 
travel. After eleven years of continuous service in Provi- 
dence Mr. Ru.gi;; resigneil his charge to accept a call to 
Halifax, Nova Scotia. \\ the 'iiw'X of a year, however, at 
the earnestly expressed wish of hi> late ])arish, he returned 
and resumed his labors wiili the 1 hurch of the Mediator. 
l)uring his residence iir Pro\ idence Mr. Rugg has been 
actively engaged in nian\' public ami j'hilanthropic efforts. 
In 1S67 he was honored with an inxitation to deliver an 
oration before the city authorities on the Fourth of July. 
His subject on this occasion was '• 'X\\*i Contributions of 
New England to American Ci\ ili/atiitn." For several 
vears he was an active member of the Schoi.)l Poaril of 
Providence, and in iSjjiwas elected its president, ccinlinu- 
ing to hold the olTice until his re^ignation in iNj/. His 
social procli\ities early inclinetl him to the fellow-,hip of 
Masonry, and he has Iieen called to till many important ! 
offices m this organization, among which m.ay be mentioned 
that of Grand Commander of Knights Templar in Massa- 
chusetts and Rhode Island for 1876-77. He is now- and 
has been for several years the editor of the Frcevtasoti^ s 
Repoiitory, a monthly magazine published in Providence. 
He is also an active member of the order of (^dd Fellows. 
Mr. Rugg is one of the mo^l prominent and influential 
ministers in the Universalist (icnominalion. For several 
years he was Presi<lent of the Rlnide Isl.md <_.'onven[ion. 
He served on the committee whieh framed the jire^ent s\ s- 
tem of the L'niversalist Church, and since 1S71 has been 
one of the trustees of the (jeneral Convention. He has 
been identified with the publishing interests of the denom- 
ination, having served as trustee and director of the Uni- 
versali.st Publishing House. He is also a trustee of Tufts 
College. He was married December 25, 1S51, to Abbie 
Nelson Howard, daughter of Jotham and Mary A. Howard. 
Thev have had two children, Gertrude, and a daughter 
who died in infancv. 



Sir^'OTTER, Coi.oNEl, IsA.\c M,\TllEWsriN, manufac- 
^1^^ turer of jewelry, son of John and Mary (Arnold) 
its . Potter, was born in Scituate, Rhode Island, Au- 
I gust 27, 1S33. H'^ father was a well-to-do farmer 
•L and a respected citizen. His mother was a descend- 
aitt of William Arnold, of Leamington, England, who 
came to New England in 1636, and soon afterward re- 
moved to Providence, Rhode Island, being an associate of 
Roger Williams, and one of the thirteen original grantees 
of " Pawtnxet Purchase." The descendants of William 



Arnold are very numerous, and the ancestry of the family 
is traced back to a king (.»f the Britons, who reigned in the 
eleventh century, and budt .\bergavenny and its castle. 
Colonel Potter \\a> educated in the public schools of his 
native town and at .Sujtluille Seminary, North Scituate^ 
since knoun as l.apham Institute, and also studied book- 
keeping at .Schofield's Commercial College, Providence. 
He remained at home and worked on the farm until he 
was nineteen years of age, w hen he was apprenticed to a 
manufacturing jeweller in Providence, with whom he con- 
tinued about three and a half years, serving faithfully, and 
gaining considerable jjractical knowde<ige of the business. 
In the autumn of 185(1, having saved enough by industry 
anil economy to commence Inisiness on his own account, 
he formed a jmrtnership with .\lbert W. P)elnah, and be- 
gan the m.mulaclure of jewelrv on a moderate scale on 
Eddy Street, Pro\ idence, Mr. Potter having the general 
financial management of the concern. This firm continued 
until the spring of 1861, at which time they had built up 
aiti-1 e>-tablished a growing and successful business. (Jn 
the outbreak of the Civil War in 1S61, both members of 
the tlrm, imbued w ith the spurit of patriotism, closed up 
their business and enlisted in the ser\'ice of their country. 
Mr. Potter was one u\ the first to respond to the call for 
three-months men, and enlisted as a pri\ate in Comjiany 
C, First Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers, with which 
he proceeded at once to \\'ashington, D.C. He was in 
the first battle of Bull Run, and served faithfully with his 
regiment until it was mustered out of service. In the fol- 
lowing winter he was authorized by Ciovernor Sprague to 
raise a company fi>r the Third Regiment of Rhode Island 
Heavy Artillery ; but before the company was completed, 
in the haste for troops, the recruits were hurried forward 
to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and he was commissioned 
fust lieutenant of Company E ; but on their arrival there 
he was immediately detailed to ser\ice in Company B of 
the same regiment, which was soon ordered to Tybee 
Island, Georgia, to participate in the siege of Fort Pulaski. 
This company had charge of batteries Lincoln and Lyon, 
and Lieutenant Potter was assigned with part of the com- 
pany to Battery Lyon, about two miles from the fort, 
which, after a continuous bombardment of about eighteen 
hours, surrendered on the i ilh of April, 1862, and his 
eompany and the .Seventh Connecticut Regiment were 
selected to gariisun it. After remaining in Fort Pulaski 
about six weeks. Company B and other companies of the 
Third Rhode Island Regiment were ordered to join the 
expedition against Charleston. They landed on James 
Island June 9, 1862, and on the ibth of the same month, 
at the battle of Secessionville, one of the hottest engage- 
ments of the war. Lieutenant Potter was severely wounded 
in the right wrist while leading his men against the 
enemy's w orks. After the battle he received a sick-leave 
and returned home. His wound was very painful, and 
required the best surgical skill to save his hand, only par- 




J: 



^' L L Cl^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL d Cl.OPEDIA. 



S33 



tinl use of wliich lie has since regained. Having partly 
recovered from his wound, he resigned his commission as 
First Lieutenant in the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, 
and, Novemlier 20, 1862, accepted an appointment as Cap- 
tain in the Fifth Regiment Rhode Island Infantry, then 
stationed at Nevvbern, Norih Carolina, but was detailed to 
remain in the State to recruit men for the regiment, which 
he was ordered to join in February, 1863. At the raising 
of the siege of Little Washington, North Carolina, which 
was accomplished by that most hazardous and brilliant 
achievement of running a blockade at Hill's Point, under 
the close and direct fire of three formidable batteries com 
manding the river and city, Captain Potter commanded a 
company of sharp-shooters who volunteered for that pur- 
]>ose, and, with a few others, received special mention by 
Colonel Sisson in his official report for the al:)le perform- 
ance of duty; and the General Assembly of Rhode Island, 
at its May session in 1863, passed a resolution of thanks to 
Colonel Sisson an<l the officers and men of the regiment 
fur the gallantry and heroism displayed in raising the siege 
for the relief of General Foster. Cajitain Potter remained 
with his regiment until the close of the war, participating 
in all its marches and the battles in which it was engaged. 
He was appointed major, February 27, 1865, and was soon 
afterward brevetted lieutenant-colonel. In 1865 he asso- 
ciated himself with Fred W. Symonds, and again com- 
menced the manufacture of jewelry in Providence. The 
firm of Potter & Symonds continued in successful opera- 
tion for about three years, when Mr. Symonds sold his in- 
terest to Mr. John M. Buffington, and retired from the 
business. Since then the style of the finn has been Potter 
& Buffington. Colonel Potter has always attended to the 
financial part of the business. They have been among the 
most successful manufacturers in their line in the country, 
their specialty being solid gold goods. In 1875 Colonel 
Potter was chosen a Representative to the General Assem- 
bly of Rhode Island, and re-elected in 1876, serving the 
first year on the Committee on Militia, and the second year 
as chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Executive 
Communications. He is a member of the Grand Army of 
the Republic of Rhode Island, and was a delegate to the 
National Encampment at Dayton, Ohio, in 1880. Before 
and since the Civil War he served in the Rhode Island 
Miliiia, and is a member of the First Light Infantry Veteran 
Associatiim, being at present an officer therein. In June, 
iSSo, he was a delegate to the National Republican Conven- 
tion at Chicago. He was an active member of the Provi- 
dence Board of Trade. For many years he has been a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, having united with What 
Cheer Lodge of Providence in i860. On the 28th of Octo- 
ber, 1S75, he married Josephine Elizabeth, daughter of 
William H. and Alphleda (Lyon) Arnold, of Providence. 
By his bravery and patriotic devotion to his country in her 
hour of peril, and by an honorable business career, Colonel 
Potter has won the respect of the community, and justly 



ranks as one of the most useful and estimable citizens of 
his native State. 



\RSONS, Hon. James Hepburn, lawyer, the son 
of Hon. Anson V. and Mary (Hepburn) Parsons, 
was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, May 30, 
1832. He was fitted for college at the Philadelphia 
High School, and was a graduate of Brown University 
in the class of 1854. Under the direction of his father, he 
commenced the study of law in Philadelphia, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in that city. Having decided to practice 
his profession in Providence, he was in the office of Hon. 
Thomas A. Jenckes for six months, and then commenced 
his practice in that city. For a time, in the early part of 
his professional life, he w as a member of the City Court of 
Magistrates. For one year (1862-1863) he was a member 
of the General Assembly. In 1S66 President Johnson ap- 
pointed him District Attorney of the United Slates. He is 
said to have " possessed unusual aptitudes for the profession 
which he had chosen, and devoted himself more especially 
to equity practice. He was employed in causes of great 
importance, and was distinguished for the thoroughness 
with which his briefs were prepared." He married, in 
October, 1859, Ellen, eldest daughter of George M. Rich- 
mond. His death occurred in I'rovidence, June 16, 187b. 



I'RRY, Rt. Rev. Wii.li.\m Stevens, was born in 
\ Providence in 1832, and is a lineal descendant of 
Jiihn Perry, who in 1632 settled in Roxbury, where 
~r.-\ he was a member of John Eliot's church. He was 
i named for his maternal uncle, William Bacon Ste- 
vens, the historian of Georgia and Bishop of Pennsylvania. 
He was prepared for college in the Providence High School, 
and was admitted a member of Brown University in 1850. 
At the end of one year, on the removal of his parents to 
Massachusetts, he severed his relations with Brown and 
became a member of Harvard University, where he gradu- 
ated in the class of 1854. He exhibited in youth the same 
aims and traits of character that distinguish him as a man, 
— quiet, orderly, reverent in spirit, and resolutely bent on 
securing and diffusing the blessing of temperance, learning, 
and religion. In 1858, having faithfully pursued his pro- 
fessional studies in the Theological Seminary at Alexandria, 
Virginia, and with the Rev. Dr. John S. Stone, at Brook- 
line, Massachusetts, he was ordained a priest in Boston, 
and was subsequently assistant rector of St. Paul's Church 
in that city. He was rector of churches successively at 
Nashua, New Hampshire, Portland, Maine, Litchfield, 
Connecticut, and Geneva, New York. In the last-named 
place he was rector of Trinity Church, President of Hobart 
College, and Professor of History. In 1876 he was elected 
Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Iowa. For many years he 
has been the historiographer of the American Episcopal 
Church, showing himself possessed of the skill, industry, 



5.U 



n/ocA'.i/'jnc.u. cvci.opedia. 



learning;, aii'l goo.I -ensi- requi'-ite to the discliarge of tile 
<liiiie^ of this liiyh ofl'iCe. He lias made repeated visits to 
tlie ( t]d Wuild, where he has been received with niarUed 
denion--ti".uii'n> uf a[i]weeiation and respect. lie has at- 
tained eminence as a di\ine, a scholar, an editor, and an 
author, and has sliowii alnlity as a bishop. 'Idie Cieneva, 
New \'orh, 0'tiri<-/, of June 14, 1S76, i;ives the titles of 
thirtv-two of ids publications, some of which are pcintlerous 
quarto volumes. The hist publication on tlie list appeared 
in 1N59, and the last one early in 1S76. Since the latter 
date, and his removal to Davenport, Iowa, he has freely 
exercised his pen, bringing forth several works of interest 
and value. While his jiroductions are mostly in the line 
of his professional labors, his studies take a wide range. 
lie is an accomplished bibliographer, jiossessing an unusual 
kiinwledge of books, especialU' of rare and curious books 
in the lieKl of general literature. He has a library of more 
than eight thousand \islunie> and more than twelve thou- 
sand pamphlets. Among the institutions by which he has 
been honored he has shown especial interest in iiromoting 
the usefulness and efficiency of the Historical Society of 
his native .State, of which he was elected a corresponding 
member in 1850. He was married at ( lambier, t )hi'>. in 
I.S(i2, to Sara .\. W. Smith (daughter of Kev. Thomas 
Mather Smith }. who has shared his laliors and honors, and 
to wIkiui he pays a graceful tribute in a recent |niblication, 
entitled S<>mc' Smimu'r D^ivs AbrvaJ. 



Pawtucket. At the death of his grandfather, .Samuel 
Merry became his sueces>or in business. Mr. Mason en- 
tered the establishment when he was si.\teen years of age, 
and afler working as an em|)loye for eighteen years, bought 
an interest in the est.ibli-,liinent in 1866, and in I.S70 suc- 
ceetlei-1 to the business. Io:>r a time he had as partners the 
1 letter brothers, but for many years past has been the sole 
prolirietor. The business has steadily increased during the 
thirty two years that he has been eagaged in it, and the 
cajiacity of \\\~, works is now nine thousand pounds of yarn 
per day. Mr. Mason has never been an aspirant for public 
office, and belongs to that class who think they can best 
serve their country by promoting its prosperity in giving 
honor. ible employment to industry. He married, in 1S52, 
Mary 11. Nicholas, daughter of Horace and Keliecca T. 
Nicholas, of Pawtucket. They have lia<l two children, — 
Frederic R. and Ella F. Mr. .Masnii's mother is still liv- 
ing. In 1S47 she was married to John H. Willanl, a prom- 
inent school teacher of Pawtucket. 



Itlijli Khode Island, March 10, 1.S32. His father 
"\M T^ bore the same name, and was a brother of 

c|',.if.'' 1 . 



the late Earl I*. Mason, one of the most prmni- 
c^ neiit and enterprising iuisiness men of Provi- 

dence. His mother's maiden name was Mehitabel T. 
Merry. She \\as a ilaughter of Parney Merry, a native 
of .Scituate, Rhode Island, who, after following the sea for 
.some time, engaged successfully in business as a dyer an'l 
bleacher, at Pawtucket, in the early part of the present 
century. Mr. Merry first co-operated with his brother in 
the iiMiuiLicture of ginghams in connection witii d\eing. 
The former branch was sixui abandoned, huwever, and 
their entire attention turned to the ilyeing and lilcaching of 
cotton goods. Mr. Merry finally came into jiossession of 
fiis brother's interest, and for many years carried on the 
business alone. Through increased skill, and the acqui- 
sition of capital, he enlarged the business, and at the time 
of his death, which occurred in 1847, it had become an 
imjiortant branch of industry in Pawtucket. Mr. Mason 
was liut live months old when his father dieil, and his 
widowed mother, with two young sons, returned to her 
father's house, where, for many years, the subject of this 
sketch was umler the fostering care of his grandfather, Mr. 
Merry. 1 luring his boyhood he labored occasionally in 
summer on a farm, and attended the common schooK of 



'j-VZ.-VRD, Brigadif.r Gener.-\l JmiN C, son Of 
''^ John and Margaret (Crandall) Hazard, and grand- 
f'#1 ^°^ '^^ Governor JeftVey Flazard, was born in Ex- 
eter, Rhode Island, April 15, lS;2. He was en- 
k- gaged in mercantile [lursuits wdien the Civil War 
broke out. Having offered his services for military duty, 
he w.as commissioned August 8, 1861, as first lieutenant 
in the First Rhode Islanil Fight Artillery, and proceeded 
to Washington. Alter some ser\ice Rattery .\, in which 
he was an officer, went into w inter quarters at Pooleville, 
Maryland. In the spring of 1862 it was sent to F'ortress 
Monroe, and subseijuently was engaged at the siege of 
\'orktown, and took part in the sanguinary battle of Fair 
( )aks. Lieutenant Hazartl was commissioned captain of 
Pattery B, August 20, 1862, and was in the battles of .South 
Mtuintain and Antietam. A few months later the B,attery 
was in the battle of F'redericksburg, and was severely 
handled by the enemy, Captain Hazard having his horse 
shot under him during the fight. The following spring, 
April, 180J. he was made chief of artillery of the corps. 
In the stirring events of the year's camiiaign. Captain Haz- 
ard took a prominent part. He was in the battle of tiettys- 
burg, anil at Auburn Hill and Pristoe Station. In the spring 
of the next year, 1864, he was made major of his regiment, 
and had command of the second brigade of the artillery 
reserves. With this brigade he was engaged in the Wilder- 
ness battles, and in the memorable fights wdiich closed with 
that which was fought before Petersburg. For three 
months, from May 5 to .\ugust I, the brigade was engaged 
almost daily in encounters with the Confederates. Major 
Hazard was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for "gallant and 
meritorious services," August 8, 1S64. Through the fall 
and w inter of this year he was occupied in front of Peters- 
burg. In the early spring the brigade was engaged in those 



BIOGRAPHICAL C 1 CL OPEDIA. 



535 



numerous battles and skirmishes, which resulted finally in 
the surrender of General Lee. In one day, May 3, 1865, 
he received a double promotion, first as colonel, and sec- 
ond as brigadier general by brevet. He accompanied his 
brigade to Washington to take part in the grand review 
which preceded the disbanding of the army. His last 
service was rendered at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, of 
which post he had command from August 12, 1865, to 
March g, 1S66, at which time his regiment was mustered 
out of service. Since the war General Hazard has been 
for the moat of the time at the South, making his head- 
quarters at New Orleans, engaged in the cotton business. 
He has visited Europe several times for business purposes, 
and at this writing (1S80) is m Liverpool. 



iwlHEATON, Fr.\nk, Brevet Major-General, the 
son of Dr. Francis L. and Amelia S. (Burrill) 
^j^S^ Wheaton, was born in Providence, May 8, 1S33. 
M On graduating from tlie High School, he became a 
el student in partial course in Brown University, ar- 

ranging his studies with special reference to the profession 
which he had chosen, that of a civil engineer. In 1850, 
when but seventeen years of age, he received from Mr. 
John R. Bartlett a place in the Engineer Corps which was 
to be connected with the United States commission for the 
survey of the boundary line between this country and 
Mexico. With this commission he remained for tliree 
years, and rose to distinction in his profession. In June, 
1855, President Pierce appointed him First Lieutenant of 
Cavalry in the Army, his commission dating from April, 
1855. He was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, where his 
superior officers were Sumner and Sedgwick, names mem- 
orable in the annals of the Civil War. He was appointed, 
in the spring of 1S58, aid on the staff of General Persifer 
V . Smith, and subsequently to a place on the staft" of Gen- 
eral Harney. Five years were spent in cavalry service on 
the frontier, with but infrequent furloughs from military 
duty. In March, 1861, he was promoted to a captaincy 
in the regular army, and a few weeks later was appointed 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers. 
By the death of Colonel Slocum,the colonelcy of the regi- 
ment became vacant, and Colonel Wheaton was promoted 
to that post. He was appointed Brigadier-Cieneral of Volun- 
teers in November, 1862, and placed in command of a bri- 
gade of the Sixth Corps. With this brigade in its varied for- 
tunes for nearly two years Colonel Wheaton remained until, 
by order of General .Sheridan, he was transferred to the First 
Division, Sixth Corps. After the battle of Cedar Creek, Oc- 
tober 19, 1S64, by recommendation of General Sheridan, he 
was brevetted Major-General of Volunteers, as a reward for 
gallant services at that battle. He took an active part in 
the battle of the Wilderness, in May, 1S64, for which he 
was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel in the Regular Army. 
He was still further promoted by receiving the brevet of 



Colonel in the Regular Army for his bravery at the battle 
of Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, and still further by receiv- 
ing the brevet of Brigadier-General in the Regular Army 
'for services performed at the assault of Petersburg, in 
April, 1865, and for his gallant conduct in driving back 
General Early at Fort Stevens within the city of Washing- 
ton. July 12, 1S64, he received the brevet of Major-Gen- 
eral in the Army of the United States. After the war he 
was ordered to the frontier, and for some time had com- 
mand of a district including the Territories of Nebraska, 
Dakota, and Montana. It is said on good authority that 
during the War of the Rebellion few officers were so con- 
tinually in the field as General Wheaton. He commanded 
either a regiment, brigade, or division in every battle in 
which the Army of the Potomac was engaged after its or- 
ganization, from tlie first battle of Bull Run, in 1861, to the 
surrender of Lee's rebel army, in 1865 ; besides partici- 
pating in all of General Sheridan's campaigns in the Val- 
ley of the Shenandoah, during the fall of 1864. Altogether 
he was in command at no less than forty-one battles and en- 
gagements, and during this long and active period he spent 
but seven days at his home in Rhode Island. Since the war 
General Wheaton has in various ways been engaged in the 
service of his country, and at present (1S80) is stationed 
in one of the forts of the United States in the " Far West." 



^fiJjFREENE, Benjamin, M.D., son of Hon. Isaac and 
*!^te Eliza (Kenyon) Greene, was born in Exeter, Rhode 
g;^.^ Island, C)ctober 30, 1833. His fatlier was a farmer 
^1® and a prominent man in the community, for many 
Is years representing the town of Exeter in the Gen- 
eral Assembly. His grandfather, Hon. Benjamin Greene, 
of Coventry, Rhode Island, was one of the Judges of the 
Circuit Court, and held various other public positions. He 
was of the same family of General Nathanael Greene. Dr. 
Greene received a good academical education, and during 
his early life was employed much of the time on a farm. 
In 1S56 he commenced the study of medicine with his 
uncle. Dr. Job Kenyon, at Anthony, Rhode Island, and in 
1857 entered the University Medical College of the City 
of New York, where he grailuated in 1859. .Soon afterward 
he commenced the practice of his profession in I'oits- 
mouth, Rhode Island, where he has continued until the 
present time, being the only physician and surgeon in that 
town until recently. He has been a member of the Rhode 
Island Medical Society since i860. Amid the exacting du- 
ties of a large medical practice he has found time to devote 
considerable attention to real estate transactions and manu- 
facturing interests, in which he has exhibited rare business 
capacity, his investments having been made mostly in the 
city of Fall River, Massachusetts. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and h.as filled many important offices 
in that order. He married, November 26, i860, Eunice 
A., daughter of Philip B. and Sarah E. (Cooke) Chase, of 



536 



BIOGRAPIIICAI. CVCI-OrEDJA. 



I'ortsmouth, Rhode Islnml. They have two children, Ivah 
Eunice and Isaac Pliili]!. I >r. Greene is widely known 
and highly respected as a skilfid physician and a man of 
siij)erior intellectnal attainments, enterprising spirit, and 
iinexceiitional moral character. 



^TmKALLENDER, Walter, merchant, was born in Stir- 
MiSK ling, Scotland, January 9, 1S34. His parents were 
'"_p'"" James and Christian (Reid) Callender, who had 
Y^ one other son, whose name was Robert. James Cab 
'% lender was an cNtensive manufacturer of shawls, 
Scotch-plaids, and carpets in .Stirling. His father was also 
a mannfacturer near the same place. The suliject of this 
sketch was educated in the cnnimon and high schools of 
Stirling. He prepared to enter college, but tinally decided 
to engage in the drygoods business. He served as clerk 
for four years in the store of his uncle, Walter Reid, in his 
native town, and then went to (ilasgow, where he was em- 
l>loyed for about three years in the store of J. W. Campbell 
& Co. In the spring of 1S57 he came to the United States, 
and soon after his arrival in this countrv obtained a situ- 
ation in the house of Kinmonth & Co., in lioston. Immedi- 
ately on the breaking iiut of the Rebellion, in April, 1S61, 
he enlisted in the Fourth Ratlalion Killes, in the Massachu- 
setts Militia, which was afterward merged into the Thirteenth 
Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. He was mustered into 
the United States service as a member i>f Company C of 
that regiment June 29, 1S61, and served three years in the 
Army of the Potomac, participating in the battles of Bolivar, 
Hancock, Winchester, Slaughter Mountain. Rappahannock, 
Thoroughfare (iap. Second Hull Run, and other engage- 
ments. On the 29th of July, I.Sr>;, he was detailed to the 
(.luartermaster-Cjeneral's Department .it Washington. Dis- 
trict Columl)ia, where he remaine^l until .August i, 1S66. 
While serving in that department he commanded Company 
I), First Regiment Quartermaster's (colored) Volunteers 
for the defence of Washington, being commissioned as 
captain August 19, lSt)4. In 1S66 he returned to Boston, 
where he was employed for a short time in the drygoods 
house of Hogg, Brown i.V Tavlor, the successors of his 
former employers in that city. In the fall of iNOO he formed 
a copartnership with John Mc.Vuslan, a clerk in the house 
of Hogg, Brown & Taylor, and John !•',. Troup, an employe 
of Churchill, Watson & Co., drygoods <lealers in Boston, 
and they established the Bosiun store, on the one price 
plan, in Low's Building, on W e-tuniister Street, Providence. 
They immediately began to do an extensive business, which 
increased so rapidly as to necessitate their removal to en- 
larged c|uartcrs in 1873. In that year they purchased a lot 
corner of Westminster and laiion streets, and erected there- 
on the commodious four-story block in which their business 
has ever since been carried on. They are engageil in both 
the retail and wholesale drygooils trade, emijloy over two 
hundred clerks, and lauk among the most honorable and 



successful merchants of New England. Through their 
aid and counsel many of their former clerks have established 
drygoofls stores in different places in New Englantl. Mr. 
Calleiiiler is a member of Prescott Post No. I, (irand Army 
of the Republic, of Providence; St. John's Lodge, .Ancient 
P'ree and Accepted Masons, of Provitlence ; the Boston 
Caledonian Society, the Providence Caledonian .Society, 
and other fraternities. He united with the Benelicent Con- 
gregational Church in I S67, having taken a letter from the 
First Presbyterian Church (jf Boston. He was formerly a 
member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Glasgow, 
Scotlanil, which he joined when he was eighteen years of 
age. He married, April 3, 1S66, Ann (Jswald Crow, 
daughter of William and Sarah (Reevie) Crow, and a na- 
tive of (Hasgow, but wh(.) came to Bost'm in her childhood. 
They have four chiKlren, \\^alter Reid, Robert, William, 
and Jiihn. In iSSo Mr. Callender bought the Burgess 
estate, corner of High and Burgess streets. Providence, 
where he now resides. He has visited Europe three times 
on business, and the Last time travelled extensively with his 
wife in Great Britain and on the continent of Eurojie. 



p"lf!y3"VT, David WKnsrER, A.M.. Principal of the 

^JPyLjj Pro\idenee High .Schoijl, having special charge 

■ji i if of the English and .Scientific L)epartmetit, was 

l:'':L'\^' born at .-\mesburv Ferr>', Massachusetts, Aiiril 16, 
• f» . ." • 1 > 

yj a 1S33. His ]iarents were Enoch and Elizabeth 
(Williams) Hoyt. He early showed a fondness for study, 
especially for mathematics. After graduating at the Put- 
n.am Free .School in Newburyport, in which he was for 
two years a teacher, he entered Brown University, taking 
a piaiLial course under the "New System,'' so-called, in- 
augurated b\- President Wayland. \\*hile in college he was 
idemifieil with the class of 1S55. .\lter leaving the Univer- 
sity, he was for a time Princij^al of I'nion School, No. I, Be- 
Icjit, Wisconsin ; aftei w anls taught a few months at Blanch- 
ard Academy, Pembroke, New Hampshire, and had charge 
of the tlrammar School at Newton L'pper Falls, Mass. He 
was one year princii^al of the High School in Lexington, 
Mass. ; one year Assistant Professor of Mathematics and 
Mechanics, ami Instructor in the Preparatory Department 
of the Polytechnic College of the State of Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia; and from August, 1S59, to November, 1S63, 
Professor of Mathematics and the Natural Sciences in the 
New Hamptrm Institution, 1-airfax, \'ermont. Since Feb- 
ruary, 1S64, he has been an active and efHcient teacher in 
the Providence High School. In 1875 and 1S76 he w.as 
President of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction. In 
addition to his duties as a teacher, he was for some years 
engaged in revising manuscripts and reading proofs of 
mathematical textbooks. In 1871 he published a gene- 
alogical history of the Hoyt, Haight, and Hight families, 
upon which he s]H-nt over five years of labor, going to 
Engl.md to consult the ancestral records, writing fifteen 
hundred letters, and distiilniting over seven thousand cir- 



BIOCRArmCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



537 



^ulars. Il makes an octavo volume of 6g8 pages. Mr. 
Hoyt has long been an active and consistent member of 
the Baptist Church, hoUUng the office of clerk and deacon. 
He was the first secretary of the Rhode Island Baptist So- 
cial Union, which office he held from 1871 to 1879. He 
was also for some years corresponding secretary of the 
Providence Young Men's Christian Association. In 1861 
he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from 
Middlebury College, Vermont, and again, in 1872, from 
Brown University. He married, April 9, 1856, Mary E. 
Pierce, daughter of J. M. and F. S. Pierce, of Brighton, 
Massachusetts. She died in 1867. One son, Albert Pierce 
Hoyt, was graduated from Brown University in the class 
of 1878, and is now teller of the First National Bank, 
Providence. Mr. Hoyt married for his second wife, De- 
cember 16, 1868, Martha Jane Guild, daughter of Deacon 
Reuben and Olive (Morse) Guild, of West Dedham, Mas- 
sachusetts. The fruits of this marriage being a daughter, 
Elizabeth Guild, and two sons, Harold Williams, and Per- 
cival Chase. Percival C. died Novemlier 7, iSSo. 



^^ULLEN, Rev. Georoe, D.D., son of Joseph and 
Frances G. (Boardman) Bullen, was born in New 
Sharon, Maine, November 8, 1833. His mother 
was the youngest daughter of Rev. Sylvanus and 
Phebe Boardman, and sister of Rev. George Dana 
Boar'dman, of honored missionary name. He attended the 
common schools, and graduated from Colby University in 
1853. In 1858 lie graduated from Newton Theological 
Institution, and in 1858-9 visited Europe and further pros- 
ecuted his studies. In 1S60 he received ordination to the 
ministry as pastor of the Bloomfield Baptist Church in 
Skowhegan, Maine, w'here he remained two and a half 
years. In the meantime lie served, in 1862-3, ''^ ^^ Civil 
War as chaplain of the Sixteenth Regiment of Maine Vol- 
unteers. His second settlement was with the Baptist 
Church in Wakefield, Massachusetts, where he served three 
years, when, for a while, he was obliged to discontinue 
his labors on account of impaired health. In 1868 he 
settled with the First Baptist Church in Pawtucket, Rhode 
Island, where he still remains. He has taken an active 
interest in educational matters. In 1880 he received from 
Colby University the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He is 
one of the Board of Trustees of Newton Theological In- 
stitution, and has presided over the Backus Historical 
Society. For several years he has been the President 
of the Rhode Island Bapti.st State Convention. His schol- 
arship, piety, sound judgment, and untiring industry have 
secured for him a large place in the confidence and esteem 
of both ministers and people, and in the councils of the 
Baptist denomination. He married, March 28, i860, 
Maria Jane Ripley, third daughter of Professor Henry J. 
Ripley, D.D., of Newton Theological Institution, and has 
three sons, Dana R., Joseph E., and Walter B. 
68 



IS^VES, Thomas Poy.nkin, Acting Lieutenant-Comman- 
W^ der, U. S. N., the only son of Moses Brown and 
ii?i?i Anna Allen (Dorr) Ives, was- born in Providence, 
*A''' January 17, 1S34. In his childhood and youth he en- 
^H" joyed every advantage for mental training that wealth 
and affection could command. Being seriously troubled 
with a disease in his eyes, and compelled in consequence 
to depend largely on hearing rather than on sight for the 
acqui>ition of knowledge, he was placed, at the age of 
thirteen, under the tuition of a private tutor, Mr. Reuben 
A. Ciuild, then a member of the senior class in Brown 
University. With him he remained three years, acquiring 
a good knowledge of the rudiments, including geometry, 
of which he was cs[)ecially fond, and developing a taste 
for literature and history, by listening to daily readings 
from such authors as Goldsmith, Irving, Hume, Shakes- 
peare, and Macaulay. He particularly delighted in listen- 
ing to the simple narratives of the (lospels, and seemed 
never to weaiy of the Sermon on the Mount. He was 
subsequently under the tutorage of Mr. James B. Angell, 
then a recent graduate of the University, now the distin- 
guished President of Michigan University. With him he 
remained two years. Mr. Angell speaks with pleasure of 
certain marked peculiarities of character which he exhib- 
ited ; his love for the physical sciences; his early-devel- 
oped tastes for nautical pursuits ; his regard for the sub- 
stantial rather than the showy ; his great conscientiousness 
and adherence to the truth ; and his perseverance, which 
led him to aim to secure desired results, no matter what 
obstacles there might be to overcome. The trouble \\ ith 
his eyes caused him to decide not to take a full course of 
collegiate study, but to confine himself to those scientific 
and other studies necessary to be pursued in order to ob- 
tain the degree of " Bachelor of Philosophy." With this 
degree he graduated at Brown University in September, 
1854. He devoted some time to the study of medicine in 
the office of Dr. Ely and in attendance upon the lectures of 
the College of Physicians and .Surgeons, in the city of New- 
York. Not purposing, however, to practice medicine, he 
did not take the degree of M.D. During the years 1857 
and 1S58 he travelled in this country and in Europe. The 
death of his father in 1857 was the occasion of his becom- 
ing a partner in the firm of Brown & Ives, and assuming 
many of the important positions which his father had held 
during his useful and honored life. In the midst of plans 
which he had formed and was maturing as a merchant, 
there came the demand of the government on the patriotic 
citizens of the country to take up arms againt the .Southern 
Rebellion. At once, says his uncle, Henry C. Dorr, " he 
offered to the government his own yacht, the Hope, and 
his personal services without pay, in any department in 
which they might be available." The Secretary of the 
Treasury tendered to Mr. Ives a commission as lieutenani 
in the revenue service, to perform duty on the blockade of 
the southern coast. He went in his yacht to the Chesa- 



53S 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



[iL-ake ill the ^iimmev iif iSoi. It wns a port ijf peculiar 
peril. Rel'el synipallii/ers \\ ere everywhere to be fountl 
in Marvlaiiil, ami marksmen, lurking in ambush along the 
shores of the bay, might have made him the victim of their 
unerring shots. Lieutenant Ives was anxious for service 
that was more stirring, ami in which he believed he could 
render more efficient aid to liis country. He went so far 
as to offer to build and tit out a vessel at his ow n e.\pense, 
provided he could be commissioned by the government as 
its chief ofticer. At this time General Burnside was getting 
ready the expedition to North (/arolina. The ofter of the 
command of a steamer was made to Lieutenant Ives, and 
he resigned his commission in the revenue ser\dce in Nu\eni- 
ber, lS6l, and on his return to Providence he was com- 
missioned by Governor Sprague Assistant Adjutant-Gene- 
ral of the State of Rhode Island, with the rank of Captain, 
and was "relieved from duty to take jart in General 
Burnside's Coast F.xpedition, at the special request of Gen- 
eral Burnside." He at once took command of the pro- 
peller Picket, which was selected by ( leneral Burnside as 
his flag-ship, and sailed from .ViinaiHilis, January II, 1S02. 
and after many perils, reached the destination of the fleet, 
Roanoke Island. In the attack made upon the Rebel 
position Captain Ives occupied a consjiicuous position. 
The result of the enter|irise is well known. After the 
taking of Newbern, North Carolina, Captain Ives was sent 
in his steamer to Washington, as the bearer of tlispatches. 
The naval expedition having accomplished its purpose, he 
asked to lie relieved from duly in North Carolina, and his 
request being granted, he letuincd to hi^ home to secure 
needed rest after the fatigue and excitement through which 
he ha^l jiassed. In a short time we find him again on tluty, 
having been appointed Acting Master in the United .States 
Navy, and stationed at .\quia Creek. He rendered most 
acceptable service in checking the ojieralious of the enemy 
and enforcing the blockade. I'or his services in this de- 
partment of his duties he received the warm Commendations 
of the Secretary of the Navy, and the following communi- 
cation was addressed to him under date of May 26, 1S63: 
" Having been officially mentioned for cflicient and gallant 
conduct, you arc hereby promoted tt.> the giai.le t»f Acting 
Volunteer Lieutenant in the navy of the United .States." 
The spring and summer of 1 863 were spent in the per- 
formance of his duties as a naval otficcr. Among the most 
important of these duties was the guarding, by the flotilla 
with which he was connected, the upper waters of the 
Chesapeake, w hen the Reliels were invading Pennsylvania, 
and so much doubt hung over the fortunes of the country, 
until that doubt was disj)clled Ity the victories at Clettys- 
burg. He was so much worn by the continued labors and 
hardships of so many months, that he was ccimpelled to re- 
tire for a season from active duty. In the communication 
wdiich he addressed to the Hon. (.jideon Welles, the Sec- 
retary of the Navy, he makes the following disposition of 
whatexer may be due to him for his services: " I jiresume 



it will apjiear that there is an amount standing to my credit 
as due me for my services since I entered the navy of 
the United States As it is my purpose to draw no pay 
for any services which I have rendered to my country 
during the present war, I respectfully request that any sums 
so appearing on the books of the Auditor may remain in 
the Treasury, and that the accounts may thus be closed." 
After a few weeks of relaxation he was inviteil to act as 
ordnance officer in Washington, where his services were 
regarded as of so much value that he \\ as promoted to the 
grade of Lieutenant Commander November 7, 1864. In 
the following spring he sailed for Europe. His health so 
far improved that he hoped to be able to enter again the 
service of his country. While abroad he w-as married, 
Gctober 19, 1.S05. in \'ienna, to Elizabeth Cabot Motley, 
daughter of the Hon. John Lothrop Motley, Minister of 
the Uniteil States at the Court of Austria. He had pro- 
ceeded as far as Havre on his return to his home, w hen the 
insidious tlisease which for some time had been umler- 
mining his constitution, gained the mastery over him, and 
he died November 17, 1865. The interest he had cher- 
ished in the institutions of his native city, which w ere linked 
w ith the honored names of his father and his uncle, Rob- 
ert H. Ives, he showed liy the munificent bequests wdiich 
were found in his will. He gave fifty thousand dollars to 
the Rhode Island Hospital, ten thousand dollars to the 
Providence .Athcn.euni, and five thousand dollars to the 
Providence Id-iiensary. 



^wfVES, KciisLRi H.\LK, Jr., only son of Robert Hale and 
gjtel Harriet Bowen ( Aniory ) Ives, was born in Provi- 
^p" dence, .\pril 3, 1837. He was fitted for college at 
f',; ;-. the University Grammar School, an 1 graduated at Brow n 
■' s- University in the class of 1857. Shortly after his grad- 
uation he left home for the purpose of travelling in Europe. 
.\ year was thus spent under circumstances of peculiar in- 
terest, and in the society of those for whom he had a special 
affection. Returning to his native city he entered the count- 
ing-house of Brown lV Ives, and began what he supposed 
would be his hfe-uork, — the calling of a merchant. In 
the fall of 1S59 he again visited Europe and spent another 
year in foreign travel. <.)n his return he entered into part- 
nership with his cousins, Messrs. Goddard Brothers, Provi- 
dence. At once he began to identify himself with the 
interests which for so many years had been fostered by 
those who were nearest and dearest to him. At Easter, 
in 1S50, he had become a communicant at St. Stephen's 
Church, then under the rectorship of Rev. Dr. Waterman. 
He was chosen a member of the vestry and manifested a 
warm personal concern in all matters that affected the pros- 
perity of the church of his choice and his affections. His 
vocation, as a man of business, he did not consider his call- 
ing in life. In the charitable and literary institutions of 
his native citv, he took the same sort of interest wdiich his 



fl/OGRArmCAl. CYCLOPEDIA. 



539 



honored fallicr liad taken fiir so many years, and he was 
preparing to assume the responsibilities connected with 
their management which his father so long had borne. 
When the Civil War began he was ready to respond to the 
call of his country. Although constrained, for reasons 
which satisfied both his heart and his conscience, to remain 
at home during the first year of the war, he did all in his 
power to promote the enlistment of soldiers, and to provide 
in every possiljle way for their comfort. The second sum- 
mer of the war was a .season of bitter disappointment to 
the friends of the government, in consequence of continued 
defeat and disaster. The hour of romance and military 
enthusiasm had passed away, and the nation was called to 
confront the grim realities of war. It was then that Mr. 
Ives decided to engage in the military service of the gov- 
ernment. He accordingly offered his services at his own 
charges to General Rodman, lately appointed a brigadier 
general, as volunteer aid, on his personal staff. The offer 
was accepted and he was commissioned a lieutenant by the 
governor of Rhode Island, August 19, 1S62. Near the 
close of this month General Rodman resumed his duties 
in the Army of the^Potoniac, and his new aid shortly after 
joined him at Washington. General Rodman had com- 
mand of the third division in the Ninth Cor]is under General 
Burnside, and the position of Lieutenant Ives was one 
of great responsibility and attended with laborious service. 
The Corps commenced its movement into Maryland, at that 
time threatened to be overrun by the Rebel forces, on the 
7th of September. The enemy was driven without a bat- 
tle from the city of Frederick. Soon came the famous bat- 
tle at .South Mountain, during which Lieutenant Ives was 
under continuous fire through the entire day. On the ijth 
occurred the battle of Antietam, in which both armies dis- 
played the greatest courage and fought with the utmost de- 
termination. The division of General Rodman had a most 
important duty to perform, in the discharge of which it 
was exposed to a galling fire from the enemy. In a charge 
made by the Federal troops, both the brave commander. 
General Rodman, and his equally brave aid fell mortally 
wounded. The latter was struck in the thigh by a cannon- 
ball, which pro<luced a fearful flesh wound, although the 
bone was not broken. He was at once borne off the field 
of battle, and tenderly cared for l)y his own servant, George 
Griffin, who had entered his service in England in i860. 
He was attended by Surgeons Rivers and Millar, his own 
townsmen. At first it was not thought that his wound 
would be fatal, and although he suflt;re<l greatly he was 
uniformly hopeful, and expressed his belief that after a few 
weeks' residence in his Rhode Island home he would be 
able to resume his place in the army. The arrival of his 
father, accompanied by Doctor L. L. Miller, an accom- 
plished surgeon of Providence, was a source of intense grati- 
fication to him. Such was his condition that it was deem, 
ed safe to remove him from the field ho.spital, where he 
had been lying for several days, to Hagerstown, Maryland, 



where he found a home in the liospitable mansion of Mrs. 
Howard Kennedy. Everything that skill and kindness 
could do for the sufferer was done. But the wound was 
too severe and the shock too great to his system to permit 
his friends to cherish more than the faintest hope th.it he 
would be able to rally, and at length, even this faint hope 
faded away. The announcement that death w.as approach- 
ing was received with the calmness of Christian resignation. 
The hour which he had anticipated had come, and the 
closing moments of a brief but happy life were not embit- 
tered by the thought that preparation for the end of his 
earthly career had not been made. He died at Ilagers- 
town, September 27, 1862. His stricken friends brought 
back to his native city all that was mortal of him who, 
but a few weeks before, had left the endearments of home 
to give his own life for the life of his country. Gn the 
first day of October funeral services were performed in .St. 
Stephen's Church, and all that was mortal of the heroic 
young soldier was laid away in the sepulchre. Opposite 
the principal entrance of the church \\-here he had so often 
worshipped is a memorial window, placed there in com- 
memoration of his many virtues. In one of its divisions 
is the inscription, Rohkrt Hai.k, Ives, Jr., AntH';tam, 
1S62. Two ajjpropriate passages from the Bible are in the 
other division. 



5;1^(3PP1N, CoiRTL.WD, M.D., the youngest son of 
wj^ Thomas C. and Harriet D. (Jones) Hoppiii, was 
"pTJJ born in Providence, September 5, 1834. He was 
■jj*j5 fitted for college in the University Grammar School 
& I S of his native city, and was a graduate of Brown 
University in the class of 1855. Having chosen the medi- 
cal profession he pursued his studies under the direction of 
Drs. Barrows and Hoppin, and attended lectures in the 
New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he 
received his degree in the spring of i860. He opened an 
office in Providence, where he continued in the practice of 
his profession for the remainder of his life. For about five 
years he was the partner of Dr. Ira Barrows, with whose 
brother Dr. Washington Hoppin had been associated for 
some time. It has been remarked of Dr. Hoppin that 
"he was singularly fitted for ministering to the sick and 
the suffering. His perceptions were quick and his judg- 
ments sound ; his sympathies were .active and his manners 
exceedingly kindly, and though his career was so brief, he 
attained a large practice and was held in high esteem as a 
physician." The service which he rendered the Children's 
Home in Providence covered a period of fifteen years, and 
was highly appreciated by the managers and patrons of that 
excellent institution. Dr. Hoppin was singularly gifted 
with the peculiar tastes which, if thoroughly cultivated, 
would have made him an accomplished artist. He pub- 
lished several praiseworthy efforts on subjects connected 
with art. He married, in November, 1863, Mary Frances, 
daughter of Joseph VV. Clark, of Boston, who with three 



540 



BIOGKAPinCAL CYCL OPEDTA. 



cliildren survive^l him. He diet! in the prime of liis life 
and of Iiis ii^iffulness, in Providence, October 19, 1S76. 



\I 1., LlEUTFNANT WlII.IAM \V\Rl'.son iif Rev. 
i)r. Edward B. and Harriet 1 \Vare ) Hall, was 
"firf" '""" '" Providence. Oct'ilier 27, lS;4. He pur. 
fflt^ ^ued Ins i>reparatory studies in the puMie and Idgh 



schools of his native city, and was a graduate of 
Harvard University in the class of 1S5;. The two years 
which followed his graduation were devoted to teaching. 
Having decideil to study for the ministry in the Unitarian 
denomination, with » liich his father had so long been con- 
nected, he pursued for three years the regul.ir course of 
study in the ])ninily School at Cand)ridge. gradualinL; in 
the class of 1858. Having completed his studies at the 
Divinity School, he decided to spend two years abroad 
and secure the advantages connected with foreign travel 
and intercourse with scholars of other lands. During the 
troubles in Rome, in i860, he was for a time exposed to 
great peril, and narrowly escaped with his life from the 
rude attacks of the French soldiery. The purpose which 
carried him abroad having been accomplished, he returned 
to his native land and conunenccd what he intended shoidd 
be his lile-work, that of a preacher. Without sealing in 
a particular locality he sup|)lieil the puljiits of I'nitarian 
churches without p.i-tius. Intending at what he thought to 
be the proper time to settle over a parish. While thus oc- 
cupied the Civil War commenced, and he caught the enthu- 
siasm which was tiring the hearts of the people. He vol- 
unteered his services and was commisji.nied a First Lieu- 
tenant of Company I!, in a Rhoile Island lialtalion, which 
was afterwards known as the Fifth Rhode Island \'ohin- 
teers. He w as at the battles of Roanoke and Fort .Macon, 
under General liurnside, and passed through an experience 
lor which the sort of life he had lived as a student had 
poorly fitted him. The fatigue and hardships incident, even 
under the best circumstances, to the soldier's life gave a 
great shock to his system. He resigned his position in the 
summer of I.S62 and returned home, where he somewhat 
recovered his health and strength. Desirous of still serv- 
ing his countiT. and yielding to impulses which led him to 
seek an opi'nituiiity to be useful to his fellow-men, he 
offered his services as a teacher of freediiieii on Saint He- 
lena Island, Port Royal. ( Ince more lea\ing his home he 
went South to the place to which he had lieen assigned, 
and here, for a year and a half, with great fidelity and un- 
wearied patience and kindness, he devoted himself to the 
moral and intellectual improvement of the colored people, 
winning the esteem of his associates and the warm love of 
his pupils. This work of love he continued to perform 
until his health and strength gave way under it, and he was 
compelled to retire from it. He reached his home July i, 
1S64. His sickness was a brief one, lasting but six weeks, 
and terminating w ith his death, wdiich occurred .\ugust 9, 



1S64. "Trustfulness, humility, tenderness, conscientious- 
ness," says one of his friends, " wilh persistent devotion 
to the right, were the chief traits of Mr. Hall. His repug- 
nance to oppression and his sympathies w ith the oppressed 
were ol the must positive character. The crowning labor 
of his brief life, if it ha<l not the glare and excitement of 
arms, was second in importance to no other to w hich pa- 
triot hands have been given. In that work his name is 
registered with a noble com|)any, who in coming ages will 
be honored as human lienefactors." 



\USL.\N, John, merchant, was b.irn in the 
■5 palish of Kilmodan. county of Argyle, Scotland, 
- \,'^-i.J^'t August 10, lS^5. His parents were .Mexander 
ffl, and Margaret ( Warden 1 McAuslan. The for- 

ek nier died October 24, 1S54, aged sixty-eight, 

and the latter, March 12, iSSo, aged eighty nine. Alex- 
ander McAuslan was an extensive stock-farmer, and was 
lessee of 400 acres of land for a period of forty-four years. 
Traditicjn says the lamily arc descended from Buey .\use- 
lan, son of (Jkyan, Provincial King of the south part of 
Ulster, who left Ireland in 1016, on account of the incur- 
sions of the Danes, and t >ok refuge in Scntland, where, 
with King Malcolm II., he distinguished himself in battle 
against the L)anes, his sere ice bsing rewarded b\- a grant 
from King Malcolm of the gre.iter part of the estate of 
Hiichanan, in .Stirlingshire, on the north of Loch Lomond, 
also a coat of arms, the emblem of his valiant deeds, 
which is still in the possession of the family. Many 
of the name of McAuslan, under its various orthographi- 
cal hums, ha\e occu]iied posititms of prominence and 
usefulness in political, military, clerical, literary, and 
mercantile life, and as heads of municipialities and mem- 
bers of Parliament. John Mc.\uslan was the youngest of 
eight children, the names of the others being James, 
Janet, William, Margaret, Jane, Alexander, and Robert. 
All except James, William, and Robert are living, and 
settled on farms near their old home, lanet, Margaret, 
and Jane having married fanners. Mr. Mc.\uslan re- 
cei\*ed a good common-school educaticm in his native 
tow n, and in 1S51 went to (neenock, a tow n (Ui the Clyde, 
about hirty miles from his h(.)me, where he was employed 
as clerk in the drygoods store of Niehol ^; West, until the 
autumn of ils^S. In September ol that }ear he sailed in 
the steamer " Niagara," feu the United States, arriving in 
Boston, September 24. He immediately entered the em- 
ploy of Hogg, Brown & Taylor, of Boston, with whom he 
remained until August, 1S66, when he went to Provi- 
dence, and there established the Boston Store, with Walter 
Callender and John E. Trou]), the firm-name being Callen- 
der, McAuslan & Troup. This is now the largest whole- 
sale and retail drygoods house in the .State. The proprie- 
tors have maintained an enviable reputation for honorable 
dealing, and have been instrumental in establishing many 





.1 



^i-<2- <1 CX^^-Cy 



BioGKA I'lin A I. c vcr. ornniA. 



S4I 



of ihfir former clerks in business in different pliices in New 
England. Since June, 1S51, Mr. Mc.^u^l:\n has been en- 
gaged exclusively in the drygoods business. In 1S54, at 
the age of nineteen, he united with the Kree Middle Pres- 
byterian Church, in Greenock, .Scotland, from which he 
took a letter, in 1S59, to the Kirst Presbyterian Church, in 
Boston, where he served as a deacon and as clerk of the 
standing committee. In 1868 he united, by letter, with 
the High Street Congregational Church, in Providence. 
This church, in 1871, united with the Richmond Street 
Congregational Church and formed the Union Congrega- 
tional Church, which erected the house of worship on 
Broad Street. Mr. Mc.\uslan served as tre.isurer of the 
Union Congregational Church from 1874 to 1S77, during 
which time he introduceil the system of weekly offerings, 
which has since been adopted by nearly all denominations 
throughout New England. He has also been superin- 
tendent of the Sabbath-school since 1S76; the present 
number of the school being 432. He is also a life member 
of the Scotch Charitable Society of Boston. He married, 
.\ugust 27, 1863, Amelia B. Robinson, daughter of W. S. 
and Pamelia (Gow) Robinson, of Gardiner, Maine. They 
have six children, George Robert, John Wallace, William 
Alexander, .\rthur Warden, Harold Lee, and Erederick. 
Mrs. McAuslan is a lineal descendant, in the ninth gene- 
ration, of Rev. John Robinson, who preached the farewell 
sermon to the Pdgrims in Holland. 



at Chicago, and in iSSi served as a messenger to bear the 
electoral vote of the State to Washington, D. C. He mar- 
ried, November 24, 1859, Clarinda E., daughter of Hon. 
Jonathan Hill, of P'oster. 



'right, Hon. J.imes Man'CHEstkr, son of Ben- 
jamin and Lucy (Wells) Wright, was born Jan- 
r" "■ uary 28, 1834, in Foster, Rhode Island, where, 
excepting a ^^v: years in childhood, he has always 
resided. His ancestors were among the first set- 
tlers of Rhode Island, being, it is believed, lineally de- 
scended from George Wright, whose name appears on the 
records of Providence in 1648. He was educated in the 
common schools, and has chiefly followed the occupation 
of a farmer. Very early he became interested in politics, 
and has been a constant and close reader and observer of 
legislative proceedings and of political matters in general. 
Mr. Wright was a Democrat previous to i860, when he 
left that party on the slavery question and became an active 
Republican. In 1862 he was elected a Representative to 
the State Legislature, and was re-elected the following 
year. He w-as elected to the same position again in 1868, 
and re-elected in 1869. In 1877 he w.as elected Senator 
from Eoster, and re-elected in 1878. For many years he 
has been a member of the Republican State Central Com- 
mittee, and is well known as a successful manager in party 
politics, who has sought little for himself and labored al- 
ways for the public good. In 1879 he was elected Assist 
ant Commissioner of bhell Fisheries of the .State for five 
years. In 18S0 he acted as an alternate in the Rhode 
Island delegation at the Republican National Convention 



i^^OURN, Hon. Atict.isTUs O., son of George O. and 
» Huldah liattey (Eddy) Hourn, was born in Provi- 
dence Octolier I, 1S34. He received his early 
mm education in the public schools of Providence, and 
* in September, 1 851, entered Brown University, where 
he graduated in 1855. Immediately on leaving college he 
engaged in the business of manufacturing india-rubber 
goods with his father in Providence, and on the death of 
his father, which occurretl in 1859, he took his place in 
the firm. He continued in this business until about 1864, 
when he foundeil, in Bristol, Rhode Island, the National 
Rubber Company. In 1867 the Providence firm gave up 
their business, and then, with their capital and machinery, 
joined the Bristol company, of which, since its beginning. 
Colonel Bourn has been the acti\e manager. This com- 
pany now employs ne.arly I loo hands, producing about 
S2,ooo,ocxi worth of india-rubber goods per annum, in al- 
most endless variety. It is the leading industry in Bristol 
and from it at least half its population derive their support. 
Colonel Bourn has been prominently identified with mili- 
tary organizations, and has exerted considerable intluence 
in the politics of the State. He was for many years con- 
nected with the Providence Horse Guards, and served 
in every capacity from private to lieutenant-colonel. In 
1878 he was Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Battalion of 
Rhode Lsland Cavalry. In 1876 he was elected to the 
Rhode Island Senate from Bristol, and served with such 
satisfaction to his constituents and the public generally, 
that he was unanimously re-elected in 1877, 1878, 1879, 
1880, and 1S81. During the last three terms, 1S78-79-80, 
he has been chairman of the Committee on Finance, and 
in 1S79-S0 a member of the Judiciary Committee. He 
married, February 26, 1863, Elizabeth Roberts Morrill, 
daughter of David C. and Mary Mansfield (Wentworth) 
Morrill. They have five children, Augustus <)., Jr., Eliza- 
beth Roberts, George Osborn, Alice Mansfield Wentworth, 
and Stephen Wentworth. Colonel Bourn has done much 
to promote the growth and prosjierily of Bristol. 



pOCKE, Rev. George Lym.^n, rector of St. Michael's 
SiftBll Protestant Episcopal Church of Bristol, Rhode 
Island, was bora in Boston, Massachusetts, Au- 
- gust 28, 1835, and is the son of Lyman and Almeria 
J" R. (Boynton) Locke. His mother died when he was 
a child. He enjoyed superior eilucational advantages, 
having prepared for college at the Boston Latin School, 
and graduated at Harvard College in 1859. His theolog- 
ical studies were pursued privately. For two years pre- 



542 



mocRArmcAL cvci. oped r a. 



vioii'i t" entering tollei^e he tniiglit school in Virginia, nnd 
after grailualnig, taught fur three years in New Vurk as 
private tutur, at tire same time jiiirsuing hi^ pri'fessi'.aial 
stinlies, At the age of eigliteen he was fur une year civil 
engineer at Albany, New \'ork. In lS(>3, im returning 
from a tour in Europe, lie was onlaineil to the mini--try of 
the I'rotestant Episcopal Cliureh hy Right Rev. Manton 
Eastburn, D.D., LL.D., ami the following six months was 
assistant minister at (irace Church, Boston, after which he 
\\as for two years assistant minister to Bishop Eastburn at 
Trinity Church, Boston. The following year was spent in 
a second visit to Europe, (hi his return he was ealleil to 
Bristol, Rhode Islaiul, where for the past fourteen years he 
has been rector of St. Miciiaers Protestant Episcopal 
Church. Soon after his removal to Bristol he was electcil 
a memlier of the School (.omniittee, and for nearly ten 
years was chairman of the Board. He has l)een for many 
years a member of the State Board of Education of Rhode 
Island ; has been a trustee of the Rhride Island Normal 
School since the founding of that institution ; and is at 
present a member ol the Board of Trustees of the Rogers 
Free Library of Biistol, In addition to his European 
journeyings, Mr. Locke has lieen in the West Indies and 
on the I'acitic coa^l. He married, in l)eceiiiber, 1S73, 
Emily .Iuds,)n, ilaughter of the late Rev. .Mbeit ludson, of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have one child, Mary 
Emily Locke. 

^.\N1>\', IbiN. ClI.\Rl.F,s IL, son of (ieorge H. and 
IJ^N ICli/abelh H. (.\ndrews) Handy, was born in 

XjT Warren, Rhode Island, September 18, 1S56. His 
\\\ father was for many years an enterprising mer- 

el 9 el chant of W^irreii, and liicd at New (hieaiis. Mr. 
Handy was educated at the schools of his nati\e town, and 
at the age of nineteen went to Peoria, Illinois, wdiere for 
several years he was engaged as clerk in a mercantile 
house. He subserjuently carried on business there success- 
fully on his own account. In 1S61 he became connected 
with the f'nion army, with which he remained until the 
close of the (.'ivil War, during wdiich time he rendered 
great ser\ice to the soldiers by ministering to iheir wants 
in hosj.itals, and liy his kindness to them in the held. In 
1865 he took ii[i his resilience in \ash\ille, Tennessee, 
where he remained until 1S71. While residing there he 
was associated as ea|iiialist in -everal business enterprises, 
with the e.\ce])tioii of one season (1S66), wdiich he spent 
in cotton jilanting in Northern Alabama. Since his return 
to Warren he has taken an active interest in matters per- 
taining to the welfare of that town, and has tilled various 
official ]iositions. In 1S76 he ably represented his town in 
the Senate of Rhode Island, and in 187S, 1S79, and iSSo 
w.as re-elected to the same ]iosition, the last two years with- 
out (ipposition. In the ( ieneral Assembly of 187(1 he 
served as a member of the linaiice Commiltee, and was 
also chairman of the ('ommittee on State Propertv. L)ur- 



ing the years 1S7S, 18713, and 1S80 he has also been a 
member of the Committee on Finance and ch.iiiiiian 
of the Committee on Militia. In the last-named posi- 
tion Mr. Handy has I)een largely instrumental in re- 
organi/ing the Militia of the State of Rhode Island, and 
brii ging it up to iis present effective condi.ion. In 1S74 
he served as a memlier of the Town C"ouni il of Warren. 
His jiolitical career has lieen one of continued success, 
and the faithful manner in which he has discharged the 
various duties of the public po^iiii.ns he has been called to 
till is a matter of record. I'^inn priiieijile he has been a 
member of the Republican party since its organization, in 
the weliaie of w hicli he took an active interest on his re- 
turn to Warren, and has been recogni/cd as an able leader. 
He has been a member of the Republican State Central 
(.'oinmittee of Rhode Island since 1870, and in Tune, iSSo, 
was a delegate to the l\e|aiblican National Convention at 
Chicago. He is a director of the National Warren Bank, 
and a trustee of the Campbell School Fund. This fund is 
for the education of indigent children, and is the income 
fronr a bequest made by a liberal-sjiirited citizen of War- 
ren, through wdiose munificence about forty-five pui>ils are 
now educated yearly. Mr. Handy has been a vestryman of 
St. Mark's Protestant l-'jiiscopal (.diureh since 187(1. He has 
travelled over the greater portion of the I'nited .States, and 
has a large acquaintance, not only in New England, but 
throughriut the country. He married, November 30, 1S71, 
Mary Abbot, youngest daughter of the late Commodore 
]oel Alibot of the Ihiited States na\y. (.)n returning to 
Warren he purchased one of the Hnest residences in that 
town, wdiere he now resides. 



■H'LEY, J.vMKS M.mhsox, lawyer, son of Benjamin 
^^^1^ W. and Lucy (Cook) Ripley, was born at Wrent- 
'^'.'° ham, Massachusetts, September S, 1S34. He is a 
•■(ffij gre,it grandson of Nathaniel Cook, who served with 
d- Paul Jones, on the Bon Homme Richard, which 
captured the Sera|iis. His sister is the wife of Alonzo Cook, 
of Wrenthani. Mr. Ripley was educaled in the public 
schools and at Brown Ihiiversity. He read law in the 
ofhce of Carpenter & Thurston, of I'rovidence, for a short 
time after leaving college, and then entered the Albany 
Law School, where he graduated m 1855 with the degree 
of liachelorof Laws. Soon afterward he returned to Provi- 
dence, where he was admitted to the bar and opened a law 
office at 28 Westminster Street, and on the dissolution of 
the firm ot Carpenter & Thurston he formed a partnership 
with Benjamin F. Thurston, with wdiom he is still associa- 
ted, the tirm-nanie lieing Thurston, Ripley & Co. Mr. 
Ripley has almost the entire management of the extensive 
law and equity iiraclice of the firm, and the ability and suc- 
cess with which he has conducted the varied business in- 
trusted to him during his professional career have caused 
him to be recognized as one of the ablest lawyers in the 




/ /■-' 



^//^7yi^ 




.f 



^^'^//^^ 



BIOGRAPUICAL CYCL OPEDIA. 



543 



State. He has attained special distinction in the trial of 
jury causes, and for many years was engayeil in the trial of 
almost every case of homicide in the State. In 1862 he 
was appointed Judge Advocate of the Second Brigade 
Rhode Island Militia. In 1856 he was president of the 
Young Men's I'Vemont Club of Providence, and has since 
been identified with the Republican party, lie married, 
June 30, 1859, Mary W. Brown, daughter of Thomas and 
Elizabeth Brown, of Providence, and niece of the late Gov- 
ernor James Y. Smith. They have two children, James 
Herbert and Alice Maud. In 1872 Mr. Ripley went to 
Europe on account of impaired health occasioned by close 
ajjplication to his profession, and travelled extensively on 
the Continent. On his return home he resumed the prac- 
tice of law, in which he is now actively engaged. He is 
very popular with his professional brethren, to the younger 
members of whom he has always extended a helping hand, 
and is highly respected for his superior ability, kindliness, 
genial disposition, and social 'pialities. 



Christian and l>enevolent associations. His travels have 
extended widely over our country, and he has twice vis- 
ited Europe. He possesses good abilities as a writer and 
speaker, is esteemed and honored in social and business 
circles, and occupies a prominent place in the community. 
He married, March 30, 1S54, .Sarah J. Elclredge, daughter 
of Richard Eldredge, of Pawtucket. 



|^Y|ICKERS0N, Ansel Davis, printer, son of Elias 
It-' and Lucy (Jerauld) Nickerson, was born in Sand- 
wich, Massachuset.s, December 25, 1S34. His 
father, for a number of years, was Sheriff of Provi- 
dence County, Rhode Island. His mother died in 
i860. The family lived in SmithHeld, Rhode Island (now 
the township of Lincoln), near Central Falls, where Ansel 
D. attended the public schools till the age of six, when he 
began to work in a cotton mill. At the age of nine, after 
attending school less than a year regularly, he began to 
learn the art of printing. In 1846 he was apprenticed to 
Mr. Robert Sherman, publisher of the Pawtucket Gazette 
and Chronicle, and in 1864 became a partner with Mr. 
Sherman in business. In 1S70, he and John S. Sibley 
bought out Mr. Sherman, and under their proprietorship 
the Gazette and Clirotticle pros])ered. Mr. Nickerson was 
one of the publishers of the paper for fourteen years. In 
1878 he sold his printing interest to Mr. Charles A. Lee, 
and spent a year in travel through Europe. In October, 
1880, he became managing editor of the Providence Press. 
During the Rebellion he served for nine months in the 
Union army as a memlier of the Eleventh Rhode Island 
Volunteers, a regiment of infantry. In 1S73-4 he was a 
member of the Town Council of North Providence, and 
also served the town as a Representative in the State Leg- 
lature. He is connected with the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and a firm Republican. While residing in 
Smithfield, for a number of years he was a member of 
the School Committee, and served in like manner in North 
Providence, and afterwards performed the same service in 
Pawtucket. For many years he was superintendent of the 
Central Falls Baptist Sabbath-school, and for the last ten 
years has been superintendent of the First Bajitist Sabbath- 
school of Pawtucket. He is also connected with other 



^ICKNELL, Thomas W., LL.D., editor of the New 
England and National jtuiirnals of Education, 
affl "'"' ^^ Education, a bi-montlily magazine, son of 
Allin and Harriet B. Bicknell, was born in Barring- 
ton, Rhode Island, .September 6, 1834. His father, 
who was born April 13, 1787, was the son of Joshua and 
Amy Bicknell, and was brought up in and devoted himself 
to a farmer's life. He joined the Congregational Church 
in Barrington with about seventy others, following the great 
revival in June, 1820, and maintained a consistent Christian 
character for more than fifty years. He succeeded his hon- 
ored father. Judge Bicknell, as a deacon of the Congrega- 
tional Church, and held the office till his death. He held 
various offices in the town, was a member of the Town 
Council and of the School Committee for several years, was 
colonel of the military company of the town, a Represent- 
ative of the town in the General Assembly for the years 
1842, 1846, and 1849, ^ff' ^ Slate Senator for the years 
1850-51-52-53. He married, for his first wife, Harriet 
Byron Kinnicutt, daughter of Josiah and Rebecca Kinni- 
cutt; and for his second wife, Elizabeth W. Allen. He 
was industrious in habit, generous, hospitable. He died 
Monday, August 22, 1870, in his eighty-fourth year, and 
was buried with his fathers at Prince's Hill Cemetery. 
Thomas \V. Bicknell received his early education in dis- 
trict and private schools in Barrington until sixteen years 
of age, when he left home to attend school at Thetford 
Academy, in Vermont, from which he graduated in 1853, 
delivering the Greek oration on Grecian Mythology. He 
taught his first school at Seekonk, Massachusetts, in 1853- 
54. He was admitted by examination to Dartmouth and 
Amherst Colleges, and entered the freshman class of 
Amherst in September, 1853. At the close of the freshman 
year he was elected by his class as a prize debater, and 
became a member of the A. ii. >{>. fraternity. In 1S54 he 
left college to recruit in health and funds ; was principal 
of the public and high school in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 
in 1854-55; went West in 1855 and taught as principal of 
the Academy at Elgin, Illinois. In the summer of 1856 he 
joined a Chicago emigration company to settle in Kansas, 
and was taken prisoner by border ruffians on the Missouri 
River and sent back to St. Louis under escort of C'olonel 
Bufibrd's South Carolina and Virginia Sharpshooters. He 
then came East and conducted Rehoboth High School 
from September, 1856, to December, 1857. In February, 



544 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED J A. 



1S5S, he enterc'l lirown University, and yradimted from 
that institmion in iSoo, with the dei;ree of A.M. iMuni 
May, I,S6o, to I'llinuiry, 1S63, he was )iiinci)ial of Bristol 
Hit;h Scliool ; and was principal of Arnold Street Grammar 
School, ProvHlencc, from iSiJj to 1S67, till the school was 
closed, when he returned to the principalship of the Bristol 
Ilii^h .School, which position he resii^neti iit Mav, lS6g. 
In lune, iSoij, lie was ap()oiiited CominisNioner of rublic 
Schools of Rhode Islani.l, liy (.lovernor i'adellord, and eon- 
tinvied in ofl'ice until January I, I.'syS- While commissioner 
he secured a .State liuard of Ethication, of which he w'as 
secretary ; the re-establishment of the State Normal .School, 
at I'rovidence ; the re-establishment of the P/ioi/c- Island 
SJicolinoitey, of which he was editor for nearly ten years; 
secin'ed town school superintendents in each town in the 
■State; dedicated over fifty new schoolhouses ; advanced 
the school-year from twenty-seven to tliirty-tne weeks 
average throuj^hnut the .State; and school appropriations 
were nearly trebled during liis administration. He aided 
in the revival of the -American Institute of Instruction and 
in tile establishment of the Xe-.o Jiiii^lathl '''/■>iir>ia/ of /■'.dti- 
cii/ii'/!. and as joint proprietor and publisher with I.'. C. 
C'hatlield, edited the Journal, which united the several 
monthly nias^a/ines of New EnL^laiul in one piaper, issued 
weekly at Boston, Massachusetts. He established and 
edited Tlu- Primtiry 7('(?t7/tV-, a monthly magazine, ill 1S76. 
In I.SSohe established and became conductor of .£(/«tv;/'/(>«, 
a bi inoiithl)' review on the .Science, the .\rt, the Philoso- 
phy, and the History of Educ.ition, continuing the editor- 
ship of the yoioiitil .\\\A the picsitlency of the New I'ng- 
land Publishing Company, formed in 1S75. His present 
liusiness is that of editing and publi-.hing educational books 
and maga/ines. For several years he was a member of the 
School Board and Superintendent of Schools, and a mem- 
ber of the Town Council of Harrington, Rhode Island; 
Presiilenl of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction in 
I,S67-68; President of the American Institute of Iintruciion 
in 1S77 and 1S7.S, when the meetings were held at Mont- 
pelier, \'ermont, aii'l at Fabyan's, White Mountains, New 
Hampdiire. .\s a result of the latter meeting, a fund of 
one thousand dollars w as created, called the Bicknell I'"und, 
and money was raised to build a mountain-path up Mount 
Carrigan, New Hampshire. He was the hrst to advocate 
the formation of the National Council of Ivlucation, and 
was elected its first President at Chautauqua. July, iSSo. 
He engaged in religious work ia I.Ssi at 'llietiord, and 
joined the t_'ongregational Church while at the acatlemy. 
i-rom iSoi to 1.SO4 he was siiperniteiidcnt o{ the Sun- 
day-school at Bristol, Rhode Island ; of the Sunday- 
school at Harrington, from 1S04 to 1S75; and of the 
Second Cdniich .Sunday-school, Uorchester, Boston, from 
1S76 to iS.So. lie aided in the formation of the Boston 
Congregational .Sunday-school .Superintendents' Union, and 
was elected its president in May, iSSo. That year he was 
a delegate to attend the Raikes Sunday-school Centenary 



at London. He has lectured and gi\'en atldresses in vari- 
ous parts of the country. On the 17th of fune, 1S70, he 
delivered the oration at the Centennial of his native town, 
Barrington. His iniblished works are, .•/ Mcinoridl of 
William Lord Noyfs, 186S; A History of Barrington, 
1S70; several genealogical pamphlet-; Krforts as Cont- 
viissioner of Piitdio Srliools, 1S70, '71, '72, '73, '74; an 
Address on Sdiool Sn/'on'ision, 1876; and editorial and 
other articles in the Rhode Island Schoolmaster, Journal 
of Education, and other publications. Mr. Bicknell is a 
member of the Massachusetts Historic Genealogical .So- 
ciety, a corresponding member of the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society, a member of the American Association for 
the Advancement of .Science, of the American .Social 
.Science Association, and an honorary memloer of the 
Pennsylvania Historical Society. The Bicknell Family 
Association was f.>rmed in Boston in ])ecember, 1S79, and 
Mr. Bicknell was elected its president. He is also a 
member tif various other social, historic, and religious 
organizations. In 1S72 he was elected an honorary mem- 
ber of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and recei\ed the honO' 
rary degree of Master of Arts from Amherst College in 
18S0. Mr. Bicknell was President of the Rhode Island 
Sunday-school Union from 1872 to 1S75, and First \ice- 
President of the Rhode Island Temperance Union. He 
was a delegate from the Rhode Island Conference ti> f'oini 
the National Congregational Council, and a delegate from 
the Suffolk South Conference, Massachusetts, to the Tri- 
ennial Council, held in Hetroit. Michigan, in tictol er, 
1N77. In 1873 he was appointed, by ( ioveruor Padelford, 
Commissioner from Rhode Islanil to the Universal Expo- 
sition at X'ienna, Austria; in 1 87S was a member of- the 
Postal Congress held in New York, in forming the Postal 
Code adopted by Congress in 1S79. In political life Mr. 
Bicknell has held several prominent positions, the chief of 
which was Represent.itive to the (_ieneial Assemlily of 
Rhode Ul.uid, to which he was electeil by the citizens of 
Barrington while he was a junior in Brown University. 
In that legislature he made an elaborate speech in favor of 
the union of the colored and while schools in the State. 
He has travelled extensively through the L'nited States, 
making thorough lours through the Southern States, and 
has made three European trips. In 1S73 he travelled 
through Scotland, England, France, Holland, Belgium, 
Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, .-\ustria, and Ba\'aria. 
Ill 1S79 he revisited ICngland, and in 18S0, wiih his wife, 
visited Scotland, Englau'l, France, Belgium, and Holland. 
He cast his first presidenlial vote for John C. Fremont, in 
1S56. and still holds fast to the Republican part\'. He 
marrie<l, September 5, 1S60, Amelia D. Blanding, daughter 
of Christopher and Chloe Blanding. A daughter, Mattie, 
was born to them in Bristol, Rhode Islanil, 1862, who died 
in Barrington, Rhode Island, in 1867. Mr. Bicknell re- 
moved to Boston in 1S75, to carry on his work as educa- 
tion. il publisher, anei now resides on Bowiloin A\cnue 



BIOCRA I' NIC A L CC ) 7. Ol'FDlA. 



545 



Dorclie^'ttr I>islrict, Hostoii. Ho receive<l the honorary 
decree of LL. D. frtJiii I)rury ("ollc^i-, Missouri, June, 
1881. 



gi^KAV, Hon. Henry H., I,ieutenant-(iovernor of Rhode 
^^g Island, son of Rev. Eliphaz Fay, late President of 
^^Cs Watervillc College, Maine, was born at New Paltz, 
Ulster County, New ^■ork, in 1835. In 1S56 he re- 
ceived the degree of Master of Arts from the Univer- 






sity of Rochester, and during that year established a school 
for boys at Newport, Rhode Island, the reputation of which 
attracted pupils from all parts of the country. This school 
was carried on successfully l)y Mr. Fay until 1875, when 
he retired therefrom. During that year Mr. Fay w.is elected 
to the Rhode Island deneral Assembly, to which he was 
annually re-elected until 1 880, when he was chosen Lieu- 
tenant-Governor on the Repul)lican ticket, having been a 
member of that party from its organization. He was re- 
elected Lieutenant-Governor In iSSi. While in the Gen- 
eral Assembly he was chairman of the Committee on Edu- 
cation, and a member of the Cummiltee on Finance. He 
was an original member of the Slate Board of Charities 
and Correction, serving for three years, when he resigned. 
He was a delegate from Rhode Island to the Republican 
National Convention at Baltimore in 1S64, when Abraham 
Lincoln was renominated for the presidency. Mr. Fay 
married, in 1864, Ida Garland, of Baltimore. His suc- 
cessful career as an educator, and his efficient public ser- 
vice, have placed him among the prominent and inlluential 
men of the State. 



^lOKREEMAN, Ed\v.\rd Livingston, printer and book- 
^te g seller, was born in Watervillc, Maine, .September 
li^ 10, lS35,and is the son of Rev. Edward and Har- 
I riet E. (Colburn) Freeman. His father was born in 
•L Mendon, Massachusetts, in .\pril, 1806; worked on 
a farm until he was twenty-one years of age ; fitted for col- 
lege, and entered Brown University, where he graduated 
with the degree of Master of Arts in 1833, in the same 
class with Hon. Henry B. Anthony and Hon. Nathan F. 
Dixon. He paid his way through college by teaching 
school. Soon after graduating he entered the ministry as 
a Calvinistic Baptist, and removed to Waterville, Maine ; 
was afterward settled over- the Baptist Church at Oldtown, 
Maine, and then removed to Camden, Maine, « here he 
has since resided, with the exception of one year, when he 
was pastor of the Baptist Church at Bristol, Rhode Island. 
For thirty years he was principal of a private high school, 
and has probably fitted more young men for college than 
any other teacher in M.aine. Though now in his scventy-fifih 
year, he is hale and \'igorous, carrying on his farm of fifty 
acres with the aid of a boy only, and teaching a public .school 
during the winter. Edward L. Freeman's mother was born 
in West Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1815. She graduated 
69 



at Medlicld High School, and was a most excellent French 
and Latin scholar. For several years after her marriage 
she taught a large class of young ladies in French. She 
died in June, 1852. Edward L. was the eldest of ten 
children. He was instructed by his father antl fittc<l for 
college at an early age, but afterward apprenticed himself 
to A. W. Pearce, of Pawtucket, to learn the trade of print- 
ing. After the completion of his apprenticeship, he worked 
several years for Messrs. Hammond, Angell S: Co., in 
Providence: spent one winter in the city of Washington, 
and then purchased an interest in the business of the last- 
named firm, with whom he continued as a partner for two 
years. At the expiration of that time he sold out and com- 
menced business in Central Falls, where he has hiiiU up a 
large business, enrl:)racing every variety of printing. In 
1869 he started a newspaper called the IVcekly Visitor, 
which has been well patronized. In 1873 he formed a 
partnership with Mr. John E. Goldsworthy, and in 1877 
they purch.ised the book and stationery store of Messrs. 
Valj^ey, .^ngell & Co., in Providence, which they have 
since carried on successfully. Mr. Freeman's recognized 
business capacity and personal popularity have made him 
one of the most influential citizens of the town in which 
he resides. He has held several local offices, and for scv 
eral years served as a member of the General Asseml)Iy of 
Rhode Island, representing the town of Smithfield for two 
years in the House of Representatives and one year in the 
Senate, ami having been the first Senator of the new town 
of Lincoln, which place he has since represented for four 
years in the House, occupying the position of Speaker for 
two years. During his career as a legislator he has ren- 
dered the State good service, and been instrumental in se- 
curing the adoption of measures designed to advance the 
interests of the community he has represented. For several 
years Mr. Freeman was prominently identified with the 
military organization know n as the Union Guard of ("entral 
Falls, of which he liecame a mendjer \\ hen it was organ- 
ized, in 1861, and was gradually promoted from the ranks 
to the office of colonel, in which capacity he served until 
the new militia law was enacted and the organization bro- 
ken up. In 1S64 he joined the .Masonic fraternity, and 
has held various offices in that order, including that of 
Worshipful Master in Union Lodge, and Eminent Com- 
mander of Holy Sepulchre Commandery, and also in the 
Grand Lodge and Commandery. At present he is Grand 
Master of Masons of the State of Rhode Island, and Grand 
Junior Warden of the Grand Commandery of Massachu- 
setts and Rhode Island. He is a member of the society 
of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Free- 
man joined the Central Falls Congregational Church July 
I, 1S55, and has since been actively connected with the 
church and Sunday-school. He married, November 10, 
1858, Emma E. Brown, daughter t)f .Samuel and Margaret 
Brown, of Central Falls. They have had seven children, 
five of whom, three sons and two daughters, are living. 



5*6 



P/OGK.I r///CA L C ] 'CL OPED 1. 1 . 



rW^f/rllVVE. Kk\-. Cll^KIi^ ]■, "as li.iiii in Boston, 
fjVyr-f;. Mliss.h Inisetts. M.iy 22, lS:;('i, .ind is tlie son of 
yW l/li.iili's an. I Anianila (Kinilialli Wliiie. He 
was cdiicatLMl at \Villist.)n Scniinaiv, East Hamp- 
ton, MassacliiiM tts, anil Taft's College. After 
graduation in iS^'^ lie lucanie Principal of the Milford 
Hiffh Seliool. At the end of two years he resigned to ac- 
cept the position of cashier in the house of B. D. (^'lodfrey 
& Co., Boston. In the leisure of his secular employment 
he began the study of theology under the direction of Pro- 
fessor Charles PI. Leonard, of I'aft's Divinity .School. 
February, I. So;, he entered tlie Christian ministry of the 
Universalist t.'hureh, and was ririlained the following year. 
He began his labors in P^ast Boston, where a parish was 
established and a cluneh erected during his ministry. In 
1S70 he was invited to tdl the vacancy in the Universalist 
pulpit at W.jonsocket, caused liy the death of the Rev. 
John Bovden. He accepted the invitation, and entered 
upi.n his duties February I, 1S71. His pastoral relations 
to the Woonsuckct parish still remain unliroken. .August 
7, iNbo, he married Harriet Eli/alieth, eldest daughter of 
(;)bed and Harriet V.. P)aniels, of Milford, Massachusetts. 
They have had live children : Charles ( )bcd. Hatlie May, 
Alphonso P'ayette, William Irving, and Paul .Maurice, all 
of whom are living except William Irving. 



?RE\VSTFR. Kiv. InNariiVN MrDiiFiKi-, son of 
Daniel and Sarah McDiiffee Brewster, was born 
'"^ in Alton, Xew Hampshire, November I, 1S35. 
'T •" While a child his parents removed to W.df borough, 
J' an ailjoiiiing tii\wi,.iiid oc( upi -d llic larm ol the 
Breuster ancestors. At the age rif fourteen he united with 
the Free Baptist Church. He attended the common schools 
and the academy of the low n, and siibsi-i|uenlly Xcw Hamp- 
ton Institution, at New Hamjiton. New Hampshire, where 
he prepared for college. He was giadu.Ued from Dart- 
mouth (Villege in iSoo. He studied theohigy at New 
Hampton and at Andover, Massachusetts. In May, lS6_5, 
he became |)astiir of the Free Baptist t_"hurch in Spiing- 
vale, Maine, and was i>rdained m December of that year. 
In May, 1S04, at the solicit. ilioii of William Burr, the 
editor of VVir JA'/iiJi/x NA;/, the organ of the Free Bap- 
tist denomination, and published at Dover, New Hamp- 
shire, he became the assistant editor of that paper, which 
position he filled until May, i.Sm). During this time Mr. 
Burr died, and Ri v. ( ieurge P. Day, IJ.D., became his 
successor. He immediately wrote and published the lile 
of Mr. Burr. For a sh.irt period (1S09-70) he supplied 
the Free Ba]itist l.'hurch in F.iir]>oit, New York. In 1S71, 
he came to Rhode Island, and was for three years and a 
half the p.rstor of the Free Baptist Church in North Scitu- 
ate, and while there acted as .Superintendent of Public 
Schools. In 1S75 he accc] ted a call to become pastor of 
the Park Street P ree Ba]itist Church in l'ro\ ideiice, anri 



commenced his work in March of that year. He has now 
( i.SSi ) entered ujiim the seventh vear of his pa-truate. 
Since 1S7J he has been clerk of the Rhode Island .\sso- 
ciati'iii of Pree Paptisi Churches, and is consequently the 
chief executive olhcer of that body. He has, for a series 
of years, occuiiied a prominent position on the editorial 
corps of J'/ii- J/oriiin^'- Sfirr, and subsequent to the death 
of P)r. Day in 1875 he became his successor as a corporate 
member of the Freewill Baptist Printing Establishment. 
Pie is a trustee of Slorer College at Harper's Ferry, West 
Virginia, and a meiirber of the Executive Board of the 
Freewill Baptist Foreign Mission Society. He is widely 
known as a graceful and vigorous writer, and as a devout, 
earnest and effective preacher. In addition to 77;. ■ £//<■ <;/' 
U'l/Ziam Bury, he is the author of various published dis- 
c. lurses ami papers, .\mong them are, Tke History of tlic 
Frtc Biip/isls of A'/io,/c- [slanJ aiiJ J'iiini/y, published in 
Centonnial Miiiii/t-s for I.S.So; The Frec'vill Baptists, em- 
bodying an outline history of the denomination, ami T!io 
Frotzoill Baf'lisl Foroii;!! J/i\sio/i,!ry Entorprist-, Vw-itli pub- 
lished in 'J7u' C,-iiloiiiiiaI Re.-orJ of till- Frco-oill Baptists, 
Ijover, New Hamiishire, iSSl. In CKtober, lS63,he mar- 
ried Manila Marks Tow le, of New Hampshire. 



r^r^G.^RR, (ll. iRr.i. WllK.,\ToN, M.P)., was born in Paw- 
S||S tu\et, in the tow 11 of Warwick, Rhode Islan.l, Jan- 
'i^fy uary 31. 1S54. He is the sun of John ami Maria 
i-m ( BraU.jii) Carr, both of wdiom were descendants of 
* early settlers of Rho.ie Islaml. He prepared for 
college at Fruit Hill classical Institute, at that time a 
tl.iiirishing seminar\', and eiitcre.l Br.iw 11 P'niversity in 
I.S5J. Graduating in the class ,.f 1S57 with the degree of 
Master ...f Arts, he iiiinie.li.itelv entered upon the stu.iy of 
me.licinc ill the ..flice of Dr. |. W. C. lily, of Providence. 
He puisued his ine.licil stu.lies in the Natiirnal Medical 
College, \\'ashiiigiini, Distiict ..f L'tdiimbia, aiul in the 
Lhriversity of Peiinsy Kania, gra-luating from the latter in- 
stitution, with the degiee of Doctor of Medicine, in the 
class of 1S60. Returning t.i Pr.nidence, he entereii upon 
the paactice of meilicine ami surgery, and was ajipointeil 
Assistant Snrgeon-Ceneral of the State. The I'ivil War, 
wdrich commenced the following year, calle.l him away 
from |>ri\ate life. With other members of the general 
staff .if the .State he w,is traiisferre.l t.> the hrst troops 
raisei-1 in Rh.ule Island, and commissioned Assistant .Sur- 
geon of the First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, 
commanded by Colonel Burnsi.le. He continued with his 
regiment during its short Put active service, ser\ing under 
(.General Patterson in Marylan.l, ami under General Mc- 
P).)well at the battle of Hull Run. After the First Regi- 
ment was musterc'l out he was appmntecl Assistant Surgeon 
Secon.l Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers, and subse- 
quently prom.ite.l to the rank of Surgeon, serving in that ca- 
jiacitv. an.l as Brigade < iperating Surgeon, in the F^jurth ami 




^"^^^^ 



RIOGRAPHICA L CYCLOPEDIA. 



547 



Sixtli Aniiy ("nips, particip:itin<; in lliu liallle^ of Vorktown, 
Mcchanicsville, Gaines' Mills, Kair Oaks, Malvern Hill, An- 
tietani.FredericVcsburg, Wilderness, (lettyshiir^.Sliarpslmrg, 
Mine Run, Rappahannock, Spoitsylvania, Coal Harbor, 
and other en,^agements. At the close of the war Dr. Carr 
resumed the jiractice of his profession in Providence. In 
i860 he was admitted a member of the Rhode Island State 
Medical Society and of the Providence Medical Associa- 
tion, and was President of the latter from March 7, 1S70, 
to March 4, 1S72. On the 14th of July, 186S, he was ap- 
pointed Physician of the Rhode Island State Prison, and 
continued to fill tliat position until the removal of that in- 
stitution from the city in 187S. Kor many years he has 
been United States Examinint; Surgeon of Pensions, and 
has been Surgeon of the Rhode Island Hospital since the 
opening of that institution in 1S6S. He has been connected 
HMth several military organizations, having been Brigade 
Surgeon for several years. On the reorganization of the 
Militia of the State he was appointed Medical Director of 
the Brigade of Rhode Island Militia. He was the first 
surgeon- of the Grand Army of the Republic in the State, 
and was for some years Medical Director of the Depart- 
ment of Rhode Island. In 18S0 he was appointed Con- 
sulting Physician of the Butler Hospital for the Insane. 
Dr. Carr married, .'Vpril 17, 1 87 1, Imogene Mathewson, 
daughter of Bradford and Harriet (Rogers) Mathewson, of 
Provitlence. 



[II.INGHAST, Hon. P..\rdon Ei.ish.\, Associate 
lustice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 
eldest son of Rev. John and Susan Caroline 
pfe> (Avery) Tillinghast, was born in West Greenwich, 
^ Rhode Island, December 10, 1836. His honored 
father, born October 3, 181 2, pastor of the West fireenwich 
Baptist Church for thirty-eight years, died March 28, 1878. 
His maternal grandfather, Elisha Avery, was a soldier in 
the War of 1812. Pardon E., bearing the name of the first 
of the family that settled in Rhode Island ( Rev. Pardon 
Tillinghast, of Providence), was trained on the farm and 
attended the common schools of the tow n till he was fifteen 
years of age, when he pursued a wider range of study at 
Hall's Academy, in Plainfield, Connecticut ; at Providence 
Conference Seminary, in East Greenwich, Rhode Island ; 
and at the Rhode Island State Normal School under Pres- 
ident Dana P. Colburn ; meanwhile he occasionally taught 
school during the winters. At the age of twenty, on rec- 
ommendation of Professor Colburn, whom he has ever 
held in highest esteem, he becaine Principal of the Valley 
Kails Grammar School, in Smithfield, now Lincoln. His 
success here led to his election as Principal of a Grammar 
School in Providence, where, after a year's service, he was 
chosen Principal of the Grove Street Grammar School in 
Pawtucket. In this position he labored with marked suc- 
cess for seven years. On the opening of the Civil War his 



patriotism led him to enlist in the Eleventh Rhode Islanil 
Infantry, in Captain C. W. Thrasher's companv from Paw- 
tucket ; but he was soon transferred to the Twelfth Infantry, 
under Colonel George H. Brosvn, and was chosen cpiarter- 
niaster-sergeant, an office that he continued to fill wdiile 
the regiment remained in the field, — eleven months. His 
experiences of the war in and arounrl Washington, and in 
Eastern Virginia and Kentucky, with the Ninth Army 
Corps, under General Burnside, embraced a very stormy 
period of the great struggle. On his return from the army 
he .studied law with Charles W. Thrasher, Estp, and Hon. 
Thomas K. King, and, after three years of preparation, 
was ailmitted, in 1867, to the Rhode Island bar. When 
Mr. King was appointed United States Consul to Belfast, 
Ireland, he succeeded to his office and business in Paw- 
tucket. Three times he was chosen Representative to the 
General Assembly, and four times he has been elected .State 
Senator. During each term in the Senate he has been 
chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In 1877 he was 
chairman of the Joint Committee of the General Assembly 
on the reception and entertainment of President Hayes, 
and formally welcomed him to the State. In 1874 he was 
elected Town Solicitor by the Common Council of Paw- 
tucket, and has since been continued in that office. He has 
made the study of municipal law a specialty in his profes- 
sional career. When sixteen years of age he united with 
the West Greenwich Baptist Church, ami finally with the 
First Baptist Church in Pawtucket, where he has performed 
much and valuable service, as superintendent of the Sab- 
bath-school for many years, and as leader of the singing 
for fifteen years. During all this time he has preserved a 
lively interest in the public schools, serving for many years 
on the School Committee, and was instrumental in intro- 
ducing vocal music, as a science, into the scho(ds. He 
w^as also very active in the establishment of evening schools 
and in inaugurating the Free Public Library, which is now 
maintained by an annual ap])ropriation from the town treas- 
ury. In 1S79 he was elected by the General Asseinlily for 
a term of five years Judge Ailvocate-Geiieral of Rhode 
Island. On the 2d of June, iSSl.he w.as chosen .■\ssociate 
Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, to fill the 
vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Bulges. 
He married, November 13, 1867, Ellen K. Paine, of Paw- 
tucket, and has three children living. 



^^^ARNABV, ."Vbner J., was born in Freetown, Bris- 
'^S^ to! County, Massachusetts, May 23, 1834. His 
*^3^ parents were Stephen and Lucy (Hathaway) Bar- 
T naby. Stephen Barnaby w^as a descendant, in the 
J' fifth generation, of James Barnaby, of Plymouth, 
Massachusetts, whose wife, Lydia Warren Bartlett, was the 
daughter of William Bartlett, of Plymouth, who arrived at 
that place in 1623, a passenger in the ship Ann. Mary 
Warren, wife of William Bartlett, came to Plymouth with 



54S 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYC I OPED I A. 



luT father, Kicliard W'anun, in the vt.-ar 1020, in the May- 
tlr)\vci". Janies l:[aiiial'\' an'l L\dia Warren Hartlett were 
married at Plymmitli in 1664. Al'ner 15arnaln\ early years 
were spent at the paternal estate in Freet<->\\ n. He wnrked 
on the farm and attended tiie district sclionj nnlil the age 
i»r Tonrleen, wlieii he became a stuilent in Monnt Hnjie 
i\cailemv. in Fall Ri\er, Massachusetts, and i;raduated. in 
1S55, at I'ierce Academ\-, Middlelxir' iii-^h, Massai liusetts. 
After i;radualinL; he taii;^ht schnol several terms ni West- 
poil. Massachusetts. In 1.S54 he removed to l'ro\idence, 
antl for si\ years was in the employ ..f his hrotlicr. [. l-l. 
Ilainaliy. a [irominent elotlm^r. In llie fall of !Nt.)0 he en- 
tered into liusiness (jn his own account, on Westminster 
Street, rro\idence, where he is at present Icjcated. In May, 
I.Soti, he was elected to the t_^tmnion Council of Provi- 
dence, from llie I-"ouiih Ward, remaining in that hody until 
(anuary I, 1S7.S, a jierlod of neatly t\\el\e years, a longer 
time than any other ]ierson, with a single excepition, ever 
ser\eil in that hody. He was President of the Council in 
IiSyo. Ii\ I.S67 he was elected a inemher of tlie School 
Committee, anil served seven years in tliat capacity. He 
was a canditlate for the office of Mavor in 1.S77, on the 
liemocratic ticket, and lacked but hfty-l"oiir \otes of an 
election. In 1S7S he was selected by the Democratic 
State Convention as chairman of the State (l^entral Com- 
imltee, which position he hlK at the |iresent time. .\ \a- 
cancv having occuired, he w.is clecteil, in 1.S7Q. .VUlernian 
from the Fourth W.ird. He has been a menilicr of the 
First Fight Infantry since 1.S5.S; and also a member of the 
I'nited Train of .\itillery smce I.S02. lb- m.irried, De- 
cember 31, lS6j, Jennie I!. Wallace, daughter of Merrick 
Wallace, M.D., of .\shbnrnham, Massachusetts, one of the 
most ]ironuncnt physicians of that section of the country. 
He has had seven children: Philena .\., (Iracie E., Jen- 
nie W., and Fannv F. II., three sons having die<l ni inl'ancv. 



jF.\CE, WiLl.l.^M Hfnrv, manufacturer, son of Peter 
l^lgy; and Eliza (Hathaway I Place, was horn June I, 
fWl '^35'''^ Pascoag, Burrillville, Rho'le Island, where 
he received his early educaticm. I lis f.tther was the 
son of Pelei ,ind ' Hive ( Fev\ is | Place, and was Ijonr 
in (ilocester. Khoile Nland. .March JI. 17.S11. .\cc|uning 
the trade of shoemaking, he began business in Sinithtield, 
but in iSl7,with his brother-in-law, lohn .\ngell, bought 
a t.innerv in tdnevvllle, which he successfully worked, 
adiling to that business job and wholesale shoemaking. 
lie was a member of the First Baptist (.'hurch in Provi- 
dence, and with his sister, Mrs. .\ngell, established the 
hrst )irayer-meetings, the first .Sabb.ath-school, and the first 
preaching services in the |ilace. He was instrumental in 
the conversion of Rev. Martin Cheney, assisterl in build- 
ing the hrst meeting-house, dedicated July 2, 1.S27, and in 
organizing the church, Xovcmlier 7, 1S2.S. In 1S30 he re- 
moved to Pascoag, llurriUville. .iiid built the first woollen 



mill operated in that ]'lace. He changed the name rtf the 
locality from Monkey Town to PasCoag, the Indian name 
of the stream. Here he run the first power loom known 
in the town. He was the first man in this country to card 
up the waste fillings, known as " hard ends," and work 
them into cloth. From the (leneral jVssembly of Rhode 
Island he procured a charter and established the Pascoag 
Rank, and for years was its president. (In account of busi- 
ness reverses and failing health he removetl to F'ast F)oti- 
glas, Massachusett-, then to Pdackstone, and finally to 
W.ionsoeket, Rlioiie Island, near Hamlet \'illage, where 
he built a house and resumed his trade. He took an ac- 
tive interest in religious matters, superintended a Sabbath- 
school, and opened his own doors for meetings. Mr. Place 
<!ied J.inuary 23. 1S76, in his eighty-seventh year. He 
married Fli/a Hathawav, and had nine children : Charles 
T. I't, F"li/a, Sally -\nn 1st, William IF 1st, Sally .-\nn 2d, 
Charles T. 2d. Cynthia P., William IF 2d, and Olive F. 
The five last named are liv ing. Sally .Ann married Nelson 
Walling; Cynthia I', married Justin Floward ; (Jlive mar- 
ried (I) Edward Hill and (2) FJarvvin M. Cook. Charles 
T., born in 1S30, attended the East Creenwich .Academy, 
and then applied himself to manufacturing interests, espe- 
cially to the preparation of oils used in working machinery 
and wool. He engaged successfully in business in Valley 
Falls, in 1S49; in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1S54 ; in 
Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in 1S5S; and in Providence 
in i.Shx In iSOQ he visited Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and 
conimenced bu-iness, and finally moved to that city in 
1.S72. Here he is an extensive and prospered manufac- 
turer. His partner in business is .Stanley Loomis. They 
are manufacturers and sole proprietors of " C. T. Place" 
and " Zone " paialTine lubricating oils and jiarafhne wax. 
He married Abby \\. Hnpkins, of Pascoag, Burrillville. 

1 William H. received his early education in his native town. 
.■\fter attending the ]iublic schools he pursued advanced 
studies in the F'niversity Cirammar School in Providence. 

' under F)r. Fyon. He then turned his attention to the fur- 
therance of manufacturing enterjirises, provifling necessary 
means and facilities for those engaged- in working all sorts 

' of fibres and faljrics. His studies and e.>;perimcnts were 
given to the jireiiaration of various kinds of oils, dye-stuffs, 
glv ceroids, and like sulistances and agents. In this direc- 
tion he made important discoveries and imiirovements and 
secured valuable patents, and was prospered in his pursuits. 
He has held a prominent and worthy place in religious and 
social circles. In 1859 he united with the Baptist church in 
Woonsocket. He became a member of Pilgrim Lodge of 
(Jdd Fellows, in June, i<S73. In iSSo he visited dilTerent 
portions of England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, 
Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium. He married ( I), October 
13, 1S6S, Marian Elizabeth FIorton,in Providence, a most es- 
timable w Oman, who was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 
and died in Proviilence, December 17, 1S75, leaving two 
children, FH/a llatliaway and Fewis Tew. Mr. Place 



B I OCR A rillCA /, C YCL OP ED I A. 



549 



nmrricd (21, May 26, 1S80, Lillian Arabflla l''ulKr, of 
Curaberlaml, Kliixle Island. He resi'les in I'lovidcnce, 
where lie is still (l88l) successfully prosecuting his vari- 
ous manufacturing operations. 



|i^^O(;EKS, (liiNKRAl. Horatio, sou of Horatio and 
S^i^ Susan (Curus) Rogers, was l>orii in Providence, 
^^j May 18, /836. He belongs to an old Rhode 
".'W Island fanii-Iy, domiciled in the State for more than 
J 1 J two hundred years, about half of that period at New- 
port and the remainder at I'rovidence. His grandfather, 
John Rogers, and t\v o of his great-uncles, were officers in 
the Revolution ; the former and one of the latter, Robert 
Rogers, having served in the Rhode Island line, and the 
other. Rev. William Rogers, D.D., having been a brigade 
chaplain in the Pennsylvania line. His father, Horatio 
Rogers, was a cotton manufacturer. Horatio, Jr., was 
educated in the coiumon schools of Providence and at 
lirown University, where he graduated, with the degree of 
A.H., in the class of 1855. Having studied law in the 
office of Hon. Thomas \. Jenckes, and at the Harvard 
Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1S58. Open- 
ing a law office in Providence, he diligently applitd him- 
self to his profession. He married, January 29, 1S61, 
Lucia, daughter of Resolved Waterman. In June, 1861, 
he was elected Justice of the Police Court of Providence. 
He took an active part in public affairs, and stumped the 
.State in the j)residential campaign in i860, .'\fter the at- 
tack of the Secessionists on Sumter he was anxious to en- 
list in defence of the Union, and when the Third Rhode 
Island Regiment (heavy artillery) was formed he resigned 
his civil position and entered the army, August 27, 1S61, 
as First Lieutenant in Compay 1), of the Third Regiment. 
While with the command at Fort Hamilton, New York, 
learning heavy artillery drill, he was promoted, October 9, 
1861, to a captaincy, and assigned to Company H. The 
Third Regiment formed a part of General T. W. .Sher- 
man's expedition to Port Royal, South Carolina, in the fall 
of 1861, and participated in the bombardment and capture 
of Forts Walker and Beauregard, at Hilton Head and Bay 
Point, by the fleet under ComiTio<lore Llupont, which af- 
forded Captain Rogers his first view of a battle. The 
Third Regiment held the forts. In January, 1862, Cap- 
tain Rogers was stationed at Bay Point and on the islamls 
around Beaufort. In March, 1862, he was sent, with 
other companies of his regiment, to Tybee Island, Geor- 
gia, to aid in the reduction of Fort Pulaski. In the siege, 
during the battle, April 10 and 11, 1862, he had command 
of Battery McClellan, which was nearest to tile fort and 
played a most important part in breaching the fort, the only 
casualties'among the Union forces being in his command, 
one killed and two wounded. The Captain himself at one 
time was buried in the sand by a bursting shell. He and 
his company also jiarlicipated in the cain|)aigii on [ames 



Island, South Carolina, in the following Juno, and for the 
brave part he took in the action, June 16, was promoted 
to the rank of Major. He accomjianied a battalion of his 
regiment in the exjietlition under Generals Brannan and 
A. H. Terry, to burn the bridge at Pocotaligo, South Car- 
olina, and shared in the hot but unsuccessful action of 
October 24, lSf)2. During his service in the Department 
of the .South he acted often and efficiently on courts-martial 
as judge-advocate. January 7, 1863, he received a com- 
mission, dated December 27, 1S62, as Colonel of tlie 
Eleventh Rhode Island Regiment that served for nine 
months. .Scarcely had he joined his command near 
Alexandria, Virginia, when he was appointed Colonel of 
the .SeconrI Regiment (the oldest three years' troops from 
the State), then a part of the .Second Brigade, Third Divi- 
sion, .Sixth Corps, under General Charh's Devens, and 
stationed at Falmouth, Virginia. Colonel Rogers, wilh his 
gallant regiment, shared in the various actions of the .Xrmy 
of the Potomac during the year 1863, in which the Sixth 
Corps bore a part, and particularly the battles of second 
Fredericksburg, Salem Heights, Gettysburg, Rappahan- 
nock Station, and Mine Run. For gallant conduct Colonel 
Rogers and his regiment received the praise of generals 
and a vote of thanks from the General Assemldyof Rhode 
Island. His activity and cx])Osures resulted in forms of 
disease that induced him, when the army went into v»inter 
quarters, to resign his commission, January 14, 1S64, and 
to return hiime. He had served two and a half years. 
For gallant and meritorious services he was brevetted 
Brigadier-General of United States \nlunteers, to date 
from March 13, 1S65. A few weeks after his return from 
the army he was elected Attorney-CIeneral of Rhode Island, 
and was twice re-elected, after which he decline<l further 
nominations for the office. In 1868 he was elected to the 
Rhode Island House of Representatives, and again for 
two years in 1874-6. For two years, 1866-8, he was a 
member of the Common Council of Providence, and again 
in 1873-4, a portion of the latter time being President. In 
the spring of 1867 his wife died. In the autumn of 1869 
he married Emily P. Smith, daughter of Governor James 
V. Smith. On the 1st of January, 1873, leaving the legal 
profession, in which he had attained a highly honorable 
position, he became a partner with his father-in-law, Gov- 
ernor Smith, and his brother-in-law, C. A. Nichols, in the 
business of manufacturing cotton goods, in which occupa- 
tion he is still engaged ( 1 881). He possesses uncommon 
literal^ taste, as evinced by his rare library and the grace- 
ful productions of his pen. Besides delivering several 
orations on public occasions, he has written considerably 
for the papers of Providence. His oration delivered at the 
laying of the corner-stone of the new City Hall, June 24, 
1875, was printed in that year. In lS78w.as published his 
volume eiuitle<l Private Libraries of Pro-'ideiue, with a 
Prelimiuary Essay on the Love of Books, which was very 
favorably received by the critics. In him are united in a 



550 



A n > CKA rmcA i. c ) '( ■/ opedia . 



rare ninniK-r the (|ii.ilitie^ of ci[i/«_-ii, sclmlar, aii'l man of 
business. ]^v Iiis lirst wife he has une «hiUL^Iiti-T. Kniily 
I'lisi-illa Smith Rul^l-is ; ami l>v bis second wife two ^ons, 
Arlluir Koi:;ers an<l LiKian Waterman Rogers. 



ICIK tl.S( )\, \Viiii\M Tii-.MAs, Presiilcnt and 
^ ( lenL-ral Mana^^er of the NieholMjn Kile Coinjianv, 
~\.. ?) -■' . was born m I'awtuckel. Rhofle Island, March 
\ ^i ^ 22, 1834, and is [lie son ot William and Eh/a 
15 1 {Forrestell) Nicholson. His father was a native 
ot .Marldeliead, Mas'^achusetts, and at an early n^e came 
to I'awtucket, where he learned the trade of a machinist, 
which he followed durinL,' his life. lie died, Ai}ril 5, 1S60. 
at the a,L^e i)f tifty-two. at Wliilinsville. Ma-sachusetts, at 
whieli place he resided for many years prior to his death. 
William T. Nicholson atlen<led the connnon schools of 
Whilinsville, and for about t)ne year %\ as a student at U\- 
bridi;e Academy. At tlie age of fourteen he entered the 
machine shop of Paul Whitin \' Sons, wiiere he remained 
three years and learned the trade <.f a maclnni-.t, which 
proved to be the foundation uf his success in \\\\:. At 
seventeen, liein^ flesin'us of a more varied experience, be 
went to I'rrividcnce. and for two and a half years was em- 
jdoyed in different machine s-bops m that city. In I.S52 
he entered the machine shc>p of bi-.eph R. Ihowii. with 
\vhom, and the hrm of Hrown lV Sharp, subsequently the 
Brown tS: Sharp Manufaclurini^ Company, he remained for 
six years, being employetl in the mamifacture of surveyor's 
instruments, watch, and (own clocks, and a variety of rules 
antl gauges for the most .ucurate measurentent. Ilis in- 
dustry, ingenuity, and expeilness secured for him hl.ieral 
conipensaUon and gr,idu;d promotion. In 185'! he was 
intiu--ted with the entne management of their shop, in 
which some thirty men were then employed. At this time 
his evenings were diligently devoted to the studv of me- 
chanics antl mechanical drawing, in which he actjuiretl such 
proficiency that he was competent tc) make all the drawings 
used in the shop in which he w as employed. In the spring 
ol 1N3S he formed a copartnership with N.iac llrownell, 
under the firm-name of Nicholson \- llrownell, for tlie pur- 
pose of carrying on a general machine business, lU S5 Eddy 
Street, Providence. This partner diip continued unlil i.S5(). 
when Mr. Niehcijson bought the interest of Mr. ihownell. 
and in iSoci removed t" a more comnnjilious shop, at iio 
Dorrance Street, w here he athled new and improved ma- 
chinery, with a view to increasing the productive capacity 
of his establishment. His jilans were thwarted, however, 
by the outl^reak of the Civil War, which was attentled with 
a general dr|>ression in the industiial interests of the coun- 
try. liUit sucli manufacturing facdities as Mr. Niclndson 
then possessetl were not destined to long remain idle. 
'Ilu- immense demau'l for war materials soon attr.uted his 
attention, and gave him abundant employment in the 
maniilartme of special machinery necessary for the pro- 



duction of small arms required by the United States Gov- 
ernment. He soon afterwards purchased the tools, pat- 
terns, and stock of Foster, Euther ^: Co.. and again in- 
creased his manufacturing facilities, enabling him at this 
time to employ u])w.irds of sixty hands. The gootl qualiiy 
of his w.irk having become tuUy established, Mr. Nich')l- 
son was induced to form a special copartnership, with 
Henry A. Monroe, independent of his machine shop, for 
the manufacturing of [larts of the Spiinglield rifles, with 
whom, under the style of Nicholson tV Co.. he manufac- 
tured the rear sights, bands, swivels, and side washers for 
upwards of one h inn bed and tifty thousand ritles, Mr. 
Nicholson ha\ing devised and constructed special maciiin- 
ery for this puirpose. In the spring <if iSb^. he sold his 
interest in this branch of the budness to his partner, Mr. 
Monroe, which enibled him to give mc)re attention tc) his 
macliine shop, and especially to the development of an 
invention which he had long tlesired to jierfect, — an im- 
proved machine for cutting tiles. This he sotm succeeded 
in doing, and after obtaining his first patents organized a 
stock companv for the manufacture of fdes liy machinery. 
The cc)mpany was urgani/ed in lSr)4, with Mr. Nicholson 
at Its head, and with a capital stcick of :> ^00,000, under the 
corporate name of the Nicholson l-dlc ("ompany. They at 
once bought the machine shopi, assume(l all of Mr. Nichol- 
son's contracts, and immediately began to manufacture the 
necessary machinery, (heat ol)-,tacles were at once met, 
and had to be o\erci'me; tr.iiles uni<ms cmnliined to pre- 
vent, and consumers were not disponed to buy fdes maile 
by machinery. It was necessary to originate and perfect 
machinery for not only the cutting, but for the forging and 
grinding of over four hundred diflcrent kinds of tiles to 
insure success, and be independent of the trades union^. 
Alter years ot experiment, and the inspection of the Nati- 
ons modes by which tiles were proiluced in this and other 
countries, and the construction of a variety of macliinery, 
for which over forty patents were oblainecl. the productions 
of this company became w ddely noted for their superiitrity. 
The capacity of their works is now t.me thousand dozen 
hies per day. and this cimipany is unc of the most prosper- 
ous manufacturing corporations in this ei:)untry. This suc- 
cess is attributable chiefly to Mr. NichoNon's efficient 
management <d" the affairs of the company he represents, 
Mr. Nicholson has also been prominently identirted with 
some id' the public insiitutions of Providence. He was one 
of the original committee to draft the act of incorporation 
of the Providence Public Eibrary, granted January, 1S71, 
and, in March, 1S77, was elected one of the Trustees, 
which pcjsition he still occupies. He is a director of the 
Rhoile Islantl National liank, a member <if the Providence 
IJoaid of Trade, and of the American Society of Mechani- 
cal Engineers. He has also for many years been a mem- 
ber of, and taken an active interest in the Pro\idence 
Eranklin Society, and of the .Vssocialion of Mechanics and 
Manufacturers. He has travelled extensively in this coun- 




^ ^ ^^^^.^/i 



-^ 



Hio a a: I / V//C '.-/ z ac i. opedia . 



55' 



try nncl Eur»)])0 in llie interest'^ of liis business, and is one 
of the most prominent and best informed of American 
manufacturers. He married, October 14, 1S57, Klizalieth 
Dexter Gardner, daujjliter of Samuel and Alice (Mowry) 
Gardner, of Linierock, Rhode Island. They have had 
five children, — Stephen, who is superintendent of the File 
Works, Samuel Mowry, who is secretary of the saine com- 
pany, William Thomas, Jr., who is a student at Mowry & 
ClolT's classical school, Kva, ami Elizabeth. 




>NROE, Colonel John Albkrt, son of John .S. 
and Louisa ( Hunter) Monroe, was born in Swan- 
sey Village, Massachusetts, October 25, 1 836. 
Of the Monroes, Thomas, John and James, sons of 
John Monroe, came to this country in 1652. James 
.settled in Virginia, and hisgrandson James became President 
of the United States. John went to Connecticut and after 
ward to Vermont. Thomas settled in Kehoboth, Massa- 
chusetts, and had thiiteen children; the sons were Nalhan, 
Stephen, Rosbotham, Jolin, lienjamin, Thomas, and Joseph. 
Stephen had fourteen children, twelve sons and two daugh- 
ters. His son James married Iktsey Ripley, a descendant 
of Governor Bradford, of Massachusetts, and had fovir sons 
and four (laughters. The eldest son, John Sheldon, was 
the father of the subject of this sketch. The mother of 
John A. was the daughter of Rufus and Patience (Caiter) 
Hunter. John A- attended the schools in Fall River, Mas- 
sachusetts, and at the age of thirteen engaged in a silk 
office in Boston. .'\t the age of fifteen he went to Provi- 
dence. Rhode Island, where his parents had removed ; 
and after attending the High School learned the trade of 
a jeweller with his uncle, William Monroe. On com- 
pleting his apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman until 
he had accumulated a little money, when he resumed his 
course of study, attending alternately the East Greenwich 
Academy and the University Grammar School in Provi- 
dence. He worked at his trade in vacations to replenish 
his purse, and taught one winter at Fruit Hill, suffering 
meanwhile from inflammation of the eyes from over-study. 
In 1S60 he entered Brown University, and held a high 
rank in his class. As a help to defray his expenses, he 
.served as Librarian of the Franklin Lyceum. At the com- 
mencement of the Civil War in 1861, he gave himself to 
the service of his country, entering from the Marine Corps 
of Artillery of Providence, which he had joined in 1854, 
and was commissioned June 6, 1861, second lieutenant 
Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery ; was soon 
promoted to first lieutenant; then, September 7, 1S61, to 
captain of Battery D. On the 2ist of October, 1S62, he 
attained the rank of major; and December 4, 1862. that 
of lieutenant-colonel. He participated in thirty-one en- 
gagements, beginning with the scenes of Hull Run, and 
closing with the actions around Richmond. He had four 



of his horses shot by shell and bullets, and received a 
wound in his scalp. He was Chief of .\rtillery in Mc- 
Dowell's and Doubleday's Divisions, and Hooker's Corps; 
Commanding Officer for more than a year of Artillery Camp 
of Instruction (Camp Barry), Washington, D. C, "the 
largest military jiost, up to that time, ever organized in the 
L'Uited .States," where his services received the highest 
ccnnmendations ; was Chief of Artillery, Second Corps, 
Commanding Artillery Brigade; Inspector and Chief of 
Staff, Artillery Reserve, A. P.; Commanding Officer First 
Division, Artilleiy Brigade, Sixth Corps ; and Chief of 
Artillery, Ninth Corps, Commanding Artillery Brigade, and 
had charge of the entire artillery at the battle of the Mine. 
For his skill, gallantry and efficiency he received from (jen- 
erals McDowell, King, Patrick, Doublcday, Hooker, Burn- 
side, Gibbon, and Heintzleman, in orders and reports, the 
highest expressions of confidence and praise, his command 
being spoken of as a model for drill and attainments. His 
services are fittingly mentioned in the report of the Adju- 
tant-General of the State, in the pajiers of the Soldiers and 
Sailors Historical Society of Rhode Island, and our mil- 
itary histories. Returning from the war, he adopted the 
profession of civil engineering; in the winter of 1S66-7 
run the lines of flowage and a.ssessed land damages for 
the reservoir of the Quidnick Reservoir Co., Kent County, 
Rhode Island; in July, 1S67, superintended the construc- 
tion of the India Point Bridge for the B. & P. Railroad ; in 
186S took charge of the building of the Shore Line Bridge 
over the Connecticut River; since September 24, 1S69, he 
has been a member of the American .Society of Civil En- 
gineers, and has contributed important papers to the Trans- 
actions of the Society; was called West to counsel respect- 
ing bridges over the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers; called 
South to advise relative to bridges over the Mobile and 
Tensas Rivers; in 1S72 was on the commission of bound- 
aries between Smithtield, Glocester, and Burrillville, Rhode 
Island ; originatetl the bill for the inspection of dams, that 
was substantially adopted by Massachusetts and Connecti- 
cut ; frequently appointed by the Supreme Court as master 
in questions of hydraulics and tide-waters; made .surveys 
of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Maine, and planned the 
sewerage of the town; in October, 1S79, was appointed 
United States Assistant Engineer under the Mississippi 
Commission, and made complete hydrographic, topograph- 
ical and geodetic survey of the river from Cairo to Memphis. 
Politically he is a Republican. In 1S54 he united with the 
Young Men's Christian A.ssociation. He has been a mem- 
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic from its origin, 
and in 1S78-9, was Commander of Rodman Post, No. 12, 
(;. .A. R. In 1S69-70 he was the Commanding Officer of 
the Proviilence Marine Corps of .'\rtillery. Of the Rhode 
Island Soldiers and Sailors Historical .Society he was a 
charter member, and has contributed five valualile papers 
on the war, — Khoih- Island Arliltery at Battle of Bull Run : 
R<rfiiniscefUc'Sy two papers; Letters from the .-//wt, and 



5; 



BIOCRAPIIICAL CYCI. OPEDIA. 



Battny P. l-lr.t Rh.nl,- h!a>i,l Li-hf Artlll,-yy, al H„lllv 
of' Anlirt'uu. Ill 1S70 he lieciiiiie ;i nu'iiiln.')- (if the Rhode 
KI.ukI Sciciely fm the luicouraijement uf Unme^tie Iiiclus- 
Irv, .mil at .ill e\hillill^.n^ ha^ serveil mi the cnmniittee mi 
lieu- nineliiii'T)-. Mi-, seielllitic jurh^iilelit^ .ire in cmi^taiit 
ikni.iiiii. lie iiianinl. Iiil\- I, iSfi^. Mar\' t'atharine 
iUulkiii, .l.ui'^hter ■if Washington Lee Buelkin. of Alex- 
anihia, N'lrgiiiia, a leailing citizen, who died prior to the 
war, and who^e wife was of the distinguished famih- of 
II.u|ieisof Virginia. He has four ehildreii, M.iiy, Alhcrt, 
Illanche Annette, and Josephine Amelia. Colonel Mon- 
roe's talents, patriotism, braverv aii<l tidelitN, comluned 
with hi'i genial manners and cheerful disposition, have 
won for him a host of friends. 



^H^.WVRENi I'.. Cii NF.KAL Alhkrt C.m.i.atin, son of 
1J^^ Hon. William lieaeh Lawrence, of Newport, was I 
"T liorn in New York citv, April 14, iS;o. His an- 
'1. eestiv may lie traced in the sketch of his fatlier in 
J this volume, and in Holgate's (!iii,\iloi;v uf AVie 
Yorh Ftimi/irs. He en oyed superior educational advan- 
tages, and before entering college spriit three years in 
(lermanyand ,'-;« it/erland. In i.Ssf) he w.is graduateil at 
Harvard I'niveisiiy, and two years there, ifter receised the 
degree of LI..B. from the I lane Law School at Cambridge. 
He !iubsei]uentl\ continued his legal stuilies for one year 
in the office of Iia\id Iiudley Field in ?v'ew York, where 
he was admitted to the bar. .Soon after his admission to 
the liar he acLompanicd Mr. J. ( ilancey Jones, United 
Sl.ites Minister to \'ienna. ( hi his return Mr. Lawrence 
found his country involved m the war of the KebelUon, 
and promjitly identihed himself in the struggle for the 
I'nioii. As captain he served on lieneral Stahl's staff 
from September, I,S(iJ, to July, 1S63, after which he was 
acii\e in raising a ca\alry regiment in New \'ork,and sub- 
sec|ucmly in drilling colored troops. He was staff ofticer 
with lieneral W. H. Smith at Cold Harbor, with General 
Martindale at I'eteisburg, and with General Ames in front 
of Richmond and .at I'ort Fisher, where he led the assault 
of January 15, lSoj, and wliile ]ilantiiig his ll.ig njion the 
rani|iarts, received four wounds, one of which deprived 
him of an arm. The country was thrilled by his fjravery 
ill capturing one of the strongholds of the eiieniv on the 
coast of North Carolina, immedialelr after the capture of 
which his services were thus referred to in the report of 
General Ames to the Secretary of War: •■ He has dis- 
played, in the various engagements in which we have 
taken p.art, great gallantly, coolness, and juilgnient. So 
prominent have been these <|ualities that I have given him 
charge of commands greater than a regiment in most im- 
poitaiit movements. In ( )clober last, when one of my 
liiiga<les was to ass.iult the enemy's position near Riili- 
monil, I sent liini Willi it, lia\ing more coiihdence in him 



than in the brigade commander. At Fort Fisher he led the 
.assault, with authority to direct in my name the movements 
ol the leading regiments, and was the first to gain the fort, 
where he was wounded." Similar testimonials were given 
by Gener.d A. H. Terry, and by the Rhode Island General 
.\sseiiibly in resolutions of thanks to Cieneial Lawrence. 
.•\lter the war he was Minister Resident in the Republic of 
Costa Rica, which ]iosition he tilled with honor to himself 
and Ills Country. In 1S75 he was sent by President Grant 
as Commissioner to treat with the Sioux Indians, and met 
in council more than three thousand warriors. In 1S7S he 
was sent by President Hayes to confer with .Sitting Bull 
and his eight thousand followers, this conference having 
been authorized in compli-ince with a request from the 
Canadian government, which was in doubt as to tiie proper 
course to be pursued w ith the Indians then in llie Canadian 
territory, (ieneral Lawrence now resides in New peirt, and 
continues to take an acti\e interest m public afiairs. 



^f^H.ACE, General Thom.^s W., son of Isaac and 
S^K Emily (Littlefield) Chace, was born in the town of 
^.i'il" Charleston, Rhode Island, June 22, 1X54. He is 
1'^' a descendant of William Chace, who settled in this 
■J « country at an early day, and a grainKon of Maxon 
Chace, a soldier in the Wanif 1S12. His father was a na- 
tive of Westerly, Rhode Island, and died at New Shore- 
ham, in 1S45, '■'' 'tie' thirty-eighth year of his age. His 
mother w.as a daughter of Captain Nathanael Littlefield, of 
New Shoreham. .Soon after the death of his father, Mr. 
Chace's mother removed to Newport, and for several years 
he li\ed with his uncle, T. W. F'oley, of Proviilence. with 
whom, alter receiving a good coniiniui-school education, 
he learned the business of a merchant tailor. C>n at- 
taining his ni.ajority he purchased the slock and good- 
will of the business of Mr. F'oley, and opened an estab- 
lishment of the same kind on North Main .Street. .Since 
1S70 he has carried on Inisiness successfully on Westmin- 
ster Street. He was for several years prominently iden- 
tihed with the military organizations of the city and State. 
Ill 1.S57 he enlisted as a pinate in the First Light Infantiy 
Company of Pro\ ideiice ; in I.Soi assisted in the formation 
of the organization now known as the Cnited Train of Ar- 
tillery, and served as ailjiitant and m.ijor of that command. 
.Vl the May session of the lieneral .\ssembl\', in 1S72, he 
was elected Ijrigadier-General of the Fourth Ihigade Rhode 
Island .Militia, and in 1S73 and 1875 was chosen to com- 
mand the Third and First Brigades, respectively. In 1S74 
he was elected a member of the Re[iublican State Central 
Committee, and has served as treasurer of that committee 
since 1877. He was elected an alternate to the National 
Republican Convention in 1876, and was a deleg.ate to the 
N.iticmal Repul-ilican Convention at Chicago in iSSo. He 
has been a member of the Masonic fiaternity since 1S59, 



lilOGHArinCAI. 6 )cj.op/-:d/.4. 



553 



in whicli order he lias filleil several iiiijiortaiit offices. In 
1857 lie became a member of the KranUlin Lycenni, anil 
has held the office of secretary and vice-president of that 
society. He is a member of the Rhode Island Historical 
Society, and of the Rhode Island Society for the Encour- 
agement of Domestic Indu^try. In 1S57 ho united with 
the Central liaptist Church in I'rovidence, with which he 
is still connected. He assisted in the formation of the 
Rhode Island Baptist Social Union, in 1871, of which he 
was for several years treasurer, an<l is now vice-president. 
From 1863 to 1872 he served as vice-president of the 
Young Men's Christian Association, of which he was pres- 
ident from 1872 to 1875. He married, in February, 1865, 
Emily S. Starkweather, of Windham, Connecticut. 



Sj^KURTIS, LlEUTENANT-CoLONEI. JOSEPH BRIDOHAM, 
Myfe the second son of George and Julia (Bowen-Bridg- 
'''fi'fW ham) Curtis, was born in Providence, October 25, 
t^ts 1836. After passing through the preliminary studies 
eiiti of his education, he entered the Lawrence Scientific 
School at Harvard University, and was graduated with the 
degree of Bachelor of Science in the Department of En- 
gineering, in July, 1856. In the discharge of his duties as 
an engineer he went to Chicago immediately after finishing 
his studies at Cambritlge, and from Chicago, in the spring 
of 1857, to a post upon the Allentown Railroad, in Penn- 
sylvania. It was a hard service w'hich he was called upon 
to perform. All unknown to himself he was passing 
through an e.vperieuce which was fitting him for the still 
rougher experience which was awaiting him in the future. 
In the fall of 1857 he was appointed an assistant architect 
with Mr. Frederic Law Olmstead and Mr. Calvert Vaux, 
who were superintendents of the work upon Central Park, 
New York. When the Civil War broke out all the enthu- 
sia'srii of his nature was aroused, and he was ready to enlist 
in the service of his country. He obtained a commission 
as an engineer with the rank of captain in the Ninth Regi- 
ment of the New York State Militia, and had a place on 
the colonel's staff. He remained an unpaid volunteer in 
this regiment for a few months, and then went to Washing- 
ton, and for a short time occupied a post in the working 
corps of the Sanitary Commission. When the Fourth 
Rhode Island Regiment was formed he was appointed 
first lieutenant, October 2, 1861. The regiment proceeded, 
as soon as its ranks were full, to Washington, and went 
into camp at Camp Casey, where it was placed under com- 
mand of Lieutenant-Colonel I. P. Rodman. In Novem- 
ber, 1 86 1, the regiment, which was attached to General O. 
O. Howard's brigade, was ordered to join General Sum- 
ner's division. In a few weeks it joined Burnside's Ex- 
pedition, and was in the battle of Roanoke Island. On 
landing, the troops encountered obstacles which seemed 
almost insurmountable. ** We turned into the viiest swamp 
70 



I ever saw," wrote Adjutant Curtis. " We sank from the 
ankle to the knees. It was full of trees and thorny bushes 
seven or eight feet high and growing close together. We 
were two hours in forcing our way through this swamp." 
"I marked Curtis from the first," said General Burnside, 
" and knew he would make a splendid field officer, as he 
did. I saw him often, but he was not a man to spend 
much time at headcpiarters, for he was always attending to 
his own duties." The hardships and fatigues to which he 
had been exposed had made severe drafts on the delicate 
constitution of the brave young soldier, and he yielded 
under the pressure of disease. A respite from his military 
duties was granted him, and he returned to Providence to 
recruit his wasted energies. As soon as his strength be- 
gan to return he was impatient again to be on duty, and 
several days before his furhjugh cxjiired he was on his way 
to rejoin his regiment, and was most cordially welcomed 
back to his post by both officers and men. He was at the 
siege of Fort Macon, which, after a month's onset upon it 
by the Federal troops, surrendered April 26, 1862. When 
Colonel Rodman was promoted to the rank of brigadier, 
Curtis was commi.ssioned his assistant adjutant-general, 
with the rank of captain ; and soon after he was made 
lieutenant-colonel. After a series of adventures in which 
the bravery of Colonel Curtis exhibited itself most strik- 
ingly, there came the great battle of Antictam, in which 
the Fourth Rhode Island Regiment performed so gallant 
a part. There have been given many descriptions of that 
famous conflict, upon the issue of which depended so much. 
None of these descriptions are more graphic than the one 
written by Lieutenant Curtis, in a letter dated September 22, 
1S62. It closes thus : " We were under fire almost all the 
time from six A.M., when the enemy shelled us out from 
behind a hill, until half-past five P.M., when we were 
broken in the corn-field. General Rodman is, I fear, mor- 
tally wounded. Our Colonel Steere is severely wounded 
— a ball in the thigh ; and Lieutenant Ives has an ugly 
grape-wound. We lost a third of our regiment in the 
corn-field. Some of our wounded lay thirty-six hours, and 
the rebels would not give them water, calling them damned 
Yankees, and firing at those who went into the corn after 
them. I can arm their slaves now." Lieutenant-Colonel 
Curtis took command of the regiment in the place of the 
wounded Colonel Steere. The regiment was now' in the 
Ninth Army Corps. On the nth of December, 1S62, be- 
gan the battle of Fredericksburg. Two days the bom- 
bardment and fighting had been going on. Towards sunset 
of the afternoon of the 13th their came an order to the 
Fourth Rhode Island Regiment to advance. It made its 
way up the banks of the Rappahannock, and marching 
through the city, reached the outskirts. There, halting for 
a moment, its commander quietly seated on his horse, a 
bullet struck him in the left cheek, penetrated his brain, 
and its deadly work was done almost in an instant. His 
body was brought to Providence, where it was laid in state 



554 



BIOCKAFHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



in the Slate Hr>u^e, ami un the 20th cf Itecenilier, one 
week alter the hattle wa*^ fought in which he hist his lite, 
it was laiti a«-ay ni its ie^tiiig]tlace in the N<'ilh Burying- 
Ciround in Pro\i(-Ience. 



ILCOX. DuTF.E, manufacturing jeweller, was born 
jl^KiSLy ^' Douglass, Massachusetts. June 22, 1834. and 
"l^'iaaf is the son of Dutee and Julia A. (Bowdish) \Vil- 
(;,/'l^ COX. Both his paternal an<l maternal ancestors 
tl were remarkahle fur longevity. His mother is still 

living. He obtained most of his education at a coimtry 
school. .\t the age of sixteen he was a|i|ircnticed to 
Wheeler & Knight, manufacturing jew ellers, of Providence, 
with whom he remained for about four years, when the 
firm was dissohed, antl he was released from his apj^iren- 
ticeship. At the age of twenty-one he returned to the em- 
ploy of Mr. Wheihr, and as superintendent of the jewelry 
shop, renianicd untd 1S5C1, when he formed a partnership 
with Horace ami ( (Iney Thayer, and began the manufac- 
ture of jewelry, in a building on Steeple Street. This firm 
was dissohed in 1.S57. liy tlie witlnlrawal of the Messrs. 
Thayer, and for a time Mr. Wilcox carried on the business 
alone. In March, I.S511, he formed a partnership with 
Henry J. Battell, under ihe hrm-naine of Wilcox & Battell, 
and in the following I)eccml>er Scth .\. Clieeney became a 
member of the Irrm. Their business rapicllj- increa-.ed, and 
they soon removed to No. 125 Broad Street. In January, 
1S68, Mr. Cheeney retired from the firm, and Mr. Battell died 
in lS7I,after w hich time Mr. Wilcox carried on the business 
alone, under the old hiin-name, remo\ing, in 187^, to Xo. 
19 Snow Street, where he now remains. January i, iS.So, 
he adnntted Walter dardner as a partner, and changed the 
name to D. Wilcox iS: Co. Mr. Wilcox is also connected, 
as general partner, with the well-know n firm of .Albert |. 
Smith & Co., manufacturers of fine gold jewelry. He h.is 
invented several articles of jewelry, among w liich is the 
'•Wilcox & Battell Stud," jiateiited in 1S59, the annual 
sale of which has amounted to as high as one hundred 
thousand dollars. His business career has been eminently 
successful, and is the result of faithful and constant appli- 
c.ttioii, great mechanical and in\'entive skill, and conscien- 
tious and conservative elements of character jieculiarly his 
ow n. The faithful ami efficient service he has rendered the 
city in various official capacities has given him a high place 
in iHiblic esteem. He was a member of the Board of .-Mder- 
men, of Providence, from the Ninth Ward, during the 
years 1877, lS78anil 1S79. He has taken a deep interest in 
public education, having served on the School Committee 
of Providence in I.S76, 1S77 and 1S7S. In 1S77 l>e was 
chosen one of the directors of the National B.mk of Com- 
merce, one of the largest banking institutions in the Slate. 
He is also a trustee of the City Savings Bank, and a di- 
rector of the Providence Board of Trade. He has identi- 
fied himself with the religious interests of the city ; has 



been associated in an official capacity with the Young 
Men's Christian Association for several years; and for more 
than twenty years an fionored and useful member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. (Jn the 6th of January, 
1859, he married Emma A. I.ocke, of Newpiort, Rhode 
Island, daughter of Nathaniel and I.ydia .S. (Howard) 
Locke. Their children are: Emma Lula, Ciiacie M., ami 
Howard Dutee, born res])ectively February 18, 1862, Feb- 
ruary 17. 1S66, and .•\iiril 5. 1871. In 1875 Mr. Wilcox 
erected one of the most magnificent and costly business 
buildings in Rhode Island, known as the "Wilcox Build- 
ing," fronting on Weyliosset and Cuslom-House streets. 
It is a building of which the citizens of Providence may 
justly feel proud, and fitly represents the character, talents, 
and tastes of the owner, and indicates the public spirit and 
liberality of one who has chosen in this manner to exhibit 
! his deep interest in all that may improve and adorn his 
adopted cily. 




IJWEN, Ri-:\-. WiLLi.^M Hfnry, D.I)., was born in 
Johnston. February 27, lSj6. He is the son of 
Nathaniel and Hannah Paine Bowen. His father 
! died in iS()6; his mother still survives ( iSSi |. In 
J" 1841 the family removed to North Providence, and 
fiir many years resided in that portion of the town now in- 
cluded within the city of Providence. The son early 
evinced a love fiir study anil a susceptibility of religious 
impressions. In 1853 '"-' united with the Free Baptist 
Church in OlneyviUe. of wliich the late Rev. G. T. r>ay, 
DTb, was jnrstor. In the autumn of the same year he 
entered Brown L'niversity and graduated in 1857. Im- 
mediately after graduation he visited Europe in company 
w ith Dr. Day, his pastor. After teaching a year he stutlied 
one year in Andover Theological Seminary. He received 
ordination to the work of the ministry at Waterford (Black- 
stone), Massachuset's, in 1859. Previous to 1S69 he was 
pastor of the Free Ba]itist Church in Waterford, Massachu- 
setts; and for four years of the Free Bajitist Church in 
North Scituate, and with great usefulness and success. He 
was especially active in [.ronioting educational interests, 
and acipiired distiiution as a writer in the Ftw-i^'ilt Baplisl 
Quarti-rly, of which he was one of the editors. In 1869 
he became pa-tor of the Main Street Free Baptist Church, 
Lewislon, Maine. His education and experience had 
abundantly (pialilied him for this jiosition of commanding 
infiuence. He is now (1S81) in the twelfth year of his 
]iastorate. In 1872 he was elected Professcir of Sacred 
Rhetoric in Bates College, but declineil it. He received 
his doctorate from HilFdale College, Michigan, in 1S74. 
He has held inijxulaiit oflices in connection with the Free- 
will Baptist Education .Society, and since 1S75 has been its 
president. He is Presulent of the Board of 0\'erseers of 
Bates College, and is chairman of the .School Board in the 
city in wdiich he resides. In 1879 he again visited Europe 




// //-^ ^VV^f^V-; 



lilOGRAPIIICAL eye/. OPED I A. 



555 



ns a delegate to the Evanj;elical Alliance held at Bale, 
Switzerland. Dr. Bowen is a sound scholar, a vigorous 
writer, an able preacher, and a judicious pastor. He is 
qualilied both in temperament and character for a leader, 
and his influence is widely recognized and felt. .Xs indi- 
cated by the positions which he holds, he stands in the front 
rank of the ministry of the denomination with which he is 
connected. He married, in i860, Jeaneite, daughter of 
Captain Richard W. Greene, of Warwick. I-'rom this union 
there are two surviving children. "The Memoir of Rev. 
George T. Day, D.D.," is his leading published work. 



p)l'KINS, Lieutenant Stephen M.anchester, 
jMJ^ son of Augustus and Hannah (Brayton) Hop- 
kins, was born in BurrillviUe, Rhode Island, I'"eli- 
It^ ruary 28, 1S37. He received the rudiments of his 
* education in the public schools of his native town, 
and at a later age prosecuted his studies at the seminary in 
East Greenwich, and at New Hampton, New Hamjishire. 
He evinced a high order of intellect, and possessed a joy- 
ous, affable ilisposition, which made him a great favorite 
with old and young. On completing his academic stu<lies 
he engaged witli his brothers in the manufacture of spin- 
tiles, in which he continued until .September, 1S62, when 
he enlisted in the Twelfth Regiment of Rhode Island Vol- 
unteers, receiving a lieutenant's commission. In the 
spring preceding his enlistment, the citizens of his native 
town, reposing great confidence in his abilities, sent him as 
one of their Representatives to the lower house of the Gen- 
eral .\s5embly, of which body he wa-s a member at the time 
of his death, which occurred in Washington, D. C, De- 
cember 27, 1S62, from the effects of a wound received in 
the battle of Fredericksburg. At the time his regiment 
was ordered from Washington to Falmouth, Virginia, he 
was suffering from a slow fever, and was carried to Fal- 
mouth in an ambulance. F'rom this illness he had not 
fully recovered when General Burnside crossed the Rappa- 
hannock and attacked Lee at Fredericksburg. The captain 
of his company being ill, I,ieutenant Hopkins bravely 
assumed the responsibility of leading the company into 
action, which he did to the admiration of his colonel and 
to the honor of himself as a gallant officer. Early in that 
fatal engagement a shell struck and mangled his left foot, 
which was afterward amputated and he removed to Wash- 
ington, where he lingered for two weeks, suffering from an 
increasing fever, and died at the time before mentioned; 
his wife and brother being with him at the time of his 
death. Lieutenant Hopkins united with the Free-Will 
Baptist Church at an early age, and was a sincere and de- 
vout Christian. He married, December 7, 1858, Mary 
Frances, daughter of John and Frances (Dudley) Warner, 
of MiUbury, Massachusetts, the issue of the marriage being 
a daughter, Ellen Louise. Soon after the death of Lieu- 
tenant Hopkins a tribute to his memory appeared in the 



Providence Evening Prrss, in which his patriotic self- 
sacrificing spirit is referred to as follows : " No one sacri- 
ficed business interests and the companionship of a dear 
family with greater patriotism than he. F'irst of the li'.tle 
band that went out from his native town to put his name 
upon the rtill of his country's defenders as a private, and 
without ]")romise of position, the first to fall in her glorious 
defence while gallantly leading his men U|ion the bloody 
battle-field of F'redericksburg. No young man in New 
England has gone to the war with a more brilliant prospect 
Ijefore him, or with more to entice him to stay at home. 
But a stern sense of duty cause<l him to turn his Ijack upon 
affluence and luxury, and to hazard his life, and all he held 
dear, for the sake of his country. During this whole war, 
Rhode Island has not lost a truer patriot or a braver sol- 
dier than Lieutenant Hopkins." 



[■ICHAKDSON, ERASTUS.sonof John S. and Izanna 
jy^^5 (Lewis) Richardson, was born in Valley F'alls, 
.£j s Rhode Island, .\\it\\ lo, 1837. His mother died 
j •=> during his infancy, and he liecame a memljer of 
K the family of his grandfather, John E. Richard- 

son. His great-grandfather, John Richardson, of Attle- 
borough, Massachusetts, was one of the pioneers in Ameri- 
can cotton spinning, and a descendant of John Woodcock, 
one of the first settlers in Attleborough, a noted man of 
his time. Upon the failure of his father in 1S14, John 
E. Richardson engaged in business with the late Martin 
Stoddard, of Providence, where he remained a short 
time. About the year 1820 he removed to Valley Falls, 
where he was employed as clerk by the late William 
Harris. Upon the failure of Mr. Harris he engaged in 
the grocery business, in which he continued until his death, 
October 30, 1S45. ^^^ "'^^ highly respected by all who 
knew him. His children v\'ere John .Strowbridge Richard- 
son, the father of the subject of this sketch, and William 
Augustus. His youngest sister, Rowena, now living at 
Augusta, Maine, is the wife of Hon. Anson P. Morrill. 
W'hen his grandfather died, Erastus Richardson continued 
to live with his grandmother, .Sylvia (Drake) Richardson; 
and the resources of the family being very limited, he was 
obliged to commence work in a cotton- factory in order to 
contribute to the necessities of the househohl. Although 
thus early thrown upon his own resources, he made the 
best of his opportunities, and developed a capacity for busi- 
ness which secured him permanent employment, and Har- 
vey Chace of Valley Falls, and his sons, James H. and 
Jonathan, took a deep interest m his welfare, and gave 
him a position in their counting-room, where he acquired 
a thorough knowdedge of bookkeeping, in which calling 
he has been engaged until the present time. He remained 
in the employ of Messrs. Chace until 1863, when he en- 
gaged with F!;dward Harris at Woonsocket. Since 1865 
he has been bookkeeper for the I, ippitt Woollen Company. 



556 



BrOCRAPHICAL CVCLOPED/.l. 



Mr. Rii-luinl-.. Ill lias ilcvuled lii^ '-|i.irL- tiiiiL- to literary pur- 
suits, and Is the author of a histoiy '>f Woonsocket, pub- 
li^JRil 111 1S76, anit a translation of the .-Kiu-id, now ap- 
pi--arin'_; in the Woonsocket r<tlriot, lioth of whiuli have 
lieeli hiL;hly eomnieniled. He served h-r nine moiilhs as 
a jiri\ale soKlier in the War of the Rebellion, being a 
memlier of the Twelfth Regiment of Rhode Island Volun- 
teer^, with which he remaiiieil until the exjiiration of his 
term id' enlistment, when he was honorably discharged, i 
I lis first vote for President of the United States was cast 
for Al'r.diani Lincoln, and he remained an arrlent Rejiub- 
lican until the nomination of Hoiace (Ireeley by tlie Lib- 
eral Rejiiiblican and L>emocratic jarties. In 1S73 he was 
electeij a memlier of the School </ommiltee of Woonsocket, 
and, excejiting one year, has retained that position until 
the present time, being now i linirnian of the board. {_)n 
the loth of November, 1S63, he iiiai lied Mary X. (_^arpen- 
ter, of Smithfield, Rhode Island. They ha\e had three 
children: [ohn Everet, deceasei.1 ; (_'harles h^rancis, and 
Manila l-Vances. 



Home Mission Society, and is its corresponding seeretarv. 
He is the President of the School Board of the town of 
Johnston. He is a liohl and earnest jireaeher, a safe and 
judicious leader, and exerts a large and benchcent in- 
lluence. He married, in 1859, Lizzie V. Holbrook, of 
New Castle, New Hanipishire, who died some two years 
laler. leaving an infant daughter. In 1863 he married 
Lucimla \. Rondlctt, of Exeter, New Hampshire. 




SiC]i^E''^R'-'^'J' R-F.v. .-Vl-r.v L., was born in Nottingham, 
«^jr- New Hampshire, .September 10, 1837. His parents 

1. were Edward F. and Fanny Tuttle Lierrish. The 
-*4 father was a farmer, and for many years justice of the 

1 peace and 'lUorLim. ddie son was educateil in a 
course preparatory for college at the Noilingham Union 
Institute, taught by Rev. liailludomew \'an I lame, and by 
private instructors. He also gave attention to scientitic 
stuilies. He early commenced the wmk of teaching, and 
gave several years conseeutis ely to it in the puldic schools 
of New (_\isile and Exeter, New I Linipshiic .At the age 
of sixteen tie tiecame a member of the b'ree I-^.ipli^t Church 
in Ills nati\e town. Choosing the niinistrv for his life- 
work, he entered the Bangor Theological Seminary in 1863, 
and graduateil therefrom in 1S66. I luring this course of 
study he supplied churches in the viciniiyid" Bangor. Im- 
mediately upon his graduation he became pastor of the 
I'Yee Bajitist Church in Pittsheld, Maine, the place of the 
location of the Maine Central Iii^litutc, a school of a high 
order, under the patronage of the l''ree Baptists. He was 
ordained there August 17, l86b. He held this position 
ten years. During this time his services were of great 
value to the church, the school, and the community at 
large. He was President of the Board of Trustees of the 
Institute eight years, and ]HiiRipal of the normal de- 
partment one year. He did much 111 raising funds for 
itsbenclit. He served on the School Board of Pittsfield six 
years. He became pastor of the church in ( )lnev\ ille, R. I., 
in Feliriiary, 1S76, and hlU with great accejitaiice the posi- 
tion which was honored by the services of Rev. Martin 
Cheney and Rev. (jeorge T. Day, D.D. Mr. Gerrish was 
for a period a member of the Executive Board of the Free- 
will Ba]itist Education Society. Since 1877 he has been 
a member of the Executive Board of the Freewill Baptist 



■'l.ISS, M.vjiiR George Nk\vm.\n, son of James 
Leon.ird and Sarah Ann (Statford] IUix>-, was born 



in Eagleville, Tiverton, Rhode Island, July 22, 
1S37. He attended the schools of Fall River, Massa- 
chusells, and the University Grammar School in 
Providence, and in 1856 entered P>rown University, where 
he remained two years, and then entered Union College, 
Schenectady, New \'ork, where he graduated in i860. 
Ili> decision of character and courage in adhering to his 
coin icti'->ns were manifested in his college course, leailing 
to llie change of colleges rather than to submit to w hat he 
deenieil rigid discipline. In Seplenifier, 1800, he entered 
the .Mbany Law .School, from which he graduated in May, 
iSdl.and was admitted to the bar of the .Slate of New 
\'ork. Returning to Providence, he conlinned the study of 
law in the olhce of Samuel W. Peckhaiii. After the tirst 
battle of tile I ivil War, |uly 21, lSOI, his patriotism led 
liliii tri cs|iouse the cause of his country, and in .September, 
lSiii,he enli-tcd .is a private in llie Fir^t Rhode Island 
Ca\ah-y, the lir-t command of the kind ever raised in New 
England. He was soi.n | romoted to ipiartermaster-ser- 
geant, and then to first lieutenant, in which rank for a 
time he became i|uartermaster of the regiment. In July, 
1 8b J, he became Captain of Troop C, in which office he 
pcrfoimed efhcient service in the most trying days of the 
war. He was with his brave regiment in Virginia, along 
the Potomac, R.ippahannock, Rapidan, and James Rivers, 
over the Pull Run, Blue Ridge, and Catoctin Mountains, 
and through the .Shenandoah Valley, participating in the 
battles of Front Royal and vicinity. Cedar Mountain, Rap- 
pahannock, Groveton, Bull Run, Chantilly, Chancellors- 
villc, Brandy Station, Middleburg, Rapidan Station, below 
Front Royal, Opequan, Winchester, Waynesboro, and 
others. His heroic conduct in the Waynesboro Battle, Sep- 
tember 28, 1864, with the famous Black Horse Cavalry of 
the enemy, forms one of the thrilling chapters ol the war. 
After cutting ilow n four of his foes aiul ha\iiig his horse 
shot under him and receiving wounds in lii^ head and side, 
he became a prisoner. His valor was handsomely acknowd- 
edged by his enemies. One of the men struck down by his 
sabre was the color-bearer of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry. 
Captain Bliss was incarcerated in Libby Prison under pe- 
culiarly trying circumstances, suffering from his wounds, 
and once for forty-five days in a basement-cell as a hostage 
doomed contingently to death. On being exchanged he 



RIOGKAPniCA J. C YCI. OPED I A. 



557 



ri'tlirneil lo the service in February, 1S65, ami was appointed 
til court-martial service at Annapolis, Maryland. During 
the war he was on five couiis-niaitial, once as junior mem- 
ber; once as judge advocate, once as president. While for 
a time assisting in the recruiting service he visited various 
portions of the army front in Virginia, South Carolina, 
Ceorgia, and I'"lorida. No truer, braver soldier and officer 
was found in tlie Union .^rmy than Major Bliss. After the 
close of the war he returned to Providence and resumed 
the practice of his profession. Residing in East Providence, 
he has an office in that town, and also one in Providence. 
In 1866 he w.is chosen a member of the School Committee 
of East Providence, and has served, with the exception of 
three years, until the present time ( 1881 ). He was elected 
a Representative to the General Assembly in 1868, and 
was re-elected for five years. In 1879 he was commis- 
sioned, by the State, Major of Cavalry, and now com- 
mands in the State miliiia the entire cavalry force of 
Rhode Inland. In 1869 lie was unanimously elected by 
the General Assembly Commissioner of the Shell Fishery 
for five years, and in 1874 was unanimously re-elected for 
a like term. In 1873 he was chosen Trial Justice of East 
Providence, and has been regularly re-elected, his present 
term reaching to 1882. He was particularly active in the 
General Assembly in securing the rebuilding of Central 
(old Red) Bridge on its old site. In 1872 he umteil with 
tile Congregational Church in East Providence, of which 
he is an esteemed member. For many years he has been 
prominently identified with the Masonic order, in which he 
has held various official positions. His attachment to this 
fraternity was strengthened by his being savetl from death 
as a Mason when he lay wounded in the battle of Waynes- 
boro, through the interposition of Captain Henry C. Lee, 
a Confederate oHicer, and brother of Fitz Lee. He is a 
member of the Cavalry Veteran Association, the Grand 
Army of the Republic, and the Soldiers' and Sailors' His- 
torical Society of Rhode Island. Evidences of his literary 
ability appear in chapters of the I/is/oiy of the First 
Rhode Island Cavalry, antl other important historical 
papers, including the Historital Sketch of East Provi- 
dence, July 4, 1876. He married, January I, 1872, Fanny 
A., daughter of Hon. William A. Carpenter, of East Provi- 
dence, and has five children : Gerald Morton, William 
Carpenter, George Miles, Helen Louise, and Carlton Sears. 



SEXTER, Rev. Samuel King, pastor of the Baptist 
Church in Warren, was born in Providence, Rhode 
Island, September 6, 1837. He prepared for col- 
T lege at Peekskill Academy, on the Hudson, and after 
J' pursuing a collegiate course at Madison University, 
at Hamilton, New \'ork, entered the Theological Seminary 
at Newton, Massachusetts. After his ordination at Sheldon- 
ville, Massachusetts, where he remained one year, he was 
installed pastor of the Baptist Church in Windsor, Vermont, 



in the fall of 1S65, where he remained three years, and then 
accepted a call to Bennington, Vermont, remaining there 
two years. His pastorate at the latter place continued until 
the fall of 1870, and on the 1st of January, 1 87 1, he returned 
to Rhode Island and became pastor of the Bapti>t Church 
in Warren, where he has since continued to labor. This 
is one of the oldest churches in New England, having been 
built in 1764. It was burned by British soldiers in the 
Revolutionary War, and rebuilt in 1 786. The present 
structure occupies the site of the first two churches, and a 
portion of the ground on which it was intended to locate 
Brown University. Rev. Dr. James Manning was its first 
pastor, and many eminent preachers have since ministered 
to its people. On entering upon his pastoral duties at 
Warren Mr. Dexter immediately identified himself w ith the 
educational interests of the town, and has been a member 
of the School Board since 1870. F'rom 1S71 to 1875 he 
was Superintendent of the Public Schools of Warren. For 
many years he has been connected with the Board of the 
Baptist State Convention and the Baptist Educational So- 
ciety. He married. May 9, 1865, in Providence, Henrietta 
D. Allen, daughter of Deacon Sandford Allen, of Belling- 
ham, Massachusetts. They have had six children, of whom 
but two, Walter A. and Alden B., are now living. Mr. 
Dexter's religious labors at Warren and elsewhere have 
been marked by great earnestness and zeal, and his present 
work is in a most prosperous condition. .Although closely 
devoted to the interests of his own church he has exerted 
a wide influence, and been largely instrumental in promot- 
ing the general religious and moral welfare of the com- 
munity. 

^^^WAN, Lyman L., M.D., son of WiUiam Swai., of 
Smithfield, was born December 16, 1838. His 
early studies were pursued in the public schools of 



his native town and at the East Greenwich Semin- 
- ' ary. Subsequently he completed his academic and 
classical course in part at Hanover, New Hampshire, and 
in part at Andover, Ma.ssachusetts. He pursued his medical 
studies in the offices of Drs. Daw and Howard W. King, 
and at the Long Island Medical College, from which in- 
stitution he received his diploma. Soon after the comple- 
tion of his medical studies he commenced practice at River- 
point. It was not long before he received an appointment 
as Assistant Surgeon in the Third Rhoiie Island Cavalry. 
He was for some time at the South in the discharge of his 
professional duties, the larger portion of this period being 
spent in Louisiana. On the termination of the war he re- 
turned to Rhode Island, and opened an office in Provi- 
dence, where his services as a physician were highly ap- 
preciated and his practice steadily increased. He took 
special interest in one form of the application of morphia 
for the alleviation of pain, — the subcutaneous injection of 
that article. In a valuable paper which he prepared on 
that subject he alludes, as indicating his confidence in the 



55S 



/UOGRA PIIICA L C YCL OPED /A. 



ll'^o of morphi:!, to nearly three liuntlred cases in which he 
Iiad l)i_en successful in his treatment of his patients hy this 
nietliMil. ])r. Swan l<cpt u]"i his intimate connection with 
liis militaiy associates iluriny liis rcsi(Jence in Pro\iiIence. 
At tile time of liis death he was Surgeon to Prcscott Post, 
No. i,(;rand Army of tlic Re|nil)]ic, and Assistant Sur- 
i;eon-Cieneral of the Stale Militia. lie was also a memlter 
of Eayle Lodge and MoshassucU Encampment Indepen- 
dent Order of Uild Fellows. Not long Iiefore his death he 
became a communicant in (irace Church, Providence, and 
was an active member of the '' IJishop (iriswold Society " 
in that ch\irch. He died September 21, 1S72, " calm and 
happy, in a full f.iith in the promises of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and expressed hmiseif willing to (.lie." Dr. S\\an 
was ne\ er married. 



Vl^NliEl.L, Edwin Cm-irh.vm, President of the Amer- 
Sfe ican Screw Company, son of William I iorham 
'f and Ann R. (Stewaitl .Viigell. was born in I'rm'- 

fidence, h'eliruary 25. 18^7. His early education 
was acipiired in the excellent jniblic schools of his 
native city. In I.S32 he entered the service of the Kagle 
Screw ("i.impany. where he remained ne.uly eight years, 
during which pieriod he obtained the knowledge and ex- 
perience which were to be of so much use to him in the 
important position to which he was subsequently called. 
He was elected treasurer of the .Vmerican Screw Coni- 
]iany, January i, 1S60, his father being the President of 
the com|iany. This office he resigned in 1S64, and moved 
to New \'ork, where he became a member of the linn of 
Ivigleton, .Vngell & Co., who were agents for the Eagleton 
M.unilacturing Company of that city. He continued a 
member of this tirm until lS()7, when it dissolved, and he 
returned t'> Providence, w here he became the assistant of 
his father, whose ill health demanded th.at he should he 
relieveil in part from the weighty burdens connected with 
the discharge ol his duties as jiresirlent of a corporation 
whose business had become so widelv extended. LIpon 
the death of his father in 1S70 he was a|'priinieil his suc- 
cessor, and has held the ottice of president of the .\ineri- 
can .Screw Company U[) to the present time ilS.Si). He 
married, February 14, iSbi, Sarah S. Southwick, of New- 
]'i'rt. d hey lia\e one ihlhl, ( irare. 



.WW.VUn, WlI.i.r.^M S., Mayorof Providence, was 
born in llie town of Foster. Rhode Island, Febru- 
ary 26, 1835. He attended a district school until 
f'-'j- he was twelve years of age, and for several years 
■'V thereafter was employed on the farm of Mr. Bennett 
L. Holden, in Old Warwick, during which time he attended 
school lor lour terms. In 1.S51 he removed to Providence, 
wdiere he <»bt.iined employment in the bakery of Rice ^: 
Hayward, the members of the tirm being .Messrs. Fitz lames 
Rice and ( ieorge W. Havward. He remained in their em- 



ploy for one year, ami then enigaged with Mr. Calvin 
Rockwood, who offered him a larger salary than he had 
been recei\iiig. Mr. Ilaywartl wasemploved in Mr. Rock- 
wood's baker)' until iS^^, when he returned to the estab- 
lishment of Rice ^: Hayward. He commenced as sales- 
man, and continued as such until the fall of lS5,S, when he 
purchased the delivering department iif the business to 
supply the city trade, they retaining the right to supply the 
out-of-town customers. In 1S60 the two branches of the 
business were united, and Mr. Hayward became a nrember 
of the tirm. the style being Rice, Hayward & Co. On the 
1st of No\-ember, 1861, Mr. Ha\'ward went to Washington, 
District of Columbia, and in connection with Mr. L. H. 
Hum])hreys, established what was known as the " Rhode 
Island liakery," in that city. I'or several months their 
business was remarkably successful, and was confined prin- 
cij)ally to sutlers and tethers rlepending on the army for 
patrtmage ; but when the army in its forward movement 
crossetl into Virginia, they v\ere left without customers. 
Sharing in the belief, at th.at time general, that the war was 
drawing to a close, they sold out iheir business at consider- 
able loss, and returned to Pro\idence. In 1863 Mr. Haywartl 
bought the entire interest of Rice, Haywaril & Co., and 
assuniei-l full management of the business, which rapidly 
increased on acconnt of the patronage received from troops 
encamped m Rhode Island during the war. In 1865 Mr. 
Fitz [ames Rice again became his jsartner, wdiich [lartner- 
ship still continues. In 1S72 Mr. Hayward was elected to 
the Common C'ouncil of Providence, from the Sixth Ward, 
and was annually re-elected until 1876, when he was 
elected .-\ldemian from the same ward, to till the vacancy 
occasioned b)' the resignation of Mr. N. V. Potter, Ir., who 
was elected Water Commissioner at that time. He served 
as a member of the Board of .-Vldermeii trom i87i>, and as 
president of the board from 1878. until entering ujion the 
discharge of his duties as Mayor of Providence, to which 
office he was elected in 1S80. For several years he has 
been an active member of the Masonic fraternity and of 
the Independent ( )rder of Odd Fellows, and is a member 
of the Knights of Pythias, the First Light Infantry of Prov- 
idence, the Frankin Ljceum, and other societies. He 
married, November 9, 1859, Luc)' Maria Rice, daughter of 
Mr. hit/ lames Rice, of Providence. 



jSpiillfiHIPPLE, Jeremiah, M.D., son of Jeremiah and 
C3lllW.6 Sarah (Smith) Whipple, was born in Cumber- 
•.J^-reijf" lani-l, Rhode Island, Oecendier 2, 1S38. We 
^T find the names of some of his ancestors among the 
el earliest settlers of the town. His preparatory 

studies were pursued at the LIniversity Grammar School in 
Providence. Finding his health not sufficiently good to 
warrant his undertaking the regular four years' course of 
study in Brown University, he entered college, as a camli- 
date fi)r the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, and was 




4^ 



/^ "■ 



ie^^^5>^ ^ 




r 



lUOGKAPlUCAL C VCI. OPED/.i. 



559 



graduated with that degree in the class of 1859. Soon 
after leaving college he commenced the study of medicine 
in the ofhce of Dr. C. W. Parsons, of Providence, and at- 
tended the lectures of the Harvard Medical School, which, 
in 186A, conferred on hnn the degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine. During the seven years of his medical studies, he 
sjjent a part of the time in Paris, directing his attention to 
professional and scientific investigations. Having been 
admitted to practice, he received the appointment of House 
Surgeon in the Massachusetts General Hospital. This 
office he held for one year. He found his health to be so 
precarious that he ditl not venture upon the general prac- 
tice of his profession, but confined himself to the consulting 
and advisory duties of a physician, among his personal 
friends, who highly appreciated his skill and services. He 
went abroad several winters for the jnirpose of enjoying a 
milder climate than that of his native .State. While in France 
he died at Arcachon, Department of Gironde, May 26, 1S71. 
He married, in October, 1869, Carlotta Hobson, of New 
York, who, with an infant daughter, survived her husband. 
It is said of Dr. Whipple that " he possessed unusual aptitude 
for medical practice in its higher forms, and his success 
was sure, had his health been adequate to the labor it re- 
quired." He ranked among the most thoroughly educated 
of Rhode Island physicians. 



|ip®AINE, George T.AYLOR, son of Walter and Sophia 
^1^^ Field (Taylor) Paine, was born in Providence, 
y. ;, September 25, 1838. His father was a prominent 
' I business man, and held important positions of trust 
•P under the State and municipal governments. His 
family line is traced back to John Field, an early settler of 
Providence, to Colonel Renjamin Church, and to Stephen 
Paine, one of the founders of Rehoboth. Young Paine 
enjoyed the advantages afforded by the excellent pulilic 
schools of the city. He commenced his business life in the 
coal ofiice of Alfred Wright, and afterward entered the 
employ of the Merchants' Insurance Company. For a 
time in i860 he was connected with a drygoods commis- 
sion house in Philadelphia. Since 1867 he has been an 
independent insurance agent, transacting a large business, 
and by his promptness, efficiency, and zeal, inspiring con- 
fidence and winning success. As agent he has had occa- 
sion to travel extensively throughout the Union, and has 
thus been enabled to form a wide circle of acquaintance. 
In 185S he united with the National Cadets, and has held 
various offices in the State militia. Political offices, how- 
ever, have no attractions for him, and he has persistently 
refused them when offered. Being from early youth fond 
of reading and of good books, he has accumulated a choice 
library of works, mostly historical. Through his efforts 
mainly the works of Roger Williams have been republished 
in seven quarto volumes, under the auspices of the Narra- 
gansett Club. He has thus rendered good service to the 



cause of letters, and aided in erecting to the memory of 
the distinguished founder of the .State a monument more 
enduring than brass or marble. In 1867 he was made a 
member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, in which 
he has manifested a lively interest, serving as secretary 
five years, and giving to it much time and labor. He is a 
life-member of the New England Historical and Genealogi- 
cal Society, and an honorary member of various other his- 
torical societies. .Mr, Paine married, June 10, 1863, Lou- 
ise Mason Akermann, daughter of Charles and Lucy E, 
Akermann, of Providence. One son, William Howard 
Paine, is the fruit of this marriage. 



^ARTLETT, Captain Henry Anthony, United 
|ig»i States Marine Corps, son of Hon. John Russell 
XL Bartlett, was born in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, 
'jP August 19, 1838. Captain Bartlett was attached to 
I the First Rhode Island Regiment of volunteers as 
Quartermaster Sergeant, which left Providence on the 
breaking out of the war, in .-Xpril, 1S61. In September 
following he was appointed by President Lincoln a lieu- 
tenant in the United States Marine Corps. He was on 
board the United States transport steamer Governor, with 
a detachment of marines, w-hich foundered at sea on the 
night of December 3, 1861, and was rescued by the United 
States frigate Saliine, which happened to he passing at the 
time. Prom the published Records of III,- Living Officers 
of the United States Navy we gather the following facts: 
"I-'rom April, 1862, to September, 1864, Captain Bartlett 
was attached to the steam war-frigate New Ironsides, par- 
ticipating in twenty-six engagements off and near Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, including the bombardments of Forts 
Sumter, Wagner, Gregg, Moultrie, Bee, and others, having 
charge of two eleven-inch guns, manned by the marine 
guard. He was in command of a detachment of marines 
at the taking of Jacksonville, Florida, in January, 1864, 
and subsequently in command of a battalion of marines and 
sailors on Morris Island," He was promoted to a cap- 
taincy November 29, 1S67. In 1S66 he sailed in the 
United States steamship Sacramento on a voyage round 
the world ; was shipwrecked on the Coromandel coast, 
Hindoostan; escaped, with several others, on a raft, after 
remaining on which for forty hours they were picked up in 
the Indian (Icean by a passing vessel, which landed them 
on the coast. The parly remained ninety days at an English 
military post before a ship could be obtained to take them 
home. At length one was chartered at Madras, which took 
the party, numbering two hundred and thirty, including 
officers and men, and transported them to New York. In 
1S69 he was detailed for the Tehuantepec Expedition, 
under Commodore Shufeldt, for the survey of an inter- 
oceanic canal. In 1872 Captain Bartlett again sailed for 
the China seas in the United States steam-frigate Hartford, 
on which voyage he visited Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, 



560 



B/0(7A'.I PHICAL C J 'C'/. OPED/.!. 



mill t.'aiiii. Passiiii; thiuiij;h the Sue? Canal and di)\vn the 
Red Sea. he st'ipped at Aden, ('e\d'in. Sint;a|)ure, ManiUa, 
and thenee to Hon;^ Rnni^. ( )n thi^ cruise he wasueeti- 
I'ied three years, (hirinj; which time he visited all the jirin- 
ci|'al poits in I'hina and Ja|Mn. In 1S77 lie made a brief 
visit tu Europe, and was sulise(|uenlly statieuied at Wash- 
inj;tnn as Judge Advocate of the Marine (Air|is. He mar- 
ried, November 16, 1S75. Edith E. Blankman, of New 
\'ork, who died at \VashinL;lon, I). C, June 5, 1877. 



^fi^ILTON, Frhherick Wii.iiam, A.M., the youngest 
son of Henjamin and l.ucinda Newell Tilton, was 
born in tanibridge, Massachusetts, May 14, 1839. 
He prepared for college in his native city and grad- 
uated at Harvard in 1S62. Immediately after grad- 
uation he sailed for Euroi>e, and after travelling through 
(.ircat Britain and the Continent was matriculated as a stu- 
dent in the University of GOttingen. From 1S63 to 1866, 
he was employed as teacher of Latin and Mathematics in 
the Military Acailemy at Worcester, Massachusetts. In 
1867 he was elected Siiperiiilenilent of the Public Schools 
of Newport, Rhode Islanil, where he labored assiduouslv 
in elevating the school system until 1871. Dr. Samuel L. 
Taylor, of Andover, having died early in the latter year, 
Mr. Tiltun was elected his successor as princi|)al of Phil- 
lips Academy, ami entered upon his new duties in Septem- 
ber of the same year. The intention of William Sanford 
Rogers to endow an institution of learning in Newport 
had been known to a few gentlemen there, and Mr. Tilton 
having been consulted with reference to the details of the 
bequest, had become interested in the matter. ( )ii the 
death of Mr. Rogers the endowment became available, 
and Mr. Tilton was strongly urged to undertake the cliiec- 
tion <jf the Rogers High School. Having been chosen 
liead master of the school, he removed to New|iort in 187^, 
and still holds the same position there. He married, in 
1S64, Ellen Trowbridge, of Cambridge, eldest daugh- 
ter of Dr. J. II. Trowbridge. They have four children, 
William Frederic, Benjamin Trowbridge, Ellen Maud, and 
Newell Whiting. In addition to his direct labors in belialf 
of education in Newport, Mr. I'ilton has served as director 
of Redwood Library and of the Free Lilirarv, has given 
eilucational addresses in different piarts of the State, and 
has written a large number of reports in which educational 
questions have been treated. He is a member of the Lhiited 
Congregational Church at Newqiort, where he has held 
various offices. 



fitiVfTOC K W V. LL, Thomas Bi.anchari>, Commissioner 

V^i^j of Public Schools of Rhode Island, was l«nn at 

^4-' Worcester, Massachusetts, July 6, 1859. His pa- 

! rents weie .\inos Wright and Susan Le Baron Siock- 

J" well. His father graduated at Amherst College m 

1835; studied law with Hon. Isaac Davis; was Postmaster 



of Chicopee, Massachusetts, during the administrations of 
Tyler and Polk ; was subsequently Commissioner of In- 
solvency for Il.impden County; ami died March 3, 18^3. 
After passing through a thorough preparatory course, Mr. 
.Stockwell entereil Brown University, and graduated at that 
institution in 1862. He then taught, as sub-master, in Ea- 
ton grammar school, at New Haven, Connecticut, and after- 
wards for some time as principal of the high school at 
Holyoke, Massachusetts. In 1S64 he was elected teacher 
of the junior class of boys in the Providence high school, 
retaining that position until January i, iS75,when he was 
elected Commissioner of Public Schools of Rhode Island, 
which position he now occupies (1S81). In his official ca- 
pacity he is required to visit, as often as practicable, every 
school district in the State, for the j)nrpose of piointing out 
the ilefects and suggesting improvements in their manage- 
ment. This oliject is accomplished by public addresses 
and personal communication with school officers, teachers, 
and parents. His addresses were always carefully prepared 
and replete with practical suggestions. The various duties 
of School Commissioner have been discharged by Mr. 
.Stockwell in a manner highly satisfactory to the Board of 
Education, and through his efforts the man.agement of the 
IHiblic schools of the State has been greatly improved. 
His scholarly attainments, experience as an educator, atid 
prominence as State School Commissioner, cause him fre- 
quently to be solicited to deliver public addresses outside 
of the regular line of his duties, and to participate in vari- 
ous movements designed to advance the cause of educa- 
tion, to which it is his custom to respond as often as prac- 
ticable. F'or several years he has been an active member 
of the Central Congreg,itional Church of Providence, in 
u hich he holds the office of deacon, and has done much to 
promote charitable and benevolent enterprises generally. 
In 1866 he married Harriet E., daughter of Rev. Emerson 
Davis, D.D.. of Westfield, Massachusetts. They have 
three children, wdiose names are, Frederick Emerson, Ar- 
thur Mavhew, and Ivlward Amos. 



f<.\RMICH.\FL, (iEijRf.E, Jr., was born in Glasgow, 
tiSiM Scotland, November 22, 1S38. His parents were 
George and E;iizabeth( Rutherford )Carmichael. The 
former was born in Glasgow in 1S02, and the latter in 
Edinburgh in i8lo. They had seven children, fourof 
whom are now ( 1S81 ) living, Alexander, Elizabeth, George, 
and Margaret. They came to the United States in 1847, 
settled first at RockviUe in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, and 
were employed for a number of years by Mr. Oliver P. 
Wells in a cotton factory ; and afterward removed to West- 
erly, Rhode Island, where the sons ami their elder sister 
found employment in the woollen mill of Babcock & Moss. 
Alexander and George were there trained to labor and 
habits of economy. They gained their education in their 
odd hours and while engaged in their work. By skill, in- 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



56> 



lelligence, and fiilelity, they rose to be overseers of the 
weaving department in the establishment of their employ- 
ers. Alexander Ijccame superintendent and agent of the 
mill; George an overseer and superintendent of a mill be- 
longing to the late Welcome Stillman. By diligent and 
discriminating reading, and connection with lyceums and 
literary societies, George made steady jirogress in mental 
improvement. P"or awhile he attended an evening school 
in Westerly, where about twelve young men employed a 
teacher to instruct them in writing and mathematics. Dur- 
ing the Civil War these adopted citizens stood bravely by 
our government. George enlisted in Company B, Ninth 
Rhode Island Volunteers, May 26, 1862, and served with 
his regiment until the expiration of its term of service. He 
afterward became Captain of Company H, Eighth Rhode 
Island Militia, commissioned July 23, 1863, and served 
three years. In July, 1S63, his company served in the forts 
by the West Passage of Xarragansctt Bay ; and volunteered 
for the defence of Washington in the hours of its peril. 
For this proffer of service Captain Carmichael and his 
command received the official thanks of Governor J. Y. 
Smith. Alexander and George became partners in business, 
engaging in the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods, 
and continue to the present under the firm-name of A. 
C'armichael & Co. They own and operate the Green Hill 
Mills in South Kingstown, the .Shannock Mills in Rich- 
mond, and the Sillnian Mills at the West End of Pawca- 
tuck Bridge, Westerly. George superintends the Shannock 
Mills. The firm was organized in 1866, the year of their 
purchase of the Green Hill Mills. From 1S73 to 1S75 
they leased and operated the Laurel Glen Mills in North 
Stonington, Connecticut. In 1S75 they purchased the 
Shannock Mills property. In 1879 ''>sy purchased the 
Stillman Mills. All these mills have been kept steadily 
in operation, and have done a prosperous business. George 
isalsoastockhokler in the Stillman Manufacturing Company 
of Westerly, of which Alexander is agent and treasurer. 
The jiresent mills of this last firm stand where George and 
his brother first worked for Babcock & Moss. In 1877 
George was elected, from the town of Richmond, a Repre- 
sentative to the General Assembly, and was re-elected in 
1878. In 1877 he obtained from the legislature an appropri- 
ation to purchase the land and inclose the Royal Burying 
Ground of the Indians in Charlestown. In 187S he secured 
an appropriation to protect the inlet connecting the Charles- 
town Pond with the ocean, thus preventing the closing of 
the inlet by storms and the shutting out of the migratory 
fishes and the destruction of shell-fish. Declining a re- 
election to the legislature in 1S79, he became President of 
the Town Council of Richmond. In 1880 he was return- 
ed to the legislature by the Republican and Temperance 
parties united, and was one of the State Commissioners to 
negotiate for and purchase the Indian reservation of lands 
belonging to the remnant of the Narragansetts, and to set- 
tle finally the alfairs of that tribe, a very important matter 
71 




in the history of the State, as these lands had been under 
tril)al control by the Indians, like a government within a 
government, from the days of the founding of the colony 
by Roger Williams. Mr. Carmichael has always been a 
strong and decided advocate of temperance, being con- 
nected with several temperance organizations. In 1878 
he proposed in the General Assembly a constitutional 
amendment prohibiting the sale of spirituous and malt 
liquors as a beverage within the limits of the State. For 
several years he has been a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity. He takes a deep interest in the cause of educa- 
tion and all matters pertaining to the public welfare. He 
married, November 7, 1858, Abby Sanford Thomas, of 
North Kingstown, whose mother, Harriet Sanford, was a 
daughter of Joseph Sanford, once widely known through 
the State. He has two children, George Alexander, born 
December 22, lS6g, and Welcome Sands, born December 
21, 1878. 

gVER, CoLciNEL Elisha, Jr., chemist, son of Hon. 
Elisha and .Vnna Jones (Hoppin) Dyer, was born 
in Providence, Rhode Island, November 29, 1839. 
"^ After attending the public schools of the city, and 
the school of Lyon and Frieze, he entered Brown 
University in 1856, taking a partial course. In 1858 he 
went to Germany and entered the University of Giessen, 
where he graduated August 20, i860, taking the degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy, having pursueil his studies part of 
the time at Frieberg, in Saxony. He returned home in 
the autumn of i860, and at the commencement of the Civil 
War started for Washington, U. C, April 18, 1S61, as 
fourth sergeant of Captain Tompkins's Battery of Rhode 
Island Light Artillery, being one of the first volunteers 
enlisted in the State in response to the call for three months' 
men. While in charge of unloading the battery at Easton, 
Pennsylvania, he received an injury which nearly disabled 
him, and persisting in continuing with his company was 
overcome with the heat a few days later, and sent home 
by order of the surgeon. He has never fully recov- 
ered from the shock and exposure which he then experi- 
enced. In 1S62 he was re-elected Lieutenant of the Marine 
Artillery, one of the oldest and finest military organizations 
in the .State, having held a position on its staff before his 
enlistment for the war. In May of the same year the Bat- 
tery again enlisted for three months, but Lieutenant Dyer, 
who had volunteered, was rejected from service by the 
surgeon on the ground of his previous disability. Governor 
Sprague at once appointed him major, and with Lieutenant- 
Colonel George H. Smith, detailed him to recruit and drill 
men for the Battery, which he continued to do for the re- 
mainder of the year. The following year Governor James 
Y. Smith appointed him colonel on his staff, in which 
position he served for three years. In 1S67 the Marine 
Artillery Company was reorganized, and Colonel Dyer 
entered its ranks as corjxiral. In 1869 he was elected 



56j 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



lieulenantcoloiifl coniinaiuUng the company, which ufticc 
he re-.igiied after two year-, and one year thereafter was 
again niaile commander for another term of two years. [ 
In 1S75, under the new mililia law. all the artillery of the 
St.ite wa- eunvolidateil, and Colonel Dyer was elected to 
the command of the battalion. .-\t the same time he was 
a]»i'ointed a member of the l>oan.l of Kxamniers ..f ( )fi'icers 
of the Isi.tle Mililia, which jiosition he field nnlil 1S78. 
In KS77 he was electeil to the State Senate from North 
Kingstown, antl tliuing hi^ term td ser\ ice was a member 
of the fiidiciarv Committee ami chairman of the Committee 
on Militia. In 187S he was ajipointed by a convention of 
militia ofBeers one of the commission to rejuirt a new militia 
law to the General Assembly. He was a])]tointed by Gov- 
ernor Van Zandt and served as a member of the Joint 
Select Committee on the reception of President Hayes nn<.l 
Cabinet in 1877. He was also appoiitied lor five years a 
member of the State li.rard of Health for Washington 
County in 1S7S. In iSSi he was elected a Representative 
to the General .Assembly hum the Fouith \\'ard of Pro\i- 
dence. He has been one of the diiectors of the Union 
Bank and of the Union Savings Bank of Providence since ' 
1S70. For several years he was one of the Finance Com- 
mittee of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement 
of Iioineslic Industry. His chosen profession is that of a 
chemi-t, and he has been engaged from time to time in 
various manufaetuiiiig interests, but of late years has been 
very Inisily occupied with the care and itianagement of the 
estate of his father. He married, November 26, iSoi. 
Nancv .'\ntbony, daughter of William and Marv B. (.\n- 
thony) \'iall, of Providence. They have three sons, Eiisha, 
George K.,and H. .Anthony. Throughout his life Colonel 
Dyer has labored earnestly for the best interests of man- 
kind, and enjoys the satisfaction of having done worthily 
whatever he has undertaken. 1 



'/. 1WR^■, HiiN. Kl Isn.x C.M'KciN, lawyei, was liorn 
in Smithlield, Rhode Island, December 26, iSj6. 
-v*-;^^ He is the s(ni ol the late Major Harris [encks 
XI'L Mowry, who resided suecessi\"el\' .U Smithheld, 

X Woonsocket, and Providence, Rhode Island, and 

Slieli"Vgaii, Wisconsin, where he died in 1N54. His 
mother's name was F'aniiy C"apron Scoit. He is a lineal 
tiescendant of Thr.mas Haiiis, who came ti' Pro\iilence 
with Roger Williams ; of Richard Scott, .dsn une of the 
original lounders ; of Joseph Jenckes, wiui came to L\iin 
very early ; of Nathaniel .Mowry, wlio was in i*ro\idence 
in l6(»o; and of Banlield Cainon, who arri\e<l in this 
coiinliy about I("i7v His father ha\ ing rciiio\ed to Prov- 
idence about the year 1S40, he enjoyed siijierior advan- 
tages in attending the schools of that city. When he was ! 
twelve years of age the family removed to Shelioygan, j 
Wisconsin, but two years thereafter he returnerl to Provi- 
dence, and from 18s I to 1853 prepared for college at the 



University Grammar School of Messrs. Frieze \ Lyon. 
He entered Brown University in 1853, but wdien half 
through the collegiate course, was compelled to give up 
study on account of ill health. He afterwards taught 
school, for which he was eminently fitted, in Rhode Island 
and New York .State, and part of the time engaged in busi- 
ness in Butl'alo, New York. Having recovered his health, 
he returned 10 Brow 11 University in 1859, and graduated 
in 1801. During the Civil War he enlisted in the L'nion 
army, serving in l8bj in the Tenth Regiment Rhode 
Island \'olunteers. Returning from the seat of war at the 
close of his term of service, he entered the law office of 
Hon. .Samuel Currey, of Providence, and pursued his legal 
studies with close application, teaching school during the 
w inters with his usual success at various places in Rhode 
Island and .Massachusetts, lu 1S64 and early in 1S65 he 
was Princijial of the High School in F^ast Douglas, Massa- 
chusetts. In May, 18O5, he was admitted to the bar of 
Rhode Island, and in 1S66 to practice in the United States 
Courts. Mr. Mowry has hehl wirious offices of honor and 
trust in the city of Providence, having been Justice of the 
Peace since 1S62, and Notary Public for many years, and 
a valued member of the School Board since 1872, perform- 
ing his duties with untiling devotion. For several years 
he has been cb.Tirman of the Committee on Evening 
Schools. In 1871 he was elected to the Common t.'ouncil 
of Providence, in which |iOsiiioii he conlinued umil 1877, 
when he was elec.eil .\lderman, declining a re-nomin,ition 
in 1879. In these branches of the city government, though 
a member ol the Democratic parly, which has been in 
the minority there, he has been ehairinan or member of 
the most important standing and sjiecial committees, and 
has exerted much inlUience in the management of munici- 
pal affairs. In 1880 he was elected .State Senator. Mr. 
Mowry has built up a large legal praclice, has secured the 
Conlidence ol the people, and is respected " as .m honest, 
upiight man, well read in legal matters, of broad intelli- 
gence, laige general culture, and sound judgment." He 
is a member and warden of the I'luirch of the Redeemer 
(Episcopal), with uliich he uniled in iSbl. He married, 
October 7, 1869, Hannah Richardson, daughter of Benja- 
min Richardson, of Pioviileiice. Their children are F'anny 
Richardson, Benjamin Richanlson, Fiiima Augusta, Charles 
Mattesoii, Sarah Ross, anil Harris Rncks. 



!TP(>(lNER, Hon. Hinrv JhsIha, was born in Prov- 
idence, Rhode Island, .August 6, 18^9. His 
father was Joshua Spooiier, son of James and Sally 
- ^ -il.ulher) S])ooner, and his mother Ann Crawford 
Is I Xoyes) Spooner, daughter of Captain John Miller 
and .Abijah (Updike) Noyes. Joshua S|iooner was born in 
Dighton, Massachusetts, November 8, 1S03, and died in 
Providence Rhode Island, (Jctober 20, 1S09. For many 



B lO GKA PI lie A I. C ) CL OPEDIA . 



563 



ycar^ ho was a \vlK)lcsale i-iry-goods merchant in the city 
of rrovideitce, and a member of the several firms of " Wat- 
son & Spnoner," " Spooner & I)ra]>er," " I.arned, Carr & 
Spooner." lie was a man of great proljity of character, 
and a prudent, honorable merchant. Ann Crawford 
(Noyes) Spooner was born in Providence, May 6, iSoS, 
and died in that city April 20, 1876. She was a woman of 
much literary culture and taste, and descended, on her 
mother's side, from the well-known Updike family of 
Rhode Island. Henry J. Spocmer, the subject of this 
sketch, received most of his early education and prepared 
for college in the public schools of the city of Providence. 
He entered Brown University in the fall of 1857, with the 
class of 1861, but graduated in 1S60 with the class of that 
year, with the degree of A.li. At an early age he evinced 
an interest and aptitude for discussion and debate, and his 
favorite studies during his collegiate course were those re- 
lating to history, literature, rhetoric, and logic. During 
his sophomore year he was president of his college class. 
In the fall of i860 he entered the Albany Law School, at 
Albany, New York, from which institution he graduated 
in 1861, with the degree of LL.B., and was therefrom ad- 
mitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New 
York. Then returning to his native city, he continued 
the study of law in the office of Messrs Thurston & Ripley, 
until late in the summer of 1862, when he was commis- 
sioned as Second Lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment 
Rlioile Island Volunteers Infantry, which regiment had 
then been .some months in the field. He joined his com- 
mand, near Washington, District of Columbia, in the early 
part of September, immediately before the " Maryland 
Campaign," and on the I4lh of that month was actively 
engaged wilh his regiment in the battle of South Moun- 
tain, and on the 17th of the same month in the bloody 
battle of Antietam. At the battle of Antietam the Fourth 
Rhode Island, during a portion of the day, occupied the 
extreme left of the L'nion line, and, after fording Antietam 
Creek, in the face of the enemy's fire, and while striving 
to carry the hill beyond, suffered severe loss, numbering 
in killed and wounded about one-third of its officers and 
men then in the field. Lieutenant .Spooner received two 
.shots through his clothing and a slight contusion on the 
thigh. So hot was the fire that there was scarcely a man 
in the regiment who did not at least bear the mark of a 
bullet on some part of his clothing or equipments. After the 
battle of Antietam, Lieutenant Spooner was promoted to 
First Lieutenant and Adjutant of his regiment, which 
position he continued to occupy (except during several 
montlis while he served upon the brigade staff as acting 
commissary of subsistence) until his final muster out in 
February, 1865. Beside the engagements referred to, he 
participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, where the 
lieutenant-colonel (Joseph B. Curtis), commanding the 
regiment, was shot dead by his side; the siege of Suffolk, 
Virginia; the engagements of the Edenton Road; Hill's 



Point; Drury's IJIuO ; antl the long and tedious siege of 
Petersburg. Upon his muster out of service in 1865 he 
resumed the study of law in his native city, and early 
in June of the same year was admitted to the bar of the 
Supreme Court of Rhode Island, since which lime he has 
been successfully engaged in the practice of his ])rofession 
in Providence. He has held the following among other 
offices : Justice and Clerk of the Court of Magistrates of the 
city of Providence three years, from May, 1866, to May, 
l86y ; President of Franklin Lyceum, an ancient and well- 
known literary and debating society in Providence, two 
years, 1866 and 1867; has been a member of the Rhode 
Island House of Representatives from the city of Provi- 
dence, by successive elections, from 1,875 '° '^^ present 
year ( 1S81 ), and was for three years, 1S76 to 1879, a mem- 
ber of the Jufliciary C'ommitlce of the House. For two 
years, from May, 1875, to May, 1877, he served as aid- 
de-camp on the staff of the Governor of Rhode Island, 
with the rank of colonel; was Dejiartment CJommander of 
the Department of Rhode Island Grand Army of the Re- 
public in 1877; and President of the Fourth Rhode Island 
Veteran Association in 1878. In May, 1879, he was 
elected Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Repre- 
sentatives, and was re-elected in May, 1880. Mr. Spooner 
is actively identified with the Republican party. He de- 
livered .speeches throughout Rhode Island in favor of the 
election of Grant in 1868 and 1S72, of Hayes in 1876, and 
of Garfield in 18S0. In 1S76 and 18S0 he was a member 
of the E.\ecutive Committee of the State Central Repub- 
lican Club; and from 1S79 to 1S81, inclusive, chairman 
of the Republican Committee of the city of Providence. 
He married, November 16, 1868, Mary S. Brown, daugh- 
ter of David A. and Abby E. Brown. They have had 
one son, Henry L. born November 13, 1869. 



S^SL.ARKE, Hon. Elisha C, son of George C. and 
Mm|| Abby W. (Case) Clarke, was born in South Kings- 
'^'^ ton, Rhode Island, February 8, 1839. His boy- 
•gi hood and youth were passed in the town of his 
nativity, where he enjoyed the advantages of the 
common schools, and the academy at Kingston. In the 
meantime he assisted his father in farming. At an early 
age he began the study of law in the office of Hon. Elisha 
R. Potter, of Kingston, and while pursuing his legal studies 
served as clerk of the Court in that town. On his admis- 
sion to the bar he began the jjractice of law in Kings- 
ton, where he has since been successfully engaged "in the 
duties of his profession. He married. May 20, 1S67, 
Ellen E. Brown, daughter of Jeremiah S. and Mary E. 
(Cowley) Brown. They have had two children: Elisha, 
who died September 8, 1875, ^'^^ Matthew W. Mrs. 
Clarke's father was a native of Kingston, and died in Cal- 
ifornia; and her mother was born on Block Island. Her 
father's grandmother was an aunt of Commodore Perry, 



5 "4 



BiOiiK.irincA I. cyl i.opedia. 



Mr. Claike has served acce] taMy fur several terms as a 
niemlxr of the Rhode Island General AsscmMv, and is 
highly esteemed as an exemplary citizen. 



I^^LADP:, Hon. Ci.iiKi;!-; Henry. s,..n ,,f Jonathan and 
jij^^^' Rnth Boners (Rol.insoii) Slade, was liorn at 
"k'k'i ^"'"<"'iset, Massachusetts, Kclnuary 17, iSjiQ. His 
I 5 J ancestors were lar^e landowners in liristol County, 
I '. . Massachusetts, and his great-granilfather was a colo- 
nel in the Revolnlionary War. Mr. Slade graduated from 
the High School at Warren, Rhode Island, in the spring 
of 1S53. The same year he entered a mercantile house as 
clerk in Warren, and the following year went to Providence, 
where he was employed in the same cajiacily for twelve 
years. (_)n the 1st of January, 1S66, he hecanie a member 
of the firm of Phettcjilace, Seagrave &• Co., wholesale gro- 
cers. Providence, and letired from business April i, 1S72, 
after a successful mercantile career. In 1872 and 1873 he 
was elected as Representative from Providence to the CJen- 
eral Assembly of Rhode Island, and served acceptably as 
a member of that body. For about ten years, up to the 
time of its division, Seiitemlier I, 1879, he had the care of 
the large estate left by hi^ father-in law, Cleorge Allen 
How aril, in the management of whith, during a period of 
the most critical financial disturbances, he was remarkably 
successful. At the age of eighteen lie wa^ comcrted and 
united with the Penelicent Congregational Church, Provi- 
dence, and at once became deeply interested in the work 
of mission .Sunday-schooK, of one or more of which he 
has been superintendent constantly for about tv\entv-two 
years, having had charge of six different schools in and 
about Providence. He conducted religious services at the 
State Farm, in Cranston, for five years, and part of the 
time was superintendent of a .Sunday-school at that place, 
in which there were both Protestant and Roman Catholic 
teachers, and in which Catliolic priests made .Sund.ay-school 
addresses. Soon after his conversion he also became an 
active worker in the Voung Men's Christian Association ; 
and in 18116, with others, inaugurated the " Waiter-Girls' 
Saloon Mission," which resulted in the suppression of that 
dangeious class of saloons in Providence, and in establish- 
ing the Worcester Slieet Sunday-school Mission, which 
was instrumental in relormingand bringing into the church 
about one hundred of the fallen. Among other converts 
through this agency was a saloon-keeper, who is now an 
honored and useful minister of the gospel. During the 
years 1878 and 1879 Mr. Slade conducted gospel-meetings 
in various parts of the State in the interests of the Voung 
Men's Christian Association, which body he represented as 
a delegate in the International Conventions at .Montreal, 
Canada, 1867, and Baltimtire, Maryland, 1S79. He has 
also been, for two years, corresponding member of the same 
body for Rhode Island, and is now chairman of the Ex- 



ecutive Committee. He married. luly q, 1866. Eli/a 
.\deline, daughter of George Allen and Eliza ,A. (Gardner) 
Howard. They have one son living, Howard Wilbur. 



',EEP, FKFriERicK F'UGENE, merchant, son of David 
I C. and Martha C. (Phillips) Keep, was born in 
Providence, April 23, 1S39. The records of the 
''\ i family reach back to 1690, when John Keep arrived 
t • from England and settled near Springfield, Massa- 
chuseils. A few years after, he and his wife, on their nay 
to church, were killed by the Indians. The grandfather 
of Frederick E. was Stephen Keep, who lived at Long 
Meadow, Massachusetts, where David C. was born. David 
C. was a thorough New Englander in spirit, ami was alwavs 
warm in his praise of the principles of this part of our 
country. The last hfteen years of his life were spent in 
New Jersey. Frederick E. was edut.ited in the public 
schools of his native city, and afterwards studied at the 
seminary in East Cireenwich, Rhode Island, and in Plain- 
lield. New Jersey, aiming especially to qualify himself for 
mercantile life. After a short business apprenticeship, he 
engaged in the wholesale trade in flour and produce as a 
member of the hrm of Whipple & Keep, a house that con- 
tinued till 1867, when he formed a copartnership with S. 
H. Harden, under the firm-name of Ijarden & Keep, which 
still continues. At hrst the wholesale trade was conducted 
by receiving stock from New York and IJoston, but now 
everything is received directly from the producers, the firm 
having an extensive acipiaintance with Western flour-sellers 
and \'ermont and New ^'ork farmers. The store and stock 
of goods belonging to Harden & Keep were entirely de- 
stroyed by the great fire of September 27, 1S77, on Cus- 
tom-House .Street. While the blocks of wholesale houses 
were yet smoking and burning, a large printed placard. 
Containing the following laconic announcement, appeared 
in frtmt of the ruins: " Conse'iuently, removed to No. 19 
Exchange Place. Barden & Keep." They have ever since 
continued in business at the place to which they then re- 
moved. During the Rebellion Mr. Keep served in Com- 
pany H. Seventh Regiment New York State National Guard, 
for a hunilrcd days at Fort Federal Hill, Ilaltimore, Mary- 
land. He was a member of the City Council of Provi- 
dence, from the Sixth Ward, in 1870 and 1S71. and was a 
member of the Republican National Convention which 
nominated President Hayes. For six years he has been a 
member of the Board of Trade of Providence, serving two 
years as a director. On all occasions his public spirit and 
promptness in action have been manifest antl highly appre- 
ciated. He is a now a leading member of the Pilgrim Con- 
gregational Church, was the superintendent of its Sabbath- 
school for three years, antl is still serving as a teacher. As 
a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, he 
has rendered large and efficient service, acting for two 




-r^y- 



BIO c KA pnn 'A I. I ■ Vi 7, OP ED I A . 



565 



years as chairman of the Kinance Commitlct'. Mc married, 
April 27, 1864, Sarah Vermenic, of Plainficlil, New Jersey, 
anrl has a son, Charles Manning Keeji. 



^^KKEENE, Captain Albkrt K., son of James and 
iSffjr. Louisa (Phillips) Greene, was born in North Scit- 
'^Z uate, Rhode Island, October 18, IS39. In 1S50 
«^ his parents removed to Woonsocket, where be enjoyed 
(J- the advantages of a common and high school educa- 
tion. At the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion he 
became a member of Company K, l-'irst Regiment of Rhode 
Island Detached Militia, and after the expiration of his 
term of enlistment of three months returned home and as- 
sisted in enlisting a company for the Third Rhode Island 
Heavy Artillery for three years, in which company he ren- 
dered good service. (loing out as First Lieutenant he was 
promoted to the office of Captain of his company (B), Janu- 
ary I, 1863, and served the full term of three years, during 
which his regiment was in South Carolina, Georgia, and 
Florida. He was in most of the engagements in that mil- 
itary department, including the sieges of Fort Pulaski, 
James Island, Fort Wagner, and Charleston. He was lion- 
orably discharged from the service October 5, 1S64. In 
November, 1874, Captain Greene was elected Town Clerk 
of Woonsocket, which office he still holds. He is a mem- 
ber of the Woonsocket Lodge, No. lo. Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, which he joined in 1870 ; and is also a 
member of Eureka Lodge, No. I, Knights of Pythias, 
which he joined in I874. Captain Greene married, Sep- 
tember 14, 1871, Edna F. Sprague, daughter of Stephen L. 
and Ann E. Sprague. Their children are Florence M., 
Francis A., Clara L., and Stephen S. 



^^^?ROWN, Joseph Farnum, merchant, son of Richard 
and Penelope (P'arnuni) Brown, was born in Prov- 
idence, Rhode Island, May 16, 1835, and is a de- 
^m scendant of Rev. Chad Brown, who was ordained 
* pastor of the First Baptist Church in 1642, and took 
a prominent part in the affairs of the infant Colony. Richard 
Brown was a prosperous farmer, and for some time repre- 
sented North Providence in the General Assembly. He 
had six children, three of whom are now living : Mary J., 
who married Andrew W'insor; Obadiah Brown, Commis- 
sioner of Highways in Providence, who now resides near 
the old homestead; and the subject of this sketch, who Was 
five years of age at the time of the death of hi> father, which 
occurred in 1840. Joseph F. Brown was deprived of 
school advantages until the age of fifteen, on account of ill 
health, but subseciuently attended the district school, and 
spent three years at the Friends' Boarding School in Provi- 
dence. After leaving school he was for some lime employed 
on the farm. In 1854, with his brotherin law, Andrew 



Winsor. he engaged in ihe lumber business, on Hill's 
Wharf, Pro^'idence, the firm-name Ijeing Winsor & Brown. 
In 1856 he sold his interest in the business to Mr. Winsor, 
and for about three years thereafter has we engaged in farm- 
ing, on the homestead. Afterwards he was in Mr. Win- 
sor's employ for about two years, and then removed to 
Kawkawlin, Michigan, where he was employed by an ex- 
tensive lumber manufacturing company from 1863 10 1865. 
In August, 1865, he again became a partner of Mr. Winsor, 
their business being carried on at the corner of liroad and 
Pearl streets. Providence, under the old firm-name of Win- 
sor & Brown. He has ever since continued in the lumber 
business, and also engaged in farming. His farm is in nn 
cx(fellent state of cultivation, and is well stocked. For 
many years he has devoted considerable attention to raising 
thorough l)red cattle, for which he has received high prices, 
and many premiums at State fairs. He is a member of the 
Ayrshire Breeders' Association, of which he has been treas- 
urer since 1875. Mr. Brown has fretjuently been called to 
fill public positions. For nearly fifteen years he was a 
member of the North Providence School Committee, and 
for three years represented his town in the lower house of 
the General Assembly. He has also served for six years 
as a member of the School Committee since the annexation 
of North Providence, in 1873, and two years in the House 
of Representatives. He was a member of the Providence 
Common Council, from the Tenlh Ward, in 1877, 1878, 
and 1S79. For about twenty years he has been a member 
of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of 
Domestic Industry, and served tor about fifteen years as a 
member of the Standing Committee. In 18S0 he was 
elected second vice-president of that society, and has been 
very active in promoting the success of that organization. 
He has ever taken a deep interest in politics, having been 
prominentiv identified with the \N'hig and Republican 
parties. On the 15th of September, 1857, he married 
Adelaide Victoria Ballou, daughter of Orrin A. and Char- 
lotte W. (Angell) Ballou, of Woonsocket. She died Feb- 
ruary 10, iSSo, aged forty-two. They had six children, only 
three of whom are living: Elma Sophia, Ethel Farnum, 
and Edna Adelaide. 



^DDEMAN, IldN. Joshua Mki.ancthon, Secretary 
was born November 15. 1840. His 
parents were Thomas and Mary (Fligg) Adde- 
-mu man. He prepared for college in the Providence 
Sttl High School, and graduated at Brown llniversity 
in the class of 1S62. On the 26th of May, 1862, he en- 
listed as a private in the Tenth Regiment, Rhode Island 
Volunteers, and served until the expiration of his term of 
service, September I, 1S62. From November 23, 1863, 
until October 2, 1875, he was Captain of Company H, 
Fourteenth Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (col- 
ored). At the close of the war he studied law, was ad- 



5f>6 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



niitted to llic Khiiilc Island War in 1866, anit sixm afterward 
entered ujion the {'laetiee t>t" his profL-ssidn in I'rovidence. 
Since I-'e!iriinr\" ^s. l8(>7, he ]ias scrvet.1 as (..'lerk i.)f the 
Pn.t\iilence Cunmidn Ciiuncil. Jn 1S7J he was elected 
Secretary of Slate (siicceedini; lion. John K. Bartlettl, 
and has held that ])osiiion l>)- annu,\l eleclitm untd the 
present time ( iSSi 1, ( )ii the 50th of June. iSSo, he was 
a]i[)ointed one of the commissioners to revise the laws of 
the State. Mr. Adileman married, l.letoher 25, 1S72, 
I.oiiise \V. Winsor. daughter of Lahan \V. and Frances 
M. {l)oane) W'insoi-. of Thomiison, (_'onnecticnt. They 
have three chiKlren : (irace L., Mary ]•'., an(.l Julia I). 



'5TIXESS, Hon, J. iin 11., Associate Justice of the 
,Su|irenie I'ouit of Rhode Island, s,in of Philip B. 
and Mary |Maish| Stiness, was horn in Providence, 
»;;[ 5 August 9, I.S40. He |ire|iarcd for college at the Uni- 
c'v'iversity ir/ramniar Schoul in Pro\idence, and in I.S57 
entered Brow n l'ni\ersity, where he pursued his studies for 
two years, and then fu tv\ o years took charge, as teacher, of 
the Hopkins (.irammar School in North Pr'»\ idence. intend- 
iiigto return to college. In .\ugust, 1S61, however, he joined 
the Second New York Artillery, at Slaten Island, where, 
as second lieutenant, he remained until Decendjer, 1861, 
recruiting and drilling detachments. In Decendier of that 
year he joined his regiment, then in garrison service near 
Alexandria Seminary, and was stationed at Fort Worth. 
In January. 1S02. he was ajijiointed adjutant of the bat- 
talion statione<l at that Foit. He remained there until 
August. i,S6j. when lie .ind his comm.jnd were ordered to i 
Warrenton, Virginia, and on the way liecamc engaged in 
the second Mull Run hattle. The regiment returned to 
Fort Corcoran early in .September, and remained there I 
until November, I.S62,\\hen he was discharged on account 
of sickness, and reliiined to Provirlciice. In January, 1S63, 1 
he began the study of law in the office of Thurston & Rip- 
ley, and was admitted to the bar in .\pril, iSoi;. In May, 
I.S74, he was elected Keiirescntative to the < ieneral .Assem- 
Idy from Pro\i<ieiu e, and while in that body ser\eil as a 
member of the Juiliciary (.'ommittee, chairman of the 
Committee on Engrossed Bills, chairman of the S|iecial 
Committee on the Location and Building of the Providence 
County Court house, and after the decease of Dr. Thomas 
P. .Shepard, was ap|)ointed in his place as one of the com- 
missioners to complete the building. In 1S74 he was ap- 
pointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, which 
office he still holds. He married, November 19, 1S6S, 
Maria E., daughter of William I), ami Sallie A. (Chap- 
man) Williams, and a ilescendant of Roger Williams. 
Judge Stiness is a member of the Protestant F^piscopal 
Ciuirch, and takes an active interest in diocesan work, 
having been a member of the (Ieneral Convention since 
I,S7i. 



.■I > I TFR, IIi>N. IiK.XTF.K B., lawyer and legislator, 
i. son ol Rev. Jeremiah and Mary A. (Salisbury) 
Potter, was born at Scitiiate. Rhode Island. An- 
"^ gUst 23. 1.S40. and is a descendant of one of the 
J' early settlers of the State. He was educated in pri- 
vate and ]iublic schools and seminaries in Rhode Island, 
and I'or sever.d terms taught in the jniblic schools of his 
natis'c town, .\tter studying the law for three years, he 
was atlmiltcd to the bar in Rhode Island in iJecember. 
1S6S, and to practice in the United States Circuit Court in 
Nosember, 1.^71. Hehasscr\ed acceptably as Trial jus- 
tice, Tow n Moderator, and member of" the School Com- 
mittee in Scituate, and was subsequently Moderator for 
seven years in the adjoining town of Coventry, where he 
has resided with his father since 1S6S. Mr. Potter was 
elected as a Representative to the General .\ssenibly of 
Rhoile Islanil in 1N71; re-elected in 1S72; chosen State 
Senator in I.S7; and I.S74; .\ni\ again elected to the House 
of Re|iresentatives in 1S76, 1S77, and lS7,S. In 1S77 and 
1S7.8 he was Sjicakcr of the House, and in 1S79 again 
elected to the St.ite Senate. In both branches of the (.ien- 
eral Assembly he served as a member of the Judiciary and 
other important standing and special committees. His 
career as a legislator has been marked by a faithful and 
efficient discharge of the duties required of him, ami his 
legal attainments and iiersistent imiustry ha\'e secureil him 
a large measure of professional success. For several years 
he has lieen a member of the Repulilican State Central 
Committee, and has been intlucntial in prcimoting the suc- 
cess of the party w itii winch he i- connected. Mr. Potter 
is one of the direct»irs i\i the Co\'entiy National Bank, and 
has taken a »-leep interest in matters pertaining to the pros, 
perity of the town in which he resides. He is a prominent 
member of the Masnnic fraternity, having been for two 
years Master c)f his lodge. I'or many years he has lieen a 
member of the Franklin I.,\'ieum. in which he \\ as actively 
interested during the early part of his [iiofessional career. 



[^•T.IiRK II. Ill IN. Nklson Wilm.vrth, son of .\nan 
K. and .\bliy ( Burgess) .Aldrieh, w^as born at Fos- 
->*.;,• ter, Rhode Island, November 6, 1S41. He re- 
ceived his early education at the common school at 
KiUingly, Connecticut, and subsequently attended 
the Academy at East Creenwich, Rhode Island. He left 
the latter institution in 1857, and a few months thereafter 
went ti.i Providence, where he accepted a situation as book- 
keeper w ith Waldron & Wightman, wholesale grocers. In 
I.S65 he was admitted as a partner, the firm-name being 
changed to Waldrim, Wightman c^ Co., which jtartnership 
still continues. This house is the largest of its kind in the 
State. Since .May 6. 1.S72, Mr. .Aldrieh has been a director 
in the Roger Williams Bank. Presii.lent of the First Na- 
tional Bank since April 23, I.S77, and one of the incorpo- 





/z ^^ c ^ -^-^^ <^ 



BIOGRAI'IIICAL CYCl. OPKDIA. 



567 



rators of t)ie Mechanics' Savings li.ink. In 1S7S lie was 
President of tlie Providence Board of Trade, and has been 
a member of its Executive Committee. He served as a 
member of the Common Council of I'rovidence from the 
Fifth Ward, from 1869 to 1871, and from the Sixth Ward 
from June, 1872, to January, 1S75. He was President of 
the Common Council from June, lS7i,to January, 1873. 
He has been a Commissioner on Cove Lands since 1871. On 
the 3d of April, 1873, '*' "''^ appointed upon the Joint 
Special Commi'.tee of the Board of Aldermen and Com- 
mon Council to obtain plans for a public market, and also 
upon a committee which built the Crawford Street Bridge. 
He was chosen a member of the Rhode Island General 
A.ssembiy in 1875-6. The latter year he was Speaker of 
the House. In 187S he was elected as a Representative 
to the Forty-sixth Congress on the Republican ticket, re- 
ceiving 5968 votes against 1332 votes for Thomas Davis 
(Democrat), and 627 votes for Lycurgus Sayles (National), 
and was re-elected in 1880 by the largest vote ever cast for 
a Representative in his district. Mr. Aldrich has rendered 
a valuable service to Rhode Island in presenting in the 
House of Representatives, and securing the passage of a 
bill to provide telegraph connection between Block Island 
and the main land, having been aided in his efforts by the 
rest of tlie delegation from Rhode Island. He is one of 
the trustees of the Providence, Hartford and P'ishkill Rail- 
road. He was a member of the building committee, and 
is a director in the company which built the Narraganselt 
Hotel ; was a trustee for the property until the formation 
of the Wheaton Hotel Company, which now owns the 
estate. In 1S60 he joined the Franklin Lyceum, and was 
its secretary in 1864, its vice-president in 1866, and has 
served as a member of the lecture committee. He is now 
a life member of this society. He has been a member of 
the Masonic fraternity since 1866, and has held various 
offices in that order. He was Eminent Commander of 
Calvary Commandery of Knights Templar in l87I,aiid is 
now Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He visited Europe in 
1872—3, and travelled several months in Great Britain and 
on the Continent. October 9, 1S6G, he married .^bby P. 
Greene, ward of Duty Greene, of Providence. They have 
had four children, I.ucy T., Abby G., Edward B., and 
Stewart M. 



■sjeUDLONG, John Cl.-vrk, .M.D., Surgeon-General 
^Hw of Rhode Island, was born in Cranston, Rhode 
Island, August 28, 1836. His parents were Sam- 
uel and Rachel (Martin) Budlong. According to a 
genealogical table prepared by Joseph A. Budlong, 
of Providence, he is a Uneal descendant of Francis Bud- 
long, the first settler of the name in the colony of Rhode 
Island. There is a family tradition that Francis Budlong 
came from France, which is in a measure supported by the 



French surname of " Budlon." It is well known lliat in 
early colonial times surnames, in many cases, were slightly 
changed in becoming anglicized. The ancient record of 
his marriage reads thus : " Francis Buillong and Rebecca 
Howard, witlow of Joseph Howard, were married on Fri- 
day, March 19, 1668-9, '" 'i'^'' father's house, John Lip- 
pitt's. Captain John Green, General Assistant." Francis 
Budlong, with his wife and all his family, except his son 
John, were massacred by the Indians at the outbreak of 
the tribes on the west side of the Narragansett Bay, who 
joined in the effort of King Philip to exterminate the w hite 
settlers, in November, 1675. John, then three or four years 
of age, was carried away by the Indians, but subsequently 
rescued by a person by the name of Lippitt, of his mother's 
family. The home of this family was in Old Warwick, 
Rhode Island, at what is known as Horse Neck. This 
John Budlong became the owner of twenty-five acres of 
land on Cowe.set Bay, in 1692, and subsequently added by 
purchase and exchange until he owned several hundred 
acres, including Brush Neck. On a part of this land he 
built the house now owned by Henry W. Budlong, which 
is one of the oldest houses now standing in Warwick. The 
following is the line of descent : Moses Budlong, Samuel, 
Samuel 2d, and .Samuel 3d. Dr. Budlong is the son of the 
last named. His mother was a descendant of Christopher 
Martin, who came over wilh the Plymouth Colony in the 
Mayflower. After attending the district school in his na- 
tive town, he entered Fruit Hill Classical Institute, where 
he was the valedictorian of his class, and spent some time 
at Smithville Seminary (now Lapham Institute), at North 
Scituate, Rhode Island, where he pursued special studies 
preparatory to the study of medicine. Instead of entering 
college he devoted five years to his medical course. In 
1856 he placed himself under the tuition of Dr. I. W. 
.Sawin, at Centredalc, Rhode Island, who enjoyed a high 
reputation as a physician, and in 1S57 entered the Homoeo- 
pathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. At the end of 
the course he returned home, and was not able to resume 
his studies in Philadelphia till 1S62, when he completed 
them, obtaining the degree of M.D. March 3, 1863. Dur- 
ing the winters of 1857, 1858, and 1S63 he also attended 
the clinics of the Pennsylvania Hospital and Philadelphia 
Almshouse. During this time he became the private student 
of Professor Agnew (Professor of Surgery of the University 
of Pennsylvania), when he studied surgical anatomy and 
operative surgery, receiving a certificate for proficiency 
in those branches. After graduating he was tendered and 
accepted the assistant charge of the College Dispensary. 
Intending to settle in Philadelphia, he opened an office in 
that city, but during the progress of the Civil War, feeling 
it to be his duty to enter the service, he returned to his 
native Slate to take part in the military movements then 
being organized. In July, 1S63, he enlisted in the Third 
Regiment of Rhode Island Cavalry, and was immediately 
appointed Assistant Surgeon in charge of that regiment. 



56S 



BIOGRAPHICAL C YCI OPEDIA. 



Hl- \\ as sul)set|iiently promoted l<j the lank of Surgevtn. 
Hi^ icLjiiiienl sailed for N'ew (Jrleaiis in December, 1S63, 
and t'Mik part in the i<cd I\i\er campait^n, during wliieh 
he hehl tlie positions of llriijade aii'l I)i\ision Surgeon, 
and was Tdi- a time Snrt^eoii in-( 'har^e oi" ( .eneral ILispital. 
He leniaineij wuli the ainty, airangin;^ and systematizing 
matters relating to the medical bureau, until December, 
1865, when he was honorably dischargetl. Returning to 
Rhode Islantl, he inime<iiately engaged in the jiractice of 
medicine in partnership with his brother-in law and late 
preceptor. Dr. Sawin, at Centredale, in wdiich relation he 
continnc'l until the latter lemoveti to Pro\idence, in iSoS, 
since which time Dr. liudloiig has continued the practice. 
Some time after his return from tlie war he was solicilei.1 
t<:> join the State troops, and having a natural liking fur 
military service, became connected with the I'awtucket 
Horse Guards, of which he was chosen .Surgeon, While 
holding that office he was promoted to Hrigafle Surgeon, 
Second Brigade, which [losition he held for several years. 
In 1S75 he was elected .Surgeon Ceneral of the State, to 
hll a vacancy causeil by the ilealh of Dr. H, King, and in 
iSyy was re-elected to the same oflice for the term of hve 
years. He is a member of the -\meikan Institute of 
Homieopathy, and represented his native .State in the 
Worhl's Honiieupathic .Medical Congress, held in Phila- 
delphia in the Centennial year, 1S76. In iSSohe was elected 
Treasurer of the Rhode Island Hoinoeopathic Medical So- 
ciety, and the lullowing year was chosen President of the 
same. In February, iSSi, he was elected an honorai-y 
member of the New York State Honi.co])athic Medical 
.Society. For many years he has been a communicant and 
vestryman of the Protestant Episco|ial (riiuich, <<{ which 
he is a zealous member. Dr. liuillong mariied, lune 7, 
lSb6, Martha Alexander, ilaughler of I'rofessor Walter 
WiUianisun and Matilda (.Massey) Williamson, of Phila- 
delphia. 'I'hey have had eight children : Walter Williamson, 
Martin Salisbury, John Clark, Jr., Warren Sawdn, Matthew 
Williamson, Alonzo Alexander (deceased), Martha ("ou- 
st. nice, M.itilda (decea^ed), and William (ierard. Mrs. 
Pudlong's ancestors, the Williamsons, were anuDng the 
early settlers of Pennsylvania, and a portion of the original 
Pennsylvani 1 grant of lands in Delaware (Jouiity, in that 
State, is still in possession of the family Her father. Pn.i- 
fessor Waller Williamson, was Fmeritus Professor of the 
HoiiKeopathic Medical '.'ollege of Pennsylvania, and a man 
of flistinguislied ability. 

et^^J^bCKLFV, Rev. \\iii.i,\m NiciI'ils. was born in 
l^ast Haddam, Connecticut, October 13, 1S40, 



K 



and is the son of Ansel and Lydia 1 Kcwlcy) Ack- 



ley. His ancestors came from t^ngland and settled 
in the town of lladdam in Ib6o. Mr. Ackley re- 
ceived his early education in the pulilic scliocil, and was 
fitted fur college under a private tutor, In 1S03 he gradu- 



ated with honor at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 
and immediately entered upon a three years' course at the 
lierkeley Divinity School, in Middletown, Connecticut. 
.After completing his studies in th.it institution he was or- 
dained deacon at Middletown. May .51, I.S06, and at once 
; became rector of St. Alban's (P. Iv ) Church, in Daniel- 
sonville, Connecticut, where he remained four years. ()n 
the first Sunday in August, 1870, he became assistant min- 
ister of Trinity Church in Newtown, Connecticut, where 
he preached for three years. The second Sunday in De- 
cember, 1873, he "■•T' installed rector of St. Mark's Church 
ill Warren, Rhode Island, where he is at present (1880) 
located. Only two of Mr. .Ackley's predecessors, as rector 
ol St. Mark's Church, have ministered to the parish as long 
as he. His ministerial labors throughout have been at- 
tended with gratifying success, and his work in Warren is 
in a prosperous condition. He has always taken a deep 
interest in the cause of education, and in his tirst parish 
was Acting Visitor, a position corresponding to the oltice 
of Superintendent of Schools in Rhode Island. He has 
also added to his duties as a preacher that of tutor, and has 
been remarkablv sticcessful in preparing young men for 
college. Immeiliately on his removal to Rhode Island he 
was elected a memlier of the School Committee of Warren, 
of which he was secretary for several years, during which 
time he prepared an able school report. In 1877 he was 
chosen Superintendent of Public .Schools of Warren, w Inch 
position he now holds. Under his administration the grading 
of the schools has been very much improved, and a purpose 
has been steailiK-and successfully pursued to adapt the course 
of study to the wants of practical life. Mr. Ackley has 
been identified witli the Masonic fraternity since 1871, at 
w iiich time he became a member of Hiram Lodge, at New- 
tow 11, I onnecticut, and for two years thereafter was Master 
ol the same. He was chosen High Priest of Temple Chap- 
ter, No, 3, of Warren, which office he held for five years. 
In the Grand Royal .'\rch Chapter of Rhode Island he has 
held the olfices of Grand Chaplain, I.)e[)Uty Grand Ili.gh 
I'riest, and Lirand High Priest. While serving in the lirst- 
named office (to which he was elected for two years, in 
187S), he delivered a memoratile address at the laying of 
the corner-stone of the new Court-house of Providence 
(.'ouiity, in Providence. He is at present Master of Wash- 
ington Lodge, No. 3, of Warren. (")n the 6th of June, 1866, 
Ire married Nellie A. Ramsdell, daughter of Rev. Hez- 
ekiali .S. Ramsdell, a noted Methodist clergyman of Thomp- 
son, Connecticut, who for several years al.ily represented 
his district in the Connecticut .Senate, and was widely 
known as a leader in the temperance reform. Mr. Rams- 
dell was also greatly interested in the cause of education, 
and w as for several years a trustee of the Connecticut .State 
Normal .School. Mr. Ackley is a gentlenian of fine literary 
abilit)', ami besides freipient contributions to the press, has 
w ritten several historical discourses, one of which reviewed 
the first fifty years of the history of St. Mark's Parish, and 



BlOGKAPniCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



569 



was (lelivercil in that church, Novemlwr 10, 1878, lieing 
published l)y request. lie is highly esteemed, not only by 
his parish, but by the entire community, as a devout and 
faithful Christian minister, who has ever a kind word and 
helping hand for the poor and needy. 



jHAPM.'XN, Cai'TAIN Ciiari.es Hknry, son of Dea- 
con Rhodes IS. and Avis W. (I.ockwood) Chapman, 
was born in Millbury, Massachusetts, November 
13, 1840. Elsewhere in this volume will be found a 
sketch of his father, with mention of his ancestors, 
attended the village school in Slatersville, Rhode 
Island, and the Grammar and High School of Providence, 
and graduated at Brown University in 1861, soon after the 
beginning of the Civil War. liefore graduation he united 
with many other students in studying military tactics, and 
practicing in the use of arms, preparatory to entering the 
national service. The college campus then presented the 
appearance of a military camp. Leaving the University 
he engaged in recruiting for the Union army. C)n the 30th 
of November, 1861, he was commissioned First Lieutenant 
of the First Battalion, Fifth Rhode Island Volunteers, and 
was appointed Adjutant. With this command he took part 
in the Burnside Expedition to North Carolina, and shared 
in the victories of Roanoke Island, Newbern, and F'ort 
Macon. Ill health from exposure compelled his retire- 
ment from the front in May, 1S62; but on regaining 
strength he again engaged in the recruiting service, and 
finally re-entered the army September I, 1862, in the 
Thirty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, as ser- 
geant-major. His regiment reached Washington Septem- 
ber Sth, and immediately entered Virginia and served along 
the Potomac, during which service he attained the rank of 
second lieutenant. After the battle of Gettysburg his 
regiment took the front with General Briggs's Brigade in 
the Army of the Potomac, confronting the army of Lee. 
He became Acting Assistant Inspector-General on the bri- 
gade staff, which position he tilled until July 26, 1863. 
He was in the advance to the Rapidan, the retreat, and 
the readvance, after suffering in the field hospital, and took 
part in the movement to Mine Run. In the spring of 1S64 
he passed examination before Casey's Board and was ap- 
pointed a captain, but still remained in his regiment with 
his rank of lieutenant, participating in the battles of the 
Wilderness, in the memorable movement on Richmond, 
. the siege of Petersburg, and the assault on the second rebel 
lines. He was wounded in the wrist by a ball in June, 
1864, and on the iSth of August following was struck by 
two balls while under a heavy fire in front of Petersburg. 
In the action of August 19th on the Weldon Railroad, 
while acting as captain of his company, he fell into the 
hands of the enemy and was cast into Libby Prison, then 
under the management of the infamous Dick Turner. In 
72 



October, 1864, he was sent to Salisbury, North Carolina, 
and with four hundred others was confined in an old fac- 
tory liiiildiug, and then in log huts. K few weeks there- 
after he was sent to Danville, where he remained until 
February, 1865, wdien he was returned to Richmond, and 
finally paroled after an imprisonment of six months. His 
exchange being effected, he remained for awhile in the 
hospital at Annapolis, Maiyland, and after a short furlough, 
though promoted to a first lieutenancy in his own regiment, 
he accepted a commission, olTered him at the same time, as 
Captain in the Forty-first Regiment United States Coloreil 
Troops, joining his command near Petersburg, April 2g, 
1865. After the surrender of all the rebel forces in the 
East, his regiment sailed for Mobile, and thence for Brazos 
Santiago ; marched up the banks of the Rio (irande to 
Brownsville ; thence into the interior to Edinburg, and 
finally to Los Cuevas. Returning from the interior, he 
became Acting Assistant Adjutant-General on the staff of 
General Armstrong till the disbaiuling of the brigade, Oc- 
tober 13, 1865. He was mustered out of the service De- 
cember 10, of the same year. In September, 1S66, he 
became secretary of the Lambertville Manufacturing Com- 
pany, in New Jersey, engaged in making rubber goods. 
From 1S70 to 1874 he was employed in civil engineering 
in its various branches in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. In 1874 he was 
appointed assistant secretary of the Enterprise Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company in Providence, which position he 
now holds. He has been a member of the First Baptist 
Church in Providence since 1S58. lie married, first, Liz- 
zie Coryell, of Lambertville, New Jersey, March 18, 1868, 
who died July 26, 1871; and second, Lora Killgrove, of 
Flemington, New Jersey, November 11, 1873. 



^I^|{^t;TTELL, Rev. Edward Henry, rector of Zion 
^Jjotl (Protestant Episcopal) Church, Newport, son of 
"^ ' John Brooks and Rebecca Gorham Ketlell, was 
pfei born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, May 15, 1840. 
'¥ His father was of English descent. His mother's 
ancestors took an active part in the Revolution from the 
Battle of Bunker Hill to the close of the war. Mr, Ket- 
tell's childhood was spent in Boston, and during that time 
he was educated with a view to his entering the army. At 
the age of sixteen, having a preference for the life of a 
civilian instead of that of a soldier, he engaged in business 
with his father. At the age of twenty he embarked in 
business, as a cotton buyer, on his own account, in New 
York city, and was thus engaged until the age of twenty- 
six, when he returned to study, with his .attention directed 
to the ("hrislian ministry. After seven years devoted to a 
thorough classical and theological education under the best 
instructors, he was ordained deacon in the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, by the Rt. Rev. George M. Randall, 



570 



BIOGKAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



T)-!)., I'.i^hnp i»f C.'uliirado, in St. I'eter's Church, Baltimore, 
( >ttnln;r S, 1S71. Subsequently he was atlvanceil to the 
priesihuod, in ihr Anthim Mcmurial Church of New ^'ork 
city. Sunih\y. Ma> iS, 1873. I*y the Rt Rev. Benjamin B. 
Smith. Tt.I>., I'lcitling Bisliup dT the American Church. 
I )unni; the next three veais Mr. Kcttell was assistant rect'.n" 
in the II-i!} Timitv Church, i)f New S'mk tity. In May, 
187=^, lie liecanie rector of Zinii Churcli, of Newjiort, the 
menibership of whicii ha-> been greatly increased by Ins 
labors. In 1S7S his church edifice was improved and 
beautified, and during his incumbency his parishioners have 
raised twenty thnusanid dollars fur rehgiuus and parish 
purposes. Mr. Kettell married. May 15, 1S61, Mary E. 
lluward, ilaugliter uf Abiahani and Mary Hetward, of 
Bostiin. They have two children, Minna and Bessie Gor- 
hani Kettell. Mrs. Kettell's father was formerly a mem- 
ber of the lirm of Ilnuanl X: Merry, shipping merchants, 
of Boston, and was lost at sea on the ill-fated steamer 
Lexington. 



J'HODES. LiKUiENANT Rciii-KT, U. S. N., son of 
f:ir^:; Richard W. Rhodes, was born in Warwick, April 
^^' '^ 12, 1S40. When but sixteen years of age he 
entered the merchant marine service, and was en- 
gaged in trade ti> the eastern coast uf Afiica. and 
subse'|uently, in the employ ot Mr. Amos D. Smith, he 
visited various parts of the Mediterranean and South 
America. Soon after the C'lnmencement of the Civil War 
he joined the First Rhude Islanil Regiment, under Colonel 
Burnside. and was a participant in the early fortunes uf 
that regiment. He received, October 1 1, 1S61, an appoint- 
ment of aciing ma-^ter's mate, and was attached to the bark 
Kernandma, on the blockading station off Wilmingl"n, 
North Carolina, and nut long after was ordered to the 
gunboat Cbfton. anri iomed the West ( iulf Squad run. under 
Admiral l-'arragul. He was on active iluty during the ex- 
citing scenes which linall}' terminated in the occupancy of 
New C)rleans by the Federal troops under the command 
kA General Butler. The Clifton proceeded up the liver 
and was actively engaged in theliumbardnient of Vicksburg, 
and came very near being comjiletely destroyed by the shot 
uf the enemy. Having been repaired, she was ordered to 
the coast of Texas, where she was almost constantly en- 
gaged w ith the rel)el Itirces. The fi>l!owing s|)ring. iSo^, 
the Clifton was employed tu transfer a ]>ortion of ( ieneral 
Banks's army from Berwick to Franklin, in Luui--iana. 
Although, while thus engaged and in sul>sequent adven- 
tures, the gunboat was often in most imminent peril, she 
managetl to escape, and Lieutenant Rhodes met with no 
serious casualty until .September 8, 1S63. A fleet of vessels, 
consisting of twenty-three gunboats and transports, was 
advancing towards Sabine Pass. The Clifton touk the 
lead, and had reached within three hundred yards uf a 
Rebel l>aHery, which she was to silence, when she ran 



aground. A thirty-two-]>ound shot was fired from a gun 
of the battery wdiich struck Lieutenant Rhodes, nearly car- 
rying away his hip and thigh. A terrible carnage was now 
going (in. and there being no hope of escape, the Clifton 
surrendered. At nine o'clock that evening the woundeil 
officer expired. He was buried with military honors in 
Bea\im<.>nl Cemetery, on the Natchez River, a comi>any of 
RebeK acting as an escort on the occasion. He was one 
of the bravest and most energetic officers in the naval ser- 
vice, and devoted himself with the most assiduous fidelity 
tu the arduous duties which were assigned to him. 



IVEN, Rkv. Artiii'R, was burn in Wales, Maine, 
p- Feliruary 27, 1S4I. His father bore the same 
ncime, and was a highly esteemed citi/en, whose 
M,^ occujiation was that of a farmer. Previous to the 
Lei age of eighteen the son was employed part uf the 
time on the farm, attended the district school, spent one 
term at the Litchfield Liberal Institute, and another at the 
Maine State Seminary at Lcwiston. At this age he was 
released from further service at home, and commenced 
preparing for college at the last-named institution. He 
secured the means to pay his expenses by teaching and 
manual labor. Subse'|uent to the completion of this pre- 
paratury course itf sludv. in 1S62, he served nine months 
in the army. In the fall of I^dj he entered liates College, 
Lewiston, Maine, and graduated in 1S07, in a class of 
eight, which was the first graduating from that college. 
He was its valedictorian. He became at once principal 
uf the New^ Hamjiton Literary Institution at New ILamp- 
toiuNew Hampshire, and after a year of successful service, 
resigned, and was for two years principal of the Maine 
State Seminary at Lewiston. From 1S70 to 1S72 he was 
a student in the Theoh_»gical Department of Bates College, 
ainl duiing a part of this time was a tutor in the col- 
lege. In September, 1S72, he became pastor of the Kssex 
.Street Free Baptist Church, in Bangor, Maine, and was 
ordained in I )eCember following. He continued in this 
relation unlil March, 1S75, when he became pastor of the 
Free Baptist Church at Greenville, Rhode Island. In Feb- 
ruary, iSSl, he resigneil this position to become the joint 
pastor of the Free Baptist Church at Auburn, an<l a mission 
of the Roger Williams Church at Arliiigtun. Since 1873 
he has been ^-ne of the Board of (_)verseers of Bates Col- 
lege, ami in 18S0 was chosen its secretary. I-'or several 
years he has been a member of the Fxecutive Board of the 
Freewill Baptist Education .Society; and, at the annual 
meeting of 18S0, was elected the corresponding secre- 
tary of that society, and thus became its chief executive 
officer. He married, December 22, 1868, Lura Durgin, 
of Sanbornton, New Hampshire. The responsible pusi- 
tiuns occupied by Mr. Given indicate the high estimation 
in which he is held. He is an able minister of the gospel, 
and steady and abiding success attends his work. 




/t'uj'l/ 



BiocRAnncAi. crci. ofedia. 



571 



fli^SjEEVKS, David Waixis, musicinn, son of Lorenzo 
^p^ anil Maria (Clark) Reeves, was born at Owego, 
jp " New York, February 14, 183S. His father was 
W^ a native of Vermont, and a descendant of Judge 
^ V Tappan Reeve, a celebrated jurist during the Revo- 
lutionary era, who had a law school at Litchfield, Connecti- 
cut, ami married a sister of Aaron Uurr. Lorenzo Reeves 
was a successful merchant, a devout and consi-tent Chris, 
tian, and one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church 
in Owego, of which he was a deacon until the time of his 
death, which occurred January 31, 1839, when the sulvect 
of this sketch was one year old. Mr. Reeves's mother was 
a native of the State of New York. lie was educated at 
the district school and village academy, and spent one year 
in Wells Academy, Aurora, New York, where his sister 
taught music. He early developed a passionate fondness 
for music, but had few opportunities for the cultivation of 
his musical taste until his fourteenlh year, when he became 
a member of the village band, which was then under the 
direction of Thomas Canham, an able teacher and leader. 
Mr. Reeves made such rapid progress that his teacher pro- 
posed to give him instructions for a term of three years, 
which proposition was accepted. .Ifter having tried to 
learn two trades, carriage painting and marble-cutting, he 
worked for some time as clerk in his brother's book-store. 
Nothing, however, seemed to satisfy him but music, which 
he studied diligently ; and having become an excellent 
performer on the cornet and violin, decided to rely upon 
his efforts in this direction for support. At first he played 
for his instructor whenever required, for his board and 
tuition, and afterwards accompanied him in an extended 
tour through the country as a member of a circus band, in 
the meantime having been promoted to the position of sec- 
ond leader. He sub.sequently entered into a similar en- 
gagement for three years, during w-hich time he travelled 
in summer, and in winter played for concerts, balls, and 
parties, his band making its headquarters at Elmira, New 
York. The fa.scinations of travel were so strong that on 
the completion of the engagement last mentioned, he de- 
clined several advantageous offers, and accepted the leader- 
ship of a band in a well-known circus company, Mr. 
Reeves being the youngest member of the band. In i860 
he became cornet soloist with the celebrated Rumsey and 
Newcomb Minstrels, in which capacity he accompanied 
that troupe to Europe in the spring of 1861, and travelled 
through England, Ireland, Prussia, and Saxony. He re- 
ceiveil many flattering notices in the press of the countries 
he visited. (Jn his return to America he made a short 
tour, and then joined Dodworth's celebrated band in New 
York, with which he remained as comet soloist until 1866, 
when, upon the resignation of Joseph C. Greene as leader 
of the American Brass Band of Providence, he became its 
leader, February 7, 1866, which position he still occupies. 
Under the direction of Mr. Reeves the American Band has 
attained wide celebrity, and is universally regarded with a 



feeling of pride by the citizens of Rhode Island. Within 
the past five years this band has visited various cities 
throughout the country, and is now regularly employed by 
the Second Connecticut Regiment, National Guard, the 
Eighth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Mi itia, and the 
Fourth Battalion Massachusetts Volunteer Miluia. As a 
cornet soloist Mr. Reeves stands in the front rank, and as a 
leader and director has few equals. At the Massachusetts 
Military Muster, wdien there are present seven excellent 
bands, numbering one hundred and fifty musicians, besides 
one hundred drummers, it is customary to consolidate 
them into one immense band and drum corps, of which 
Mr. Reeves has invariably been selected as the leader, — a 
marked recognition of his merits. As a composer he has 
directed his attention mostly to military band music, and 
has written about forty marches, which have become quite 
popular, several of them being regardefl as models. In 
comjjany with John R. Shirley, of Providence, he estab- 
lished the " Park Garden " in that city, an inclosure of 
fifteen acres, where for some time he has given popular 
musical entertainments during the summer, w*hich have 
generally been largely attended. Mr. Reeves stands very 
high in the estimation of his fellow-citizens, and as an 
evidence of their regard for him they presented him in 
1S73 with a massive gold cornet. — a beautiful and valuable 
souvenir. He was married, September 30, 1870, to .Mrs. 
Elizabeth Blanding, and has one son. 



\KVOTT, Curtis E., M.D., son of Rev. Ichabod 
B.and Almira (Miner) Maryott, w'as born in New 
SffA'^ York city. May 3, 1841, and is a descendant of 
\J\, Rev. Samuel Maryott, a Sabbatarian minister, who 

cL was born in England, in 1706, and for many years 

resitled in Newport, where he died in 1802. The Rev. 
Samuel Maryott's daughter, Betsey, died at the advanced 
age of one hundred and one. Dr. Maryott's father was 
born in Lisbon, Connecticut, in 1810; and his grandfather, 
William Maryott, in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, in 1783. 
Henry Maryott, the father of William, was born in 1 755, 
and died in 1821. Dr. Maryott's boyhood and youth were 
spent at North Stonington, Connecticut. At the age of 
twenty-four he went to New York and entered the Medical 
Department of the University of that city, at which institu- 
tion he graduated in March, 1866. In December of the 
same year he commenced the practice of his profession on 
Block Island, where he continued successfully until 1872, 
being the only physician most of the time on the Island. 
In the year last mentioned he removed to Wakefield, Rhode 
Island, where he now resides. He married, November 2, 
1867, Maria Louise Hawkins, daughter of Ara and Louisi- 
ana (Inman) Hawkins, of Glocester, Rhode Island. They 
have two children, Gertrude E. and Wilfred E. Mrs. 
Maryott's father was born in 1792, and her mother in iSoS, 
both of whom are still living. Her maternal grandfather, 



572 



BIOGKAPHICAI. CYCL OPEDIA. 



Tourtfllutt Innian.whti was liorii in lyyy.dit-il in Milford. 
MassacluisL'Us, at the age of nr.c liumlreil years and nine 
months, During his resilience in Wakefield Dr. Maryott 
has acquired a good medical yiraclice. lie takes an active 
interest in religious work, l>eing a nicniber of the Wakefield 
liaplist Cluirch, and having lieen sujierinlendent of the 
Sunday-school for four years. 



alLLSON, IIoN. FR.\N('KI.I.(1 Geori,!-, 



)f Deacon 



;•■■;: Mention 
* sketch ol his lirother. ( illvs A. 



'ci^l^ Allen lieunelt ami Aliliy (Hunt) jillson, was born 

in W isoeket, Rhode Island, Sejitenilier 22, 1S41. 

'f the anccsti)' of the family is made in the 
Jdlsi in, which apjiears 
elsewhere in this volume. His parents occupy an influen- 
tial position in the coinnuinuy, and are valued members of 
the Woonsocket Baptist Church, of which his father for 
many years has lieen a deacon. Mr. Jillson was educated 
in the pulilic schools of his native town ; at the New Lon- 
don Literary and Scientilic Institution, in New London, 
New llain|ishire; and in the Woonsocket High Scho.jl, 
his studies at lire last-namcil institution having been pursued 
with a view to entering college. In the s|iring of 1S61 on 
hearing of the fall of Fort Sumter he relin(|uished his 
studies, and ahhough exempt IVoivi mibtai-y service by reason 
of defective vision, which re'|uircd the use of glasses, he 
enlisted in the First Rhode Island Detached Militia, under 
command of ('ohuiel A. E. Hurnside, and was in the first 
battle ol lUill Run. He entered theserxice as corporal, 
and waspionioied to the ..Ifice of First Lieulenant, in Com- 
pany G, Ninth Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers. He 
also served with efficiency as Judge .\dvocnte of the regi- 
mental courts-martial. Since the close of the war he has 
continueil to lake an active interest in inilil.iiy matters, 
having been Major of the Woonsocket Guanls, and Pay- 
master of the State Militia. He is also President of the 
Veteran Association of the soldiers of the I'nion Army. 
Having taught school in New London, New Hampshire, 
in 1858 and 1S59, he resumed that vocation on returning 
from the army. He taught in Klackstone, Massachusetts, 
until iSt)J,and in Ihe ( irainmar School of Woonsocket 
until the spring of lS(:.4, when he became Suiieiintendent 
of the Public Schools in l.'undierland. He then turned his 
attention to the legal profession, and pursued his studies 
in the law offices of George W. Everett, at New London, 
New Hampshire, Hon. tleorge F. Hoar, in Worcester, 
Massachusetts, and Jewell A. Field, in Boston. ( »n the 
25th of February, 1S65, he was admitted to the b.ar in 
Boston. For two years thereafter he served as Clerk of 
the Woonsocket Court of Magistrates, and as Town Clerk 
of Cumberland, and of Woonsocket when it became a 
township, continuing to fill the last-named position uiilil 
November, 1874, w hen he resigned to devote his entire 
time to the practice of his jirolession. He was admitted to 
the bar in Providence in iSti^.and to practice in the United 



States Circuit Cinirt in 1S75. Since 1871 he has made 
liatent law a speci.dty, and has been engageil in several 
imoort-int cases in that lu-ancli of the law. In 1S70-71 he 
was elected State Senator, and in 1S81 Representative from 
Woonsocket. In 1876-77 he was President of the Woon- 
socket Town Council. He has been a trustee of the 
Ilariis Institute since 1S79, and secretary of the Woon- 
socket Hospital since its organisation. For several years 
he has been a trustee of the Producers' Savings Bank, and 
of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, having been a 
member of the Board of Investments of the latter institu- 
tion since 1872. In politics he is a Republican, and since the 
spring of 1878 has been a member of the Repul)!ican State 
Central Commitlec. In 1874 he was President of ihe Re- 
publican Congressional Convenlion of the Second District of 
Rhode Island, in iSSo was President of the Republican State 
Convention, and for some time has been President of the 
Republican organization of Woonsocket. He has for many 
years been identified with the Masonic order, in which he 
has belli numerous olfices and alt. lined an eminent ]^osition. 
At iiresent he is Ib-.ind Cajitain of the Guard of the Grand 
Coniniandery of Knights Templar of Massachuselts and 
Rhode Island. He was a Knight of Honor in 187S, and 
now holds a promiiunt official position in that branch of 
ihe order. He married, .September 3, 1868, Emma Potter, 
daughter of Roberl and .Alice (Inman) Potter, of Burrill- 
ville, Rhode Island, who was educated at the FViends' 
School in Providence, and at the Rhode Island Normal 
School, and was for some time a successful teacher in the 
public scho.ds. They ha\e one ciiild, Francello Albert. 
Ml. Jillson resitles in Woonsocket, Init his principal office 
is in Providence. He has attained wide popularity, and 
achie\ed a large measure of professional success. 



I^Sir^MES, GiNt.R.\i. WiLLi.^M, second son of Hon. 
^^fc™& Samuel Ames, late Chief Justice of Rhode Island, 
J°'^r was born in Providence, May 15, 1S42. His 
''''-■;■''' mother was Mary Troop Dorr, daughter tif Sullivan 
i al Dorr, of Providence. Having passed through the 
city schools and ['Ursueil the usual jireparatory studies he 
entered Brown University in September 1858, and re- 
mained till the Civil War broke upon the land in 1S61, 
w hen, at the age of nineteen, he enlisted as a .soldier for 
the defence of his country. On the 6th of June, 1861, he 
received a commission as second lieutenant in the .Second 
Rhode Island Regiment of Volunteers, the first infantiy 
command in Rhoile Island to serve for the whole war. 
Ha\ing shared in the first battle of Bull Run, he \vas pro- 
moted, October 25, 1S61, to be first lieutenant. During 
the spring and summer of 1862 he was engaged in the 
operations on the Peninsula and before Richmond, under 
General McClellan, the Second Regiment being in the 
advance guard, the Light Brigade, which preceded the 
.\rniy of the Potomac uji the Peninsula towards Richmond, 



BIOGRAPIllCAl. eye/. OPF.DIA. 



573 



Colnncl Whcnion cnmmaii(lin<; tlio infantry of the lirigado, 
and Lieutenant Ames serving as adjutant, (jcneral Stone- 
man commanding the entire advance guard, which was 
daily engaged for two weeks with the rear guard of the 
retreating Rebel army. The Lieutenant shared in the bat- 
tles of Mechanicsville, Gaines Mills, Allen's Kami, Savage 
Station, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, ,ind Malvern Hill, also 
in the batlles of Second Bull Run, and Chantilly. Janu- 
ary. 28, 1863, he was promoted to the ]iosition of Major of 
the Third Rhode Island Heavy Anillery, then engageil in 
the siege of Fort .Sumter, and the city of Charleston, South 
Carolina, and in holding the principal forts in the Depart- 
ment of the South. He was at first assigned to the com- 
mand of Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah River. 
He was promoted, March 22, 1864, to be lieutenant- 
colonel of the regiment, and, with the greater part of his 
command, was placed in charge of the forts on Morris 
Island engaged in the bombardment of Fort .Sumter, 
Charleston, and the Rebel works in front of that city, under 
General Gilinore. In recognition of his abilities and ser- 
vices he was appointed, .Se]itember 27, 1864, Chief of 
Artillery of the Department of tlie South. While engaged 
on Morris Island, eight steamers and sailing vessels were 
destroyed while attempting to run the blockade; and 
17,276 heavy rille shells (30, 100, 200, and 300 pound 
missiles) were thrown into Fort Sumter and the city of 
Charleston. He was commissioned Colonel of the Third 
RegiiTient, October 10, 1864, and in the spring of 1S65 
was temporarily iletached from the command of the forts 
in front of Charleston and placed in command of the Artil- 
lery Brigade engaged in the battles of Honey Hill and 
Deveaux Neck, under Generals Foster and Hatch, .'\fter 
these battles he resumed command of the forts on Morris 
Island, and, on the evacuation of Charleston, he, with a 
boat's crew, was the second Federal officer to enter the 
captured city, where, with a squad of men, he took posses- 
sion of the United .States Arsenal. He continued to occupy 
his position as Chief of Artillery in the Department of the 
South, under the Generals commanding, until the muster 
out of his regiment, September 14, 1865, having served 
through the whole of the Civil War, ami bringing home 
scars as the proof of his courage and exposure. For con- 
stant, efficient services, and gallant conduct, he received 
from Rhode Island and from the United .States the highest 
testimonials, and was " Brevetted Brigadier-tieneral of 
Volunteers." Returning from the war he entered the 
office of Allen's Print Works till September 14, 1869, 
when he was appointed by the Presilent, Collector of 
United States Internal Revenue for the First District of 
Rhode Island, which office he held till the consolidation 
of the districts, October 21, 1873, wdien he became Col- 
lector for the whole State, and so served till June 12, 1875, 
when he resigned to accept the office of agent and man- 
ager of the Fletcher Manufacturing Company, one of the 
oldest and most prosperous coi"porations of the State, where 



he still remains. He is also now (iSSo) President of the 
Blackstone Canal National Hank, and a director in the 
Providence Washington Insurance Company. He was 
married, November 8, 1870, to Harriette Fletcher Ormsbee, 
of Providence, and has now three children. He is a 
worthy adherent of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as 
was his honored father, and is a junior warden of .St. 
.Stephen's Church, in I'ro\'idence. 



|i^^HODF,S, Generai, Elisha Hunt, son of Captain 
y^i!^ Kli^ha H. and Eliza A. (Chase) Rhodes, was born 
^Zp^ " in Pawtuxet, Cranston, March 21, 1842. His 
f.ffti father was a sea cajitain, as were his ancestors for 
^% several generations, and was lost at sea December 
10, 1858, while in command of the schooner Worcester, of 
Providence. His body was recovered and buried on Lin- 
yard Key, Abaco. The subject of this sketch was edu- 
cated in the Pawtuxet schools, the Fountain Street Grammar 
School, and Potter & Haminond's Commercial Academy in 
Providence. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he gave him- 
self to his country's defence, enlisting early in May, 1861, in 
the Second Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, being mus- 
tered in as eighth corporal of Company D, June 5, 1861. 
He shared in the first great battle of the war on Manassas 
Plains, yuly2i, 1861, where fell Slocum, Tower, and Pres- 
cott. He became sergeant-major March i, 1862; was 
commissioned second lieutenant July 24, 1S62 ; was pro- 
moted to the rank of first lieutenant March 2, 1863, and 
took command of Company B, which he held till Novem- 
ber 7, 1S63, when he became adjutant of the regiment. 
During all this time, as in all its history, the brave Seconil 
Regiment was in the van of the conflict, receiving and deal- 
ing soine of the hottest strokes of the war. On the plains 
and hills of Eastern Virginia, on the Peninsula, before 
Richmond, and in checking Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, 
he saw severe service. When the veterans re-enlisted, he 
remained with them to see the conflict through. As senior 
officer on duty, he took command of the regiment June 5, 

1864, and was promoted to the rank of captain, his commis 
sion dating May 5, 1S64. Having reorganized the regiment 
he wa.s assigned to its command by Major-General Wright 
of the Sixth Anny Corps. Taking an active part in General 
Sheridan's Shenandoah campaign, he was brevetted "ma- 
jor for gallant conduct at the battle of Winchester." Re 
turning to Petersburg in December, 1864, he was pro- 
moted to lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, January 31, 

1865. On the 2d of April, 1865, he was brevetted Colonel 
of United States Volunteers for gallant conduct at the 
charge on the Rebel works of Petersburg, and received his 
full commission as colonel, dating July 18, 1865. When 
the war for the Union had triumphantly ended he w.as 
honorably discharged from the service July 28, 1865, having 
bravely and efficiently served four years and two months, 
participating in every campaign of the .\rmy of the Poto- 



57 J 



PIOGRAPHICAL CVCl OTEDIA. 



mac, fidin the fir^l lintlli- of Hull Run to tho siii lender of Lee 
at Api'uniattox. Many hiiniir-> Iiavc been l)eslo\\ed upon 
liim since the war. He has been chosen to the following 
offices in the (irand Army of tlie Rei)ul)lic : Adjutant of 
I'rescott I'ost, Xo. I, m 1S67; Commander of the same 
I'osi in 1S6S; Assistant Adjutant-General of tlie Oeiiart- 
meut of Rhode Ishiiul in I.S7I; CornmaiKler uf that De- 
|iartment in 1S72-3; niemlier of the National Encampment 
in 1S74-5; Senior Vice Commander-in-chief of tiieloami 
Army of the Repulilic in 1S77; Vice-Rresiilent of the So- 
ciety of the Army uf the Potoinac in 1S77 ; President of 
the Second Rhode Island Volunteers' Association in 1874; 
IVesident of the Rlio.le Island Soldiers' and Sailors" His- 
torical Society from its formation, in 1S71, to the present 
time (i,S,So); Vice-Presirlent of the Sixth Army Corps As- 
sociation in iS-Q. He has also occupied a prominent po- 
sition in religious, social, and civil affairs. (General Rhodes 
was married, June 12, 1S66, to Caroline P. Hunt, daughter 
of Joshua Hunt, of Providence, and has a son and ilaughter. 
On the 26th of Dctober, I,S55,he uniteil with the Pawtuxet 
liaplist (/lunch, and is now an honored member of the 
Central Baptist (.'liurcli in Providence, and also holds 
mendjcrship in various societies and ass.jciations. In 
1S75, 'ic "'^s appointed Collector of Cnited States Internal 
Revenue for the District of Rhode Island, which office 
he still holds. ( )n the reorganization of the Rhode Island 
militia, in 1S79, he was unanimously elected Brigadier- 
General for the State, receiving his commission June 2^, 
1879. Valualile liiographical and historical p;.i)ers have 
emanatetl from lii^ pen. 



T.\Ri'V, FRI-nrRIi'K I., manufacturing jeweller, 
;; son of Itliamar and Mary I,. (Smith) Marcy, 
"^fX^ "'■'•'' '""■"• ^'-ly '3' '8.iS, at Hartland, Windsor 
,;,)'L County. \'ermont. His father, a native of Wind- 

el sor, was a well-to-do farmer and a man of 

some jjrominence, having served as selectman and in 
other official positions. His mother, a native of Cornish, 
New Hampshire, was a daughter of Benjamin Smith, wdio 
owned and occujiied a large homestead estate, which he had 
inherited from his ancestors, who were among the thst set- 
tlers of Cornish. Mr. Marcy was eilucated in the schools 
of his n.itive town. He remained on the farm with his 
failier until he was twenty-one years of age, and in 1S59 
went to Medheld, Massachusetts, where for four years he 
was in the employ of I). Hoisington, a dealer in tinware. 
In January, 1S64, he removed to Attleboro, Massachusetts, 
and accepted a position as travelling salesman w ith James 
II. Sturdy, a manufacturing jeweller, and at the expiration 
of one year became his partner. In July, 1865, Mr. Marcy 
.ami Mr. W. .-V. Sturdy bought out James II. Sturdy, and for 
two years continued the business as Sturdy &- Marcy. On 
the 1st of .\ugust. 1S67, Mr. Marcy disposed of his interest 
to his partner, and, with Mr. James H. Sturdy, went to 



Pro\'idence, jairchased the machinery anrl tools in the manu- 
factory of W. Haskell \ (."o., 95 Pine Street, and again be- 
gan to manufacture jewelry, under the ohl lirm-name of 
Sturdy lS; Marcy. I)uring the continuance of this partner- 
ship. Mr. Marcy travelleil extensively as salesman and suc- 
ceeiled in aci|uiring a large trade. On the 1st of January, 
1877, .Mr. Sturdy sold hi, interest to Mr. Marcy, and one 
year tliereafter tiie latter associated with him Mr. Charles 
1 1. Smith, who for about nine years had been in his employ 
as salesman, and the business has since been conducted 
under the firm-name of Fred. I. Marcy & Co. Mr. Marcy 
has had a very successful business career, and stands 
high in public estimation. He has served acceptably in 
various official capacities. In Novemiier, 1878, he was 
elected a meml)cr of the Common Counci' of Providence, 
from the Sixth Ward, ami re-elected in 1S79. In April, 
lS7S,he was elected, for two years, a member of the Provi- 
dence School Committee, and was appointed by the Com- 
mon (;.Hincil, chairman of the Committee on Education, 
January i.iSSo. January I, 1879, he wasappointed a niem- 
lier of the Committee on Parks from the Common Council, 
and re-appointed January i, 18S0. Since I Ictober, 1878. 
he has been one of the managers of the (.)ld Men's Home 
of Providence. I In the 30th of June, 1S79, he was elected 
a director of the Rhode Island National Bank; and has 
been President of the Retort Gas .Stove Company of Provi- 
dence since its organi,^ation. Mr. Marcy has been a niem- 
lier of the Masonic fraternity since April, 1S65, having 
united with the Bristol Lodge at North Attleboro, Massa- 
chusetts, from which he withdrew in 1871 to unite with 
the E/ekiel Bates Lodge at Attleboro, with which he Ciin- 
tinued until 1876. when he became one of the charter 
members of the Adelphoi Lodge, No. 3;, of Providence, 
with which he is still connected, November 4. 1869. he 
was exalted in Providence Royal .\rch Chajiter No. i. 
Since 1870 he has been a nieniber of .'^t. John's Com- 
mandery \o. i. Knights Templar, Providence. He mar- 
ried, I Ictober 18, 1S71, Mary Jane Woodward, daughter of 
Ca|>tain Henry ami Jane (Cornell) Wooilward, of Hart- 
land. Vermont. They have had three children, Fred. 
Albert, born Meccmber 27, 1873; Harry Woodward, born 
June 28, 1876 ; ami Waller Cornell, born I Ictober 4, 1S78, 
and died June 17, 1.S81. The family are regular attend- 
ants at the Union Congregational Church of Providence, 
to which, and to various other religious and charitable ob- 
jects, Mr. Marcy is a liberal contributor. 



i(?.'\RNEV, C. Hl^NRY, Adjutant-General of the State 

^^^^. of Rhode Island, son of Caleb Randall and Sarah 

ppl Humphrey (Medbery) Barney, was born in Prov- 

t\h idence, January 10, 1S44. His father was a carpen- 

4*' ter by trade, and a member of the Barney family of 

Barneysville, in Swansey, Massachusetts. He was educated 





/ 



u 



^/ 



O^r 




BIOGRAPHICAL CYCIOPEDIA. 



575 



in tlie public scliools \i{ l'ici\i<lcnce. aiul nftL-r cumjik-tinj^ 
his bludies at the High School remained at hiinic, following 
the ordinary life of a farmer's boy until the breaking out 
of the War of the I<,ebellion. Having a natural fondness 
for military life, and being imliued with the patriotic sjjirit 
of the times, he enlisted in the Fifth Regiment Rhode 
Island Volunteers, or liurnside LJattalion, December 14, 
1861. He soon liecame a corporal, and subsequently a 
sergeant, and took part in the battles of Newbern, Kort 
Macon, Rahl's Mills, Kingston, Whitehall, Goklsboro, and 
the running of the blockade at Washington, North Caro- 
lina. In the summer of 1863 he was recommended by the 
ofTicers of his regiment for the office of second lieutenant, 
and about the same time was offered a commission in the 
Fourteenth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (colored), then 
being organized in tliis State. He chose the latter, and 
was commissioned second lieutenant by Governor Smith. 
He went before the Examining Board at Washington, 
passed as first lieutenant, and was commissioned accord- 
ingly. Soon afterward he organized Company K, of the 
Fourteenth Regiment, which he commandetl until the as- 
signment of its captain, when he received the appointment 
of adjutant of the battalion. He remained in service in 
I^ouisiana until the close of the war, serving at diflerent 
times in the positions of adjutant of the regiment, Post 
Adjutant of the posts of I'laquemine and Donaldsonville, 
and as Acting Assistant /Vdjutant-General of a brigade. In 
October, 1865, he was mustered out of service and bre- 
vetted Captain U. S. V., for meritorious conduct during 
the war. Returning home he was engaged for two years 
thereafter in managing the farm of his grandfather, who 
was then in failing health, and who died in 1867. He 
subsef|uently filletl various clerkships, and in 1875 was 
elected treasurer aiul manager of the Providence Cias- 
Burner Company. That position he held until June I, 
18S0, when he resigned to accept the office of general 
manager of the Inter^ State Telephone Company, whicii he 
now holds. For three years he held the position of Adju- 
tant of I'rescott Post, No. i. Grand Army of the Republic, 
and in 1S77 was elected Commander of the Post. He also 
held the office of Assistant .Adjutant-General of the Depart- 
ment of Rhode Island for three years; was one year Chief 
of Staff of the Department, and for several years repre- 
sented Rhode Island in the National Council of Adminis- 
tration. In 1877 he was elected .Secretary of the Society 
of the Burnside Expedition and of the Ninth Army Corps, 
which office he now holds. In May, 1874, yielding to 
urgent solicitations, he became connected svith the State 
militia, and was appointed Adjutant of the First Eight In- 
fantry Regiment of Providence. This position he held 
until his election, by the General Assembly, March 14, 
1S78, to the office of Adjutant-General of the State of 
Rhode Island, which position he has since occupied. He 
is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and 
for some time has Ijeen junior wartlen of C'hrist Church, 



Providence. On the l6th of April, 1865, he marrieil Mary 
Eavinia Townsend, daughter of John Townscnd, of Pla<jue- 
mine, Eouisiana. Her father was a native of the State of 
New York, and her mother was a descendant of one of 
the old French families of Louisiana. They have had 
three children, Henry Townsend, Sarah Eavinia, and lulia 
Estella, all of w hom are living. 



^^^ARTEETT, Commandkk John Russki.i., Junior, 
^^^^ United States Navy, son of Hon. John Russell 
- ^1 Bartlett, was born in the city of New York, Sep- 
T tember 26, 1843. H<^ entered the United .States 
1e Naval Academy at .\nnapolis, November 25, 1859. 
On the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion in 1861 
he was put into active service as mit-lshipman ; was com- 
missioned an en.sign in .September, 1863; a lieutenant 
February 22, 1864; a lieutenant-commander in July, 1S6O; 
and a commander April 25, 1877. He was engaged in the 
memorable battles of New Orleans and Vicksburg, in the 
squadron under the command of Admiral Farragut. He 
was on the staff of Admiral D.ihlgren at Charleston, and in 
the frigate Sus(|uehaiina at the capture of Fort Fisher by 
the combined attack of the army and navy under General 
Terry and .Admiral Porter. In the attack Lieutenant Bart- 
lett had command of a company of the assaulting parly of 
sailors. He was presented with a vote of thanks by the 
General Assembly of Rhode Island for his part in this vic- 
tory for the Union arms. After the war he served on the 
Brazilian station three years, and on his return was ap- 
pointed an instructor at the United .States Naval .Academy 
at Annapolis, where he remained two years. He next 
served on a special cruise in the Sabine to Europe and 
South America. On his return to the United .Slates in 
1S70 he was asked to accomijany the expedition sent out 
by the government for the survey of the Isthmus of Te- 
luianlepec, under Captain (now Commodore) Shufeldt. 
On this work he had charge of the field party, and after- 
wards relieved Captain Shufeldt, and prepared the maps 
and report of the survey, which was printed by the govern- 
ment in a quarto volume with maps and plates. In Octo- 
ber, 1872, he was ordered as Assistant Ordnance Inspector 
at the Boston Navy Yard, where he remained two years. 
He was attached to the Hydrographic Office in Washing- 
ton for two years, where he w.as employed in writing sail- 
ing directions. His work upon the West Coast of .Africa 
was printed by the United States Hydrographic Office in 
1876. In October, 1877, he w.is ordered as assistant to the 
Chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting at the 
Navy Department. In 1878 he was ordered to the Coast 
Survey, and at the present time (1879) '^ '" command of 
the Coast Survey steamer Blake, employed on the deep- 
sea soundings and the examination of the Gulf .Stream. 
He married, February 6, 1872, Jeanie R., daughter of the 
late Hon. Thomas A. lenckes. 



576 



BIOGRAPniCAL CYCL OPKDIA. 



Si^ARXKKIKI.I). Thomas I'iiki k. lawyer, was Itoni 
in Iloston. Mass.iLluisL'tts. Maich 25, 1.S44. He is 
a sun nf fdhn li.ii iicfiL-M, luiincilv of ( rhiuce-vtei- 
sliirc. Kiit;].in'l, aiiJ ol I-'li/a Ilaylon Thayer, a 
desceii'Tiiil in the scvciuh gciicralmn "jf John 
Allien, one of the I'llgiini^ of Lcydcn, who came in the 
Mayflower to I'lynioiuh in Ht20. When the subject of this 
sketch was seven years of aj^e his father died, leaving the 
family without pecuniary resources. At ten years of ai^e 
he was taken from school and placed on a farm, and had 
only the Hmiteii educational ailvan!aL;es of iIk^ winter terms 
of the di^trict school. In lS')2 he enlisted in the Thirty- 
hllh Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was 
with his compnny through the Itattles of South Mountain. 
Antietam. and I-rederickshurg. After the latter battle he 
was detailed from his regiment to perform provost duty at 
one of the division headipiarters of the Ninth Army Corps, 
and served in this Vnanch of the service through the cam- 
paign in Mississipj.i, which included the battle of Jackson 
and the fall of Vicksburg. liefore his term of enlistment 
was ended he was hon.frably distluirgeil in conseijUence 
of impaired health. Subseipiently he re-entered the ser- 
vice, and a'^sisted in raising a company for the Si\tielh 
Regiment Massachusetts \'oIunteei^. in which he was com- 
missioned a second lieutenant, i le was promoted to the 
first lieutenancy of the same comjiany, and served until 
the end of the w ar. Soon afterward he removed to Paw- 
tucket, Rhode Island, and began the study of law in the 
office of Hon. P. E. Tillinghasi, at the same time giving 
some attention to general newspaper work as a regular cor- 
respondent. He was admitted to the bar in I.S70, and has 
since pursued the practice of haw in Pawtucket. In 1S71 
he was chosen a member of the (."ourt of Magistrates of 
Pawlucket ; in 1879 was elected a menii>er of the General 
Assembly ; and the same year received an appointment as 
Assistant Judge-Advocate General. In 1S79 he was elected 
judge of Probate for the town of Pawtucket. He is a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church in Pawtucket, of which 
he has been treasurer since Ajiril, 1S70, and is now the 
superintendent of its Sunday-school. He married, ( )(_tober 
25, 1S71, Clara Josephine Paine, daugiiler of Joseph H.and 
Frances Paine, of Pawtueket. They have three children: 
Florence May, Harold < 'iiesier, and R.dph 'I iliinghast. 



sSK&lpHITE, Zehiilon Lrwis, A.M., eflitor, son of Zeb- 
irtJPifcS '■"''^" Pierce and Sarah -Chase (Walker) White, 
%\'i;-^'4^ ^^"^"^ '"'111 "1 Xtuton, Massachusetts, July 2-^, 
S) u 1S42. His fattier, born in Norton in iSlo. taught 
oi school! in several towns in l;ii-,iol ("ountv, Ma•^sa- 

cliusetts ; removed in 1S50 to Pawtueket, Rliode Iskuid ; 
became in I.S61 a memlier of the tirin tif Z. P. X: J. S. 
White, iron founders; retired from bu-ine-^ in 18.S0; lias 
been for forty years a '* non resistant." and long active in 
tlie Rhode Island Peace Society. This White family, of 



Fnglisli origin, settled in Pri^tol Countv, Massachusetts, 
siion alter the planting of Plymouth Colony. The mother 
of the subject of this sketch was a daughter of Richmond 
Walker, of Swansev, Massachusetts. The genealogv of 
this lamily has l>een published. Zebulon L. %\ as pre|)ared 
for College in the Pawtucket High School, under Wdliam 
E^. Tolman; entered Tufts College in 1862 and graduated 
[ in 1866, I'olitical economy and metaphysics weie his 
I favorite studies. While in college, during four winter va- 
' cations, he taught school in Swansey village, Massachusetts. 
I After graduation, for one year he was principal of the Cen- 
I tral Falls High School, Rhode Island. Resigning in lStj7, 
' he removed to New \'ork city and became a reporter on 
the New \'ork 7'>j/>iuir' staff. In the autumn ol the same 
i year he became real estate editor of that paper, and in the 
I winter following became assistant city editor. I Hiring a 
]3art of 1S68 he w rote political letters to the Tribute from 
the interior of New York State, and shortly became assist- 
' ant political editor. January i, 1S69, he was appointed 
night editor, and in May following was made day editor. 
In November, 1S70, he was chosen chief Washington cor- 
respondent tif tiiat jiajK-r. a position which he hlled with 
great effiLieiicy till ( )ctober. iSSo. In May, 1S71. he tele- 
graphed to the New \'ork Tribune from Washington the 
full text of the Treaty of Washington, then just signed by 
the Joint High Commissioners of the United States and 
Great Pritain. When summoned before a committee of 
the United States Senate, on refusing to tell where he ob- 
tained a copy of the treaty, he was arrested and arraigned 
' at the bar of ihe Senate. Refusing to answer the interro- 
' gallons of \'ice-Prcsident Colfax, after two days' discussion, 
lie was ordered into elosc custo.ly, but, after an imprison- 
ment of ten days in a room in the Capitol, was released 
by vote of the Senate. Subseipiently, for refusing t<") 
answer the ([uesti'Uis of a Congressional committee, he 
\ was indicted in the criminal cuurt of the District of Colum- 
bia, but the indictment was quashed before arrest. In 
1S72 he had charge "f the force of correspondents sent by 
the Trihioic to rcpoit the national political conventions, 
and spent the summer of that year in travelling and writing 
for the paper political letters from New York State, J'enn- 
svlvania, and Noiih Carttlina. In the spring of 1S73 he 
' made a jriurney thiongh Missouri. Indian Territory, Texas, 
I and Louisiana, for the i>uipose of writing descripti\e letters 
to the yyibiuir, and sj.eiU the summer, till October 1st, in 
! Illinois, Missouii, lovwi, Minnesula, and Wisconsin, writ- 
' ing respecting the "(banger Movement." These letters 
I were subsocpientiy collected and printed in a Trihufie 
extra. In the same autumn he wrote political letters for 
the Trihituc fnim the interior of New York. Most of the 
summer of 1S74 he spent in the " Ku-Klux " regions of 
.Mab.iina, describing alfairs. To this series of letters his 
initials, " /. R. W.,"' were first aftixed. i.)uring the same 
season lie made a trip of five weeks through the regions of 
Minnest.ia and Iowa that were afflicted with the grasshop- 



KIOGKArillCAl. CVCJ.Ol'EniA. 



per plague. The spring of 1875 was spt'iit in inspecting 
the canals of New York and writing criticisms upon the 
contracts for their repair and improvement. Two months 
of the summer were spent in Central Georgia writing of 
the alleged negro insurrection. In the same year he \\'role 
the annual series of letters about the politics of interior 
New York. In 1876 he was the Tribune's chief corre- 
spondent at the national political conventions, and also 
wrote political letters from Maine, Vermont, New York, 
and Pennsylvania, and witnessed the counting of the vote 
of Louisiana in New Orleans in the presence of the 
•' Visiting Statesmen.'' In the same year he wrote a 
series of .special articles on the "Silver Question" that 
attracted wide attention. In the autumn of 1S78 he made 
a trip incog, through the low country of .South Carolina, 
exposing the "tissue-ballot" frauds in the then recent elec- 
tion. From May to November, 1879, he. visited the mining 
regions of Colorado, Dakota, Montana, and Utah. His 
letters written this season were collccteil and published in 
two Tribune extras. In the summer of 1880 he was again 
the Tribune's chief correspondent at the national political 
conventions. The remainder of the season was spent in 
the mining regions of Colorado and New Mexico. His 
letters of this year were collected and reprinted in two 
Tribune extras. During all the winters from 1870 to 1880 
he was in charge of the Tribune's office in Washington, 
D.C.,and was its chief correspondent. In 1861 he united 
with the Universali>t Church in Pawtucket. In 1S78 he 
was chosen trustee of the Universalist Society in Washing- 
ton, and for six years, ending in 1880, he was superinten- 
dent of the Universalist Sunday-school in the same city. 
In 1872 he was elected a trustee of Tufts College, a posi- 
tion which he still holds. He resigned his position on the 
editorial staft'of the New York Tribune October 16, 1S80, 
and became editor of the Pnn'iJence Evening Press and 
the Providence .Morning S/tir,\n Providence, Rhode Island, 
where he is now efTeclively wielding his ready and polished 
pen. He married, January 11, 1871, Emma M. Drum- 
mond, daughter of Malonzo J. Drummond, of New York 
city. She died in Washington, D. C, December 15, 1S79. 
He has four children living; Jennie, Zcbulon L., Jr., Wil- 
liam Penn, and Marguerite. 



^IjpS^.^NN, TuoM.AS Henry, M.D., son of Levi and 

fflf^Wfi Lydia Laurana (Ware) Mann, was horn at North 

"^X^ Wrentham, Massachusetts, April 8, 1S43, being 

-M?^- the eldest of six children. Levi Mann was for 

Jrs several years one of the selectmen of the town of 

Wrentham, and when the new town of Norfolk was set off 

from Wrentham — mainly from North Wrentham — he was 

the first selectman elected in the new town, and held the 

chairmanship of the Board for six years, at the end of which 

time he was obliged to decline a re-election on account of 

the infirmities of age. The subject of this sketch is a 

73 



direct descendant of Thomas Mann, who was the first set- 
tled minister of the town of Wrentham, and from whom 
also descended Horace Mann, the distinguished educator, 
and Thomas and Samuel Mann of Mannville, Rhode Isl- 
and. The homestead in North Wrentliam (now Norfolk), 
where Dr. Mann was born, is a part of the same estate 
which has been in possession of the family since the set- 
tlement of Wrentham, and has never been incumbered by 
a mortgage. The house now standing was erected ninety 
years ago, very near the site of the one owned by I )r. Mann's 
great-grandfather, Mo.ses Mann, which was burnetl to the 
ground while the family were at church. It is built of oak 
throughout, and its timbers were cut, hewn and raised by 
the town's people. Dr. Mann was employed upon the 
farm until he was sixteen years of age, the winter months 
being spent in the district school, where he acquired a 
good common-school education. He subsequently entered 
the High School at Walpole, Massachusetts, and was about 
to graduate when the Civil War began. On the 20th of 
May, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company I, Eigh- 
teenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and partici- 
pated with his regiment in the siege of Yorktown, \'ir- 
ginia, the l>attlL's of Hanover Court-house, the seven days' 
battles in front of Richmond, the second battle of Hull 
Run, the battle of Antietam, the engagement at Fredericks- 
burg, under General Burnside, the battles of Chancellors- 
ville and (lettysburg, and was taken prisoner during the 
battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, only fifteen days 
before the expiration of his term of service. He was pro- 
moted to corporal, and then to sergeant of his company. 
He was held a prisoner for ten months at Andersonville, 
Georgia, and Florence, South Carolina, being exchanged 
two months before the close of the war, March i, 1865. 
After the war he taught school in Masonville, New York, 
one winter, in Ionia, Michigan, one winter, and in North 
Wrentham, one winter. He had charge of the seventh 
ward of the Insane Asylum at Kalamazoo, Michigan, for 
nearly a year, and then entered the office of his uncle. Dr. 
H. M. P.iine, of Albany, as a student of metlicine, at the 
same time attending the Albany Medical College. During 
the years 1869-70 he was Resident Physician at the Albany 
City Dispensary, and received his diploma from the Albany 
Medical College December 24, 1S70. He spent the re- 
mainder of the winter of 1870-71 in the Bellevue Hospital, 
New York, ami commenced the practice of medicine in 
Willimantic, Connecticut, in March, 1871. Having never 
fully recovered from the effects of the sufferings he endured 
in Andersonville prison, his health broke down and he was 
obliged to relinquish a large practice. In the fall of 1S72 
he removed to Block Island, where he remained for four 
years, being the only physician on the Island. In 1876, 
his health having lieen fully restored, he removed to Woon- 
socket, Rhode Island, where he has since been engaged in 
a lucrative practice. I)r. Mann married, March 3, 1S69, 
lulia Backus, daughter of Salmon and Caroline (Burgevin) 



578 



BTO CRA PIIICA L C I VL OPED I A. 



Backus, of Ashford, Connecticut. Their children are Bertha 
Viii^inia, Mary Iwdore. Ji'scphine Caroline. Menry Levi, 
and J'hilip laincs. Mis. M.mii's uncle. ( lencral Henry A. 
BurL,'cvin. -.uccccded (iencral Ward in China, and in an 
engagement was taken prisoner and drow ned in his chains. 
by the Chinese. 

^i^EIIRKNDS, Rev. A. J. F., pastor of Union Con- 
grcL^ational Church, Providence, was born at Nym- 
wegen, Holland, Decemlx-r iS, 1S39. He was 
Ui\-^ tu'ought to this country at an early age l>y his parents, 
•^ V who settled in Pennsylvania, where the family re- 
sided for some time. He was educated at Oenison Uni- 
versity, Granville, Ohio, where he graduated with honor 
in the class of 1S62. Having decided to study for the 
ministi*)', he pursued a theological course at Rochester 
Theological Seminary, from wdiich he graduated in 1865, 
and was ordained July 27th of that year. He first settled 
as pastor of the Baj'tist Church at Yonkeis, New York, 
where he remained untd 1N73. ^\ hen he accepte<l a cnll to 
the First Baptist Church in Cleveland, ( )hio. In these 
pastorates he labored with great success, and by his schol- 
arly attainments, eloquent preaching, and faithful pastoral 
work secured a well earned rc[iutation. In 1874 the de- 
gree i>f Uoctor of Divinity was conferred upon him bv Rich- 
mond College, Virginia. In 1S76, his ecclesiastical views 
having undergonesome modificaiion, he accepted a call to 
become the pastor of the Union Congregational Church in 
Providence, Rhode Island, ni which relation he was installed 
March, iSyb. During his ministry in Providence, which 
stdl continues, he has attained great popularity as a pulpit 
orator; the membershi]) of his church ha> largely increased, 
and mainly through hi-> intluence and exertions a church 
debt of S30.000 has been paid. His preaching has been 
characterized by loyalty to the theological standards of his 
denomination, and yet by the spirit of catholicity in refer- 
ence to the fundamental doctrines of tlie < lunch universal. 
His altitude toward other denoniinalions has bt-'cn marked 
by liberality and k'.ndly feeling. His sermons show ciire- 
ful study and a compruhensive grasji of his subjects. Hi:^ 
\ieus are presented w ith great logical force and perspi- 
cuity, and u ith an earnestness that carries conviction to 
the hearts of his hearerb. His pulpit efforts are unincum- 
bered with notes, and ever exhibit that dignity of manner 
that betits sacred themes. Being an able and entertaining 
extemporaneous debater and successful platform speaker, 
his services have been much in demand on anniversan' 
and other puldic occasions, and his addresses before col- 
lege and missionary societies have been marked by much 
Vigor of thought and a classical style. Dr. Behrends has 
entered into the j'rogressive niovements (.f the day. — not 
Willi the spiiit ot an iconocla-.t, I'ut with a wise disLriinin- 
ation and conservatism, separating the true from the false, 
and the transient from thai of permanent value. A num- 
ber o! his sermons and addresses have been pubhslied. 



During the summer of 1S7S he occupied several months In 
European travel, visiting England and Scotland, traversed 
the Continent, and spent '-onie time at the place of hi-i 
l)irth. His letters from aJMi-ad furnished each week to 
his congregation a very delightful rhumc of his impres- 
sions of foreign scenes, customs, and religious peculiarities. 
He married, August 24, 1S65, Hattie E. Hatch, daughter 
of J. W. Hatch, Esq., of Rochester, New^ York, and has 
three children: Jesse H., Lillian H., and Minnie R. 



I^L'RXEV, Rev. Preston, only son of Ichabod and 
Clarissa Gurnev, was born at South Abington, Mas- 
■.-jJ ■ ■ sachu^etts, March 10. 1843. The (iurneys of Ab- 
'f'-'iy ington are of Engli-^h descent, and were among the 
''v early settlers of the town. Mr. Gurney received the 
rudiments of his education in the public schools of Abing- 
ton ; was for a few months a student at Phillips Academy, 
at I-lxeter, New Hampshire, and for two years at Pierce 
Academy, Middlelmro, Massachusetts. In 1S62 he entered 
Brown I'niversity, and graduated in 1S66. During his 
collegiate career he developed Ci)nsiderable poetical talent, 
and at his graduation was the poet <A Ins class. He studied 
for the Christian ministry at Newton Theological Institu- 
tion, Newton Centre, Massachusetts, where he remained 
one year, and also for two years pursued his theological 
studies privately, under Rev. \VilIiam Hague, D.D., then 
of Boston. In Seiitember, 1S69, he was ordained and in- 
stalled in the pastorate of the Cary Avenue Baptist Church 
of Clielsea. Massachust-tts, wlu-re he remained for four 
years. Alter one year of rest, he, in September. 1S74, be- 
came pastor of the Baj'tist Church at ('entral Falls, Rhoile 
Island, now the Broad Street Bajjtist Church, where he is 
still laboring successfully. Mr. Gurney was instrumental 
in securing the erection of new church edifices in bijth 
pastorates, antl as a result of his earnest ministry, the mem 
bership of both churches gratlually increased, his present 
charge being in a very prosperous condition. He married, 
September 2, 1869, Maria S. Hawes, daughter of I)arius 
Hawes. c»f West Wrentham, Massachusetts. They have 
had but one child, who died in infancy. 



'HURSTON, John Deshon, lawyer, son of Hon. 
Benjamin B. and Frances E. ( Deshon ) Thurston, 
'§',£5-1 " was bi.rn in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. February 
27, 1S42. His father and his grandfather are else- 
where sketched in this volume. He prej-ared for 
college in the city of New London, Connecticut, whither 
his father had removed while he was yet a child, and grad- 
uated from Brown University in the class of 1862. Choos- 
ing the legal juofession he pursued his preliminary studies 
in the law office of Thurston ^: Ripley, in Providence, and 
completed them in the Law School at Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts. He was admitted to the bar in Rhode Island in 




yJ^-Ji- '^- I' t)/-Xl-^-0O^^ 



B I OCR A rUICA I. C YCL OPF.DIA. 



579 



October, 1864, ami lliercin«m l)fcamc a mcnibfr of tlie 
law firm will) which he had previously studieii, and which 
on his admission was changed to Thurston, Ripley & Co., 
his brother, Hon. Henjamin Francis Thurston, being the 
senior member of the firm. He has devoted himself ex- 
clusively to his profession, avoiding politics, although a 
decided Republican. The legal firm with which he is 
connected is one of the most prominent in New England ; 
the senior member, Hon. B. K. Thurston, who devotes 
himself wholly to cases relative to patent-rights, is regarded 
as one of the ablest lawyers in this country in the line of 
his specialty. 



^j^SjOKTER, Rev. Emery Huntington, was born in 
W^^ Lynn, Massachusetts, April 22, 1844. His father 
S^y^ «j was the Rev. Emery Moulton I'orter, a native of 
T -^ Rye, New Hampshire, and his mother, Charlotte 
•P Althea Buxton, of Newbury, Vermont. Mr. Porter 
was educated in the public schools of Fall River, Massa- 
chusetts, where his father was for fourteen years rector of 
the Church of the Ascension. He was prepared for col- 
lege in the High .School, under the thorough instruction 
of Mr. Charles B. Cioff, and in 1862 entered Brown Uni- 
versity, at which insii'ution he graduated in 1866. In 
September of that year he entered the Philadelphia Divin- 
ity School, and graduated in 1869. He was ordained to 
the diaconate in St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, 
Providence, by Bishop Clark, June 27, 1869, and on the 
4th of July following took charge of a new parish in Pon- 
tiac, Rhode Island. On the r4th of June, 1870, he was 
ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Clark, in Grace 
Church, Providence. After serving for fourteen months 
as rector of All Saints Church, Pontiac, he was called to 
St. Paul's Church, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to succeed 
the Rev. Dr. George Taft, who died in 1869. Mr. Porter 
entered upon his duties there, October 2, 1870. He has 
been zealously devoted to his calling, and his ministerial 
career has been uniformly successful. He married, April 
22, .1873, Delia Dyer Weeden, daughter of John Hull and 
Sarah Bowen Weeden, of Pawtucket. 



^REER, Rev. David H., rector of Grace Church 
fe (P. E.), Providence, was born in Wheeling, West 
" v~ "■> Virginia, March 20, 1844. He is the son of Jacob 
T R. and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Greer. He gradu- 
■L ated from Washington College, Peimsylvania, in 
July, 1862; studied for the ministry at Bexley Hall, Gam- 
bier, Ohio; was ordained ^o the diaconate by the Rt. Rev. 
Charles P. Mcllvaine, D.D., LL.D., in June, 1866; and 
during his diaconate had charge of Christ Church, Clarks- 
burg, West Virginia. He was ordained priest at Alex- 
andria, Virginia, in 1868. In the fall of 1868 he accepted 
a call to Trinity Church, Covmgton, Kentucky, and re- 



mained there until the spring of I S7 1 . While m Coving- 
ton he was married to Caroline Augusta Keith, daughter 
of Q. A. and Priscilla D. Keith. In May, 1871, they went 
to Europe, and remained there uniil June, 1S72. Upon 
their return, Mr. (ireer was called to Grace Church, Provi- 
dence, and took charge of the parish, Sunday, September 
15, 1872, and has continued rector of (irace Church to 
the jiresent time. He stands in the front r.uik of preach 
ers. He takes no notes into the pulpit, but his discourses 
are studied and put into form with the utmost care, more 
time being expended upon them than most clergymen 
give who write out their sermons in full. He h.as the re- 
markable power of reproducing in public, not only the 
order of thought which had been premeditated, but very 
much of the language in which that thought came to him, 
and his discourse has all the finish and .accuracy of a writ- 
ten exercise, combined with the freshness and force of 
extempore speech. Mr. Greer is a very outspoken preacher, 
and delivers himself without much regard for the preju- 
dices and prepossessions of his hearers. His singular 
originality of thought always commands attention; you feel 
that he is something more than " an organ of communica- 
tion ;" it is the man who addresses your understanding and 
conscience and heart. In serving his race, he is not re- 
stricted to the boundaries of his own church, but readily 
co-operates with men of different creeds and opinions, 
when others are not disposed to make the way too narrow 
for him. He is a faithful and diligent pastor, and the com- 
munity at large recognize and feel his power, as a valuable 
aid in all great and good enterprises. 



^WfS»|.\RRIS, Rev. Geuroe, pastor of the Central Con- 
^1^^ gregational Church, Providence, Rhode Island, 
*T^x* was born in East Machias, Maine, in April, 1844. 
f f jf His father was George Harris, a lumber manufac- 
I 1 1 turer and ship owner, who died in April, 187(1, at 
the age of seventy-four years, and whose ancestry went to 
Maine from Easton, Massachusetts. His mother's maiden 
name was Mary .-Vnn Palmer. She was born in 1810. and 
is still (1879) living. Her father was Robinson Palmer, 
who died in 1877, at the advanced age of ninety-one years, 
and was a lineal descendant of John Robinson of Leyden, 
Holland, from whose flock the Pilgrims on the Mayflower 
were gathered, and for whom Mr. Palmer w.is named. Her 
mother, Harriet Allen, was descended from Thomas Noble, 
who emigrated from England about the year 1653, and 
settled in Westfiekl, Massachusetts. Her great-grandfather 
was the Rev. Oliver Noble, a Congregational clergyman, 
who married the daughter of Abijah Weld, who, for nearly 
fifty years was pastor of the Congregational Church in At- 
tleborough, Massachusetts. Mr. Weld had a family of seven 
daughters, all of whom married ministers. The subject 
of this sketch united with the church in 1S64 ; graduated at 
Amherst College in r866; studied theology for one year at 



s8o 



BIOGRAPHICAL CYCL OPED/A. 



Hanrjnr, Maine, ami then L-ntcicci Andovcr Theological 
Seminary, where he euntiniied hi^ studies fur two years, 
ijraduating at that institution in 1S09. 1 k- w as ordained 
Oetober 6, iSM), and installed pavtor ..f the High Street 
Congregational Church, Aiilnuii, Maine, where he lemained 
tintil January, 1S72. lie was installed pastor of the Cen- 
tral Congregational Church, I'rovidence, PY'bruary 20, 1S72. 
He was married, December 24, 1873, to |ane A. Viall, 
daughter of C..lonel William and Maiy I!. .\, \'iall, of 
I'rovidence. Mr. Harris is an earnest, eloi|uent and prac- 
tical preacher, and his pastoral l.ibors in i'id\iflence and 
elsewhere have been attended with gratifying success. He 
is a director in seseral ilenominational societies, ami is ever 
ready to lend his aiil and inlUience in support of all move- 
ments calculated to advance the cause of Christianity, and 
to proninte the welfare and happiness of his fellow-men. 
He travelled in Kurope with his wife in 1S7S, mid in iS7(). 



tober 6, 1S76. " His pure and scholarly character won for 
him friends in a foreign land, who gave him every atten- 
tion and nursed him with the tenderest care." 



^jpiSgOGGESHALI., Rev. P'rilfkorn, son of f'recborn 
M^^ and Eli/a S. (Sherman) Coggeshnll, was Ixirn in 
'.I'l"" Newport, December 31, 1845. Early in hi, life his 
^ay parents removed to Providence. He prepared for col- 
H lege in the excellent High School of that city-, and 
graduated at Brown University in l8r>7, taking the honors 
of his class and pronouncing the valedictory addresses at 
the commencement of that year. Soon after his graduation 
he became a member of the ( ieiieral Theological Seminary 
of the city of New York, w here he took the full three years' 
prescribed course of study, graduating in 1S70. While 
Connecteil with the Seminary he spent a lew months in 
England, and in a tour through siune parts of Continental 
Europe. He received deacon's Orders in the Episco]ial 
Church at the hands of Bishop Clark, June 12, 1870, and 
took charge of a missionary station at Elmwiiod, in Provi- 
dence. Bishop Odenheimer of New Jersey admilled liim 
to piresbyter's orders Uecemlier 22, 1S71, and he was set- 
tled nearly a year as assistant rector in the " House 
of Prayer," in the city of Newark, New Jersey. From 
Newark he removed, in October, 1872, to Boston, to accept 
an appointment as one of the assistant rectors of the Church 
of the Advent. His connection with this church closed in 
June, 1874, to enable him to cari7 out a cherished [ilan of 
pursuing theological and other studies at the University of 
()\ford, England. While thus engaged he was occupied 
also as a mission-priest of the Society of St. lohn the 
Evangelist. He had charge also of morning religious 
services in (Is ford and the neighboring villages. Two 
year, were thus employed, most happily for himself and 
with sjiiritual jiroht to those to whom he ministered. 
The ]ilan was nearly completed which was to have carried 
him across the ocean to his home, when he was stricken 
down by disease, and a life which was full of promise, and 
bade fair tube one of great usefulnes-,. was terminated Oc- 



§5p?ACKSON, W.M.TER M., M.D., second son of Hon. 
Jjj'lp Charles and Phebe (Tisdale) Jackson, was born in 
■ ! I - "' Providence, August 24, 1842. He was edncaied 
. J, . at Mount Pleasant Institute at Amherst, Massachu- 
yly setts, which institution he left at the age of seven- 
teen, and. as a nominal assistant engineer, was sent to Ari- 
/on.i and .Mexico, in the einpl.iy of the Arizona Mining 
( 'ompiany. \\ here he remained aliout two years, piassing 
through the varied experiences of frontier life, and returned 
to "the States" ONerland,on horseback, reaching .St. Louis 
the day of the first battle of Bull Run. Immediately upon 
his return he enlisted in the Tenth Rhode Island Infantry, 
and served three months in and about W.ashington. At the 
expiration of his term of ser\ ice he was apjiointed Seccmd 
Lieutenant of Com|iany C, Second Rhode Islan.I Cavalry; 
was subiscipieiitly promoted to adjut.mt of his regiment, 
and served in the Department of the <_iulf, under General 
Banks, until after the surrender of Vicksburg and Port 
Hutlson. Upon the consolidation of the remnant of his 
regiment with the First Louisiana Cavalry he resigned his 
commission and returned to Providence, shortly before the 
close of the war. He then commenced the study of medi- 
cine with Dr. .\. H. I Ikie, of Providence, and entered 
Harvard Medical School, from which he graduated in the 
class of i868-0((. Immediately after gratluating he re- 
moved to Chicago, where he practiced his profession for 
about t\\o years, achieving fpiite a reputation there as a 
surgical operator, and also ac<piiring literary notoriety by 
an extensive series of contributions to the C/iiiugo Times. 
His profession ofiered so little scope for his mechanical 
anil philosophical taste that he relinquished its active prac- 
tice, and returned to Providence to engage in the introduc- 
tion of^ the jiiocess of generating hydrogen gas from the 
decoinpositifui of water by sulphuric aciti aiul iron, ami 
carburetting the same for illuminating purposes. After en- 
gaging experimentally in this direction about a year he 
aliandoned the j.irocess as expensive and impracticable, and 
returned to the practice of his profession, in which he con- 
tinued for several years, in Providence, rapidly acquiring a 
rejtutation as a surgeon, and ])erforming some luited opera- 
tions. In 187b he invented a new process for burning gas 
for heating purposes, and patenteil what is known as the 
Retort Burner, now* extensively in use all over the worUl. 
He again abandoned the practice of surgery and gave his 
whole attention to experimental mechanism relating to 
philosophy antl chemistry, taking out numerous patents 
upon his inventions. Dr. Jackson enjoys an extended 
reputation for varied and thorough information, and his 
opinion on matters connected with science is held in high 
esteem. He has for many years believed the problem 



^ 





/t/OGA'.t /'///C.I/. CYCL 0/'E/)/.4. 



5S' 



practicnlile of converting static prcsMirc into dynamic force, 
and has expended much time and money in experiments in 
this direction. He is ihorougly versed in the chemistry 
and practical management of gas. His latest inveniion is 
a process for combining, mechanically, the light products of 
petroleum with combustible gases in such a manner as to 
render practical the burning of such gases for heat and light ; 
and coupled with the process, he has already invented 
apparatus for the difit-rent purposes for which such gas m,\y 
be used, these including an exact imitation of the English 
cannel-coal fire; a steam engine run without engineer or 
boiler; a practical machine for street lights, and its appli- 
cation to steamships, railroad and horse cars. Besides the 
inventions mentioned, he has taken out various patents for 
other improvements in mechanical art, some of which he 
has voluntarily abandoned, others now being in successful 
operation. He was married, November 29, iS6g, to Amelia 
(Joslee, a lady of strong character and intelligence, daughter 
of Ge'orge Goslee, an English gentleman of culture r 
wealth. Thev have two children, Edward and Isabel. 



i&? 



?(")PKIN.S, Addison Sidnf.y, son of Hon. 11. L. 
ami Ainey Ann (Smith) Hopkins, was born in 
Scituate, Rhode Island, August 3, 1844. He at- 
^^%- tended the public schools untd the age of fourteen, 
fii when he entered Nicholas Academy, at Dudley, 
Massachusetts, where he spent one year, and in iSSj gradu- 
ated from the New Hampton Literary and Biblical Institute, 
at New Hampton, New Hanipshire. After preparing for 
college he inclined to a business life rather than a literary 
or professional career, and therefore pursued the full course 
of studies in Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, 
New York, from which institution he graduated in Decem- 
ber, 1864. He then entered the office of A. Hopkins & 
Co., as bookkeeper, which position he occupied about four 
years, and at the same time, when not occupied in the 
office, spent his spare hours in the shop in order to acquire 
a more thorough knowledge of the business of manufactur- 
ing spindles, w ith the details of which he had previously be- 
come somewhat familiar. In 1S6S he became a partner in the 
concern, and for several years kept the books and attended 
to other matters in connection with the business. He was 
finally intrusted with the general management of the affairs 
of the firm. In 1876 a flood, caused by the breaking away 
of the Clear River reservoir dam, carried away some of the 
buildings of the manufactory, the damage resulting there- 
from amounting to nearly twelve thousand dollars; but 
the works were soon rebuilt, and their facilities materially 
augmented. A brass foundry was also adiled in iSSi. 
For over forty-six years the business has been managed by 
some member of the family, and since 1876 it has been 
carried on by James A. Potter and Addison S. Hopkins, 
under the old firm-name of A. Hopkins & Co. With the 
exception of one or two instances, those composing the 



present corps of help have been in the employ of the firm 
from five to thirty years. It has always been the policy of 
the firm to avoid changes in employes, and to give no em- 
ployment to persons of immoral or intemperate habits, to 
which fact is largely attributed the success of the business. 
There is not, nor has there been, a drinking saloon in the 
village, and almost without exception the einployes have 
been native Americans. Mr. Hopkins is a member of the 
Freewill Baptist Church at Pascoag, and has been super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school for several years. He is a 
strong temperance man, and has done much to advance the 
interests of the cause. Mr. Hopkins married, September 
7, 1865, Juliette E., daughter of Angel and Sarah (Ballou) 
Sayles, of Hurrillville. They have two children, Waldo 
Augustus and Horatio .\ngel. 




ILLINGHAST, W.arren Hknry, D.D.S., .son of 
Hon. Joseph and I.ydia Searle ( Nicholas) Tilling- 
hast, of Coventry, Rhode Island, was born at 
f ^ West Greenwich, Rhode Island, May 29, 1843. He 
1 1 is a lineal descendant of Rev. Pardon Tillinghast, 
who came lo this country from Seven Cliffs, England (his 
native place), in November, 1645, settled in Providence, 
and married Lydia Tabor of Tiverton. Tradition says that 
Pardon Tillinghast was a soldier in Cromwell's ariny. He 
built the first house for religious worship in Providence, 
and deeded it to the church in 171 1. His eldest son, Par- 
don, settled in F'renchlown, East Greenwich, and was a 
very large landholder. He died in October, 1743. His 
eldest son, John, was also a farmer, and after residing for 
several years in East Greenwich, removed to West Green- 
wich, where he died, in October, 1770. John Tillinghast 
was married three times, and was the father of ten chil- 
dren. His fourth son, Charles, who was born in East 
Greenviich, in .\pril, 1729, and settled in (^uidnesett Neck, 
was taken from his home at night by the British .soldiers, 
in December, 1776, and carried to Newport, and thence to 
Block Island, where he died from consumption caused by 
exposure on the night of his abduction. His eldest son, 
Pardon, familiarly known as " Deacon Pardon," who was 
born in June, 1763, and died in November, 1816, was a 
farmer, and during most of his life resided in West Green- 
wich. His son Charles, who was born in West Greenwich, 
September 16, 1787, also became a farmer, and is now liv- 
ing at Greene, Rhode Island. Charles Tillinghast married, 
in i8o8, Mary Spooner. They had nine children, the third 
of whom is the Hon. Joseph Tillinghast, of Coventry, 
father of the subject of this sketch. Warren H. was em- 
ployed on his father's farm until he was twenty years of 
age, attending the district school during the winters, and 
after pursuing a course of study in Bryant & Stratton's 
Commercial College in Providence, spent about five years 
successfully in mercantile pursuits. In 186S he entered the 
office of L. P. Shattuck, M.D., dentist, in Providence, where 



582 



BIOGKArmCAI. CYCI. OrEDIA. 



he remained about tliiee years, and aci|uired a thorough 
practical know ledge of nieclianical, surgical, and operative 
dentistry. In the fall of 1S70 he established an office at 
Olneyville, adjoining Providence, where he remained about 
six years ami acquiretl a large and remunerative practice. 
Determined to thoroughly master his business, he contin- 
ued his studies as opportunity ofl'ered. and after attending 
lectures, gradnatei-1 at Boston I>eiital College, Marcli 3, 1S73. 
In order to secure a more central location he renio^eil his 
office, in 1S77, to Westminster Street, I'rc.ividence, where 
he now enjoys an extensive patronage. For several years 
he has given his professional services to the jiatrons of the 
Homreojiathic Dispensary of Providence, and has been 
notably charitable and helitful to any one in need. Hav- 
ing devoted himself assiduously to his business, he has 
attained a good reputation for professional skill and effi- 
ciency. Llr. Tillinghast is a member rif [he Merrimac 
Valley Dental Association, of the Rhode Island Dental 
Association, of the AUnnni ,\ssuciatit)n of the Bostrin 
Dental College, anil also of the .Vmerican Dental Associa- 
tion. For many years he has been a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, and has taken an active interest in the 
order. He was the originator of Ionic Lodge, at Greene, 
Rhode Island, of which he was for two years master. He 
is a niemlier of the Scituate Royal Arch Chapter and of 
St. John's Commandery of Providence, and is also a mem- 
ber of the Independent ( )rder of Cdd Fellows. He mar- 
ried, Novendjer, 1S74, Mary E., daughter of Augusta Y.. 
and Barbary .S. (King) Field, of Scituate, Rhode Island, 
a lineal tiescendant of William P'ield, of Field's P(.)int. 
They have one son, Bertley. Dr. Tillinghast is an ener- 
getic and enterprising citi/en, heartily in sympathy with 
all movements calculateil to ])romote the welfare of the 
community. 



gjlpILI.SI iN, ( li_i,vs Al.I.I'N, cashier of the Wevbosset 
Sjjlll^ National Bank, Providence, son of Deacon Allen 
A.-- ' Bennett and Abby (Hunt) Jillson, was born in 
j Wounsocket, Rhode Island, August 13, 1S45. He is 
■i a descendant, in the si.\th generation, of lames yill- 
son, of Rehoboth (ncjw Attleboro), Massachusetts. For 
several generations the Jillsons were holders of large tracts 
of land in diat iiortion of Woonsocket called L'nion District, 
and in Belbnghani, Massachusetts, and were influential 
citizens of Cumberland, Rhode Island. .Some of them 
filled imi«iitanl civil ofiices. Cenerally they were members 
of the .Society of Friends. L'riah JilKon, great-grandson 
of James jillson, and great-grandfather of Ollys A., was 
born May 8, 1750. He was a strict adherent to the doc- 
trines of the .Society of P'rientis, and in the period of the 
Revolution was arrested and taken to New port, where he 
was kept in cust.idy, with others of like f.iilli, for rel'using 
to take up arms, but fiualy released without being com- 
pelled to compromise his religious views. Mr. lillson's 



mother is a descendant of Enoch Hunt, one of the first 
settlers of Weymouth, Massachusetts, who came to this 
country from Bucks County, England, and was admitted a 
freeman at Newport, in 163S, on the first settleinent of the 
Island of Rhode Island. Her father was Nathaniel Hunt, 
of Webster, Massachusetts, son of Captain Nathaniel Hunt, 
of Seekonk, Massachusetts, who was a noted and success- 
ful ca] tain in making vo\ages to the East Indies. Her 
uncle, .Vbrain Hunt,wasa State Senattu' in New \'ork,autl 
lor several years was treasurer of tlial State. Mr. Jillscm 
was educated in the Woonsocket High School and at the 
New London Literary and Scientific Institution, New Lon- 
don, New Hampshire. Daring his student life at home he 
iriade himself known to the citizens of Woonsocket as a 
newsboy, being thus employed for about six years. In 
1S64 and lS6s he was engaged in teaching at Sunajiee, 
New Hampshire, and at i'ro\ incetown. Massachusetts. 
He afterwaril removed to Waterford, Massachusetts, where 
for some time he was bookkeeper in the woollen mill of 
Evans, .Seagrave & Co., of Providence. In 1807 he entered 
the Weybosset National Bank, in Providence, as liook- 
keeper, and after serving for eight years in that capacity, 
was elected cashier of that institution, April 20, 1S71;, 
which position he still holds. In 1858 he united with the 
Woonsocket Baptist Church, and in 1870 transferred his 
membership to the Cranston .Street Baptist Church, in 
Providence, in which he is a constituent member, and was 
the first clerk of the sttciety, which office he has continued 
to fill until the present time. Ha\ing early developed su- 
perior musical talent, he also has had charge of the music 
of the church and Sabbath-school as chorister and leatler, 
in which department he has rendered valuable service. 
He married, May 17, 1871, Clara Louisa Ladd, yomigest 
daughter of Joseph Warren and Almy (Wicks) Ladd, of 
Providence, formerly of Warwick, Rh'ide Island, and has 
one son, Harold Ladd JilKon. 



^VMAN, Coi.ciNEi. D.^NIKL W.^NTON, was born in 
Providence, Rhode Island, January 24, 1844, and 
is the only son of the late Henry Bull and Caroline 
I I L>yer) Lyman. He traces his descent from an Eng- 
J' lish family of ancient extraction, and his ancestors in 
this country were among the early settlers of New England, 
as will be seen by reference to the biographical sketch of 
his father, which also appears in this volume. He received 
his preparatory education in the private and public schools 
of Provit.lence, and iit 1S60 entered Brown thiiversity, 
w here he continued his studies for three years. He has de- 
voted much attention to military matters, and has taken an 
active and prominent part in politics. In 1S63 he was 
commissioned Captain of Company D, First Regiment, 
Second Brigade, Rhode Island Militia, and subsequently 
ser\ed as adjutant of the regiment, and as major and aid- 
de-camp on the staff of Major-General Charles T. Roh- 




( . ,/ 



r / / r ,^ / / ^ r 



BWGKArmCAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



583 



biiK, Coniniainlin^ l>ivi-sion of Klioile Islaml Mililia. (_ln 
the 25th of May, 1869, he was commissioned colonel and 
aid-cie-cani[) on (he staff of Governor Seth Pailelford, 
which position he held until May 27, 1873. In 1876 he 
was elected State Senator from North Providence, and 
again re-elected in 1879 and 1S80. While a member of 
that body he was chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Mililia, and was a member of the Joint Standing Com- 
mittee on Printing. Colonel Lyman is a heretlilary mem- 
ber of the Rhode Island State Society of Cincinnati, in 
which he takes a deep interest. For several years he has 
been a director of the Providence Dyeing, Pleaching and 
Calendering Company, with which corporation his father 
was coimected in a similar capacity for nearly twenty years. 
He resides in the old homestead of his ancestors in North 
Providence, where much of his time is devotcil to agricul- 
tural pursuits. 

^^KARDNER, Clarf.nck Trii'I', physician and surgeon, 
S^^r son of Dr. Johnson and Phebe L. (Lisson) Gard- 
\S'' ner, was born October 24, 1844, in that part of 
H^ Seekonk which now forms a part of East Provi- 
•'* Hence, Rhode Island. He attended the common 
school in his native town until he was nine years of age, 
when the family removed to Pavvtucket, Rhode Island, 
where he pursued his studies in the Grove .Street Grammar 
School and the Pawtucket High School. In i860 he en- 
tered Brown University, where he remained until the com- 
mencement of the Civil War in 1861, when he joined the 
First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, under 
command of Colonel Burnside, and went to the defence of 
Washington. At the CNpiration of his term of service he 
immediately re-enlisted in the Third Rhode Island Heavy 
Artillery as first sergeant, and was promoted, July 8, 1862, 
to the rank of second lieutenant. He was soon afterward 
promoted to first lieutenant, and transferred to Battery 
B, First United States AitUlery, which for a time he com- 
manded, and resigned October 24, 1863. On retiring from 
the army he immediately entered Harvard Medical .School, 
where he remained until the autumn of 1864, when, as 
acting assistant surgeon, he again entered the United 
States service, under a call for twenty assistant surgeons 
from Harvard Medical School. In this capacity he was 
assigned to the Light Artillery Brigade of the Twenty- 
fifth Army Corps, under Captain Langdon of the First 
United States Artillery. He served in the Army of the 
Potomac, the Army of the James, and the Department of 
the South, and was in many engagements, among which 
were the first battle of Bull Run, Port Royal, James Island, 
siege of Pulaski, Morris Island, Fort Wagner, Fort tiregg. 
Fort Sumter, Petersburg, and Appomattox Court-house. 
He was finally mustered out of service May 4, 1865. .Soon 
after his return from the war he re-entered Harvard Med- 
ical School in the fall of 1865, and in 1866 graduated with 
the degree 0/ Doctor of Medicine. The same year h& was 



admitted a member of the Rhode Island Slate Medical 
Society and of the Providence Medical Association. He 
served for some time as secretary of the former, and was 
for one year — from March 2, 1874 — president of the latter. 
In his thirteen years of successful practice Dr. Gardner has 
gained a well-merited rei>utation as a faithful physician and 
skilful surgeon. He has performed most of ihe operations 
known lo all departments of surgery with such marked suc- 
cess as to cause him to be widely known. In 1873 he was 
commissioned Surgeon of the First Light Infantry Regiment 
of Providence, which position he occupied for four years, 
after which he was elected a member of the honorary staff. 
On the 13th of May, 1S62, he married Mary Frances Haw- 
kins, daughter of Albert and Julia (Bourn) Hawkins, of 
Pawtucket, Rhode Island. They have one son, Clarence 
Howard Gardner, who is now a student at Mow ry and 
Goff's Classical School in Providence. 



IJ^KANKIN, Francis Hi-niincton, M.D., was born 
M^^ at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, New York, September 
',f:5'*r 25, 1845. H''' grandfather, Henry Rankin, was 
''i^*';"' a .Scotch merchant, who came to this country in 
J Is early manhood. The old homestead, " Berry Hill," 
near Kilsyth, Scotland, was in possession of his ancestors 
for nearly five hundred years. He became a wealthy 
and prominent merchant in New York city, and was asso- 
ciated in business with John Jacob Astor, Gardner G. How- 
land, Jesse Hoyt, and others. He wa.s a man of sterling 
integrity and strong religious devotion, traits of character 
for which his family were distingu-shed. His son, Robert 
Gosman Rankin, the father of Dr. Rankin, was horn in 
New York city in 1806, graduated at Yale College, and 
then studied law in the office of Chancellor Kent, finishing his 
legal studies in the renowned law school of judges Reeves 
and Ciould, in Litchfield, Connecticut, and commenced the 
practice of law in New York city. He there married 
Laura Wolcolt, daughter of the Hon. Frederick Wolcott, 
a man noted for his intellectual gifts and high moral qual- 
ities. Mr. Rankin was an ardent student of natural science, 
fond of literary and scientific pursuits; a great promoter of 
educational enterprises ; public-spirited ; generous and active 
in every philanthropic and religious work ; a man of cul- 
ture, fine sensibilities, and extensive reading. For thirty- 
one years he was a regent of the University of New York, 
and was also connected with several of the prominent rail- 
roads and scientific enterprises of the day. He afterward 
removed to Fishkill, where for many years he was engaged 
in manufacturing interests, and later took up his residence 
in Newburgh, on the opposite bank of the Hudson, where 
he died August 29, 1878. Dr. Rankin's mother belonged 
to a family distinguished in the Colonial and Revolutionary 
history of our country, and connected with many families 
of distinction throughout New England. Her grandfather, 
Oliver Wolcott, was one of the signers of the Declaration 



584 



pjoi;k,i nncA i. cycl opedia. 



tif I?iiU']'cn(leiK-e, ntnl his son ( )Ii\'fr was Secretary of llie 
'I'lcasury tUiriii^ \V.is!iini;ton's ndniinistration. ITcr mother 
was a claii^'hter of (.'olonel hishiia Hiintini;ton. of Nor- 
wich, t'onnectiiul, who^e family was also rc)ircseiited 
amutiL; the siL^iirrs \\\ the person of Sanniel Iliintini^ton. 
Both families took a cons[>K uoiis |iarl in the military ami 
political history of New Ennlaml. and five of Mrs. fian- 
kiii's ancestors — four of whom were ^Volcotls — were Gov- 
ernors of Connecticnt. The first Wolcott (Henry) came 
over in Ifijo ami was one of ihe first f'olonial magistrates, 
a man of consiilerahle jiroiierty, the greater part of w hich 
he spent in hriiiLjinL; out tile colony of which he was a 
meml'cr. The oM Wolcott house at Litchfield "witnessed 
many a notalile ^atherinf; beneath its roof. Thither often 
came Urother Jonathan — as \VasliinL;ton loved to c.ill (;o\- 
ernor Trumbull — to talk over [luMic affairs with its hos- 
pitable owner," and \Vashint;toii himself was once its 
yuest. There were bn.ui^lit ihe remains of the leaden 
statue of Ceorge HI., wlih li the Sons id' Liberty had 
jailled down from its pedestal in the liou lini; ( ireen in 
New \'ork, and which the daughters of the ( 'rovernoi , Mrs. 
Kankin's aunts, assisieil by the village ladies, moulded 
into bullets lor the Cipiitinental army. .Some of the car 
tMdy;es were sent to lleneial I'liinam on the Hudson, and 
some distributed to the t ps who ojiposed Tr\on's in- 
vasion. In Ihe wools of a facetious writer of the day, 
"the Kin;_;'s troops ha.l melted majesty fired at them." 
])r. I'raiicis H iiiitinL;l(m Kaiikin is one of a large familv 
of sons and daughters. In his early manhood he mani- 
lesied a decided preference for the profession which lie 
has since ado|)ted. He pursued his classical studies at the 
College of the City of New \'ork, and took his diploma as 
Doctor of Medicine at the medical department of the New- 
York University in the spring of 1S69. Shortly aflerwanl 
he went aliroad, wlieie he s].ent a year i.i llie hospitals of 
\'ienna. .Soon after the breaking out of the !• ranco-rnis. 
sian war of 1.S70-71, he went to Llerlin, where he received 
an a|ipointment as acting assistant surgeon in the I'russian 
army, and was stationed in the large military hospitabbar- 
racks in the suburbs of Berlin. After serving as assi-tant 
lor a short time, he became acting full surgeon, (.hi his 
riturn to America he received the "steel medal of thanks" 
from the Prussian government. He commenced the prac- 
tice of medicine in New \'ork city in the sunimei of 1S71, 
and during his hr-l year's practice held a posiiioii as As- 
sistant Inspector on the New \ uxV Iloard of Heallli. Ik- 
was subsec|Ueiitly connected with the New \'ork Hospital 
for Diseases of the Nervous S\steni, the Manhattan Eye 
and Ear Hospital, the Ilemilt, Children's, Northeast Iiis- 
pensaries, and several other in,titiiticuis. He was also 
tutor and assistant to the chair of Materia Mcdica in 
the medical deiiarlnunt of the New Vork L'liiversity. 

Ill the summer of iMjo he re \ed to N.wpoil, Rhode 

Island, and entered into paitiielship with I ir. .Vustm L. 
Sands, a distinguished physician of that place, w ho died 



in Cairo, Egypt, in 1S77. (In the nth of November, 
1S79, Dr. Rankin married (irace Voorhis, daughter of 
Jacob \'oorliis, Jr., of New ^■ork, a descemlant of one of 
the early Ivnickerbocker settlers. 



^^LAIvESLEE, Rkv. Fr.a.nci.s Durhin, A.M.. a min- 
ister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, ami 
principal of ( ireenwich Academy, was born in 
i Broome County, New ^'ork, Eeliruary I, 1S46. His 
}■ father was a devoted and successful minister of the 
same denomination, well known and reverently remem- 
bereil in I'ennsylvaiiia and New York throughout the re- 
gion iiicludeil in the Wyoming Annual Conference. His 
paternal giandfathei w as an early emigrant to Lennsylvauia 
from Vermont. ( )ii his mother's side, also, he conies of 
New England ancestry. Her father, when a young man, 
went from Cumberland, Rhode Islaiul, to the rennsyhania 
wilderness, where he established his home and became a 
pioniineiit citi/en. With New England blood in his veins, 
and the tiarlitional ideas of New England entering so 
largely into his early life and subseijueut training, it is with 
satisfaction tli.it he finds here the principal field of liis 
labors. His education was acipiired in various coiiiitiv 
and \illage schools, in Wy<:miing .Seminary, tiniler the di- 
rectum of that widely honored educator, Dr. Reuben Nel- 
son, and in Oenesee College, under the presidency of Dr. 
J. W. Liiiilsay, now the eminent Ileaii of the (^'i^llege of 
Liberal .Arts of the Boston University. He took his degree 
in 1N72, one \ear after the completion of his course, from 
Syracuse L'niversity, which v\-as the outgrowth of Genesee 
College. Previously he had been a school teacher, a gov- 
ernment clerk in the arni\' and in Washington, the principal 
of a Union school, and a successful jiastor. ,\fter com- 
pleting his College Course, he was a pastor m Livingston 
t.'ouiity. New- \'ork, until I-S7^, when he was elected to 
the position wdiicli he now ludds, principal of Cireeiiwich 
Academy, at East Greenwich, Rhode Island. This not^il 
school, founded in I.S02, has contributed no iinworthy 
share of the educational fince and credit of New England. 
It is not too much to sa\- that during his seven years in this 
position, a longer time than it was ever before held by one 
man, the school has achieved a regeneration and success 
not surpassed in any p.erioil of its history. Its financial 
management has restored its current credit, and its literary 
character has placed it among the fiuemost preparatory 
schotds. d'lie juincipal's success as a school manager re- 
sults from the spiirit of justice that underlies all his actions, 
combined with firmness of execution, knowledge of human 
nature, and geniality of manner, all of -which (jualities are 
soon recognized by students and patrons. Me aims to 
make the institution under his charge a powerful factor in 
the lormation of sterling character ill all who share its 
bcnelits. .\s a teacher he is thorough and energetic, de- 
nianding solid work from his pupils. Professor Blakeslee 



BIOCRArillCAI. C YCI. OPf.DIA. 



5S5 



is aKii a Iiiglii)' |)(i|)ulai" i>roaclKT, ami his services in the 
pulpits of his own anti other denominations are eagerly 
sought. His political action has l)een with the Republican 
party, but he is not a political worker. .So highly is he 
respected in CJrcenwich, by all parlies, that he has been 
more than once chosen without opposition as moderator 
of the town. He married, September 9, 1869, Augusta M. 
Hubbard, A.M., daughter of Hon. S. Hubl)ard, of.Genesee, 
Livingston County, New York. They have had three chil- 
dren, Oeorge Hubbard, Albert I'lancis, and Theodora 
Louise. 



^|r|^,IXON, Nathan Fellows, 3d, son of Hon. Nathan 
^Swi !•'., Jr., and Harriet (Swan) Dixon, was burn in 
^^ Westerly, Rliode Island, August 28, 1847. His 
W# father and grandfather, of the same name, both of 
^v whom were eminent lawyers, are elsewhere sketched 
in this volume. His maternal grandfather was a Congre- 
gational clergyman. After attending the schools of his 
native town, and Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachu- 
.setts, he entered Brown University, from which he gradu- 
ated with high rank in the class of 1869. He was pecu- 
liarly successful as a writer and speaker. On Decoration 
Day, May 30, 1870, he delivered before a large assembly 
in his native town an eloquent oration, which was after- 
wards published. Studying for the legal profession, he 
received the degree of LL.B. from the Law School of 
Albany, New York, in 1871, and settled for the practice 
of his profession in his native place. In 1877 he was ap- 
pointed United States District Attorney for Rhode Island, 
in which office he is now serving the State and the na- 
tion. He is an attendant of the Congregational Church. 
He married, June 5, 1873, Grace McClure, daughter of 
Archibald McClure, Esq., of Albany, New York. His 
sister, Annie P., married Rev. James G. K. McClure. 
His brother, Edward II., is a practicing lawyer in the city 
of New York. 



^fflgTONE, Waterman, superintendent and secretary 
of the Providence, Warren iS: Bristol Railroad, was 
born at Cumberland, Rhode Island, Marcli 10, 
1 1847. His parents were Lemuel M. E. and Caroline 
J' E. (Phetteplace) Stone. His father, who is still liv- 
ing { 18S1 ), is a civil engineer, and has been engaged in the 
building of numerous railroads, among which are the Shore 
Line from New Haven to New London, now a part of the 
New York & New Haven road, completed July 22, 1852; 
the Hampshire & Hampden road, about forty miles long, 
chartered in May, 1856, and completed in July of the same 
year; and the Providence & Springfield road, extending at 
present a distance of twenty-two miles, opened in 1S73. 
He was also for several years one of the engineers of the 
Boston & Albany road. After having been superintendent, 
treasurer, and general manager of the Providence, War- 
74 



ren ^v Hristol load (or sixteen )'ears, he was elected to a 
similar position on the Connecticut Valley road. His 
grandfather, Henry Stone, was a manufacturer, wdio resided 
at .Seekonk, Massachusetts, and served in the War of 1812. 
The subject of this sketch was educated at Mowry and 
Gofif's .School, in Providence, where he |nirsued a full Eng- 
lish and scientific course, on the completion of which he 
immediately engaged in civil engineering. On the 1st of 
July, l87i,hewas appointed superintendent and treasurer 
of the Proviilence, Warren & Bristol Railroad, which po- 
sition he still hohls. For six years previous to his assuming 
that postion he hatl been actively engaged in the manage- 
ment of llic road, under the direction of his father, and his 
election to take his place gave great satisfaction to the 
many patrons of the road. He is a communicant of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, having with his wife been 
baptizeil on Good Friday, April 15, 1S70. For several 
years he has been connected with " the Church of the 
Saviour" as organist, and now holds the position of junior 
warden and treasurer. C)n the 3fi of January, 1872, 
he married Emily Clark Steere, a descendant, on her 
mother's side, of Captain John Whipple, one of the original 
settlers of Providence. Captain Whipple was born in Eng- 
land in 1616; came to Boston in 1630; removed to Prov- 
idence in 165S ; received a grant of land embracing a large 
territory at Louisquisset, in l56o; in the year 1675, during 
King Philip's War, was one of the twenty-five who voted, 
at a town meeting, to stay in I'rnvidence instead of going 
to Newport, a safer place, at which time most of the inhab- 
itants left Providence; died in 16S5 ; and his tombstone is 
now to be seen in the North Burying-Ground, Providence. 
Mr. .Stone has four children, whose names are Mary Win- 
sor, Charles Waterman, Robert Clark, and Elizabeth. 



^fi^MES, i;eorge Henry, D.M.D., son of Benjamin 
^Raffi Keath and Sarah Durbey (Carpenter) Ames, was 
" ^^ burn at Foxboro, Mass, April 24, 1848. He is a 
■ lineal descendant of William Ames, wdio was born 
9 at Bruton, Somersetshire, England, October 6, 1605, 
and settled at Braintree, Massachusetts, where he died, 
January II, 1654, Numerous members of the Ames family 
are to be found in all ]iarts of the country, and many of the 
descendants of William Ames have been distinguished for 
patriotism and intellectual gifts, the most conspicuous 
among the number being the celebrated orator and states- 
man, Hon. Fisher .\mes. Several served their country 
during the Revululiunary War, among whom were Dr. 
Seth Ames, a brother of Hon. Fisher Ames, Captain Na- 
thaniel Ames, Rev. .Sylvanus Ames, a graduate of Harvard 
College, and for some time pastor of Trinity Church, Taun- 
ton, Massachusetts, who was chai>lain in the armv, antl died 
in the camp at \"alley l-'orge, during the harrl winter of 
1777-S. Captain Jotham Ames, who was lieutenant in the 
company of Captain [acub Allen, at the cajJture of Bur- 



586 



niiH;RArincAL ever opedia. 



i^oyne, aii'I «ni ihr f.il! i.f ( '.iiil.iiii \\V:\\ m \\\k.- .uliwn, tnuK 
CoTiniiainl, and utiicis wlm ^c^\L■^i witli ci[imI L^.illaiiLiy and 
dt.'voti..»ii. TIk- suKicrt (if ihis sketch was L-diKa'cd m the 
puMic ^(hiniKi.f I'ri>\ idrnie. at I.apliani Instilule. North 
Scitiiate, Khi'dc l-hmd. and at the ! [,ii vaid L'ni vcisity 
Dental Sch..(,!. In I.S;.<) he entered the utiiee ..f Dr. 
Thomas Haley. D.M.D.. ol" HiddefonI, Maine, where he 
spent a year as a student of dentistry, ij;ninin;^ eonNideralilc 
])ractical knowledge of tlie varii>us l•ranche■^ ot' the pmfe^- 
sion. In the fail ..f iSya he entered the Dental Sehocd at 
Harvard I'niver-^ity, \\hcre he _Lj;raduated, I'^ehriiary I4, 
1S72. Imnie(halely after graduating he went to l'"oxhoro, 
Ma-isachusetls, and opened an oflice. whei'e he jiradice'l 
liis proft^ssiiui until May 6, iSyj, when he opened anotlier 
office in lUuler Exchange, I'rovidence, Rhode Island, still 
continuing to vi^it Foxhoro each week for the next two 
\ears. Ill laini.ny, 1S74. he removed !■> the ofhee of T. 
il. ThiinipM-n. D.h.S.,w!th whom he entered in'o part- 
ner-^hi]i, the firni-nanie heing Tiiom[i>on i^; Ame->. He 
was asvMi.i.ited with Mr. Thompson untd Septeml.ier, 1^77, 
when he sui.eeeded to the jtractieeof William H. Den- 
nis, D.D.S., at 17 Malhewsoii Street, I'rovidence, wdiere 
he stdl continues lo enjoy a large share of general prac- 
tice. He is an acti\e nieinher ol the Anieriean Academy 
ol Denial SLieiRe,an<i one of the r,xeculive (.'onimiltee 
of the Rhode Island Dental Soeiely. Koi several years 
ho has been a niemher of the Masonic fralernilv, and is 
also a menilier of the I'oa idence I.odge of Knights of 
Honor, auil a " line-mend'ri " of the I'irst Rhode Island 
Inlantry tif Trovidente. in iSyo lie went aliroad. for re-^t 
and pleasure, and vi>ited nianv of the most impi>rtant jdaces 
of interest in Kuroj.e. Dr. Ames married. |une 20. 1S72, 
Myra Halton, daughter of <'a])tain Sanuiel and .\lmira 
(Marshall) Hall. ui. of I'oU (.'Ivde, Maine. She died Jan- 
uary I, 1S71). leaving one siui. ReguinKl Mountford. ( )n 
the 1st of March, iSSi, Mr. Ames married Dahel Rrownell, 
(laughter of Stephen and Henrietta | Hunt ) I'rownell. 



/LSHMAX. Rkv. Hlnkv Irvin.., A.M., pastor Kii-t 
L'niversali--t ("Inirch, I'rovidence, was Ixnn at ' >r- 
^.:1C^^" fool, <irafton Count)'. New Hampshire, July JO. 
I ^ 1N44. .ind is tlie snii id Hartwell Coleman ami Mary 
K. .Ann { Karl ) Cushman. He is a lineal deseendant, 
in the ninth generation, of Robert Cushman the Puiiian. 
From a sketch of the life of Rttbert Cusliman I>y the Hon. 
John Davis, published in 1S46, to accompany Mr. Cush- 
man's sermon on "The Sin and Danger of Self-I.ove," 
the following f.tels are gatheied. whieli are worthy of rec- 
ord: "Robeit ('ushman was rine of the most di--tingni-.hed 
characters .iniong (hat (.oIleLtion of w ..uthies w ho (|uitted 
England on aceonnl of their religions dihiLulties, and set- 
th-d. witli Mr. J.ihn K..bni-.on. their pastor, in the cUy of 
I <-yden, ni Iloll.ind. in the ye.ir KiO')." Ironi n>l7 to 
K.fJO Mr. Cusiimaii was pinmineitt in all the ai 1 angeinenls 



preliminary to the sailing of the I'ilgrim I'*athers fm- Anu-i- 
ica. He even proeured the Mayilower aiul its pilot m 
London, and with lii-^ fnnily sailed in that vessel. .Aiiguvt 
5, 1620. Rut. as hi. N, H. Shurtleff. <if I'.oston. say^. "in 
Con^et|uenee of the un-oiindne--s of t!ie -mailer ves-el. the 
Speedwell, it became nece-.sary that j'arl of the pilgrims 
should be left be hi n* I, and cr)nsci|Uently Mr. (.'udiman. 
whom (lo\ernor Bradfonl called 'the right hand with the 
adventurer^,' and wh') ' lor divers years had managed all 
f.iur busine->> w ith them to our great advantage,' was selected 
as one w ho would be best able lo keep together that portion 
of the llock lelt behiml.'' Mr. Cushman alterwards came 
to America, landing at I'lvinouth, November 10. ibji. 
Here he remained a little more than a UKUith, and on the 
13th of December, Hi21. mailed again for London, with a 
\aiual.tle cargo, m tlie same siup. Tins ship was I.d'.en b)" 
the French, and Mr. Cushman was carried into I'^rance, 
but arrived in L<indon in February, H>2J, where he a^ted 
in the interest of his irietuK in America until Ii')2i't, when 
he died. Robert ("u-.hmairs -,on Thiunas l.iecaine "rul- 
ing elder of the chureh of I'lymoulh," as tlie successor of 
Elder Ihewster, in 1640. From him the whrde (.'ushman 
lamdy in America has ilescended. A genealogy of the 
Cushman family was juibh-^heil in 1SS5. The subject of 
this sketch preparetl for college at an academ\' in Ins natise 
tow n, and at the High School, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. 
He was graduated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New 
Haiii|idiire, ill llie ila-s<.f lS(")5. h'roin the linie \^{ his 
graduation unhl the !-t »'f laniiarv, lN(i7, he studied the- 
idogy with the Rev. C. H. Leonard, then (d" L'heKea. Mas- 
sacluisetls, IV. w Professor in the Di\iniiy Schoid at Tuft's 
College, Medford, ^Llssachu^elts. As a licentiate under 
the rules of the Massathusetts Universalist ("onvention. he 
became jui-lor iif the Second L'niversali-^t Soeiety in (.".im- 
bridge, Mas•>achusett■^, January i, 18(17. ^I*-' ''^"•'^■^ ordained 
to the work of the ministry May I5 of the same year. In 
iSOS he received Ir-tiii I lartmoulh College the degree of 
Master of Arts. In luiie. 1S6S, he became associate pas- 
t'.>r with Rev. A. A. Miner, D.D., of the Seci.tnd L'niver- 
salist Society, in Ro-loii, then wor--hipping at their church 
in Sehoo] Street. He remained in this jiosjtion six years 
and a half, duiing which time the society to wliich he 
ministered built a new chureh lUi ("olumbus Avenue. 
L'p">i leaving the old t hurcli in Seliool Street, in the -spring 
of I.S72, — a jtlaee which had been so inlmiately Conneeted 
With tile lise and growth of the Universalist Chureh in 
America^lhe historical address was delivered by Mr. 
Cushman. This address, with others elicited by the occa- 
sion, and many papers of historic interest, were arranged 
I)V hiiii h'l publication in pamphlet torm. iJut the whole 
edition about to issue bom the press, together with most 
of the copy, was tle-^troyed in the great Boston fire of 1S72. 
The most important literary work upon which Mr. Cush- 
man ha-^ \et ventured was thu:> destroyed. His writings 
have not been uncoumion. however, in the press of the 




cCt<:^ 




I C 2^ ? ^ 2 i- c c f r _ 



BIOGRAI'IIICAL CYCLOPEDIA. 



5S7 



denomination to which he belongs. On the occasion of 
the one liundredth annivcvsavy of his nati\'e town ; upon 
leaving the old church in 15oston ; upon entering the new 
church on Columhus Avenue ; and on many other occa- 
sions, he has written hymns which have been received with 
much favor. In the sj^ring of 1S75 he became pastor of 
the First Universalisl Church, in Providence, lihode Island, 
as the successor of Rev. E. II. Capen, who was called to 
the presidency of Tufts College. In this position he still 
remains. He is a trustee of Dean Academy. Franklin, 
Massachusetts, and is secretary of the corporation. He is 
also a meinbcr of the L'niversalist Historical Society, the 
Rhode Island Historical .Society, a member of the Board 
of Managers of the Rhode Island Temperance Union, and 
of the corporation of the Rhode Island Hospital. He 
was married, April 13, i868, to Emily Eliza Oilman, 
daughter of Marcus Davis (Jilman, Esq., of Chicago, Illi- 
nois. Mr. Oilman now resides at Montpelier, Vermont, 
and is secretary of the Vermont Historical Society. He is 
at present preparing A Bihliography of Vermont^ an elabo- 
rate historical work involving inuch research. Mr. and 
Mrs. Cushman have had five children, as follows: Mary 
-Mice, who died June 18, 1877; Ruth Oilman; Robert; 
Marcus Oilman, who died July 18, 1S77; Earl Baldwin, 
who died May 25, 1878; and Albert Henry. During the 
summer of 1879 Mr. and Mrs. Cushman travelled with the 
Tourjeo jiarty in Europe, visiting Scotland, England, Hol- 
land, Oermany, .'\ustria, Italy, and France, going as far 
south as Naples and Ptjmpeii, in Italy. 



ISIl.lUk, JniiN, M.D., son of Dr. William H. and 
)j.ijj|jif|im'|} Eliza S. (Mann) Williur, was born in Warwick, 
Rhode Island, September 20, 1850. After at- 
' tending jirivate schools in Westerly, he pursued his 
■i studies for some time at the F'riends' School in 

Providence. He began the study of medicine under the 
direction of his father, and in due time entered, the Med- 
ical College of the University of New York, where he 
graduated in February, 1874, taking the Valentine Mott 
gold medal and the certificate of honor from that institu- 
tion. He also attended the Ayletl's Medical Institution of 
New- York, from w hich he graduated the same year. Pre- 
vious to his graduation he received the appointment of dem- 
onstrati r of anatomy in the University of Vermont, which 
])osition he filled during the year 1874. In the spring of 
1875 ^"^ returned to Westerly and engaged in the practice 
of his profession w-ith his father for one year, at the end 
of which lime he went to Europe for the jnirpose of com- 
pleting his medical education, making a specialty of the 
study and practice of surgery. For the accomplishment of 
this purpose he visited Edinburgh and t_iIasgow, London and 
Paris, spending several months at celebrated hospitals in 
those cities. While in Paris his health became impaired 
and he returned home in 1S76. Soon after his return he 




resumed jiractice with his father, with \vhom he was asso- 
ciated until the death of the latter. He is a member of the 
Rhode Island Medical Society, and is medical examiner 
for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, hav- 
ing received the a]ipointment to fill the vacancy caused by 
the death of his father. For several years he has been a 
member of the Independent (^rder of Odd Fellows. He 
married. May, 1874, Justina Adele Eva Ferrell, daughter 
of James and Eunice Ferrell, of New York city. She is 
a graduate of Fourth Street College, New York. Dr. Wil- 
bur succeeded to the large practice of his father, and has 
been remarkably successful as a surgeon. In the summer 
of 1881 he disposed of his practice, to devote his time to 
lecturing on physiology and anatomy. 



■^^KOWER, Frkiikric Alun, son of Rev. HaVri^on 
M^rjr Partlett and Maria Susan (1)1 x i Oower, was born 
?^ in Sedgwick, Maine, July 25, 1851. His father, 
£';|) who was a Baptist clergyman, was graduated at Brown 
^ University, under President Wayland, in the class 
of 1846. His mother, a woman possessed of rare mental 
as well as physical endowments, was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts. Her girlhood was spent in Providence, 
where, ]>revious to her marriage in 1848, she w'as en- 
gaged as a teacher in the public schools. .At the age of 
three, young (Piower removed with his parents to Philadel- 
phia, his father having accepted a situation as editor in 
connection with the American Baptist Publication Society. 
While on a visit to his home in Farmington, Maine, in the 
summer of 1859, he was taken sick ancl died, leaving a 
widow without means, and three boys, the oldest, Oeorge 
Lewis, being but ten years of age, and the youngest, Wil- 
liam Dix, being a lad of six years. The situation was 
trjing, and called for the exercise of all those latent facul- 
ties and resources which have characterized Mrs. Gowcr 
in so eminent a degree, and which she doulitless imparteri 
in a measure to her children. She at once accepted a sit- 
uation as [principal of the Ladies' Collegiate Institute in 
Worcester, Massachusetts. During her connection with 
the Institute the subject of this sketch attended the public 
schools of the city. -At the age of ten he removed to Farm- 
ington, where he spent a year in the famous Abbot -School, 
founded by the brothers, John an<l Jacob Abbot, and a 
nephew, A. II. Abbot, who at that time was the princi|)al. 
In 1862 he remo\ed to Providence, his mother having ac- 
cepted a situation as teacher in the I*"nuntain Street Gram- 
mar .School. This school he also attended, where he en- 
joyed the superior instructions of the lamented .Albeit .\. 
Oammell. He entered the lli.i;h School, and under the 
teachings of E. H. Cutler and D. W. Hoyt was fitted for 
college. During this perioti he assisted his mother in an 
evening-school, took care of rooms, and in various ways 
helped himself, thus early developing that self-reliance anrl 
energy which h.T\e enalded hmi to seize his opporrunities. 



588 



A' lOGRA rillCA L CYCL OPED 1. 1 . 



mill to nchieve lli^ |iirsi.-nt milxc^s. Tn ihf fall of iSbq lie 
entcrcii tlic ]■ reslini.in cl.ivs df ilniwii L'liiveisUy. tlien 
uii.lcr iho prc-i.kiK y iif ihc l.itc Rev. III. Caswell. 1 luriiiL; 
Ills Soplininiin.- year lit- k-ft liiiiun I'nix L-1-.ity and eiijjagcd 
for a tiiiK- ill thu luml't-r kusiiicss w itii liis uncle, Cleori^e 
1). GiAvcr, iif Xeu- Haven. He aKn stiidied si\ months, 
intending to complete his college course at Vale. His pe- 
cuniary resoarces, however, iini'\|iei tcdiy failed liini. anil 
in the fall of iN-:; he returned to rrovidelice. Here he 
remained iipw aids id" three years, heillg connected with the 
/\:'t-iniii^- J^rr\:s as a repoiter, and linallv as the leafling 
writer in charge of the editi>rial departinenl of the paper. 
Being an active nieiiihcr ol the fraiihlin Lyceiini, he was 

chosen one of the Lecture Co ttee. The coiir-e for 

1S76-7 ha\iiig closede.iily in the se,isoii,it w a^ de'ermined 
to supplement it liy <ine or two pi.pular lectures, anrl ujron 
him devolved the resiionsilidity ol securing them. Cast- 
ing his eye over the ]upers. Iiis attention was attracteil hy 
the ncitice ol .111 experimental lecture on the telefihone, 
gi\en in S.dem, f\d'Uiai\' 12, i,S77,liv rrofe^swr Hell, of 
Ho-ton, and l.y the a-liiunding statement that the human 
xnice had been transndtteil through the instrument to Bos- 
ton, sixteen miles away, l.levi n days later Professor Bell 
gave a second lecture at .'s.dciii, and (i'twer was in the 
audience. Al the close ■>! the lecture he niafle the Profes- 
sor's aci|Uaintance, ex|icrimciiled wuh the instrument, and 
shortly after made ariangcinents [or a similar lecture in 
Providence. This was the commencement of a close and 
intimate friendship lietweeii llie two. Mr. I iower now- 
ahandoned journalism and joined wiili the Professor in his 
lectures and afterwards in hi, elfoit^ f-t introduce the tele- 
lihone. It was during this conneclion th.it he invented the 
•' telephone harp," an instiunieiu lor producing loud effects 
upon the lecture platform. It was lir^t exhibited with 
marked success before an aurlieiice itf live tlu'tisaiid in the 
Moody and .Sankey Tabernacle at Boston. It showed him 
to be a skdied ti lephone expert, and [iroNcd afterwards to 
be .1 good card of introiliictioii for the voting inventc>r to 
tile scientists of deal I'.rit.nii. In the spring of i.SyS he 
left tills country lor London, to look alter his interests in 
the Bell patent in Kngland. After spending three months 
in the arrangement ol this matter he crossed o\er to Paris, 
w here he foumi Mr. foriielius Roosevelt, of New York, 
engaged in the attempt to introduce the Bell telephone to 
the French jieople. Mr. Riiosevelt had labored under dif- 
hcidlies in liiaiuifaelurilig the telephone, the patents being 
riefective, and the 1-ieiicli woiknieii un.ible at the time to 
make a good instrument, from lack id intelligent practical 
supervision. .Mr. C.ower eiitereil into the business with Ids 
whole soul; made numerous in\ entions anil combinations ; 
brought out his own tele|ilione ; and at the end (d" two years 
saw a coniijany. wdtli ani|)le means, established, which now 
owns his anil all other telephone i>.itents ol an) reeogni/ed 
value there, and which has a nioiu.polyof ihe telephone 
biisnie-s thirtuglioul fr.uice. This craiipiain. ill w hn h Mr. 



( iower is a large stockholder, uses mainly the (lower iii- 
strnment. .Vfter his altairs had become sufliciently ar- 
ranged in Palis he I rossed c)ver to London, where he dis- 
played a faculty for negotiation and organization truly 
remarkable. Severe tests of his telephone were made by 
prominent scientihc men, government officers, and coin- 
miltees of both the army and navy, and the result was a 
ccimidete recognition of its meiits and its adoption in pref- 
erence to all others. The liciwer-Bell Telephone <."oni- 
pany. of Kngland, was s|ieedily organi/ed, with a capital 
of /,"200,noo, and at once, as soon as the courts had estab- 
lished the claims (d llie government for a monopoly of the 
pulilic use id' the telephone, the postmaster-general con- 
tracted with Mr. (uiwer for 2O,0CO of his instruments to 
equip the ilc]iartment. This contract, which has three 
years to lun, is for a gross amount of ;/^l8o,ooo. (.)ther large 
contracts, both public and private, have since been marie, 
and the foilunate iiiveiitiu- is in the way of speedily realiz- 
ing the fruits of his labors. He has recently been elected 
a member ol the Royal Institution, an association of indi 
\ idiials w ini lo\e science, and labor to piromote its interests. 
Among its patrons, ofllcers, and professors, are some of 
the most distinguished names of which Great Britain can 
boast. His rhatioii to the Institution is in grateful recog- 
nition ol his public services in behalf of science in the de- 
velopment and use of the telephone. 



pIlnM.VS. Riv. KlKii-NK E.. son of Philip H. and 
M.iry C. (I'dlis) Thomas, was born in North .-\t- 
d i tiefioro, Massachusetts, January 7, 1S51 . Llisgreat- 
'.l *.l graiullather, ( Jeorge CliristianThomas, was a Hessian, 
J J w hose brothers were among the soltl lets hired by Eng- 
land to help subdue the .\iiierican colonies in the time of 
the Revolution. .\s these brothers could not lie found when 
the P.r.iish ofliccrs went to Ilesse-Cassel for them. ( ieorge 
Christi.in w .Is t.ikeri in tiieir stead, although he was then a 
minor. He w .is captured from the British and contlned in 
prison, not long alter his arrival in this country, at New- 
pott, litstiad ot being exchanged as a prisoner he chose 
to remain in .\niciica, and settled in Providence. He alter- 
wards removed to Cumberland, and his home, on the toad 
from L'limberl.tnd Hill to Ashtoii, just below the home of 
.Alfred .Arnold, is still known as the "Thomas Farm." He 
was noted lor his physical strength, a characteristic of his 
descendants. The subject of litis sketch sjieitt Ins bovhood 
in .\ottli .Altli boro, w here he altended the district school 
in winter, being employed on the farm, and occaioitally 
in the jewelry bu-inc^s. during the summer iiioiilhs. .At 
the early age ol eleven Ik' ciileied the high school of his 
native village, wm] altet two years entered the Literary In- 
stitute .It .Siillield. ( 'oiineiticut, where in one year he eoni- 
pileted his jirepar.ition for college. He entererl Brown 
Universitv in the fall ol i.Soh, at the age of fifteen, .iiid 
graduated 111 tlie cla-s of 1S70. He puisued the -titdv of 



BIOGKAI'IIICAL CYC/.OJ'/:/)/,!. 



589 



(hei>liis;y ;U Ncwtiiii Tlieological Instilute. t;ra(luatiiig tlicve- 
from in June, 1873. His first sermon, preacliod on trial for 
license, was delivered in the Baptist church in North At- 
tlelioro, on the evening before entering Newton Theological 
Institute. During the summer of 1871 he supplied the 
Second Baptist Church in Kennelnmk, Maine, and for nine 
months thereafter, on alternate Sabbaths, supplied the Bap- 
tist churches in Kennebunk and Milford, Massachusetts, 
and the latter exclusively during the summer of 1S72. In 
April, 1873, ^'^ accepted a call to the pastorate of the Bap- 
tist church in North Tewkesbury, .Massachusetts, where he 
remained three years. At this place Mr. Thomas took an 
active part in educational matters, was a member of the 
.School Committee, and for two years chairman of the 
Board of Kducation. In September, 1876, he accepted a 
call to the pastorate of the Baptist church in Woonsockel, 
Rhode Island, where, in the winter of 1S7S, he partici- 
l>ated in the coiUroxersy in that place on the subject of 
future punishment. ( Inc of his discourses was printed in 
]iamphlet form, antl extensively circulateil. He has been 
an earnest advocate of the temperance reform, and has 
taken a prominent part on pul)lic occasions with Protest- 
ants and Catholics. In April, 1880, he was elected a rep- 
resentative to the Rhode Island General Assembly, from 
Woonsocket, and in June of the same year was elected 
Superintendent of Public .Schools, both of wliich positions 
he now holds, also havmg charge of his pulpit and dis- 
charging other important duties, among which are those of 
a regular contributor to the editorial columns of the Woon- 
socket Palriol. He still continues his studies in theology, 
ecclesiastical history, and the Hebrew language and its 
kindred dialects. Mr. Thomas married, first, June 12, 
1S73, Sarah Amanda Taylor, daughter of Deacon George 
Taylor, of Kennebunk, Maine. She died of pneumonia, 
at North Tewkesbury, Massachusetts, February 26, 1875. 
They had one child, Eugene Ellis Thomas. On the 30th 
of March, 1876, Mr. Thomas married Mrs. .Mary C. Good- 
speed, daughter of Deacon Hoyt W. Ilillon, of Lowell, 
Massachusetts. Her grandfather, who is still living, has 
been a PVeewill Baptist preacher for over sixty years, was 
one of the founders of the newspaper called the Morning 



Stat\ and is one of the foremost leaders of the denomina- 
tion with which he is connected. There is one child by 
the seCijnil marriage, Philip Hilton Thomas. 



A 



ff5\\l)\'KK. Ri-.v. Henry jACKsriN, Jr., pastor of 
jji^j! the United Congregational Church of Newport, 
j"k Rhode Island, son of Rev. Henry J. Vandyke, 
D.D., and Henrietta (Ashmead) Vandyke, was born 



1 "I at Germantown, Pennsylvania, November 10, 1852. 
His ancestors were of Dutch origin, and early settled in 
New Brunswick, New Jersey. His mother is a descendant 
of the .-Xshmeads, an English family who came over wiih 
William Penn, and from him received grants of land. His 
father, a clergyman of wide reputation, pastor of a Presby- 
terian Church on Brooklyn Heights for twenty-eight years, 
was callci! to the chairs of theology in the seminaries at 
Columbia, .South Carolina, and Alleghany, Pennsylvania, 
and to other prominent positions, and in 1876 was Moder- 
ator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. 
The subject of this sketch graduated from the Brooklyn 
Polytechnic Institute in i86g, entered Princeton College 
in 1873, and graduated with highest honors, receiving the 
English Literature prize, and delivering the English salu- 
tatory and belles-lettres oration. He studied with a He- 
brew rabbi in 1873-4, and entered Princeton Theological 
.Seminary in 1874, and in 1876 w.as appointed to deliver 
the master's oration before the college. In 1S77 he be- 
came a corresjjonding editor of ///(' Pn'sbyterian^ and 
editor of the Princtton Rook, graduating from the Theo- 
logical Seminary in 1877. By advice of Rev. Dr. Hodge 
and others, Mr. Vandyke declined calls to prominent places 
and went abroad to complete his theological studies, and 
also travelled in Scotland, Germany, and Italy. He spent 
two semesters at the Lhiiversity of Berlin, studying Christ- 
ology and New Testament Criticism under Dr. Dorner and 
Dr. Weiss, and worked at the translation for the Coii/cm- 
porniy A'tTtrw. In October, 187S, he returned to .America, 
and after a unanimous call settled as pastor of the United 
Congregational Church of Newport, Rhode Island. He 
has written considerably for magazines and reviews. 




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